Photos visible in iPhoto application but not accessible for upload

Question

Any help anyone can provide with this is greatly appreciated. I took pictures of a friends wedding and have been trying to order a photobook as a gift. I decided to try to use iPhoto to make the book. I don't use iPhoto very often and at the start of this, my iMac was running on the Tiger OS and an old version of iPhoto (I think 5 or 6). After completing the  first version of my photobook, I tried to place an order, but got a message that my version of iPhoto wasn't supported any longer and I'd  have to upgrade.
I called the Apple store and ordered the Mac Box Set to upgrade my operating system to Snow Leopard and my iLife to version 11. The woman at the Apple store had me check my system info., available space, etc. and she assured me that my system should be able to handle the upgrade. I went ahead with the upgrade, loading the new operating system first and then iLife. The install seemed to go just fine, I never got any error messages and all the applications appear to function properly. So, I used the new version of iPhoto to create a photobook. I then placed the order the first time. On my end the process went smoothly and the upload completed without interruption. However, I got an e-mail message 4 days later saying my order couldn't be completed because files did not upload properly. So, I tried to place the order again, following the instructions to make sure that all my other applications were closed, etc. Once again the process seemed to be completed without any issues. However, now a week later, I once  again got the error message that my order could not be completed because files did not upload properly.
So, I decided to try to place an order through a different vendor. Now I have discovered that all my recent photos (despite appearing in the iPhoto) are not accessible when I try to access them for upload to the vendor's site. The icon for iPhoto library is grayed out and there is no longer an option to access my photo rolls through finder. So, now I am unable to place the order for the photobook.
Can anyone help me figure out how to fix this? Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Nothing to be fixed. Just a little learning for you.
There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:   You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.
(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
There's a similar option in Outlook and many, many other apps.  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:
For users of 10.6 and later:  You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation  which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu.
Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.
For Users of 10.4 and 10.5 Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
Other options include:
Drag and Drop: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
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.
Show File:  a. On iPhoto 09 and earlier:  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.    3.b.
b: On iPhoto 11 and later: Select one of the affected photos in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Reveal in Finder -> Original. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.