IPhoto. Editing in Photoshop. Exporting to Print Lab.

Question

I wish to edit photos in Photoshop, return to iPhoto, put the edited photos in a Folder, Name that Folder then upload (export) to an on-line photo Print Lab. How can I achieve this? I am new to the Mac having previously worked in Windows.

Answer 1

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
I wish to edit photos in Photoshop, return to iPhoto
1. Set Photoshop as an External Editor in iPhoto. Then iPhoto will send a copy of the pics to Photoshop and when you Save them they are saved back to iPhoto.
You can set Photoshop (or any image editor) as an external editor in iPhoto. (Preferences -> General -> Edit Photo: Choose from the Drop Down Menu.) This way, when you double click a pic to edit in iPhoto it will open automatically in Photoshop or your Image Editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically. This is the only way that edits made in another application will be displayed in iPhoto.
Note: You use the Save command in Photoshop, not Save As... iPhoto is already preserving your original file so there's no need to do that in Photoshop
put the edited photos in a Folder, Name that Folder then upload (export) to an on-line photo Print Lab
Two ways to do that.
Put the Edited Photos in An Album in iPhoto.
Then either a: select the Album in the Uploader to the website or b: Export the Album (File -> Export) to a Folder on the desktop and upload that.
In the case of a: The Library (and all the Albums) are available in every Open... and Attach... dialogue in the OS. See the first hint below:
There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:
*For Users of 10.5 and later*
You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
*For users of 10.4 and later* ...
Many internet sites such as Flickr and SmugMug have plug-ins for accessing the iPhoto Library. If the site you want to use doesn’t then some, one or any of these will also work:
To upload to a site that does not have an iPhoto Export Plug-in the recommended way is to Select the Pic in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export and export the pic to the desktop, then upload from there. After the upload you can trash the pic on the desktop. It's only a copy and your original is safe in iPhoto.
This is also true for emailing with Web-based services. However, if you're using Gmail you can use iPhoto2GMail
If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.
If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.
*If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running*:
For users of 10.6 and later:
You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu. Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.
For Users of 10.4 and later:
Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
Other options include:
1. *Drag and Drop*: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
2. *File -> Export*: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.
3. *Show File*: Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.
Regards
TD