Where does iPhoto save imported files???? how do you "save"?

Question

ok this is driving me crazy:
I've imported photos and movie clips from my camera through usb through iPhoto.
Where does iPhoto save these files?
I've opened iMovie to find the movie clip and I can't find it anywhere...
also: after editing a photo in iMovie, how do you "save" it?

Answer 1

Chris
You’ve a bit of a learning curve ahead of you as you obviously haven’t really understood iPhoto, what it is and how it works. You could do yourself a favour and have a look at the tutorials at http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#iphoto
To specific cases:
When you press "done" it doesn't save it (find the photo in its original file and open it with Preview, you'll see it hasn't been saved).
Yes, but it has! You see iPhoto will always preserve your Original file. So when you make edits it carries out these on copy of the file. You can see this in the iPhoto Window. There is no way to make iPhoto edit the original file.
I have opted for iPhoto not to duplicate my photos and keep its own library (to me that doesn't make any sense, my photos are about 15GB, I wouldn't want them to turn into 30GB for no reason!),
1. The best solution for that it to allow iPhoto to copy the files into the Library and then remove your own copies.
2. When you go to iPhoto Menu -> Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck 'Copy Files to the iPhoto Library on Import', you are running what is called a Referenced Library. In a Referenced Library iPhoto will not copy the files on import, 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. Importing 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 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.
so the problem still exists, why doesn't it save new photos in my pictures folder?
Because you told it not to. When you run a Referenced Library +you are responsible for File Management+. Remember that bit above where I said
1. Importing and deleting pics are more complex procedures
You need to put the files where you want them, then import them to iPhoto. Iphoto has no control over any file outside the Library Package. So when it comes to deleting things you’ll need to remove the pics from iPhoto and then go and root them out from your folder structure by hand.
None of this is the case if you run a Managed Library.
or ask me where to save them?
Because that’s not what it does. Check out Image Capture for that.
I'm worried that if I now let it save all my new photos to its iPhoto library (which is basically a virtual library as I understand it)
What do you mean by a “virtual library”?
and in a year's time I change laptops I run the risk of loosing photos as I won't know which photos are were (now I can do a back up to an external drive simply by copying the folders I choose from the pictures folder.
If you run a Managed Library then backing up and migrating are both very simple. You simply back up the iPhoto Library or move it as the case may be. There are many, many back up utilities that will do incremental back ups if the Library: Time Machine, DejaVu Chronosync are several but there are a hundred more. Search on MacUpdate.
If you run a Referenced Library you must +back up the Originals and the iPhoto Library+ (to get your Albums, Modified Versions and so on). Migrating rto a new machine is a bear too, as you cannot allow the path to the files to alter. (See my pitfall no. 3 above.
Worst of all: a mixed Managed/Referenced Library: a recipe for data loss.
My strongest advice to you is to start over with iPhoto. Create a new Library: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library' and import 100 pics into it and explore it for a week or two. Get to know the ins and outs a bit and se how it works. Then decide if it’s the right app for you. By all means post back if you need more info.
Regards
TD