Converting Adobe Elements 7 for Windows to iPhoto 2009

Question

Hi,
I recently purchased a new iMac and I'm planning to convert my Windows photo library from Adobe Elements 7 to iPhoto.
Is it possible for me to preserve the tags and other info? If so, how?
Also, my Windows Elements photos are organized by date, with a separate folder for each date; the photos under each date just have numerical sequence number. I would prefer to have a structure organized with a folder for each event and each photo within the event folder prefixed by event name then a sequential number, e.g. NewYork folder with pics NewYork001, etc.Can I implement a structure like this in iPhoto and if so how? Should I do it before I import the pics?
thanks for the help,
David

Answer 1

Here's a Tip:
Create a Library and import 100 pics and explore. See what iPhoto can do - and can't - for you. Take a little time to see how it integrates with the OS but also how things you would attach importance to before (like the Filename) are of little interest.
Is it possible for me to preserve the tags and other info? If so, how?
Yes, I believe so. You must be sure to write the tags back to the files before migrating. Check your manual for details.
my Windows Elements photos are organized by date, with a separate folder for each date; the photos under each date just have numerical sequence number.
This kind of organisation is pretty pointless in iPhoto. With the date tool you can find all the pics taken on any day/Month/year with a click. With Smart Albums you can find any pics within a particular date range and so on.
I would prefer to have a structure organized with a folder for each event and each photo within the event folder prefixed by event name then a sequential number, e.g. NewYork folder with pics NewYork001, etc.Can I implement a structure like this in iPhoto and if so how?
Yes you can title the photos (Photos -> Batch Change) and add a sequential number to them. But note that the basic organising Element in iPhoto is The Album. Photos go in Albums, Albums can be in Folders and so on. But Folders don't actually contain photos, only Albums.
Note to: +Adding a Title does not rename files+ The filename is of no concern in iPhoto. You can export from iPhoto using the title as a filename for the Photo, should you need to.
FWIW: Here's how I use iPhoto:
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 exensively. 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 28k 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.
Keywording takes time to set up, there's no doubt about it. I use Keyword Manager as it's much more powerful than the inbuilt system, and adds the possibility of nested keywords. So, for instance, if I add John to a photo it also adds 'Family'. Now I can add many keywords to a pic quickly.
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.
Regards
TD