Iphoto file structure

I hate the date file structure for iphoto. If I move to a programme which isn't iphoto, I cannot navigate through the date structure to find certain photos.
Why is it when I name a photo in iphoto, the name does not show in the file structure. Is there any way around this or am I stuck with using iphoto for ever. Could be a probleem if Apple went bust
TIA Anteric

Hi anthony,
The iPhoto 6 files organization is now by Years/rolls
iPhoto 6 Library folder in the Finder
As you can see the structure is now related to rolls. Rolls are created for each folder you import and each import session from a camera.
It is very easy to change the names of film rolls within iPhoto to make them easier to find images within. Open the info panel in iPhoto by clicking on the "i" icon. Once it is opened, click on the roll title in the viewing window.
Click on the word "title" in the info pane and type in your new title. I like to use a date and text format such as 12/25/05 Christmas at Mom's, 1/05/06 my birthday, etc. Once the roll names are changed within iPhoto, they are also changed within the Finder, making it easy to locate an image.
When importing from a camera, make sure you name the roll with a date and text before the import.
The title you give a photo in iPhoto stays within iPhoto. the image file name remains the same in the Finder.
If you want to rename images, it should be done before importing into iPhoto.
download using your camera software or Image Capture, rename the photos, then import into iPhoto.
If you need to access photos from an album it is very difficult for a third party application to navigate the iPhoto Library in order to find the photo you need. You will have to know the date of import(iPhoto 5), or roll name (iPhoto 6) in order to find the photo.
There are some third party applications that can read the xml file and can navigate the iPhoto library and show you the Albums. Hopefully more applications will be revised to read this file.
Until then you will have to Share/Export the photos to the desktop. You can then navigate to the desktop to use the photos (example: web uploading from online photo site)
If your application supports drag and drop, you can drag the photo from an open iPhoto Library window into your application.
For email you can also use the email icon within iPhoto to open a message with the highlighted photo attached.
You can also use spotlight to find images in an Album...
This is what I have done using Spotlight to find my images that are in iPhoto albums without opening iPhoto..
In iPhoto, select the album, then select all, go to Photos/batch change.
Change the comments to text. In the text field I put the name of the Album.
Do this for each album.
Close iPhoto.
Open Spotlight and put in the name of the Album ( you have to remember the names of the albums or have then written down)
In the spotlight search results. click on "show all"
Under "Images" click on the "xx more" to show all the images in the album.
Make sure you have it in icon view, the icon view box is the last one on the blue images line.
Now you can control click on the image to "reveal in finder", open in iPhoto or Mail, etc.
I am not sure if this is going to make you happy and it is a little more work, but you can find images in albums and even view them in a slideshow (by clicking the play arrow at the end of the Images highlighted blue line) using Spotlight, all without opening iPhoto.
One important thing to know is you can set up a graphic program to be an external editor (when you double click an image in the library} such as PhotoShop or PS Elements. You set up that within iPhoto Preferences. Just make sure you save the image flattened and with the same name. The edits will then be relected in iPhoto when you hit "save".
I have just found this useful piece of info at Macoshints.com
"Since Apple developed its "digital hub", with iLife and now iWork, I have wanted to have a system-wide panel that would let me choose pictures from my iPhoto library without having to open the application.
For example, if I want to add a picture to a TextEdit RTFD document, I had to launch iPhoto, chose the picture, and drag it to the document. Waiting for iPhoto to launch can be long if you have a lot of photos.
But there is a way to get around this, using an Automator action.
1. Open Automator, and click iPhoto.
2. From the list of actions, select Ask for Photos, and drag it to the right-hand pane.
3. Save this as a plug-in, and select Script Menu (the script menu that displays in the menu bar) so it is accessible anywhere. (If this menu is not visible, launch the AppleScript Utility in /Applications/Applescript, and check 'Show Script Menu in menu bar.')
Next time you need a picture from your iPhoto library, select this action from the AppleScript menu, and you'll have a media browser that lets you do so without opening iPhoto. "
Two Apple kbs for you to read
Don't tamper with files in the iPhoto library folder
About the iPhoto Library folder

Similar Messages

IPhoto file structure corrupted?

Dear all,
It seems that my file structure of iPhoto is corrupted.
I import my photo's from a Sony digital camera and during vacations I use the iPod as an in between storage medium as well.
After the holidays I downloaded the pictures into iPhoto, and I see now that the photo's are not saved any longer in the 'Year, Month, Day' folder structure as it used to do before using an iPod, but now all of a sudden the pictures are stored in the an 'Original' folder in the iPhoto Library and which has now also year folders like 2001, 2004, ... 2006, etc.
These folders in turn, contain subfolders either labeled for example 'Filmrol 228', 'Filmrol 229', etc., and '100APPLE', through '103APPLE', which contain the individual photos. So no 'Months' or 'Day' directories.
It seems that my file structure has been corrupted (by the iPod??) somehow.
Currently there is no logical way I can find my pictures under the 'Year, Month, Day' file set up any more, exept by clicking on the photo and with the right mouse button and select "Show file".
How can I correct this mess?
Thanks,
Hans

Hi Hans,
From your post, it seems as though you are now using iPhoto 6. I say this because this is how iPhoto 6 organizes in the finder.
iPhoto 6 Library folder in the Finder
As you can see the structure is now related to rolls. Rolls are created for each folder you import and each import session from a camera.
It is very easy to change the names of film rolls within iPhoto to make them easier to find images within. Open the info panel in iPhoto by clicking on the "i" icon. Once it is opened, click on the roll title in the viewing window.
Click on the word "title" in the info pane and type in your new title. I like to use a date and text format such as 12/25/05 Christmas at Mom's, 1/05/06 my birthday, etc. Once the roll names are changed within iPhoto, they are also changed within the Finder, making it easy to locate an image.
When importing from a camera, make sure you name the roll with a date and text before the import.

Corrupted file structure in iPhoto library?

This is a little like the "disappeared library" problem that someone else reported, but my library looks OK. It's just that several years worth of photos have disappeared (i.e. folders show as empty).
A quick check into the library folder suggests that originals and modifieds are still there. There seems to be a "disconnect" in linking the library structure to the contents.
As with the other guy, I wouldn't want to restore everything one roll at a time and rebuild my folders.
I have daily backups (using Backup). 10 days ago everything was fine; but if I do a Restore from 15 days ago, I get a successful restore msg, but nothing has changed. Maybe there are bugs in Backup too. You put some faith in Backup working, but I've had Restoring problems with Backup of Mail files as well in the past.
I'm no expert at this sort of thing, but it might be helpful to just know what the iPhoto file structure is supposed to look like. Then maybeI could try to restore specific items on a trial-and-error basis.

Thanks for the prompt reply, TD...
You've come close to describing my situation, but I don't see the solution.
In my case I have the following in my iPhoto folder (quite similar to your list...
In my case I have folders labelled 2001 through 2007 in my Originals folder, and the same for Modified, although oddly enough there's no 2002. It's possible that I didn't make mods for that full year, but doubtful.
If this is the case you have nothing to worry about.
In earlier versions of iPhoto the folder structure
was based in Date. With v6 a new structure was
created:
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.
OK, you've explained that well, but here is the real problem. If I can call that thing on the left of my screen a Table of Contents, I have folders labelled by year, Last 6 rolls, Last 18 months and dozens that I have created myself... plus some slide shows. That whole structure seems intact from the way I left it before things went wrong.
The issue is that it's the most recent years.. 2006, 2007 have (0) beside them and don't show any photos when clicked on. The same is true of all of the folders (albums) I've created with pictures from those years.
I can see from a file listing of 2006/2007 that I have 3GB of photos in Originals and another 1 GB on Modified. Sampling the photos in Preview shows that they're OK as far as I can tell. What I'm calling the Table of Contents simply isn't accessing them.
Hopefully you have a simpler solution for me, but what would happen if I did an import on the 2006 and 2007 files? I suppose the 100 or so albums I've created would all have to be created???
And, I still don't understand why my Backup Restore isn't recreating what I had working fine just 10 days ago.

Using Adobe Bridge file structure with iPhoto (latest version)

I use Adobe Bridge and have all my pics in named folders in Pictures/PICS/Folder Names. Inside the PICS folder is the iPhoto Library (only a few pics in it). Is there any way I can use the file structure I have set up with Bridge and iPhoto (latest) simultaneously? I really dont want to import (copy) all my pics into IPhot because I am pretty sure I will end up with two versions of each. I havent been able to manage pics manually the way I like to in older versions of iPhoto.

Here's some info to help you setup Photoshop for use with iPhoto:
Using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.
1 - select Photoshop or Photoshop Elememts as your editor of choice in iPhoto's General Preference Section's under the "Edit photo:" menu.
2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.
3 - however, if you get the navigation window
that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.
This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..
NOTE: With Photoshop Elements the Saving File preferences should be configured as shown:
I also suggest the Maximize PSD File Compatabilty be set to Always. In PSE’s General preference pane set the Color Picker to Apple as shown:
Note 1: screenshots are from PSE 10
Note: to switch between iPhoto and PS or PSE as the editor of choice Control (right)-click on the thumbnail and select either Edit in iPhoto or Edit in External Editor from the contextual menu. If you use iPhoto to edit more than PSE re-select iPhoto in the iPhoto General preference pane. Then iPhoto will be the default editor and you can use the contextual menu to select PSE for your editor when desired.
OT

IPhoto 11 file structure

I had my laptop stolen recently and have my iPhoto library backed up using Carbonite. I have been trying to restore it from Carbonite, however, at the rate it is restoring it will take months to restore. I have a locally backed up version of my iPhoto library from two months ago. What I want to do is just restore from Carbonite photos taken over the past 2 months and then I'll re-add those to the local backup I have. The problem I have is that I'm finding the iPhoto Library file structure really hard to navigate through and work out. Where would I find the photos from the past couple of months (it is under Masters?). Also where is the metadata I would have added when I imported them to iPhoto (file name, faces info, keywords etc.).
I've tried to find online something that explains the file structure without success.
Thanks,
David

the iPhoto library is a SQL database - you can not reconstruct it in pieces - the best you can do is to restore your local i{Photo library and then get the recent photos from the masters folder and import them to the library
Metadata is stored in the database - file names are as imported (iPhoto does not modify file names)
LN

IPhoto Library file structure

I have consolidated a large number of photos into rolls with meaningful names (e.g. NOT Roll 108 etc.,) and when the roll is empty in iPhoto the title disappears. However, if I try to use othr applications to access the originals, all the old, empty rolls are still shown in the file structure. Can I safely delete these in Finder or will it affect iPhoto? I just want to tidy up the file tree for when I'm using something other than iPhoto for manipulating my photos.

BreizhRonB
an I safely delete these in Finder or will it affect iPhoto?
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. Given that iPhoto is not removing them automatically may be because there are pics in the trash that belong to these Rolls (solution: empty the iPhoto trash). However, it might also be due to HD issues.
However, if I try to use othr applications to access the originals,
This is also not recommended. What other apps are you using? Photo editors? You can set 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 the editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically.
or
There are three ways (at least) to get files from the iPhoto Window.
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.
Also, many applications use the the media browser. However, the key information is that Users and/or other Applications should not attempt to access the iPhoto Library Folder.
Regards
TD
Message was edited by: Terence Devlin

File structure in iPhoto

I made a couple of mistakes when I started using iphoto to organize my pics. First, I started renaming files and of course iPhoto then could not find them. Second I reset my camera file naming a couple of times, so I ended up with multiple pics with the same file name.
I want to get my files straightened up so I need to understand how iPhoto uses the directory structure.
1. Are all pics saved in the Original Folder by default?
2. When you modify a pic, is the original unmodified in the Original folder and the modified pic is now in the Modified folder?
3. Does iPhoto build from the Original folder and store copies in the Data folder?
4. If I wanted to rebuild my iPhoto library, could I safely delete the Data folder and re-import all pics back into iPhoto?
Thanks

Dr Scud
1. Are all pics saved in the Original Folder by default?
Yes.
2. When you modify a pic, is the original unmodified in the Original folder and the modified pic is now in the Modified folder?
Yes. This facilitates the Photos -> Revert to original command.
3. Does iPhoto build from the Original folder and store copies in the Data folder?
No. What's in the data folder are the thumbnails that you see in the iPhoto Window - and they represent the current version of the pic - original if not edited, modified if it has been.
4. If I wanted to rebuild my iPhoto library, could I safely delete the Data folder and re-import all pics back into iPhoto?
Hmm. Best to start right over:
To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
BTW: filenames are utterly irrelevant in iPhoto. It assigns each pic a unique identifier so you can have several pics called DSC_0078678 and it will handle that with ease. In iPhoto you can add a title to the pics and use that as a filename on export.
Regards
TD

Export Iphoto-library to file structure

I have been searching around for quite some while how to export the Iphoto-library into a 'classic' directory file structure (e.g. folder/event; folder/album,...).
Main raison for doing this is for backup and consolidation purposes: I have quite some 1000nds of pictures on traditional directory structures on my NAS; I want to consolidate this with the Iphoto data I have, without imoprting all the existing stuff into Iphoto.
I have found in fact 2 applications which should serve this purpose:
- the Iphoto to disk solution: http://www.iphototodisk.com, which seems no longer updated and the album export-feature was only in rel. 4 beta available
- Photoshare: a scripting based tool, but I experienced some issues witht the export of albums (empty...)
- a number of scripts found on teh internet.
I also read somewhere that a good alternativ eis to upgrade to Aperture, which seem sto have a better export-capability, including an export which allows to export to full library accoring to events and albums.
I'm surprise that there are not more apps availble for this,as it seems to be a hot topic on the internet.
Any advice ?
Peter

What advice were you looking for?

File structure iPhoto

Hello forum,
is there by any chance sombody reading this forum who might be able to tell whether there is even the slightes chance that iPhoto would change its file structure in order to keep my own finder file structure?
iPhoto would be perfect if it would simple scan any folder I tell it too (similar like googles picasa) AND offer the possibility to archive my pictures on DVD/CD ROM, keeping a thumbnail of each archived picture with the information of the new location of the original file (like iView does)
Now I'm actually considering switching to iView, allthough I will miss the red eye reduction of iPhoto....
Any good news out there?
Or anyone sharing my point of view?
Thanks,
Petra

PetraVM:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Unfortunately you can't mirror your folder system exactly in iPhoto. Each folder or group of files you import will be placed in a roll. If imported from a folder the roll will have the same title as that folder.
You can, however, create folders in the Source pane to hold other folders and albums like this (folders can contain other folders and/or albums, slideshows, etc. but albums can only contain photos). That can, if desired somewhat mirror you folder system.
If you use iPhoto's alias system you can keep your source files in any folder system you'd like in any location you'd like and have just alias files in the library folder. See Tutorial #2. You'll still be limited to the rolls system of iPhoto but your source files will be in your own folder system.
Regarding redeye removal, have you tried iView's editor. Although requiring more steps it does a very good job. iView's versions control also lets you have multiple edited versions of the same image file. I use both on the same set of source files. iPhoto for books, calendars, etc. and iView for organizing and general image management.
Do you Twango?

Where in file structure on new hard drive should I direct IPhoto restore from Mozy?

I have a substantial IPhoto '08 library backed up on Mozy.com. My hard drive crashed and, after replacement by Apple, I notice I now have IPhoto '09 installed. I know Mozy has had problems with restoring metadata associated with IPhoto (they know it, too) but after lengthy discussions with Mozy personnel they assure me all metadata will be preserved during a restore if (and only if) I use the "Restore" tab from within the Mozy backup interface, as opposed to using any of the other avaiable Mozy restore tools. My entire IPhoto library shows up within the Mozy restore file structure as a single, very large file. My question is this: Where / what should I choose as the destination for the restoe on this brand-new hard drive?
Thanks to all for any help or guidance.
Ted

Ted,
There is an iPhoto forum, I'd suggest re-posting there if no one here is able to answer your question. This forum is more a general iMac forum.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/ilife/iphoto

How do I maintain the file structure in iphoto 6 the way i want them?

For the past few years I have been scanning forty years worth of slides on my windows based PC. I have approximately 9500 scan as this point. Each scan is given a number such as "009500" followed by the names of persons or places shown on the picture. They are generally in chronological order. Obviously the creation of the scan has nothing to do with the date of the actual shooting of the picture. They are in the order that I want them in.
I can import them either from an external hard drive or from cds containing a few hundred scans each.
Is there anyway that I can maintain that kind of file structure in iphoto 6?
Frankly, I am somewhat disappointed by all of this. My kids told me how easy the mac was for photos and I now find that it may well complicate my computer life even more.
Mad Judge

MJ,
Once your files are imported into the library you can view them in many ways. When you import a file, iPhoto uses the filename as the photo title. I think you can achieve what you want by using View > Sort Photos > by Title. This will display all of your scans in the alpha-numeric order of their titles. You could then move the size slider toward the left (to reduce the thumbnail size) and quickly group your photos into Film Rolls. Click on the first photo, shift-click on the last photo, and all photos in between will become selected. Then use File > Create Film Roll to group these photos together into manageable chunks. Each time you create (or select) a film roll you can give it a descriptive title and edit the roll date. When you set the View to Film Rolls, each roll is listed in chronological order by the date of the roll - not the date of the photos within the roll. This is handy, since you can easily set the date for each roll, and it's a much less daunting task than redating your entire library. Photos within one roll will display in chronological order based on the date of the photos. I realize that with your scans these will not be accurate. So you could either change the date in iPhoto (but you said this would be a huge task) or don't worry about it. [You could use Photos > Batch Change to quickly redate the photos in a roll. Even if you don't take the time to set the exact dates, you can assign the group to a date or series of dates. By doing this you can use the calendar tool to filter your library by date. It is just one more way to make iPhoto a powerful organizer. Click on a year, month, or date in the calendar tool, and iPhoto filters your library to show the photos with those dates.] This is where your grouping into film rolls helps make your library organized - if the photos in a roll are from relatively the same time frame, then perhaps the internal order of the roll will be less important. And you can always switch your View back to Sort by Title when you need the photos to display in the exact order you have designated with your filenames. Just don't re-title the photos once they are in your library.
If you divided your library into Film Rolls, then you could create an Album for each roll (by simply dragging the roll to the Source Pane). The advantage there is that with regular Albums, you have the option to sort the photos manually by dragging them around. (View > Sort Photos > Manually) You can switch to another sort order, and iPhoto remembers your manual order when you return to it. You do have the option to reset your manual order if you wish.
iPhoto is very flexible, and with so many views, sorts, and filters you may well find a method that works for you. There is a shift in thinking from the way Windows software works, and if you are used to file browsers then you have to learn to play by the rules of using a database. If you can be patient and work through the learning curve, you may be rewarded. If I can clarify anything for you, please let me know.

Export iPhoto pics to PC while maintaining file structure

Hi,
I am sure I am going to flame up the old Mac vs PC war, but I want to export all my iPhoto photos to a PC while maintaining some sort of file structure.
Is there an app that can do this? Can it be done from the Macintosh version of Picasa?
I did find this youtube tutorial on how to do it, but going into Terminal to get it done may be above my abilities.
Thanks in advance for all your help,
Phil

1 - there is no "old Mac vs PC" war - only old PC users who want to make a Mac just like their PC - it is not and will not be - we explain how thing DO work - not how they should or what is best
2 - does yoir question involve iPhoto for the Mac in any way? It appears to be a Picasa support question - this is the wrong place for that - you need a Picasa suppor forum fot that
3 - this makes no sense
but I want to export all my iPhoto photos to a PC while maintaining some sort of file structure.
since anything you export from iPhoto is in "some sort of file structure" - impossible not to be as that is the only way photos can be stored digitally
If you have iPhoto '11 you can export in a folder structure that matches your event structure - see this user tip for details on export options including this one
4 - I'm not going to watch the YouTube video but there should be no reason to use Terminal to export yoru photos
LN

Needed: Script for exporting iPhoto albums into a file structure

Hello all! I have no experience with AppleScript, but I heard it should be possible to write a script which helps to copy/export a iPhoto album structure into an according directory structure. Does anybody already have such a script?
Thx for any information on that!

Thomas,
I have created an AppleScript along with the TextCommands OSAX that duplicates all of the albums in iPhoto to a folder called "Albums" on the desktop. It is quite slow because of the need to open an Info window in Finder to get the path to the original photo but gets the job done.
If you wish it could be modified to provide an ability to select individual albums for duplication. Let me know if you are interested in the latter. I am also seeing whether the album structure can be created directly in a burn folder so that CDs/DVDs can be rapidly burned.
TextCommands is donationware and available at the following location:
http://osaxen.com/files/textcommands1.0.1.html
and should be placed in the following location for the AppleScript to see it:
~/Library/ScriptingAdditions/
click here to open this script in your editor<pre style="font-family: 'Monaco', 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; overflow:auto; color: #222; background: #DDD; padding: 0.2em; font-size: 10px; width:400px">property PathToDesktop : path to desktop as string
property PathToPictures : path to pictures folder as string
property PathToiPhotoLibrary : PathToPictures & "iPhoto Library"
property PathToiPhotoAlbums : PathToiPhotoLibrary & ":Albums"
property PathToCopiedAlbums : PathToDesktop & "Albums"
tell application "Finder"
activate
set theCopiedAlbumsFolder to duplicate folder (PathToiPhotoAlbums as alias) to desktop
set theAlbums to folders of folder PathToCopiedAlbums
set theExtraneousFiles to files of folder PathToCopiedAlbums
delete theExtraneousFiles
repeat with anAlbum in theAlbums
repeat with anAlias in anAlbum
-- need to use GUI access to grab the path to the original photo
open information window of anAlias
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
-- grab the path to the original file
set PathToTheOriginalPhoto to value of static text 2 of scroll area 1 of window 1
end tell
end tell
close window 1
-- need to remove some extraneous material and convert to AppleScript path format
tell application "TextCommands"
split PathToTheOriginalPhoto using {":", "../"}
set PathToTheOriginalPhoto to item 4 of the result
set PathToTheOriginalPhoto to search PathToTheOriginalPhoto for "/" replacing with ":"
set PathToTheOriginalPhoto to (PathToiPhotoLibrary & ":" & PathToTheOriginalPhoto) as alias
end tell
(* unfortunately there seems to be bug in duplicate file to another folder so must use a copy, , delete the alias, move, and clean up name of copied file sequence to accomplish the equivalent *)
-- duplicate the original in the original album folder
set theCopiedPhoto to duplicate PathToTheOriginalPhoto
-- Delete the alias in the Copied Album
delete anAlias
-- Move the copied photo to the Copied Album
set theCopiedPhoto to move theCopiedPhoto to anAlbum
-- Remove the "copy" from the photo names
set NameOfPhoto to name of theCopiedPhoto
tell application "TextCommands"
set name of theCopiedPhoto to search NameOfPhoto for " copy" replacing with ""
end tell
end repeat
end repeat
end tell</pre>
PowerBook 12" Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Retaining existing file structure when importing into Iphoto 8

Hello,
I'm new to the list and to iphoto. I'm an historian, and I have about 10,000 images of documents on my mac, all divided into dozens of folders, sub-folders, and sub-sub folders, depending on where the documents originated in the collections I was researching. I'd like to be able to work with these images in Iphoto 8. When I tried to import a folder that contained photos in sub-folders, Iphoto simply imported the photos without the files, making them pretty much useless for me. Can anyone on the list tell me how to work with these images with Iphoto without losing the existing file structure, and without me needing to recreate that file structure within Iphoto? Barring that, I'd be obliged for suggestions of other programs that can do this. Thank you!

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. If you must maintain your folder structure then you might want to look at another application for that.Media Expression will do exactly what you want. You setup your folder system and it works with it. You can keyword, set up categories (albums in iPhotoese) and lots more. It's one of the better DAM (digital asset management) applications.
Otherwise you can simulate your folder structure in iPhoto with iPhoto's virtual folders and albums like shown in this screenshot:
Click to view full size

Importing File Structure into iPhoto

I need help (or perhaps someone could kindly point me in the right direction) importing the file structure I had set up for my photos. Currently, I have my photos filed in an external drive. The structure I have created is, for example, 2008 folder, then under that 2008 folder I have a folder for each month, then in each month I have an events folder (christmas, tree cutting, etc...). This would look something like this: 2008/12/Christmas Day. Is there a way to import this structure into iPhoto?
Thanks for the help... (if you've made it this far!)!
-Ann Marie

Ann Marie:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. You can achieve that by using virtual folders, 2007, 2008, etc. and the have smart albums in each of those folder for the months. The criteria for the January smart album would be "Date is the range 01/01/2007 to 01/31/2007".
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Iphoto file structure

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