User profile for user: rezolution studios
rezolution studios Author
User level: Level 1
40 points

How do I remove an event without deleting the photos in iPhoto '11?

So I accidentally created an event from some photos of a particular person. Now I want to remove the event, but keep the photos of the person in the general library. If I delete the event, all photos from that event are placed in the trash. If I drag those photos back to the library, the event reappears.

MacPro, PB, MB, MBP, MacMini, etc., Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 14, 2010 12:59 AM

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14 replies
User profile for user: rezolution studios
rezolution studios Author
User level: Level 1
40 points

Dec 15, 2010 2:43 AM in response to Yer_Man

I like the term "Shoeboxes"or even "Collections" instead of Events... seems to fit the functionality a bit better. What is odd to me is that Albums, Projects and Album Folders can all be deleted without actually deleting the source files... they apparently only contain lists of aliases to the actual files. Events are apparently unique in that if they are deleted, the contained photo files are also deleted. Thanks for explaining this. Maybe Apple should italicize all instances of folder/list/container names where files are aliased to give us a better clue as to what will happen if we delete something and help differentiate such items from actual deletable files/collections.

Somehow, I was able to use iPhoto in all its various versions over the years and never made this distinction... and never had an issue until iPhoto '11. Weird. It must be the slight differences in how events are created and handled in iPhoto '11 that made this come to light for me.

Thanks again.
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User profile for user: Yer_Man
Yer_Man
User level: Level 10
165,972 points

Dec 15, 2010 3:22 AM in response to rezolution studios

What is odd to me is that Albums, Projects and Album Folders can all be deleted without actually deleting the source files... they apparently only contain lists of aliases to the actual files.


This is a key underlying concept of apps like iPhoto and iTunes. There is a Library. Everything is in the Library and the Playlists (in iTunes) and/or Albums (in iPhoto) simple reference the actual files in the Library. This saves a rather large amount of duplication and is the key advantage of using a database for managing your pics.

Regards

TD
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User profile for user: rezolution studios
rezolution studios Author
User level: Level 1
40 points

Dec 15, 2010 6:14 AM in response to Yer_Man

Uh, yes... what I meant was odd is that the Events do not act like an iPhoto Album or iTunes Playlist... they act like a true subset of the actual Library vs a collection of aliased files... I suppose that would actually be analogous to an iTunes Album; however, I cannot readily delete an iTunes Album (in Album view where only the Album icon is selected) like I can delete an iPhoto Event. To delete an iTunes Album, I need to select the individual files in the Album from a list view before iTunes allows me to delete things. This is in contrast to iPhoto where I can select an Event and then hit command-delete to send the collection of files straight to the trash. It would make more sense if actual files in the Library were not so easily trashed en masse unless there was a better distinction between aliased collections and true library subsets. I also think it a bit odd that all photos must be tied to an Event... after all, individual songs need not be listed as belonging to an album, right?
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User profile for user: Yer_Man
Yer_Man
User level: Level 10
165,972 points

Dec 15, 2010 6:31 AM in response to rezolution studios

First off, there's no reason to assume that iPhoto works in exactly the same way as iTunes. The iTunes db (minus all the Store business etc) is a very simple affair. It's a list of tracks, and the organisation of them. (BTW I can remove an Album from iTunes in Album View. Select it and hit command- delete... just lile removing an Event in iPhoto)

The iPhoto db is rather more complex because of 1. Editing, 2. Version Control, 3. External Editing, as well as features like Faces and Places. iPhoto doesn't actually have a list view - hard to make sense of one when what's been listed are photos, for instance. So I don't think it's realistic to expect it to work like iTunes - or iMovie for that matter.

Other than that, well iPhoto menu -> Provide iPhoto Feedback is the route to the Developers.

Oh and

I also think it a bit odd that all photos must be tied to an Event... after all, individual songs need not be listed as belonging to an album, right?


Now try that sentence again, substituting the word 'Folder' for 'Event' and 'album'

Do you still think it a bit odd that all photos must be tied to an Folder... after all, individual songs need not be listed as belonging to an Folder, right?

Every song on your iTunes Library is in a Folder, even if it's just Untitled Artist/Untitled Album. Every Photo in your Library is in a Folder. 😉 As I say, Event is just a word.

Events were introduced about 3 years ago with the advent of iPhoto 08. This was discussed somewhat at the time. Have a look back in the forum.

Regards

TD
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User profile for user: rezolution studios
rezolution studios Author
User level: Level 1
40 points

Dec 17, 2010 2:10 AM in response to Yer_Man

I found out why an iTunes Album would not delete in Album view... they were listed in a Smart Playlist. I can delete albums otherwise.

I suppose that if iTunes had Album View as the first listing under Library instead of Music, this would make iTunes behavior more analogous to iPhoto (not that this would be a good idea.)

I understand that you can view "Event" as just a word representing a Folder... but Folders are just a contrivance in themselves. They are a representation of a directory structure, which itself is primarily a convenience for representing the data strewn about in numerous fragments on a magnetic platter (in most cases.) More to the point, there really is no reason to tie every photo to a specific Event since you need not list or otherwise recognize that each photo is contained in a folder--- Apple actually avoids that to some extent by hiding the directory of photos in a package file.

Having said all that, I have warmed-up to the idea of having every photo importation assigned to an Event / Listed Folder / Whatever. I just have to spend a little extra time making the Events view more useful by combining a bunch of non-specific Events to get rid of the clutter.

Thanks again for your views and help. You have been very informative.
🙂
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User profile for user: motionstar
motionstar
User level: Level 1
0 points

Mar 2, 2011 3:04 PM in response to rezolution studios

I have a similar problem with Events. iPhoto always defaults to displaying by Events, and I absolutely hate this. I never want to find photos by event, I want them always shown chronologically, via the Photos display.

How can I prevent iPhoto from constantly defaulting to Events view?

Every time I plug in my iPhone, it launches iPhoto into Events, where there are events that I do not want displayed every time I launch iPhoto.

If I can't disable Events, I should at least be able to tell iPhoto not to display my photos this way by default.

Do you know of any hidden settings one might use to do this?
(I know there are lots of little terminal commands you can use to turn things on and off in iTunes..

Many thanks for any info you might have about changing the default view to "Photos" instead of "events."

cheers,
-motionstar
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User profile for user: Yer_Man
Yer_Man
User level: Level 10
165,972 points

Jun 12, 2013 11:23 AM in response to LavinaL

How do I create Events?


Select at least one photo and go Events -> Create Event from Selection, of flag some and use the Create Event from Flagged Photos etc...


Or how can I organise my pictures say by year, travels, scenery,


Check out the search box at the bottom of the Window. (Click on the Magnifying glass, it opens it) Now click on the mgnifying glass in the search box) and select 'Date'. Now you can find all the photos from any day, month or year. If you want to find the photos from a range - say a paticular week - then you can do that with a Smart Album.


Organising photos by date means you have to remember the date the shot was taken, and after a while, and after a few thousand shots, this gets harder and harder to do, so you spend more and more time rooting through folders.


iPhoto offers a range of organising tools and each offers more possibilites to quickly find the shot you're looking for. For instance:


I use Events simply as big buckets of Photos: Spring 08, July - Nov 06 are typical Events in my Library. I use keywords and Smart Albums extensively. I title the pics broadly.



I keyword on a

Who

What

Where basis (The When is in the photos's Exif metadata). I also rate the pics on a 1 - 5 star basis.



Using this system I can find pretty much find any pic in my 45k library in a couple of seconds.



So, for example, I have a batch of pics titled 'Seattle 08' and a typical keywording might include: John, Anne, Landscape, mountain, trees, snow. With a rating included it's so very easy to find the best pics we took at Mount Rainier.



File -> New Smart Album

set it to 'All"

title contains Seattle

keyword is mountain

keyword is snow

rating is 5 stars



Or, want a chronological album of John from birth to today?



New Smart Album

Keyword is John

Set the View options to Sort By Date Ascending



Want only the best pics?

add Rating is greater than 4 stars



The best thing about this system is that it's dynamic. If I add 50 more pics of John to the Library tomorrow, as I keyword and rate them they are added to the Smart Album.



In the end, organisation is about finding the pics. The point is to make locating that pic or batch of pics findable fast. This system works for me.

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User profile for user: Yer_Man
Yer_Man
User level: Level 10
165,972 points

Jun 14, 2013 12:46 PM in response to LavinaL

No. Events are organisation for those who can't really be bothered. They are automatic - based entirely on Date and Time the camera records the photos as taken.



You can move photos between Events, you can Merge Events, you can Rename them and sort them in various ways except one: You cannot manually sort in an Event as Events are all automated.



If you want to manually sort in an Event then you've outgrown Events as an organising tool. If you want to have nested data - it's time to look at albums - where you can manually sort, which you can put into folders and so on and which are much more flexible than Events as an organising tool.


So: A Folder called 2013. Albums within for each month in turn. Waste of time and space, but that's how you do it.

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User profile for user: LarryHN
LarryHN
User level: Level 10
106,142 points

Jun 14, 2013 12:50 PM in response to LavinaL

No - that is not possible - see TD's post just above answering your previous post - you do that with albums and folders - you can not do it with events - and it is reather pointless since using the serach window in the lower left or a smart album you can instantly display all of thephotos in any date range you choose


Try reading his post for ideas on how to organize - you simply are not comprehending the power of a database and are thinking of a files based structure


LN

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How do I remove an event without deleting the photos in iPhoto '11?

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