Original and modified file folders in iPhoto

I just loaded photos into iPhoto and the files populated in both the Originals and Modified file folders in iPhoto. None of these photos have been modified. I'm concerned with conserving disk space on my Mac. How do I keep this from happening moving forward?

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". Because iPhoto integrate with other apps it automaticlly creates the modified version. Otherwise photos would turn up in your emails or word processing documents sideways, as these apps don't know nything about such tags.
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.
Going forward: digitial photography take up lots of space. Don't be concerned about it. Buy a large external drive and put your iPhoto Library on it.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

How can I merge original and modified folders in iphoto library?

I see 2 folders within iPhoto library - originial and modified. Original folder keeps all pictures in original and modified has the edited version for picture I edit. So iPhoto basically keeps 2 version for any picture I modify, which takes a lot of space.
I would like to have just one copy for each picture (original picture or only modified version of the picture if I edit) - this way I think I would save a lot of memory. Could someone please advise
1. if there is any iPhoto settings that I change, so that it starts saving only 1 copy for each picture
2. If I could something with my already existing pictures - i.e. if there is a way I can delete "original" version of only those pictures for which "modified" version is available.
Let me know if anything is not clear or you need any more information. Thanks in advance.

Don't use iPhoto.
Iphoto is a Digital Asset Manager designed to protect your original file at all costs. In other words it treats the original like a film shooter treats the negative. This is hard-wired into iPhoto, it's the very heart of the programme. If you don't want that feature, don't use iPhoto/
Note that there are different versions of the photo, they are not copies. The Original is required for the Non-Destructive editing feature in iPhoto.
So, specifically, no you cannot merge the two folders - and by the way, doing so won't save any memory at all, just some diks space.
1. if there is any iPhoto settings that I change, so that it starts saving only 1 copy for each picture
There isn't.
2. If I could something with my already existing pictures - i.e. if there is a way I can delete "original" version of only those pictures for which "modified" version is available.
There isn't.
If space is an issue: use an external drive for the Library:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library 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.
Or, just use an app that works the way you want.
Regards
TD

Data, Original and Modified folders?

sorry, this may be a dumb question, but what's the difference between Data, Original and Modified folders? when I do a search for a specific folder, i find that I will find all the folders and there looks like duplicates but they are filed in Data, Original and sometimes additionally under Modified.
thanks!

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 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.
Please remember that Finder searches do not really understand your iPhoto Library. If you use iPhoto the correct way to search for photos is via the iPhoto Window.
Regards
TD

Can't find Originals and Modified files in finder

Just upgraded to iPhoto 9 and find that the Original and Modified folders are missing. I can find them when I get file info from a photo in iphoto and they seem to be subfiles of the iphoto app. However in finder, they are not accessible. Am I missing something?

With iPhoto 7 (iLife 08) the old iPhoto Library Folder became a Package File. This is simply a folder that looks like a file in the Finder. The change was made to the format of the iPhoto library because many users were inadvertently corrupting their library by browsing through it with other software or making changes in it themselves.
There is never a need for the user to browse the Library via the Finder or any other app. Any time you do you risk damaging the Library.
There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:
*For Users of 10.5 Only*
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!
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!
*For users of 10.4 and 10.5* ...
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*:
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.
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.
All of the above are a: faster and b: safer than rooting through the old Library folders.
Regards
TD

How to transfer both original and modified images to another computer?

Hi,
I've been trying to figure out if there is a way to copy items between iPhoto libraries in two different computers.
Basically I've got a desktop mac and all my digial images are sorted in the iPhoto library there. This is where I want to keep them as the disk is a NFS-mounted RAID-array adding a bit more security.
Now I've got a macbook pro as a travelling companion. To avoid a huge project later in sorting and editing the pictures, I'd like to do that in pieces while abroad. So I'll edit the pictures already in the macbook and also would like to sort out what stuff to publish by creating albums containing the best pictures.
But how to preserve all that when coming back home? How do I export the stuff from the macbook so that it preserves both the original and modified image and also any comments I've added? And then how to import all this to the mac mini? When I'm at home, both the computers can access the same NFS server so transferring the data is not a problem.
I can of course export the pictures to a folder, copy that folder to the shared disk and then import in the mac mini. But export seems to export only the modified image so I'll lose that if doing it that way. If I just copy the files to the modified/original -folders in the mac mini, the index files of the mac mini lack the information about the new pictures as they were not properly imported.
Is there any way to do this? I can't just copy all the stuff including index files as then I'd lose track on the 10000+ pictures already in the iPhoto library of the mac mini.
/hv

Thanks.
It seems to be a little buggy. My first test import seemed to be ok but it didn't copy any of the modified pictures. It seemed to put some originals to the modified folder but not the real, modified ones. Second try seemed to work, though.
Anyway, this seems to be what I've been looking for.
/hv

Saving original and modified versions

Hey all,
Can someone tell me how to stop iphoto from saving both an original and modified version of my photos? It's very confusing when I try to access the photos to upload onto flickr, or to burn dvds etc.
I can't believe how much time I've wasted on this program--and now have had to start all over from scratch.
LH

Hello.
You do have a choice. Use a file browser. There are many available. They let you simply store the photos on your hard drive, in your folders, how you want them. Easy.
Why does iPhoto behave as it does? Because it offers much more complex features than any file browser. iPhoto is not a file browser. It is a database application with non-destructive editing. You import a photo. iPhoto creates a thumbnail version, linked to your original, for efficient presentation of your library on screen. You edit, and it creates a full-sized copy, which you then modify. It keeps track of the edited version, linked to your original. Your thumbnail is also located and updated to match the edited version. If you ever wish to go back, you can always Revert to Original. The edited version will be deleted, and your thumbnail will again reflect the change. All before you can blink your eyes.
So, yes, the way to get your files for uploading or burning to DVD is to select from iPhoto, then export. Because iPhoto will be sure to export the full-sized, most recent version of your photos. You never need to root around its library folders to find them yourself. Exporting gives you the additional ability to rename the copies. And, even better, to resize the copies, since smaller files work better for viewing on most websites. After you finish with the upload you can trash the exported copies.
Then consider the Albums and Folders in your Source Pane. With a file browser, you'd have to duplicate your files to display them in more than one album (because album = folder). With iPhoto's database, albums never create duplication; they are virtual arrangements which have no presence in your folder structure. The benefit - you can have a photo in 100 albums, with very little increase to the size of your library.
Play with other search features, and iPhoto becomes very powerful indeed. Smart Albums can be created to compile photos based on many criteria, and they stay current with your library. With the calendar tool you can pull up photos from any year, month, and/or date with just a few clicks. Keywords can be used to include or eliminate (Option-click a keyword) groups of photos until you have just the grouping you want. [Ex: I can find all photos of my daughter, with my in laws, at a festival, NOT at Christmas, with animals....]
It is a shift in thinking to leave the iPhoto Library alone and let iPhoto deal with the file management. As long as it works, why does it matter how it's done? You have all of its tools at your disposal.

Easily accessing Original and Modified pictures

Example: When I want to access picture files that are originals and modified and upload them to the internet, but when I access the iPhoto folder there are two separate folders (Original folder & Modified folder). Is there an easy way to actually put both the original and modified pictures into the same folder so you can access both kind of pictures?
(Kind of a wierd question) Just thought it would be easier to access pictures this way.

Lets say I modify a picture and iPhoto keeps the original picture also isn't it taking up a lot of space on the hard drive?
IF space is an issue you can run iPhoto from an external HD. IF you don’t want to do that, +and don’t want to preserve the Original+ then - very simply - don’t use iPhoto.
Also I could still delete the original picture but it would have to be through the Finder or another hard drive.
Yes you could. And, as it’s your Mac and your photos feel free to do anything you want.
*But iPhoto won’t work if you do*.
Remember: 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.
Regards
TD

Iphoto and pse elements 9 events original and modified

Hi I am new to iphoto and adobe elements 9 so please accept my apologises if this is answered eleswhere.
I have set up iphoto with the library to store my photos and set up in prefs. to use elements as editior. I can click on edit when on a photo in either events or photos and edit with elements then save and the photo is sent back to iphoto. All this is ok. When I view my photos in either photo or event i see two photos the original and the edited one. I have follwed the path of each photo back the photo on the left for example can be revealed in finder as the original, the photo on the right can be revealed in finder as the orginal and the modified. Both orignals are revealed as the same photo so only in one place. Can I get events to only show the modified photo not both oginal and modified. The only way I can see is to hide the original. I have followed carefully all the editing instructions in the discussions and i believe to be doing this correct. As soon as I click on edit I see a duplicate photo apear then elements opens and I do my editing and then save (not save as) and the photo goes back to iphoto as modified image. To sum up I have only one original and one modified stored in iphoto but both are in events when viewing events.
Thanks for any help given.

Suggest that you delete preferences:
Preference settings control how Photoshop Elements displays images, cursors, and transparencies, saves files, uses plug‑ins and scratch disks, and so on. If the application exhibits unexpected behavior, the preferences file may be damaged. You can restore all preferences to their defaults.
Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift immediately after Photoshop Elements begins launching. Click Yes to delete the Adobe Photoshop Elements settings file.
A new preferences file is created the next time you start Photoshop Elements. For information on a specific preference option, search for the preference name in Help.

IPhoto shows original and modified side by side

Hi.
I can't find the solution or similar cases on the web so I went to you.
On iPhoto (iLife 11), if I edit one photo and then I go back to the event where it belongs, I see both the original and the edited version of my photo. They have both the same name. (Of course they are stocked in different places by iPhoto on the HD).
It's much more annoying than usefull. Each time I modify a photo it gets duplicated. Please note that my photos are well imported in iPhoto's library.
I have crawled through the preferences and the menus, I can't find where it could be an option to show/hide originals.
Any idea why iPhoto behaves like this ?
Thank you very much.

With the amount of information you've provided it's impossible to offer a potential solution. We can't see your computer so we need to know the details of your problem and setup, i.e.:
what version of iPhoto are you using?
what system version are you running?
what fixes have you tried?
where is your library located?
did you apply any updates or upgrades just prior to the problem occurring?
are you running a "managed" or "referenced" library?
what type of Mac?
how much free space on your boot drive?
how are you editing the photo. With iPhoto or an exterernal image editor?
Happy Holidays

Iphoto 08 all the photos gone (even in Original and Data file)!

Hi,
I was uploading pictures to my new Iphoto 08 and suddenly all my thumbnails for the albums were gone. So I tried to rebuild the library and then found that even in Iphoto Library (that I opened with Show Package) there isn't a single photo in data nor originals--only the folders for my events. This is very frustrating since these are all my photos from past four years. And I haven't activated Time-Machine Yet. Please let me know what I can do from here.
Lunacht

Lunacht:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Where were you importing the photos from? Are there any files in those event folders? Do a search in your home folder for "Library6.iPhoto" and see what you find. If there's more than one then you have another library somewhere.
Happy Holidays
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto 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 08 libraries 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.

Grant an account rights to read and modify files in all Redirected Documents folders?

We have set up redirected Documents folder with the default recommended permissions that does not grant Administrators any access to the folders. If an administrator needs access to a folder, they take ownership of the folder, grants themselves permissions
and does whatever they need to do with the folder such as delete it or give access to a new person. This is rarely needed so it is not a big deal.
However, we now need to import everyone's Outlook PSTs (stored in their redirected MyDoc's so they are backed up) into their new Exchange Archive mailboxes. We will also need to be able to verify all PSTs are gone from the file server
once the contents are imported into their archive mailbox. We also need to be able to run reports showing which users are storing music and video files in their folders and how much.
When I tried to run Windirstat against the share containing the redirected MyDocs folders to see what file types where taking up space, I got very incomplete results even with using psexec running as system account due to inadequate permissions on the user's
folders.
We also need the PST Capture Tool to have rights to read into their documents folders and move any psts found into the users archive mailbox.
Rather than having to go to each user's redirected documents fiolder one by one and take ownership to change permissions, is there a more efficient way to have an account running the PST Capture Tool and WindirStat have access to read and change files in
the user's redirected documents folders?
I thought of just removing the option in the GPO that says "Grant the user exclusive rights to My Documents," but I don't think that will work on pre-existing
folders that already have permissions set.

Hi,
Based on my research, if you already have a bunch of existing redirected My Documents folders set up with the
Grant the user exclusive rights to My Documents check box selected, the only documented way to regain access to the folders is to take ownership of each individual folder and manually edit the permissions to give the Administrators group full
control.
We can use powershell script to help regain access to the folders, for more details, please go through the below link:
http://mypkb.wordpress.com/2008/12/29/how-to-restore-administrators-access-to-redirected-my-documents-folder/
Regards,
Yan Li
Regards, Yan Li

Have original and modified pic in diffrent events

Hi,
i would like to edit a photo so that i keep the original in some event and i would like to move the modified version to new event.
What is the proper way of doing this?
Thank you.
Also: i tryed copy, but if i go to new event it wont paste :/

I can duplicate the issue in existing and new Libraries.
The interesting this is what happens if you go
File -> Reveal in Finder -> Original file for the first photo.
Then go
File -> Reveal in Finder -> Original file for the duplicate.
You get the same file in the Finder. Iphoto is not actually duplicating the File, like in previous versions, just the image. It's a virtual duplication.
If you edit the file (even a simple rotate or crop), a new file is created, can be found by going
File -> Reveal in Finder -> Modified file
Now you can move either the actual photo or the modified version to another Event with no issue.
What's behind this? At a guess I'd say iPhoto is transitioning to a new way of working for the next Major version (iPhoto 12 or 13) where instead of creating a Modified file to preserve the original, iPhoto will work with virtual alterations similar to Aperture. This is part of that transition. And that's a guess and no more.
To solve the specific issue: you'll need to actually make an edit prior to moving the file.
Regards
TD

Front Row 2.0 and video files stored in iPhoto Library

When i play a photo slideshow in front row 2.0 (don't remember how it was under frant row 1.0), the videos imported besides still pictures in my iPhoto library aren't played, and not even showed as low res thumbnails (as it does when playing a slideshow from iPhoto ; well, i'm not so sure now i write it). Instead, you only have a black screen as long as the duration of the movie !
Would be nice if Front Row could play movie files imported in the iPhoto Library ... or, at least, skip them !
At the present time, i will be forced to remove movie files from my iPhoto and export them to my videos folder... (one more operation to execute manually when importing photos from my p&s camera via iphoto)
Message was edited by: Gavroche1973
Message was edited by: Gavroche1973

Organizing related files with Smart Folders
This also applies for 10.5 Leopard.
If you open Automator (Applications) and choose Library >> Files and folders >> Find Finder items and draw it to the right side of the window. Now you can search the whole computer or just your user folder for example (from the drop down menu). Then you can make further adjustments like find .avi (look at the image)
http://personal.inet.fi/koti/kimi/automator_alias.png
Then you draw the new aliases to the window and choose what folder it saves the aliases too, in my case my Movies-folder (Elokuvat is Movies in finnish). After that you press Run and it saves the aliases. Easy!
The original files are still located inside the iPhoto Library and the Movies-folder just contains the aliases.

Viewing Original and modified side by side

Hi,
I was wordering if it where possible to see the original picture while having the modified one side by side to see the difference while editing.
Thanks,
Stephane

Hi Stephane,
With iPhoto 6 you can hold down the Control key after the edit to view the original and edited photo side by side.
This option is not available in iPhoto 5.
You can however drag the photo from the library view to the desktop to copy the original to the desktop. Double click to open the photo on the desktop in Preview.
Now within iPhoto, do your edit on the photo in the library. Switch between iPhoto window and the Preview window to compare. You should be able to view both at the same time by adjusting your windows.

IPhoto 09 library package original and modified folders

Why is there an 'original' folder and a 'modified' folder in the library?

Picasa uses a hack to access the iPhoto Library rather than the standard APIs that Apple provides for other applications. Because the access to the Library is via an unsupported method, this means that at any point in the future an update to iPhoto could render the Library inaccessible to Picasa. You could find your photos inaccessible to you until the makers of Picasa re-work their hack.
Picasa is an excellent application, but you need to be aware of some differences between it and iPhoto.
1. iPhoto is integrated throughout the OS and is available in every Open... or Attach... dialogue in the OS.
2. iPhoto is colour managed.
3. iPhoto can integrate with a wide range of online sharing sites.
4. iPhoto has Keepsakes: books, calendar and so on
5. iPhoto has an excellent range of Slideshows.
Finally, and this may or may not be important to you, but when you install Picasa you accept an End User licence that allows Google to update the application when it wants to, with no further recourse to you. Should their be a problem with an update, as can happen to any software developer from time to time, you have no way of refusing that update.
Regards
TD

Original and modified file folders in iPhoto

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