IPhoto & Picasa Confusion

Question

Hi, I'm a user of Google Picasa. Just shifted to a Macbook a week ago.
I have all my photos sorted out in folders. When i try to import these folders into iPhoto,
1. I loose the entire folder structure
2. Inspite of deselecting the 'Copy Photos to Library' option, the size of iPhoto library increases massively with every import. So i use up twice the space, one for my original pictures folder, and one for the library.
Is there no way that iPhoto can just 'Look' at my Folder structure as picasa does ? In case of picasa, changes made directly to the folder structure show up in the picasa library, and vice versa.
One more question, After I've imported all my pictures into the Library, is it OK to delete the folders from the Pictures Folder ? Even if i backup using timemachine, if for some reason my iPhoto Library goes corrupt, my entire collection is lost right ? I gotta say that the folders way of handling thing seems more reliable to me. Or am i just making things too complicated?

Answer 1

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
First things to make clear: iPhoto is not Picasa - nor vice versa.
Many folks coming over from Windows reflexively want to have the files in their own folders and manage them themselves. This is *not the best way to use iPhoto*. If you’re concerned about disk space then the duplicates to remove are your own filing structure. However, don‘t do this today. I think the best thing you can do is to create an iPhoto Library - Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' - and import maybe 100 pics into it and explore the app. Then when you feel more comfortable with it, bring the rest of the pics in.
I’m going to do this in reverse:
After I've imported all my pictures into the Library, is it OK to delete the folders from the Pictures Folder ?
Absolutely NOT if you’re running iPhoto with ‘Copy Files to the Library on Import unchecked. This is a Referenced Library and it means you have opted to manage the files yourself. If iPhoto is managing the files (‘Copy Files to the Library on Import is checked ) then yes it is. But consider my note above.
I gotta say that the folders way of handling thing seems more reliable to me. Or am i just making things too complicated?
iPhoto does absolutely nothing to your Photos on import. It simply makes a byte by byte copy of the files and stores them in - guess what - folders. The iPhoto Library is actually a special kind of folder, called a Unix Package File. Right Click on it and select ‘Show Package Contents’ from the resulting menu. 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.
So, if iPhoto goes west, you can still recover your original files easily.
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 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.
2. Inspite of deselecting the 'Copy Photos to Library' option, the size of iPhoto library increases massively with every import. So i use up twice the space, one for my original pictures folder, and one for the library.
Your camera has an Auto-Rotate feature. However, the camera does not actually rotate any pixels in the file, but instead flags it with an instruction: "Display me this way". No photo app with editing can respect this flag, so iPhoto, seeing the flag, reads the intention and creates a modified version. If you then try to Revert to Original, iPhoto will remove the edited version. However, when it then looks at the Original file again, it sees the flag, and creates a new rotated version. This loop will run as long as you Revert to the Original. The solution is to either a: turn off the Auto-Rotate feature on your camera or b: rotate the photos prior to importing them to iPhoto.
A Comment on Referenced Libraries - that is, when you Uncheck ‘Copy Files on Import...’
In this mode iPhoto will not copy the files, but rather simply reference them on your HD. To do this it will create an alias in the Originals Folder that points to your file. It will still create a thumbnail and, if you modify the pics, a Modified version within the iPhoto Library Folder.
However, *you need to be aware of a number of potential pitfalls using this system*.
1. Import and deleting pics are more complex procedures
2. You cannot move or rename the files on your system or iPhoto will lose track of them on systems prior to 10.5 and iPhoto 08. Even with the later versions issues can still arise if you move the referenced files to new volumes or between volumes.
3. Most importantly, migrating to a new disk or computer can be much more complex.
Always allowing for personal preference, *I've yet to see a good reason to run iPhoto in referenced mode unless you're using two photo organisers*.
If disk space is an issue, you can run an entire iPhoto Library from an external disk:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library as an entity from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
If you're concerned about accessing the files, there are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:
For 10.5 users: You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Apple-Click for selecting multiple pics.
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
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. 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.
Or, if you want to access the files with iPhoto not running, then create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use THIS
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.
Your choice, obviously, but best to be aware of all the ramifications. By all means post back if you require more info.
1. I loose the entire folder structure
You can quickly recreate your current folder structure in iPhoto. Start at the bottom of your hierarchy and drag a folder of images to the Source (or left-hand) pane. Iphoto will create an Album of those images. You can create the enclosing Folders in iPhoto (File -> New Folder) and drag the Album of images to the folder. Repeat as necessary.
So, if you have a date based folder structure Folder-> 2008, Folder -> January, Date Januar1, January 2 etc. You can quickly mimic this in iPhoto.
That said, if you have a date-based folder structure it’s a total waste of time doing this in iPhoto. You can find the pics from any day, month or year using the Calendar tool - Click on the Magnifying Glass in the Search Box and select the Calendar) or by using Smart Albums: (File -> New Smart Album)
The Great strength of iPhoto is that you can manage your Photos independently of the files that contain them.
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 20k 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