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Level 1

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Iphoto 11 Previews Folder. How come I have pictures in the Previews folder?

How come I have pictures in the Previews Folder when in fact I have not modified any pictures? It is also weird that when I view those pictures in Iphoto, the "revert to original" is lit and can be clicked. But when I do, nothing happens and remains lit. The other pictures that are not in the Previews folder do not have the "revert to original" lit and can not be click until I modified the picture, which makes sense.

Also, when using faces in the library, does Iphoto makes copies or duplicate your pictures or is it just a different view, kinda like how the album works when you create an album?

How do most of you guys sort your photos? For me, I have them on the Pictures folder. I then import only some folders to Iphoto, not all of them. And when I connect my digital camera, I do not use Iphoto to import the pics because I want a solid copy outside of Iphoto first. I don't know if that makes sense. I just got my macbook pro and Its my first time using a mac. Just want to know what others do. Thanks.

iPhoto '11, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 6, 2011 12:35 AM

Best reply

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,720 points

Posted on Jul 6, 2011 1:01 AM

Pictures in the Preview Folder that have not been edited:

Usual reason:

Your camera has an Auto-Rotate feature. However, the camera does not actually rotate any pixels in the file, but instead flags it with an instruction: "Display me this way". Apps that integrate with iPhoto - Web browsers, Mail apps, Word processors etc - don't understand these tags, so iPhoto, seeing the flag, reads the intention and creates a modified version. If it didn't then the pic would turn out sideways in these other apps.

. If you then try to Revert to Original, iPhoto will remove the edited version. However, when it then looks at the Original file again, it sees the flag, and creates a new rotated version. This loop will run as long as you Revert to the Original. The solution is to either a: turn off the Auto-Rotate feature on your camera or b: rotate the photos prior to importing them to iPhoto.

Faces - like Albums, references the photos in the Library. It does not duplicate.

Most people use iPhoto in the default setting - let the app copy the files to the Library package.

Your current scheme doesn't make a lot of sense:

1. You're using double the disk space - your copy outside of iPhoto and the one inside

2. Only importing some photos makes as much sense as only using Address Book for some addresses. Why not use it for all? What it actually means is that you're managing your photos with two apps - the Finder and iPhoto. Isn't it more simple to just use one - the one specifically designed for the job?

3. I've no idea what "a solid copy" is, but it's not even a back up unless it's on another Disk.

You sound like someone who doesn't quite trust iPhoto and so you're being cautious. Quite sensible. Until you understand the app and feel comfortable with it then by all means take your time. iPhoto is not the right app for everybody and may not be right for you.

If you have any questions by all means post again

Regards

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16 replies

svkrzn

Level 1

75 points

Nov 12, 2011 8:04 AM in response to Yer_Man

Terence Devlin wrote:

But maybe i found the solution: Importing the whole library to Aperture, keep modified and delete the masters, then re-import them back ti iPhoto and this way i'll have only masters.

So, explain again why you use iPhoto or Aperture? You want a destructive workflow but use - not one but two apps that work specifically against what you want? Why on earth would you do that? Why not just use Aperture?

I use iPhoto as just a library and Aperture for some corrections, b&w effects etc. I don't like using aperture for both, library and adjusting as it drains my ram while iPhoto doesn't. As soon as apple corrects ram using by Aperture, i'll switch to it. Another boring thing is that Aperture is english only, while i prefer using Italian.

Iphoto 11 Previews Folder. How come I have pictures in the Previews folder?