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Rychiar · Dec 22, 2004, 12:09 PM

I want to use iPhoto but never do....Main issue, the fact that it doubles all my photos and makes its own folders for them. I don't want that, i just want to view them, i like my organizational scheme better. iTunes gives you the option to organize your own mp3s so why the hell can't iPhoto work the same with pictures.

spiky_dog · Dec 22, 2004, 12:20 PM

if you're happy with your "organizational scheme" then good for you. iphoto works for the rest of us, who don't perceive any duplication since we dump photos into iphoto and then typically delete the originals.

cpac · Dec 22, 2004, 12:27 PM

Rychair is likely talking about the fact that iPhoto preserves the original photo and saves a copy to which changes like cropping and red-eye are done (which nicely allows one to "undo" these things in the future).

Anyway, there's a recent thread debating the merits of how iPhoto does things, but Rychair - you're probably better off either not using iPhoto, or just accepting the way it does things.

So you basically have two options:

(1) continue using whatever Finder organization you like, and then use the options to show huge icons/previews of the photos in the Finder along with Preview or whatever else you might want to use to view them full size. You can use aliases to make "albums" if you want.

(2) Abandon your Finder organization realizing that iPhoto allows you to do all that you could do with it and more (like preserving originals, easily exporting to email or archive, double-clicking to open in your preferred editor, assigning keywords, &c.) MUCH more easily.

jasong · Dec 22, 2004, 03:50 PM

Easy answer. No.

-- Jason

Rychiar · Dec 22, 2004, 04:17 PM

i just have a large quantity of photos from all different times and alot of junk and many have incorrect dates or what not so iPhotos little scheme of separating everything into 50 different folders just irks me, i like to know exactly where my actual files are and i tend to do alot with photoshop to them. anyone know of any other more simple slideshow/thumb display programs?

cpac · Dec 22, 2004, 04:24 PM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
i like to know exactly where my actual files are and i tend to do alot with photoshop to them.

iPhoto files them by date (and names the folder appropriately). If you're worried about being able to find them in Photoshop's "open" dialogue, you shouldn't - you can just look at them in iPhoto and press an "Edit" button to open that photo in Photoshop.

To answer your other question though - does a Finder window with the icon size turned all the way up not meet your requirements?

bmedina · Dec 22, 2004, 04:43 PM

Why do you need to know exactly where your photos are in the file system?

Rychiar · Dec 22, 2004, 05:33 PM

i dunno it just irks me having 50 subfolders when i can have em where i want em. The one thing i actually really liek about windows xp is its explorer lets u view pictures as a filmstrip, thats the one thing id ad to OSX

cpac · Dec 22, 2004, 05:56 PM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
i dunno it just irks me having 50 subfolders when i can have em where i want em. The one thing i actually really liek about windows xp is its explorer lets u view pictures as a filmstrip, thats the one thing id ad to OSX

command-A, drag to Preview, or (I think), even Quicktime Player...

bmedina · Dec 22, 2004, 07:18 PM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
i dunno it just irks me having 50 subfolders when i can have em where i want em. The one thing i actually really liek about windows xp is its explorer lets u view pictures as a filmstrip, thats the one thing id ad to OSX

But the whole point of iPhoto is that you use it to organize your pictures, rather than the Finder. You can have your pictures wherever you want in iPhoto; it's irrelevant what's going on in the file system. If you ever need access to one of your pictures, you open iPhoto, not a Finder window.

PurpleGiant · Dec 22, 2004, 07:46 PM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
i like to know exactly where my actual files are and i tend to do alot with photoshop to them.

I also use photoshop on a number of photos. Doesn't make any difference to me where they are in the finder though - iPhoto is organising them for me, not the Finder. When I want to Photoshop a pic I just drag it from iPhoto to Photoshop in the Dock. Just as I would in the finder. Maybe I missed where your problem is?

Rychiar · Dec 22, 2004, 08:01 PM

why does it hafta organize em, why cant it just read em from where they are like iTunes gives ya the option to do with music is what im sayin, im sure some people have no issues with itunes auto organize function as well but it pisses many off especially workin from multiple hard drives.

Maflynn · Dec 22, 2004, 09:28 PM

I jumped ship from iPhoto to iView
This gives you the ability to setup different categories, sets, lables and keywords. A given picture can occupy many different categories, sets and labels.
Basically lets you work the way you want to. The price is a little high for the pro version but if you have a need tool for asset management, then this is your baby.

Mike

bborofka · Dec 22, 2004, 09:45 PM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
why does it hafta organize em, why cant it just read em from where they are like iTunes gives ya the option to do with music is what im sayin, im sure some people have no issues with itunes auto organize function as well but it pisses many off especially workin from multiple hard drives.

I think the fact that having a program smartly organize your media in your filesystem for you pisses you off so much is the bigger issue in threads like these. Many people, including me, didn't quite understand the inherent superiority of having iTunes place my audio files in in it's organized hierarchy. Back in the days of Audion, I liked having all my mp3 files in special folders custom named like "<artist> - <track #> - <song>.mp3" I quickly realized that Apple was trying to awaken me to a new level of abstraction by having iTunes manage and organize my songs (with embedded metadata) instead of the Finder.

This same philosophy applies to iPhoto, and most here will confess that they simply don't care where the files exist on the hard drive. Instead of asking "why can't Apple just let me put my files where I want?", the biggest question really, is "why do you care so much?" Granted, the workings of iPhoto (and how it duplicates your photos) is a different issue.

I have a hard time convincing my Windows friends this, it sounds like you too.

You'll probably just be better off using Image Capture, Photoshop and Preview if you want to use the Finder to manage your photos.

spiky_dog · Dec 22, 2004, 10:23 PM

Originally posted by Maflynn:
I jumped ship from iPhoto to iView
This gives you the ability to setup different categories, sets, lables and keywords. A given picture can occupy many different categories, sets and labels.
Basically lets you work the way you want to. The price is a little high for the pro version but if you have a need tool for asset management, then this is your baby.

Mike

iPhoto actually has good keywording functionality built in, albeit hobbled by an awful interface. my friend ken ferry's application, keyword assistant, adds a text entry box to iPhoto that autocompletes based on previous keywords and the address book.

by good keywording functionality i mean that templates used in exporting, whether through iphoto's built in exporter or through betterhtmlexport. see my site and its subject pages for this functionality in use -- i tag photos with keywords in iphoto using keyword assistant, use betterhtmlexport to export them (with the keywords as part of the meta data and as part of the page displayed), and then a perl script runs through and generates pages based on the meta data.

crazeazn · Dec 23, 2004, 12:49 AM

im in the same boat as the above individual, the problem lies in the fact that my old files are sorted in a nice clean way and i want it retained in that manner.

all the new uploads from my cam i would use iphoto but i still dont want the finder messsing up my folder system of how i have my pictures labeled and such. i have layers upon layers of subfolders. i dont really like the finder approach but im going to have find a better way.

lavar78 · Dec 23, 2004, 01:56 PM

Originally posted by crazeazn:
im in the same boat as the above individual, the problem lies in the fact that my old files are sorted in a nice clean way and i want it retained in that manner.

all the new uploads from my cam i would use iphoto but i still dont want the finder messsing up my folder system of how i have my pictures labeled and such. i have layers upon layers of subfolders. i dont really like the finder approach but im going to have find a better way.

Have you tried it iPhoto's way? If not, do yourself a favor: back up your pictures in your preferred order, then drag and drop the folders to iPhoto. Set up your film rolls the way you want. Try that for a couple of days and see if you don't prefer it. If you need a particular photo, find it in iPhoto (visually with or without the help of rolls and smart albums).

On a side note, is there any particular reason you want your files in a certain folder? iPhoto organizes by date (the only thing that makes sense to me), so I'd love to hear how you organize them and why.

jasong · Dec 23, 2004, 02:03 PM

If not for the photo organization, what would you want iPhoto for?

-- Jason

Rychiar · Dec 23, 2004, 02:52 PM

i want it for viewing thumbs and slideshows, i don't want it screwing with my file folder structure

lavar78 · Dec 23, 2004, 03:08 PM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
i want it for viewing thumbs and slideshows, i don't want it screwing with my file folder structure

Well, by all means stop banging your head against a wall. iPhoto isn't for you. Buy iView Media (Pro) and be happy.

Rychiar · Dec 23, 2004, 03:25 PM

sorry $199 is a bit much to pay for a picture viewer, i just wish osx had bette rbuilt in picture viewing, instead i downloaded BTFlip, seems to do the job perfectly

lavar78 · Dec 23, 2004, 04:03 PM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
sorry $199 is a bit much to pay for a picture viewer, i just wish osx had bette rbuilt in picture viewing, instead i downloaded BTFlip, seems to do the job perfectly

I meant iView Media or iView Media Pro. The former is less expensive. Still, I'm glad you found something you can use.

As far as built-in picture viewing goes, I find Preview to be far superior to that awful Microsoft app.

slffl · Dec 23, 2004, 05:47 PM

I used to hate iPhoto for this also. However, I learned to use Rolls to organize photos. After you do this, then you can batch change the dates of the photos. Works EXTREMELY well for me and to date iPhoto is my favorite photo organization app on both PC and Mac.

Chuckit · Dec 23, 2004, 06:52 PM

Originally posted by lavar78:
On a side note, is there any particular reason you want your files in a certain folder? iPhoto organizes by date (the only thing that makes sense to me), so I'd love to hear how you organize them and why.

"Subject" or "client" makes more sense to me.

lavar78 · Dec 23, 2004, 06:59 PM

Originally posted by Chuckit:
"Subject" or "client" makes more sense to me.

So you want to arrange some by subject and others by client? Both at the same time? What if there is more than one subject and/or client? I guess I organize my pictures in a similar way: I have albums with pictures of family, friends, Christmas, work, tennis, concerts, and so on. Still, I don't think they make more sense than using the date. After all, you'd have to specify the subject or date before your pictures could be organized. AFAIC, I let iPhoto arrange them by date because I can use rolls and albums to organize them in any other way I wish.

Rychiar · Dec 23, 2004, 07:00 PM

i organize by type, i have concert photos, friend photos, college photos, home photos, art photos, graphic designs, downloaded images, etc these all have subfolders for specific events and what not

Chuckit · Dec 23, 2004, 07:24 PM

Originally posted by lavar78:
So you want to arrange some by subject and others by client? Both at the same time?

I just said those were both more logical ways for me than date. I don't generally think, "I want to see a picture I took on Oct. 15." I think, "I want to see a picture of my brother in Argentina." I really do have an easier time finding a picture organized into topical subfolders than one in a 3,000-item monster folder sorted by date.

Originally posted by lavar78:
Still, I don't think they make more sense than using the date. After all, you'd have to specify the subject or date before your pictures could be organized. AFAIC, I let iPhoto arrange them by date because I can use rolls and albums to organize them in any other way I wish.

I think that's the point: Some people already have their photos organized this way, and it's a little bit annoying for it to come in and destroy their structure.

Hi I'm Ben · Dec 23, 2004, 08:46 PM

No one has really mentioned this.. and this was important to me..

If you have photos in iPhoto you want and you need a copy of them all you have to do is drag them OUT of the program and it will put copies of the photos in whatever folder or CD of your chosing. It's the reason I switched to iPhoto because once i realized how easy it was to access the pictures i put on there I was okay with it putting it in so many random folders.

at first i thought if i wanted to get the hardcopy of the photo i'd have to search all those dumb 01 02 04 folders.

lavar78 · Dec 23, 2004, 09:59 PM

Originally posted by Chuckit:
I just said those were both more logical ways for me than date. I don't generally think, "I want to see a picture I took on Oct. 15." I think, "I want to see a picture of my brother in Argentina." I really do have an easier time finding a picture organized into topical subfolders than one in a 3,000-item monster folder sorted by date.

But what's stopping you from just finding the picture in iPhoto? You can find its roll, its album or do a keyword/comments search. If you aren't willing to give up Finder navigation, I don't really know what to tell you. Perhaps someone can find a way to translate your current hierarchy into iPhoto comments. That might be a start.

Amorya · Dec 23, 2004, 10:09 PM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
why does it hafta organize em, why cant it just read em from where they are like iTunes gives ya the option to do with music is what im sayin, im sure some people have no issues with itunes auto organize function as well but it pisses many off especially workin from multiple hard drives.

That's kinda the point of iPhoto - pretty much all it sets out to do is organise your pictures for you! If you don't want your pictures organised, why use it?

Amorya

Rychiar · Dec 23, 2004, 11:02 PM

the point of iPhoto to me is to show thumbnails, diplay pictures and do slideshows which are not standard osx features thru finder

jfinete · Dec 24, 2004, 01:16 AM

If iPhoto displayed images that were scattered all over your hard drive, it would be even slower than it is now. You may think your images are organized in an efficient way, but a computer wouldn't. Forcing the images to be in a predefined folder structure, ensures that iPhoto always knows where it's data is.

In fact, I wish iPhoto just dumped everything into a database, and made the files completely inaccessible from the filesystem.

PurpleGiant · Dec 24, 2004, 01:21 AM

Originally posted by Rychiar:
the point of iPhoto to me is to show thumbnails, diplay pictures and do slideshows which are not standard osx features thru finder

Okay, well iPhoto is not a suitable program for you. Try using the 'browse' mode in Graphic Converter. It will show you thumbnails of all images in your folders (your folders), and has a slideshow facility.

Alternatively, try iView Media Pro. iPhoto is designed to organise photos for you.

tonton · Dec 24, 2004, 04:13 AM

The best program for you, hands down, is PhotoGrid. Look it up on version tracker. It's by far the fastest photo browser out there, and it conserves all file structure. I'm amazed that more people don't use it.

Rychiar · Dec 24, 2004, 09:20 AM

my phottos arent allover my hard drive, theyre in one place, im juist sayin, my g4 tho i had 2 hard drives and some were on one and some another

jasong · Dec 24, 2004, 09:46 AM

See, I also want my photos organized by subject, but I find that many of my subjects overlap, in comes iPhoto. I set up an album (folder) and add the photo there. If I have an overlapping subject (in my example I have an album for vacation photos and one for my outward bound trip specifically). In the finder I would have to go crazy with aliases, in iPhoto this is all trivial. I don't care where the file, I just want to see my pictures. And when I need to move it to my web site I can either use the homepage tools, or drag the image to fireworks and go from there.

The only change to iPhoto's storage mechanism I would like to see (and I would like to see this in iTunes as well) is dynamic loading and unloading of multiple libraries. I haven't hit this point with iPhoto yet that I have so many pictures and I don't always want them with me, but i have hit that in iTunes. Add to that an easy ability to easily move pictures/music to and from one library to another (so I can easily change my mind about what I want with me at all times) and you've got a great thing going.

-- Jason

lavar78 · Dec 24, 2004, 11:03 AM

Originally posted by jasong:
See, I also want my photos organized by subject, but I find that many of my subjects overlap, in comes iPhoto. I set up an album (folder) and add the photo there. If I have an overlapping subject (in my example I have an album for vacation photos and one for my outward bound trip specifically). In the finder I would have to go crazy with aliases, in iPhoto this is all trivial. I don't care where the file, I just want to see my pictures.

Exactly! Once the photos are in iPhoto, you can organize them however you'd like.

My number one feature request would be nested albums (just like I want nested playlists in iTunes).

cold aspiration · Jan 1, 2005, 08:21 PM

hahah omg! iphoto just go 100x better to me. I always liked the features such as slideshow, and the way it organizes in iphoto but not the hard drive and anytime i needed a hard copy of the photo i have to go through the 01 03 12 folder crap . then i just found out about dragging the photo to the desktop... AAH! thanks everyone

Maflynn · Jan 1, 2005, 08:33 PM

Originally posted by lavar78:
My number one feature request would be nested albums (just like I want nested playlists in iTunes).

Thats the #1 reason why I stopped using iPhoto and why I went with iView Pro.

Mike

lavar78 · Jan 1, 2005, 08:46 PM

Originally posted by Maflynn:
Thats the #1 reason why I stopped using iPhoto and why I went with iView Pro.

They aren't worth $199 to me.

Maflynn · Jan 1, 2005, 08:57 PM

Originally posted by lavar78:
They aren't worth $199 to me.

I take so many photos the $199 is worth it too me. I'm definitly into photography. My gear is exceeding the cost of my compter equipment. I have $3,000 in lenses alone, never mind the camera body, so I really need a application that can organize the photos the way I want them too. Additionally, I am able to store them in a folder structure I find useful, not how iPhoto decides.

Mike

lavar78 · Jan 1, 2005, 09:05 PM

Originally posted by Maflynn:
I take so many photos the $199 is worth it too me. I'm definitly into photography. My gear is exceeding the cost of my compter equipment. I have $3,000 in lenses alone, never mind the camera body, so I really need a application that can organize the photos the way I want them too. Additionally, I am able to store them in a folder structure I find useful, not how iPhoto decides.

That makes sense to me. Frankly, I'm a little surprised you spent any significant amount of time with iPhoto at all.