Organzing in I Photo 5

Question

I switched to Mac from PC about 18 mos ago and was turned ogg by I photo 4 because I had about 8000 digital photos organized into folders, subfolders, sub-subfolders etc. There was no way to keep that structure in I Photo 4. Now that version 5 is available, I understand that this is now possible. Can I maintain the structure that works for me, and can I add to rolls later? For example, I may have a folder for my 4 grader's school year where pics of her and friends and school functions would go, but I want to be able to add new photos as the year goes on. Are these two functions available? Based on what I read it seems that they are, but before I buy the new version, I want to make sure. Can anyone help me with this? Many thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Hi jkl,
It is possible, but not in the way you would do it in the finder.
All organization is done within iPhoto by making Albums for your events.
These Albums can then be put in Folders and subfolders.
When you import images from a camera, they are imported as a roll with the name you give it at import and the date.
When you import a folder of images from your HD it is imported as a roll with the name of the Folder.
Next read of one way of importing a folder with subfolders.
Each subfolder that contains images will be imported as a roll with the name of that subfolder. After importing you will get rols in the library view all with the names of the subfolders. You can then make each roll an Album.
You would then make a folder and put the albums that pertain to that folder in the folder.
All this new organization is done within iPhoto, but is not reflected in the iPhoto Library folder in the Finder. This folder is strictly organized by dates of creation of the images. So once you have imported all your folders into iPhoto, the organization of them in the Finder within the iPhoto Library folder is different than what you do working within iPhoto.
Importing Images from the hard drive, CD, or DVD
To import a folder with subfolders of images maintaining the same organizational structure (or close to it):
Drag the folder into iPhotos viewing area.
A film roll will be created with each sub folders name. To view the rolls in the Library you need to first go to the menu bar and choose View>by film rolls.
To make each roll into an Album, highlight the tile of the roll
Go to File>new album from selection.
You will now have an Album in the source column with the images from that roll. Do this for each roll if you want them to be an Album. This is your choice.
Next, go to the menu bar and hit File>new folder
Name this new folder with the year or whatever the name was of the Parent folder containing the subfolders that you had dragged into iPhotos viewing area.
Next drag all the Albums into the respective new Parent folder you just made.
Albums- collection of images from one roll or many rolls. The Albums will be listed in your source column when you make them. The albums only contain placeholders for the images that are still in the library. They are not duplicates.
Rolls- rolls are created when you import folder of images. It will be given the name of the folder you are importing.
Rolls are also created from each import from your camera. You are given the option to name the roll at import.
Folder-a folder you create manually using the File>new folder command
Folders can hold Albums, slideshows, books, another folder, etc.
One other way you can import a folder of images and have an Album created for it as the same time it is imported as a roll in the Library view:
Drag each folder of images into the source column of iPhoto. When you see the plus sign, drop it in the source column.
An album will be created in the source column, and the roll that the album was created from will be in the library view window.
So now, when the year goes on, you would add the new images to the Album they pertain too.
Hope this helps!
Lori