How does iPhoto 6 store data?

Hi,
I am curious, how does iPhoto store data? I have three folders:
1. Data
2. Modified
3. Originals
All appear to have the same directory, but have vastly different content, ranging from 2.4 GB to just a few MB.
I would like to slim my hard drive, but not throw out something that is essential in iPhoto’s operation.
Thanks,
Klaus

Klaus
Good thing you checked here first
It is strongly advised that you do not move, change or in anyway alter things in the iPhoto Library Folder as this can cause the application to fail and even lead to data loss
A Note about the iPhoto Library Folder:
In this folder there are various files, which are the Library itself and some ancillary files. Then you have three folders
Originals are the photos as they were downloaded from your camera or scanner.
(ii) Modified contains edited pics, shots that you have cropped, rotated or changed in any way.
This allows the Photos -> Revert to Original command - very useful if you don't like the changes you've made.
(iii) Data holds the thumbnails the the app needs to show you the photos in the iPhoto Window.
If you want to trim things down, then why not move the entire library to an external HD?
Regards
TD

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Where and how does iPhoto store photos?

I have iPhoto 2009 and tens of gigabytes of photos, maybe 10,000 in all.
Currently, I have been dumping these photos into my Pictures folder, then importing them into iPhoto. My questions are:
1) What's getting stored, and where?
2) Is this the best strategy?
3) What about duplicates? Do I just delete them from my iPhoto library, and leave them in my Picture folder? For example, I have hundreds of shots that I created as both RAW and JPEG. That's what I want to keep on disk, but I don't need duplicates in iPhoto.
4) How do I go about organizing my photos? Should I have a maximum number of photos in a given folder? And how should I organize all this in iPhoto?
I know these seem like stupid questions. I'm not a stupid user; I have 25 years of experience. I'm just looking for best practice suggestions and a deeper understanding of what is stored and where, and where I will hit performance problems.

the pictures in my Pictures folder have been copied into iPhoto, (into an enormous invisible folder somewhere)
Nothing enormous or invisible.
Since iPhoto 7 (iLife 08) the old iPhoto Library Folder is now a Package File. This is simply a folder that looks like a file in the Finder. The change was made to the format of the iPhoto library because many users were inadvertently corrupting their library by browsing through it with other software or making changes in it themselves.
Want to look inside? Go to your Pictures Folder and find the iPhoto Library there. Right (or Control-) Click on the icon and select 'Show Package Contents'. A finder window will open with the Library exposed.
Standard Warning: Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
How the files are stored: You have three core folders
Originals are the photos as they were downloaded from your camera or scanner.
(ii) Modified contains edited pics, shots that you have cropped, rotated or changed in any way.
(iii) Data holds the thumbnails the the app needs to show you the photos in the iPhoto Window.
See? No secrets.
I can be confident that they'll be backed up with Time Machine,
Yes, or any other Back Upmutility you choose
and they will remain in their original format (unless I edit within iPhoto),
Yes, as you can see from your look inside iPhoto
and, if I later choose a different photo management program, photos in the iPhoto library are still discrete files that I can copy using the Finder?
Yes, though the more correct way would be to export via iPhoto. Why? Because this will allow you to write any metadata you add in iPhoto to the files.
Regards
TD

How does iphoto order events?

How does iphoto arrange events for display purposes? It isn't alphabetically by title, it isn't chronologically by event creation date. I am baffled. If I know how they are ordered, I can move photos among events easier by renaming the events so they show up next to each other, then I can drag and drop photos in adjacent events without scrolling. Once I am finished, I can simply rename the events back to the original names. That would be the easiest way I have found to move photos around among events. I just can't figure out the riddle of how the events are ordered.

By default events are sorted by the date of the oldest photo in the event
Probably the easiest way to move photos is to flag the photos you want together and create an event from flagged photos
But generally it is best to just leave events in date/time order and use albums for detailed organization - and/or keywords and smart albums
LN

How does iPhoto recognize duplicates?

I recently imported a folder (including several sub-folders) of photos into iPhoto. It asked me if I wanted to import duplicates, and showed me a side-by-side of the two pictures in question. Since they we're clearly the same, I said no. After doing that for several photos, I finally said no for all duplicates, and the import rapidly completed.
But then I got to thinking. How does iPhoto actually recognize a duplicate? Is it solely by the external characteristics (name, date, size), or does it have a method to actually analyize the content of the two photos to see if one is actually a copy of the other? I really hope it is not just by name, as I have a number of photos that have the same name but complelely different topics.

Duplicate files are detected by comparing file name and the EXIF Capture Date.
There is one photo duplicate detection app that detects duplicate images by comparing the bit map or histogram of the image.
PhotoSweeper - $9.95 - This app can search by comparing the image's bitmaps or histograms thus finding duplicates with different file names and dates.
OT

How does iphoto handle files exactly?

using the program spring cleaning, i found all images outside of my iphoto library and imported them into my library. my question now is, if i run the search again, finding all images not in my iphoto library, can i safely delete those images since they have been copied into iphoto or are they still needed as a reference for the program? how does iphoto work with files exactly? i know there's an "original" and a "data file", but where are each of these stored? when a photo is imported to the iphoto library, does it make a copy of the original and the data file or what?

ryanfg
Unless you changed the default setting in the iPhoto preferences, then if a photo is in the iPhoto Window then it's in the iPhoto Library Folder.
A Note about the iPhoto Library Folder:
In this folder there are various files, which are the Library itself and some ancillary files. Then you have three folders
Originals are the photos as they were downloaded from your camera or scanner.
(ii) Modified contains edited pics, shots that you have cropped, rotated or changed in any way.
This allows the Photos -> Revert to Original command - very useful if you don't like the changes you've made.
(iii) Data holds the thumbnails the the app needs to show you the photos in the iPhoto Window.
Regards
TD

How can i store data in term of a tree structure

how can i store data in term of a tree structure

What a tree is the question. If you just want a fast access, ehats about Hashtable or dictionary classes ? The data there is structured in a tree. For a simple binary tree, you can use something like
class Node {
Node(Object data){
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void insert(Object data, Node parent){
int test = data.compareTo(parent.data);
if(test < 0 ){
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Is that what you search for?

How does Fetch Rx Data works?

Dear Sir or Madam,
I have a problem when I am implementing MAC protocols by using LabVIEW and USRP2. Actually there are two problem, I will show them in a simple CSMA protocol.
The first design is that in CSMA protocol, node 1 sent a data packet to node 2, and node 2 received the packet, analyzed it, and sent back a corresponding ACK. The problem is, node 2 need to switch between receiving mode (to receive the packet) and transmitting mode (to sent ACK back), and the switching time is non-neglectable (around 7 to 10 ms). That delay significantly decreases system performance. Is that any way to reduce the switching time?
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Hi HustLiliAn,
Thank you very much for you quick reply. I have to say sorry that my code is only partially belonging to me so I cannot distribute all of them, beg your understanding
To overcome the delay, I open both Tx and Rx session at the beginning of the code so I don't need to initial and abort session before and after using respectively. It could save a lot of time (I measure the same delay as you shown). I read from WBX application notes (http://files.ettus.com/uhd_docs/manual/html/dboards.html) that if the system is working in the duplex mode, then antenna TX/RX is using for transmission and RX2 is using for reception. I simply tested it and it seems true.
Since two antennas are working concurrently, the receiving antenna (RX2) can receive packet even it is sent by TX/RX. My problem is, in software level I have used the if structure to make transmission and reception work successively, RX2 can still receive signal sent by TX/RX. That is the real problem. Probably we can write some compensation VI which we can remove it by using the transmitted signal, but I still want to know is there any official solution for it.
BTW, I use the modulation toolkit. Its demodulation VI is also quite slow.
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How does iPhoto organises the photos?

Dear fellow Mac users,
how are you! Tonight, my parents had a lot of fun taking photos of them using Photo Booth... awww. those love birds haha.. and i made a music slideshows for them. (too bad i dont know how to burn it into a VCD for them to watch on TV). I dont have a DVD RW.
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StanB:
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http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04s/helpdata/en/39/025d83ca90a04c8a6151309d6d9f60/frameset.htm
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Where does iCal store data?

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Where does iCal store data?

Mike,
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How does iPhoto sharing work? Does it enable someone to share your photos on a public wifi?

How does iPhoto sharing (in preferences) work? If you enable it, does it allow someone to view your photos while on a public wifi? I am using a macbook pro with 10.7.4

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How does iPhoto compare to Picassa which I have used a long time?

How does iPhoto compare? And is it simple to bring all to iPhoto in the same organization?
Thanks!

Very vague question... in what way? You obviously know the strngths of Picasa. The feature list of iPhoto is on the Apple Site.
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As to migration... there is no path from Picasa and it will depend on what Picasa can export.
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Where does Iphoto store ratings, arrangement of photos, events, libraries?

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Where does iphoto store photos

where does iphoto store photos

For help accessing your photos in iPhoto see this user tip:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491

Why and how does Adobe Store's policy deliberately impede Least Developed Countries from developing?

Hi there,
My name is Dr Eric Mousset. I currently reside in Cambodia, having the privilege to serve as (international) Technical Assistant to support a Government project that is co-funded by the Royal Government of Cambodia and the World Bank, and purposed to Higher Education Capacity and Quality Improvement.
My mission implies conducting a survey on skills demand by employers and skills supply by Higher Education Institutions, in order to better inform further policy development.
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Why and how does Adobe Store's policy deliberately impede Least Developed Countries from developing?
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Hi;
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How does iPhoto 6 store data?

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