Accessing/copying photos in iPhoto

I tried the upgrader and it says my photos are already OK for the 9.x upgrade (not a surprise but I wonder about any photos that I had saved using the previous versions). I dod import photos from my iPhone as you describe. I do not let iPhoto delete my iPhone pics as I worry about a screwup (good decision as I don't trust iPhoto in any form or fashion).

I cannot use the Email option you suggest as it does not give Gmail as an option. So I have been emailing to my Gmail account and then forwarding those emails using Gmail. I will not force my contacts to learn two different email accounts, nor do I want to go through all that brain damage. And when I do email the pics, they are unclickable/unchooseable so I cannot open and save them.

Your reply does not help but thanks for trying.

TD - thanks for you words of advice. Trust me, I have been trying to learn this very obtuse piece of crap for a few years now. iPhoto does not allow me use Gmail directly - see my reply above. I do go through a Gmail server for Mail but I do not want to use an entirely separate email client which requires an entirely new email address. I want to attach photos to existing threads in my Gmail account. Mail is not a very good client anyway IMO.

As far as upgrading to iPhoto 9.1.2, please reread my first note on this thread. I get in to a circular loop at the App store which never gets me to a purchase option. It gives a price of $14.99 with a down arrow. Normally clicking that would purchase it for me. Instead it loops me back to the generic descripiton of how great iPhoto is with an option to go purchase it which gets me back to the purchase screen which then loops back ad nauseum. Pretty odd and very unhelpful.

But your link (How to Access Files in iPhoto) was very helpful and told me exactly what I needed to know to use Gmail by dragging an iPhoto pic to the attach button, or to just save a copy of a photo to my desktop by dragging and dropping. My only wish is that the manuals and help for iPhoto (and all Apple apps) would be better. I tried every combination of searching help I could find, and googling for answers too. The only way I got this info is to finally come to the support community, which worked in this case. Thanks....

Terence - thanks for your kind words about how I don't get it. I am not trying, nor do I want to be forced, to use iPhoto to send my photos via an application OR service I prefer not to use. If that is the only way to do so, then it is my decision to accept that or not, and indeed, stop using it. But I paid for it and I prefer that it play nice with the rest of the world. I understand why it is easier to develop a set of compimentary software (whether it is a service running an application on a server or as an application running on my Mac) in a closed system way. Your terminoloty of "service" and "application" are not universally accepted and not widely used by all the users out there. I have bona fides as system designer and developer but I won't assume that would make any difference to smug people out there and was there when the client/server model was initially developed and since turned into to server-based iCloud-type database services. BTW I don't like having my sensitive personal info on a machine I can't lock up for myself but I am just paranoid and naive. But I am fine being able to copy and access my photos with other applications that run on my personal Mac, and also to use the "service" that Gmail provides running their application via a client/server model. I don't like Apple changing the rules to force me to use iCloud as a service to replace my Contacts application running on my iPhone and Mac. Sure it is handy to have iCloud do that but I would prefer to have the option to keep local control of my contacts and calendar and there was no reason for Apple to force me to use iCloud except for other business reasons that benefit them more than it does me.

I did thank you for providing me the info to allow me to do exactly what I wanted to do. I don't find iPhoto to be either intuitive nor well documented which is why there are people like you out there that have fun helping ignorant people like me to ask questions for answers that should be provided by iPhoto documentation. I did spend over an hour trying to find the answers you gave me and only came here as a last resort. Believe me, it is not fun to have to do that with everything Apple (and Microsoft, et al). One of my hats in previous jobs was to manage the documentation process for far more arcane software than this. The standard was that a user should be able to understand how the software works without jumping through hoops like going to a support group to be put down by those who have the time to sort all this out full time (or during the other time that other people use to have a life).

I am used to using Gmail, and Outlook before that, and Yahoo before that..... I am not a power user. I don't want or care to. I use iPhoto because it is what came with my Mac and what works with my iPhone. It is a very closed architecture and this is not the only frustration I have had with this model, especially with the lack of complete support for the products. I won't bore you with the wide and numerous problems people smarter than me have had with Apple products. And in any case, swearing at software is a long and distinguished process. I am not the first and not the last. At least I was only thanking you for your help rather than swearing at you. I don't appreciate your condescending attitude for poor schmucks like me though.

Old Toad, regarding your advice, I actually have done and abandoned using Mail to go through my Gmail account. I don't really care for two layers of software trying to do something simple like this. And why should I? Mail may be an application rather than a service but from a user interface point of view they look and feel the same and you have to follow their rules of the application or service design. Gmail is not a perfect service but at least I know how to use it for my email. I don't really want to have to use Mail in additon, especially when I can access the Gmail service on any platform I happened to have to use at the moment. Mail is limited to my Mac since it is a Mac only application (I'm sure you will correct me if I am wrong on that). To each his/her own though. I do appreciate that you guys did help me and that I have the options to use the systems (whether as a service and/or application) in a way that best suits my skills and preference. I won't knock how you prefer to do your mail and photos. It is just not what I want to do if given the option. BTW - I have several reasons to wean myself away from the "service" that Google provides but that is not an Apple application issue.