Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 10

162,380 points

iPhoto 11: A new way to use the old E-Mail behaviour.

iPhoto 11 works with email in a new way. Rather than using an Application to send the email as before, what they have done is handle the email within iPhoto. So, you input your Email Account details - the name of your service, the account name, password, etc, and iPhoto uses that information to send the email via your account.

There's an element of swings and roundabouts in this.

Users of Apps like Thunderbird or Postbox could not email from within iPhoto in the past as those apps are not scriptable. Neither could it be used by people who use Web Mail and access their mail via a web browser. By going this way these people users have the same service as Mail/Entourage/Eudora users have.

So much for the swings: on the roundabouts, however, users of Mail (and I suspect Entourage and Eudora) have a change. Share -> Email does not work as before and you can no longer select pics within iPhoto, resize them and pass them over to their preferred application. Neither can you send photos without a Template.

However, by creating a Service sing Automator, it's perfectly possible to recreate the previous usage, though accessed a little differently. Here's one way:

1. Launch Automator

2. From the Dropdown sheet select to make a Service

3. On the Right hand side, over the large pane (under the record button) select 'Service Receives +no input+'

Uploaded with Skitch!

3. From the Library Column (extreme left) click on Photos.

4. From the Middle Column drag 'Get Selected iPhoto Items to the large pane.

5. In the drop down on 'Get Selected Photo Items, select 'Photos'

Uploaded with Skitch!

6. Back to the Library column, extreme left and this time click on Mail

7. Drag 'New Mail Message' to the right hand pane, under the existing 'Get iPhoto Items'

8. Drag 'Add Attachments to Front Message' under that.

9. Save it, Name it.

Now, in iPhoto select the photos you want to email

then

iPhoto Menu -> Services -> And select the Service you created.

The Mail app comes forward with your Message, with files attached.

You can resize the Photos using the option at lower right of the Mail window:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Using the Keyboard Shortcuts in System Preferences you can choose a shortcut to do the whole thing from the keyboard.

Regards

TD

MacBook Pro 15 2.4 C2D / iMac 20" 2.66 C2D, Mac OS X (10.6), 4 gig RAM/ 4 gig RAM

Posted on Oct 26, 2010 3:32 PM

107 replies

Oct 28, 2010 9:50 AM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks for the workarounds. Here is what I posted in another thread, and send to Apple:

I'm very frustrated with the new mailing feature. It looked good on the demo, but in reality it's terrible. There is a choice of several cute formats, but the pictures arrive as thumbnail size and the only way to get at the full sized picture is to unzip the zip file and view them outside of Mail. The old way was fine. If the receiver was using Apple Mail she could just click on "quick look" and get a nice slideshow in full screen mode, or import to iPhoto directly from Mail. And there was no limit on the amount of photos you could send. The new way is horrible. Now the only solution I can see is to export the photos and then attach them to a Mail message, but this is a step backward. I don't know what Apple was thinking. I have been blindly upgrading Apple software for years, confident that each upgrade would be an improvement. This is the first time I want to go back to the previous version.

Oct 28, 2010 9:56 AM in response to netnothing

I tried the drag and drop method and it works great. Thanks for the tip. I appreciate the automater tip, but drag and drop seems easier and more straight-forward, so I'll stick with it.

yeah! I have my iPhoto back.

Yer_Man Author

Level 10

162,380 points

Oct 28, 2010 10:55 AM in response to jpfreeman

Now the only solution I can see is to export the photos and then attach them to a Mail message,

This has never been necessary. Using the Media Browser in Mail or just dragging the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Mail icon both work.

Regards

TD

Oct 29, 2010 7:49 PM in response to Yer_Man

Do you have to go through this process each time you want to attach photos to an email? And are they actual attachments or embedded in the email??

Old Toad

Level 10

207,637 points

Oct 29, 2010 8:08 PM in response to photog enthusiast

With the Mail client it can be either. if they appear embedded you can Control+click on them and select the "View as Icon" option. However, there's no way to control how the receiving email client will present them.

OT

Oct 29, 2010 9:12 PM in response to jpfreeman

Ditto.

Two steps back.

Oct 29, 2010 11:45 PM in response to Yer_Man

Terence,

This is really awesome. I have never used Automator before. I need to play with it more! But one question. When you create something like this where is the information saved on your hard drive. I would like to make sure I back it up for when I do a re-install or something. But thanks so much for the tip!

Update! Terence, never mind. I found it. Home --> Library --> Services

Thanks again!

Yer_Man Author

Level 10

162,380 points

Oct 30, 2010 1:39 AM in response to photog enthusiast

o you have to go through this process each time you want to attach photos to an email?

No. It's a once off. Thereafter you access the facility from your Services Menu.

Regards

TD

paul1010

Level 1

0 points

Oct 30, 2010 3:00 AM in response to Yer_Man

you can assign a key to the script. under the iPhone menu bar select services then services preference. Then assign a key to the script.

Yer_Man Author

Level 10

162,380 points

Oct 30, 2010 3:08 AM in response to paul1010

Yes. As I said

Using the Keyboard Shortcuts in System Preferences you can choose a shortcut to do the whole thing from the keyboard.

Regards

TD

Old Toad

Level 10

207,637 points

Oct 30, 2010 9:39 AM in response to David Bozek

Another email workaround was posted on MacIntouch.com this morning which is also very inventive. Here it is:

Roger Moyer
Although the Automator Service application for iPhoto 11 as presented works perfectly (Thank you!), an easier, alternative is available, especially if you only edit in iPhoto.
In iPhoto 11, right click (or control click) on the photo(s) you want to email and select "Edit in External Editor". Find and Select Mail as that external editor. That's all, and next time, it will go to Mail directly.

Bottom line, you're using Mail as the external editor. Thus you won't be able to use a 3rd party image editor with iPhoto. That's where Terry's Automator service workflow would be indicated.

Oct 30, 2010 11:19 AM in response to Old Toad

When I right click on a picture in iPhoto '11, I don't get the "Edit in External Editor" option.

Oct 30, 2010 11:39 AM in response to Peter K. Grether

Go into iPhoto prefs -> Advanced and set an external editor. Don't worry, it won't FORCE you to always use it.

Now when you right click, you have both options, in iPhoto or with your editor.

-Kevin

Oct 30, 2010 11:41 AM in response to Old Toad

The other issue is that when you setup an external editor, it changes the Edit button in iPhoto to default to that editor. You can still edit within iPhoto, but you have to right click each time.

-Kevin

Old Toad

Level 10

207,637 points

Oct 30, 2010 11:43 AM in response to netnothing

If you undo the edit option in the preferences iPhoto becomes the default editor again but your 3rd party editor is still available via the Control-click.

iPhoto 11: A new way to use the old E-Mail behaviour.