Move photos from iPhoto to Pictures.

Question

I want to move photos from iPhoto to Pictures. I exported about 16000 yesterday and trashed the iPhoto ones (still in Trash) but when I looked at the contents of the iPhoto library, they still appeared there.  Why is this?
If I've modified a pic, then export to Pictures, does the edited version get exported too?  If not, then is it deleted when I trash the iPhoto version?
Also, it seems that the date when the photo was taken is lost when I export ( it takes on the date of export).  Is there a way to retain it?

Answer 1

Original is just that: a byte by bye copy of the file you imported.
Current: Is the current version of the shot - this is as it exists in the Library. Exporting this will miss metadata.
The quality of the photo you export will depend on the export setting you choose.
You know, if you take a couple of seconds, iPhoto is much more flexible and easier to use than the Finder. The orgaisation, searching and sorting options are much richer. The problem with the Finder is simple: it organise files. But it makes no distinctions at all between kinds of files, and so offers exactly the same opportunities for organising your Photos, your Music, your Word files. It takes no account of standard metadata - like Exif date and so on.
iPhoto supports Raw on most cameras, and can be used as a "front end" to Photshop.
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.
One small conceptual leap and it might make things easier: That Jpeg is not your Photo. Easiest way to elaborate on this: In my iTunes Library I have an mp3 called 'Let_it_Be_The_Beatles'. But that mp3 is not the song. The Beatles never wrote an mp3. The wrote a song, recorded it and a copy of that recording is stored in a container. That container is adapted to the special opportunities of music, and it's an mp3 file.
Similarly, that Jpeg is just a container for your Photo.
Iphoto is about Photos. Import them, forget about the jpegs. Tiffs whatever, because they're just containers. Organise your photos - leveraging the special opportunities offered by the fact that they are photos -  and then anything you need to do with or to them can be done either with or via iPhoto.
When you export, the export dialogue simply asks you a: what you want to export (that's the kind) and everything else is about the container you want to put the Photo in.
Because, unless you export Originals, you're not exporting the file you imported, you're exporting the Photo you imported, and putting it in a new box.
Regards
TD