picture folder vs iphoto library

Your pictures are stored once, inside Pictures/ iPhoto Library, in folders based on the "rolls" created when you import into iPhoto. They are not duplicated where you see them listed in the Source Pane by year or by Albums you designate (topic?). Albums merely tell iPhoto which photos to display together; they do not duplicate your files. A photo can be in 10 albums or no album. To see your entire iPhoto library "inventory," that is, each photo once and only once, choose Library from the Source Pane.

To understand the structure of the iPhoto library, look at a diagram by lori_diloreto: http://homepage.mac.com/loridilo/.Public/iPhoto6.jpg

Note from the diagrams that there are 2 or 3 versions of each file in the library. These are not duplicates, and each file is important. Your original, full-sized photos are stored inside the Originals folder. They will not be changed when you edit or export a photo; iPhoto always preserves them. Edited versions are stored in the Modified folder. They are linked to the original version so that you can always discard your edits and revert to the original version. This is the version control at the heart of iPhoto. Each file you import also has a small thumbnail version in the Data folder. The thumbnails are displayed when you view your library in iPhoto, which allows the application to run efficiently. In order for iPhoto's database to perform properly, you must Import into iPhoto, and always use iPhoto to access these files (never access them from the Finder!).

1) You can't stop it from creating a new roll, but you can go to View > Sort Photos > by Film Rolls and edit your rolls. To move photos to other rolls, select one or more pictures, then drag to the name of a roll until it becomes selected, then drop. Or select photos and use the menu to choose File > Create Film Roll to place those photos into their own roll. Any roll that becomes empty will automatically disappear. With a roll name selected, you can also change it's title, date, or comments by typing inside the info pane (lower left corner of iPhoto window). You can get your rolls organized however you want, as long as you do it from within iPhoto.

2) The years are automatic Smart Albums, which you can not turn off. They do not cause duplication in your library. They are just a short cut for finding your photos. If you don't want them listed in your Source Pane, click the little triangle beside the word Library. The triangle will point to the right, and the year albums will be out of view.

3) By "subject folders" I assume you are referring to the Albums that you create. A photo must be in your library in order to have it in an album. If you delete it from the library, it will be removed from all albums, slideshows, books, etc. The file is in your library once; your albums simply point to those files.

4) Adding photos into the Pictures folder does not import them into the iPhoto library. It is fine to place items in Pictures, as long as you stay out of the folder named iPhoto Library. You might have image files that you don't want saved in iPhoto for some reason. [I keep digital scrapbook pages, but I don't want them in iPhoto, for example.]
Saving files directly into the iPhoto library folder is not recommended, will not correctly import the file into iPhoto, and could cause damage to the library. Note the Golden Rule of iPhoto: Do not tamper with anything in the iPhoto library folder from inside the Finder.

Want to find your photos so you can upload to a website? You can select photos from inside iPhoto, File > Export > File Export to a desktop folder, choose that folder for uploading, and trash that folder when done. Or right-click on a photo's thumbnail and choose "Show File" from the contextual menu. A Finder window will open with the photo selected.

Apple has a nice iPhoto tutorial at http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/iphoto/

Please feel free to post back with further questions or if you'd like clarification on any of the above.

You're welcome. 🙂

Smtr- I would also like to thank you for the excellent description. I have a relevant question - If I double click a photo in iPhoto to open the photo in Photoshop Elements, for editing, I would like to save the result back in iPhoto but am not sure how to do it. Do I have to save it to the desktop then import it into iPhoto as a separate photo, or is there a way to get it back into iPhoto as a modified photo?

Paco

Paco

If you have PSE set up as an External editor, which you have if double clicking on the photo in iPhoto opens it in PSE, then simply saving it will return it to iPhoto.

Regards

TD

Hi TD:
By golly, you're right, that does work. I think I was trying to use "Save As" and of course it was trying to save to a different location.

Thanks for your help. I haven't been using iPhoto much, up to now, because my HD was too small, but a new 120gb drive has changed all that and iPhoto looks like a great way to organize my photos.

Paco

It may be possible to reverse the damage, as long as it hasn't corrupted your database. However, it requires you to break the golden rule again - tamper in the iPhoto Library folder and put things back the way they were. Be very careful not to change anything else, or you could make things worse.

Open 2 Finder windows. Set them to column view, placing one above the other so that you can see both at the same time. Navigate one window to the folder you changed. I presume that is Pictures/ iPhoto Library/ Originals.... In the other Finder window, navigate to Pictures/ iPhoto Library/ Data. I also presume that you did not tamper with the folders inside the Data folder, since your thumbnails still display in iPhoto. Since the Data folder is created automatically when you import photos into your library, its contents should match the contents of your Originals folder exactly. Same years, same roll-based folders, same photos, same filenames. The only difference is that the photo files are the tiny thumbnails, and not the full-sized originals. Use the structure of the Data folder as a guide to help you correct your Originals folder.

The Modified folder should look a lot like the Data and Originals folders, except that it only contains years, rolls, and files that have been modified. So, elements may be missing, but the items that are there should have the same structure as the other 2 folders.

When you restore the correct name to a folder, iPhoto should again be able to locate the photos in that roll. If you are able to reverse the damage (meaning if you are both careful and lucky), then it may be a good idea to do a library database rebuild when you are finished. Hold Option and Command while you launch iPhoto. Check the first 3 boxes in the dialog, then Rebuild. If the library looks good after the rebuild, then chances are that you won't suffer further damage as a result of all this tampering.

You're welcome. I'm glad you got it working again.

HELP! I BROKE THE CARDINAL RULE OF iPHOTO

Being a recently converted PC user, I wanted to organize my picture folder so that I could upload pictures to facebook easier. So I organized all the files in the Data folder which included deleting folders and rolls etc. Now my iPhoto is almost unusable because it is so slow. I think it is because the thumbnail pics are full size files now. Is there any way to undo the damage I've done by reinstalling iPhoto and re-importing all my photos? I'm using iPhoto 6.0.6.

Help!

MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Mac OS X (10.4.9)

calash,

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.

Do not reinstall iPhoto, as the problem is inside your library, not the application.

When you changed things inside your iPhoto Library folder, did you only change the Data folder? Or did you change the Originals and the Modified, as well?

If you only changed the Data folder, you can try having iPhoto rebuild it. Hold Option and Command while launching iPhoto. Check the first 3 options in the box, then Rebuild.

If that doesn't help, you may have to create and populate a new library. Post back with your results and we'll go from there.

I also changed the originals folder as well. This was a couple of weeks ago so as I recall I changed the originals folder and then copied that into the data folder. The data folder and the originals folder are exactly the same in content.

Unfortunately, it sounds too far gone to put it back as it was. You'll have to create and populate a new library. You can read Terence's instructions here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4275830