Does iPhoto Suck?

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Level 1

39 points

Does iPhoto Suck?

Hi,

I finally talked my boss into buying a Macbook Pro after I converted a few years ago. I ranted and raved about iLife (among other things), assuring him that a Mac was his solution to all of his computer needs. When he asked me to import his photos into iPhoto 6.0, all of the photo structures were merged into this large monster of a photo collection.

When I bought my Mac(s), I didn't have 400 levels of folders full of photos, so this excluded feature didn't matter to me. I read all of the posts that asked about trying to maintain the structure, and basically figured out that it cannot be done easily or sensibly.

My boss complained, saying "I thought you said that Mac was better than Windows... but the program made for organizing photos won't let me keep them organized the way that is the simplest?" He is insisting that iPhoto ***** and that Windows made it easier on him.

Personally, I like iPhoto; and this delimma doesn't pose a huge problem for me. But for him, it has been one factor that keeps him on WinXP in Boot Camp (ugghhh!).

Does anyone know of a better program for organizing photos for Mac (one that will allow importing folder structure)? Or does Apple plan on adding this to iPhoto soon?

I hate to say this, but it looks like MS got it right with Vista's photo organization (from the look of the BETA). It gives most of the options iPhoto gives inside of the file explorer when you click on the "photos" section.

Thanks

PowerMac G5, Dual 2.5 Ghz, Mac OS X (10.4.6), 1.5 GB RAM, 750 GB HD Space, 12" PowerBook G4, iPod mini

Posted on Jun 12, 2006 5:33 PM

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Answer 1

PhillyPhan

Level 5

5,440 points

Jun 12, 2006 5:48 PM in response to Carter Prine

The only thing that I can think of is time-consuming:

Import the contents of one folder at a time. Each import will be identified as a single "roll." Then, after everything is imported, you can create albums from the rolls.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

210,615 points

Jun 12, 2006 7:36 PM in response to Carter Prine

How did you import his photos? If they were in folders they they will be in rolls in iPhoto that have the same name as the original folder. If you don't see rolls then go to the View menu and select Show Rolls.

How do you want to organize your photos? In iPhoto they come in by rolls for each import. Once in you can create folders in the Source pane to hold other folders and albums in the folders. You group photos into album by whatever criteria you want and then can place that album into a container folder which is titled by some other criterial, like year or month or ?. It'll look like this.

If you're looking for a professional image management application that lets you create the folder system for it, try iView MediaPro. You create the folders and it uses them as is. One of it's windows will look like this.

G5 Dual Core 2GHz, 2G RAM, 250G HD; G4 Dual 1Ghz, 1.5G RAM, 80G HD, Mac OS X (10.4.6) 22 LCD Display, 200G & 160G FW HDs, Canon S400, i850 & LIDE 50, Epson R200

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Answer 3

drellison

Level 1

129 points

Jun 17, 2006 12:13 AM in response to Carter Prine

You know I think the biggest problem from a "switcher" perspective is the mindset you have when you move over to the Mac from a Windows machine. I went through the same thing, on the windows box I had used Photoshop Elements 3 with its organizer and I loved it. So when I moved over to the Mac iPhoto frustrated me (especially the method of RAW support in V5). Anyway, it took me a while to re-think my workflow. Once I got used to it then trying other applications such as iView and Portfolio just didn't work right for me - because I was used to iPhoto. I think the biggest problem in coming over from Windows is not taking a step back to re-looking at the way you do you work. I also had the same problem when I first started using iTunes - I was a MusicMatchbox user and iTunes seemed odd to me - now I love it and couldn't imagine using another application.

iPhoto has it's quirks and I think I have really overused it for what the intent was. For instance my 2006 library, I break them up by years, was over 10,000 images at 67G of data, and EVERYTHING was RAW. I had some problems and frustrations with iPhoto but ultimately I worked through those problems and couldn’t find something that worked better for me.

So I wouldn’t say that iPhoto *****, but I think your friend needs to take a step back and really give the application a try. I am sure you could read back in the archives and I have postings where I am frustrated and sick of iPhoto and looking for something different. I have downloaded the test drives for iView Media Pro and Portfolio and after using iphoto for over a year now I can not wrap my head around the workflow of those applications, I want THEM to be more like iPhoto.

I have also decided to stop pushing folks to buy a Mac. I still talk about how much I love it, but I think the “switcher” has to be at the point that they are SO frustrated with Windows and all the BS you have to deal with to get your system to a point to use it – that you have decided enough is enough and jumped platforms. If you are not at that point – as I was Jan 05 – then you really aren’t at the point to make the jump – and you are not going to be happy with the transition.

Honestly I had questioned my switch a few months ago, until I was visiting some relatives who only have PCs and every time I sat down to use their computer it was a fight to get back the viruses that were popping up, the adware clobbering the machine, and all the other “stuff” that has to be running to protect your PC and make it work. That was enough to remind me what I have come to take for granted on the Mac.

I long ago went through my build-computer phase and I am over that. I don’t want to play with computers anymore. I don’t want to upgrade constantly… I want to sit down and USE the darn thing to DO something, which mainly consists of photos and music. So on that – I use iPhoto EVERY DAY along with Photoshop CS2 and Safari. My next most used application is iTunes.

Sorry for the rant – but again to answer your question – iPhoto does not suck…

MacBook Core Duo 2.0GHz / iMac G5 20" 1.8GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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