iPhoto Tips

1. Full Screen Image Editing


Click images to embiggen

Use this feature to remove the clutter of the Desktop, Menu Bar, Dock and other photos by editing a photo in Full Screen mode.

To enter full screen editing mode, you have three options:

Option #1: Select a photo to edit. in the Menu Bar select View > Full Screen and your photo will grow to fill the screen. You have access to the photo slider when you mouse over the top of the screen, and when you mouse over the bottom of the screen you will gain access to the edit menu. Press the Escape key to return.

Option #2: Select a photo to edit. Right-click and select, “Edit Using Full Screen.”

Option #3: You can set iPhoto to automatically open all photos you want to edit in Full Screen mode. To do this, in the Menu Bar select iPhoto > Preferences (or press Command + comma). Select the General tab and select “Using Full Screen” from the Edit Photo drop-down menu.

2. Creating and Using Multiple Libraries


When you’re dealing with large amounts of photos, it may be necessary to create multiple libraries to handle all of your photos. This can also be handy if you wanted to separate family photos from photos you might take for work.

To create a new library, hold down the Option key while opening iPhoto. A new dialog will popup asking if you want to choose another library, create a new library, or choose another library (including the default) that iPhoto already knows about. Click Create New and specify a name and save location in the box that drops down. iPhoto will now load and display the new library. To switch libraries, hold down the Option key on startup and click the Other Library button, navigate to the other library, then select Open.

3. Step Through Effects


When editing photos, iPhoto provides several effects that can spice up your collection. These effects include Black and White, Antique, Edge Blurs and others. You can apply the effects by selecting the Effects button at the bottom of the edit panel. To apply multiple effects, just click on the effects you want applied. But what if you want to step back through, or reduce the intensity of the effect, without losing the other effects.

Most effects will give you a number representing the level of the effect you have applied to your photo; to move backwards, hold down the option key while clicking the effect. The number will decrease, decreasing the effect level in your photo.

4. Edit Images side-by-side


Editing images can be improved when you can see multiple pictures side-by-side. iPhoto will greatly oblige, too. To open multiple pictures in edit mode, simply select two or more photos in an album and then select the edit button in the bottom toolbar.


The resulting edit window will display the three photos. The photo framed by the white box is the photo that you’re currently editing. You can move between the photos you’re editing by clicking the other photos. You are able to add up to eight images to the edit mode window.

5. Add Location Information Manually

Photos taken with your iPhone, a GPS-enabled camera or an Eye-Fi Card may contain location information about where your pictures were taken; however, if you have a camera without GPS functionality, this particular metadata will be missing from your photos.

There are three ways to add this information manually: by album/event, by photo, or by multiple photos. When you mouse over the lower-right corner of an event, album, or photo you’ll notice a small i. Clicking this will result in a popup panel that will allow you to specify metadata information like location. Type in a city in the location field and iPhoto will search to find your location. When you’re finished, select Done to save. You can select multiple photos, albums or events to change the location.

6. Use Time Machine to Bring Back Deleted Photos

Ever get that sinking feeling that you’ve deleted some important data on your computer? If you have Time Machine enabled, you can at least restore your important data, including photos, albums, events, and more from iPhoto.

To look for deleted items in iPhoto, simply open the iPhoto application and launch Time Machine from the menu bar or dock. When you do, iPhoto will open up in the Time Machine interface, letting you search for deleted items. Click an item and select Restore to restore it to your current iPhoto library.

7. Add Borders, Backgrounds, and Change Layout When Printing 

You can instantly jazz up your photos when printing by adding borders and backgrounds when printing your photos.

To do this, select the photos you wish to print, and in the Menu Bar select File > Print, then in the resulting drop-down menu select Customize.

A new view will appear with your photo in the center. The new bottom toolbar will let you add a theme to the photos, enabling you to print a matte around your photo. You can also change the background color, border, and layout. When you’re done editing your photos for printing, select the Print button in the lower-right corner.

8. Confirm Multiple Faces at Once

Faces is a great way to instantly see every photo taken of a particular person in your iPhoto library, but it’s a pain to train the facial recognition engine. Luckily, there’s a way to confirm multiple Faces at once. To do this, simply navigate to the person in Faces you want to confirm pictures of, then in the area labeled “Person may also be the photos below,” drag a box around the photos you want to confirm. Then, select the Confirm Name button in the bottom toolbar.

9. Include Location Information in Exported Pictures


Want to put your photos on Flickr, Facebook, or just send them to firends or family, but want to include the location of where the photos were taken? This is easy to do in iPhoto with the export options. Just select the photos you wish to share, then select File > Export. In the resulting window, ensure File Export is selected, then check the box Location Information in the Include section. When you press the Export information, the exported file metadata will include location information.

10. Change Key Photo in Album


In iPhoto, you can change the photo that represents an event in the Events listing. This photo is called the key photo, and it’s very easy to set. When mousing over events, you may notice a photo that represents the event more specificaly than the one iPhoto automatically picks. To change it to the one your mouse is hovered over, press the space bar. When you remove your cursor, you’ll notice that the key photo for the event has changed. Additionally, you can do this when inside of an Event by selecting a photo and navigating to Events > Make Key Photo in the Menu Bar, or right-clicking on a photo and selecting Make Key Photo.

11. Merge Events

Sometimes, event photos split up during import because of the date contained in the metadata. To merge two or more events in iPhoto, hold down shift and select the events that go together, then right-click and select “Merge Events.” You can also drag one album into the other.

12. Set up an External Photo Editor


Sometimes you may want to edit your photos with more powerful editing tools than iPhoto can provide. iPhoto can oblige by letting you set up an external editor. This means that when you click the edit button in iPhoto, it will launch the photo in another application, like Adobe Photoshop for instance.

To do this, head to iPhoto > Preferences (or press Command + comma). In the General Tab, under Edit Photo, there are three options: Edit in Main Window, Edit Using Full Screen, and Edit in Another Application. We’ll choose Edit in Application. A dialog window willpop up to prompt you for the application of your choice; navigate to the application and select Open.

13. Share on Facebook, Flickr, and MobileMe

Sharing photos with iPhoto ’09 is a snap. The application lets you share photos with MobileMe, Facebook, or Flickr.

To share your album with MobileMe, select an album, event, or a group of pictures, then select MobileMe to the right of the bottom toolbar. If you are already signed into MobileMe, a window will prompt you to select your sharing options. You can choose who the album is viewable by, whether they can download a few photos or the entire album or upload their own photos through a web browser, and allow people to add photos to the album via email.

Optionally, you can show the photo titles. If you click the Show Advanced button you’ll get two new options: the ability to hide the album on your MobileMe gallery page, and the ability to adjust download quality (if you have downloading enabled). Once you select the settings you want, press Publish. When iPhoto is finished uploading the photos, you’ll get a notification with a link to view the photos in your MobileMe gallery.

Sharing with Facebook is similar. Select the photos you want, then select the Facebook button in the bottom toolbar. You may be prompted to sign in with Facebook and allow iPhoto to post pictures to your account. Once you do that, publishing is a snap. Simply select the security of your album and press the Publish button in the resulting window.

The best thing about using Facebook to share your photos is that if you have someone tagged in a photo, that information will get published, too. And if someone tags something on Facebook, the information will synced with your Mac when you fire up iPhoto again.

To publish your photos to Flickr, select your photos, then select the Flickr button in the bottom toolbar. Once you sign in, you can select the security of the photos (i.e. viewable by only you, your friends, your family, or anyone) and the photo size. When you press Publish, your photos will be whisked away to Flickr.

When you publish your photos to any of the services, you’ll get new albums in the sidebar with the service name. The albums contain the photos you’ve published and if you ever want to add more photos to a published album, all you have to do is simply drag more photos to the album under each service.

14. Using Photo Feeds


A Photo Feed is an RSS feed for your photos. Many services such as Flickr and MobileMe Gallery give you a Photo Feed. iPhoto allows you to subscribe to these photo feeds, and just like an RSS feed, will download the latest photos from your friends and family right to an iPhoto library.

You can manually enter a photo feed address by going to File > Subscribe to Photo Feed (or by pressing Command + U) in the Menu Bar. You can subscribe to a Photo Feed by also going to a MobileMe gallery, opening a album, and clicking the Subscribe button in the toolbar. The result will be a drop-down asking if you wish to subscribe by RSS or open in iPhoto. Selecting iPhoto will check and download the photos in a Subscriptions section.

15. Copy/Paste Locations Among Multiple Photos

Adding location information to photos can be a pain as described above. If you want to shorten the time it takes to add location information to photos, then why not copy and paste the location amongst multiple photos?

To do this, simply press Command + C (or right-click Copy) on any photo containing a location. Then, select multiple photos needing the same location information and right-click. You’ll notice a new option: Paste location. Selecting it will do just that. Simple, but powerful, eh?

16. Delete Photo from Album and Library Simultaneously

If you wish to delete a photo from both an iPhoto album and the main library at the same time, try hold down Command + Option then pressing Delete. The photo will then go straight to the Trash.

17. Export Slideshows to iTunes for Syncing to iPhone/iPod


iPhoto slideshows are a really great way to show off your photos. Too bad they live only in iPhoto. Well, they do until you export them. With iPhoto ’09, you can export any slideshow to iTunes for syncing to an iPhone, iPod, or Apple TV, complete with music and themes.

To create a slideshow, select an album, event, or multiple photos and click the Slideshow button in the bottom toolbar. Select the music options and theme by mousing over the bottom of the screen and selecting the settings button. Once you’ve configured the slideshow, exit by pressing the ESC key on your keyboard. Then, go to File > Export and select the Slideshow tab. Check the boxes next to the platforms you want the video to play on (iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, Computer, etc.), then check the box labeled Automatically send slideshow to iTunes. When you’re ready to export, click the Export button.

18. Using Star Ratings with Smart Album

A great way to sort your photos in iPhoto is to use star ratings with Smart Albums. Every photo, album, or event can be given a star rating. To do this, right click on the photo and select Get Info. From the resulting view, give it a star rating by clicking the small bubbles below the photo date. When you’re finished, click Done.

To view photos with a certain star rating, in the Menu Bar select File > New Smart Album. In the resulting drop-down menu, select My Rating from the first drop-down list, then select “is” from the second drop down, then in the third box select how ever many stars you wish to view. Give your new album a name at the top, then click OK. Your new album will contain photos rated only with the rating you specified. As you rate more photos, the smart album will be updated automatically.

19. Using Keywords

Using keywords is another great way to sort your photos. Keywords allows you to narrow down searches in iPhoto and allows you to keep track of what’s going on with your albums. To use keywords, point your cursor over to the Menu Bar, and select Window > Show Keywords. A new window will open with several predefined keywords such as “Birthday, Family, Favorite, etc.” To add a keyword, select a photo, or photos, in iPhoto, then click on any of the keywords. They will be added to the photo. You can also add your own by selecting Edit Keywords and even add shortcuts for adding certain keywords.

You can search through your photos by keyword by clicking the small search button next to the search field at the bottom of the iPhoto window. This will allow you to select keyword and consecutively narrow your search by keywords.

20. Hide Photos

Hiding photos is great when you want to show off your iPhoto collection to someone, but don’t want them to see certain photos (don’t worry, we won’t judge you). To hide a photo or group of photos, select them in your library and right-click to select “Hide Photo.”

When you want to show your photos again, in the Menu Bar select View > Hidden Photos at which point you can right-click the hidden photo and select “Unhide Photo.”

Connect your camera or camcorder

Digital cameras and camcorders allow you to capture memorable events. Learn how to import your photos and videos from your camera or camcorder.

Digital cameras
With iPhoto, you can organize, edit, and share your photos. Your friends and family may enjoy your vacation videos even more after you edit the footage in iMovie.

If your looking for more professional approach to editing and enhancing photos and videos, try Aperture for retouching photos or Final Cut Pro for video editing.

You have to import your photos and movies into your Mac first, which brings us to this lesson: Connect your camera or camcorder to your Mac.

Although many cameras can be connected to your computer without installing any software, check the documentation that came with your camera to see what your model requires; some manufacturers require or recommend that you install software to get the full benefits from your camera.

If you want to use iPhoto to view and edit your pictures

iPhoto makes it easy to download your camera’s photos to your hard drive.

  1. Make sure you have the latest iPhoto and OS X updates installed by checking the App Store (OS X Lion) or Software Update preferences.
  2. Connect your camera to your Mac using the USB cable that came with your camera. Note: If your Mac has an SD card slot and your camera uses a compatible SD card, you can simply insert the card into your Mac instead of connecting the camera via a USB cable (then skip to step 4).
  3. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now but check your camera manual if you’re not sure how. The camera or more precisely, its media card, appears in the devices section of the Finder sidebar as a mounted volume.
  4. Open iPhoto, if it does not open automatically.
  5. iPhoto displays your camera or the name you gave your media card in the devices list of the iPhoto sidebar.
  6. Type a name for your group of photos in the Event Name field, such as “Nevada Vacation” or “Company Party Photos.”
  7. Click Import Selected to only import selected photos from your camera, or click Import All to import all photos from your camera. iPhoto wlll import pictures and movies from your camera.
  8. When prompted, click Delete Photos to delete them from your camera or SD card. Or, click Keep Photos to keep them on your cameras or SD card.
  9. To disconnect the camera or SD card when finished, click the eject button next to the camera icon in the devices list. When the camera or card disappears from the list, you can safely disconnect it.

To transfer images from your camera using Image Capture

If you’d rather not download images into iPhoto,
you can use Image Capture to copy them anywhere on your hard drive

These steps will copy image files from your camera to wherever you wish on your hard drive, but not to iPhoto’s library. You can later add them to iPhoto if you wish.

  1. Connect your camera to your Mac using the USB cable that came with your camera. Note: If your Mac has an SD card slot and your camera uses a compatible SD card, you can simply insert the card into your Mac instead of connecting the camera via a USB cable (then skip to step 3).
  2. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now by simply checking your camera’s manual. The camera or more precisely, its media card appears on the desktop as a mounted volume.
  3. Open Image Capture (located in Applications). Note: If iPhoto opens automatically, you can quit it.
  4. Select the media card of your camera from the devices list, if it is not already selected.
  5. At the bottom of the devices and shared list, you can choose to delete photos from your camera after importing them and you can choose which application opens when you reconnect your camera or card to your computer.
  6. From the import To pop-up menu, choose where you want Image Capture to download your files.
  7. If you want to import all the photos from your camera, click Import All. If you only want selected photos imported, choose the photos you want and then click Import. Tip: By pressing and holding down the Command key and clicking the photos you can select multiple photos. The photos you select will be highlighted (as shown in the figure above).
  8. All photos that you import will have a green checkmark indicating they have been imported.
  9. To disconnect the camera or SD card, click the eject button to the right of the media card in the devices list of Image Capture.

To manually download photos
Many cameras allow you to manually copy your images using the Finder. Use these steps to copy your camera’s photo and movie files by simply dragging and dropping the files from the camera volume to your hard drive:

You can copy your camera’s photo and movie files by simply dragging and dropping the files from the camera volume to your hard drive

  1. Connect your camera to your Mac using the USB cable that came with your camera. Note: If your Mac has an SD card slot and your camera uses a compatible SD card, you can simply insert the card into your Mac instead of connecting the camera via a USB cable (then skip to step 3).
  2. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now. You may want to check your camera manual if you’re not sure how. The camera or more precisely, its media card, appears in the devices section of the Finder sidebar as a mounted volume.
  3. Double-click the volume to open it and open the DCIM folder, which holds your pictures.
  4. Drag the image files or folder to your desktop or any folder on your hard drive to copy them. You can then open the files in any graphics application, and even import them into iPhoto if you want by dragging the files into the album section of the iPhoto sidebar.
  5. To delete all photos from the media card in your camera, you can either drag the DCIM folder to the Trash and then empty the Trash, or delete the images using your camera’s controls.
  6. To disconnect the camera, drag the volume icon to the Trash, it turns into an Eject icon. When the icon disappears from the desktop, you can safely disconnect your camera.

Camcorders
Here’s how to connect a camcorder to your computer and capture footage in iMovie.

Use a video capture application, such as iMovie, to import footage
  1. Connect your camcorder to your computer, using the FireWire or USB cable that came with it. Typically for FireWire, a 6-pin to 4-pin FireWire cable, plug the small end (4-pin) connector into your camera’s FireWire port.
  2. Turn on your camera and set it to PC Connect mode (this mode may have a different name on your camera).
  3. Open iMovie.
  4. If the Import window doesn’t open, choose File > Import from Camera from the iMovie menu, or click the video camera button above the Event Library list. The Import window displays all the video clips on your camera.
  5. You can use the playback controls in the iMovie interface to view your camera footage in the iMovie monitor pane.
  6. To select all clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Automatic, and then click Import All. To import specific clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual. Deselect the clips you don’t want to import, and click Import Checked. The first time you import from a video camera that records high-definition (HD) video, an HD Import Setting dialog appears. Even if you aren’t importing high-definition, video now, select Large or Full, and then click OK.
  7. From the Save to pop-up menu, choose a location to store the videos.
  8. in the Create new Event field enter a event name and then click Import.

iPhoto

Working with RAW images:

Does iPhoto actually use RAW image data?

All I see are JPEG copies of my RAW images.
That’s a great question—yes, it certainly does, and its unique process helps simplify the RAW workflow for people who don’t have time to be photo experts. The first time you edit a RAW image in the main iPhoto window, the RAW badge appears at the bottom of the window.
It looks like this:

When the badge appears, iPhoto is using your image’s original RAW data to support your edits. After you click Done, your changes are applied to the RAW image data and stored as a JPEG file (the original RAW file remains unchanged). That’s how iPhoto simplifies the RAW workflow—it combines RAW editing and JPEG conversion into one step.

If you use an expert program like Adobe Photoshop, you would have to make your RAW adjustments, then run a separate batch process to convert all your images to a working format, such as JPEG or TIFF. iPhoto simplifies all that.

Note: If you edit the photo again, the RAW badge won’t appear because the image is now a JPEG file. To re-edit the same image from RAW, select the image and choose Revert to Original from the Photos menu. If you want to keep your first edit, choose Duplicate before reverting.

Why doesn’t iPhoto display the RAW badge when I open an original RAW image in a separate Edit window?

It should, but it currently doesn’t. This is an issue that we’re working to resolve. Until we do, you can avoid confusion by doing all your RAW editing work in the main window.

Why does iPhoto have to convert RAW files to JPEG?

Remember that RAW is a reference or “digital negative” format; not a working format. In other words, you can’t print directly from a RAW file, for example. Furthermore, other programs, such as iMovie and System Preferences, do not understand RAW. That’s why iPhoto makes a JPEG copy of your RAW image at the time of import.

Can I export a 16-bit image or an XMP file from iPhoto?

At the present time, iPhoto cannot export 16-bit color or XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) files. If you export an image as a TIFF file, the resulting photo will be an 8-bit TIFF derived from your edited JPEG image. The iPhoto RAW workflow is designed for simplicity—not expert level control. If you export a photo as an original RAW image file (by choosing Original as the image format in the Export Photos dialog), you will get an unmodified RAW file without an XMP sidecar (no metadata will be embedded into the file).

When I export a RAW file from iPhoto, why aren’t my changes saved as part of the export?

In the RAW photo ethic, a RAW file is regarded as a “digital negative” and is not to be modified. Changes that you make when editing in RAW mode are always saved to a secondary file. In iPhoto, that secondary file is a JPEG. In Adobe Photoshop, the secondary file is an XMP sidecar file.

What is the advantage of shooting images in RAW format?

Images captured in RAW format allow for greater image quality and editing flexibility when you bring them into an image editor, such as iPhoto. RAW is like having insurance against your shooting mistakes—your camera settings are saved separately from the image data. For a more thorough explanation of RAW images, click iPhoto 5: Using the RAW image format.

iPhoto uses the 16-bit RAW data to facilitate your edits before converting the RAW file to JPEG. This gives you greater editing flexibility since a RAW image’s exposure latitude is retained, which is not the case if you simply imported a JPEG file.

Why do RAW images take so much longer to import than JPEGs?

RAW images take longer to import because iPhoto makes a JPEG copy at the time of import. The JPEG conversion allows other parts of Mac OS X, which don’t understand the RAW format, to use your images even before you edit them.

My camera isn’t on your list for RAW support. Why don’t you support it?

Qualifying a camera for RAW compatibility takes a lot of testing, and software must be customized as we add more cameras. Because this is the first iPhoto release to support RAW images, we focused on single-lens reflex (SLR) type cameras and a few others that are most likely to be used by the high-end amateurs and professionals who value the qualities of the RAW format. We expect to add more cameras to the list with future releases of iPhoto.

My blazing fast Mac slows down when I try to browse my RAW photos. What gives?

To maintain a fast browsing speed, iPhoto displays thumbnail images, which are smaller copies of the originals. However, you can easily exceed the thumbnails’ maximum set size when you move the iPhoto zoom slider to display bigger thumbnails. When you do this, iPhoto suddenly has to go to the original image file and scale it to fit your screen, in realtime, as you scroll. For example, if all your thumbnails are around 30 KB each and your original images are around 3 MB a piece, you’ve just increased the size of all images being browsed by 100 times! That’s not an easy jump even for a Power Mac G5. This is true regardless of whether the images you’re browsing are RAW or JPEG images.

You might be wondering how you can constrain iPhoto to display only the maximum thumbnail size. Lucky for you, it’s really easy: When you’re browsing your photos, just press the 2 key on your keyboard. This will resize your thumbnails to the maximum size.

Working with slideshows:

I created a slideshow in an album (by clicking the slideshow button), but the next time I tried to view it, all the slideshow changes I made were gone! Where did they go?
iPhoto 5 has two different kinds of slideshows, and you probably confused the old kind with the new one. (Don’t worry, a few of us did that too.)
Look at the bottom of your Source list (the column on the left side of the window).
With iPhoto’s new “cinematic” slideshow, all slideshows appear as their own entries in the Source list; you’ll probably see that you’ve created more than one copy of your slideshow there. Each copy will still have the changes that you saved in it.
Just pick the one you want to keep, and delete all the extras.

What types of slideshows can I make in iPhoto?

You have two choices. In older versions of iPhoto, you could play an album as a slideshow, and the album could even retain slideshow settings. You can still do that, but you can also create an improved type of slideshow that exists on its own in the Source list. These highly customizable “cinematic” slideshows allow mixed transitions, varied slide durations, and the pan-zoom Ken Burns effect, for example.

When you click the Slideshow button, iPhoto creates one of the new slideshows in the Source List, like “London Slideshow” in this picture.

The old type of slideshow is still there too, but its control has moved. Select a regular album, then click the Play button at the bottom left corner of the iPhoto window. When you click this Play button, you’ll get the older, familiar format.

Why does iPhoto display two Play buttons when I’m working on a slideshow?

The round Play button only appears when you’re editing a cinematic slideshow, and is used to control its playback. The rectangular Play button is used to play the old-style slideshows that don’t appear in the Source list (you can ignore it when editing a cinematic slideshow).

Does the Ken Burns effect soften my photos?

Because Ken Burns images are animated, iPhoto must scale them down to ensure reasonable performance on a range of computers. This will cause some images to look softer than they actually are, though the softening effect may not be noticeable on lower-resolution displays. For example, a landscape-oriented (horizontal) Ken Burns-effected image on an Apple 20-inch Cinema Display (1680 pixels wide) would be downsampled to an animation texture of about 1024 pixels, and then rescaled to fill the screen. This should be more noticeable than if you were viewing the slideshow on a display that was only 1024 pixels wide.

Importing:

Photos can be imported from a digital camera if both your computer and your camera have built-in USB ports and your camera is compatible with iPhoto.
Check your computer’s specifications if you are unsure if it has built-in USB ports.
See the iPhoto Device Compatibility page to see if your camera or media reader is compatible with iPhoto.

Importing photos from a compatible digital camera:

  1. Connect the camera to the computer’s USB port using a USB cable.
  2. Launch iPhoto from your dock or from the Applications folder. iPhoto may also launch automatically if you set it as the default application to manage pictures.
  3. In the source panel, click on your camera name under Devices.
  4. Click the Import All button to import everything or press command and click on specific pictures you want to import and click Import Selected.

5. iPhoto will ask if you want to keep or delete the originals after the import is finished.

6. After you are finished, click the Eject button next to your camera’s name.
Turn off your camera and disconnect it from the computer.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier, you will see the Import pane.
Click the Import button to import all your pictures.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select “Erase contents after transfer” at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, drag the camera’s icon from the Finder desktop to the Trash if necessary, turn off your camera, then disconnect it from the computer.


Importing photos from a media reader or iPod (with Dock Connector) and the Belkin iPod Media Reader:

  1. Insert the media into the media reader or connect your iPod.
  2. Launch iPhoto from your dock or the Applications folder.
  3. In source panel, click on the camera icon underneath Devices.
  4. Click Import All or pick and choose specific pictures then click Import Selected.
  5. Click the Eject button next to the camera icon or drag and drop the media icon on the desktop into the trash.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier you will see the Import pane.
Click the Import button.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select “Erase contents after transfer” at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, eject the media by dragging its icon to the Trash.

Some readers may physically eject the media while others may require that you manually eject the media. If you must manually eject the media, wait until the media icon is gone from the Finder Desktop. For more information about importing photos from an iPod, see “iPod (with Dock Connector): Use Disk Mode to Copy Photos.

Importing photos from other sources:

  1. Choose Import to Library from the File menu.
  2. Select either the individual photos you want to import, or select an entire folder or disk, then click Open. To select multiple photos or folders without selecting all, press and hold the Command key while clicking on photos.

Notes on importing from other sources:

  1. Each imported item, whether a single photo or an entire disk will appear as a separate film roll. Command-clicking on multiple items during an import will result in them all appearing on the same film roll.
  2. If importing files from a local hard drive, see “iPhoto: About Importing Pictures From Hard Disk and Available Space
  3. Processed photos that are offered for download from an Internet site must first be downloaded to a local drive before they can be imported into iPhoto.
  4. Do not copy or move pictures directly into the iPhoto Library folder as they will not appear as an option in iPhoto when attempting to import.
Exporting:

You can export photos from your photo library or an album so you can send them to others or import them into another application.

To export photos:

  1. Select the photo or photos you want to export.
  2. From the File menu, choose Export.
  3. Click the File Export tab.
  4. If necessary, scale images to a specific size by specifying a maximum width and height.
  5. Click Export.
  6. Choose a location for the photos you are exporting, then click OK.
Cropping:

Cropping photos:
Important: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album, slideshow, book, calendar, and card where it appears.

To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit by selecting the photo and choosing Photos > Duplicate.

Here are some tips:

  • If you’re working in your library or an album, select the photo you want to crop and click the Edit button.
  • If you’re working in a slideshow, book, calendar, or card, double-click the photo you want to crop in the photo browser. This switches the photo to edit view.
  • If you want to crop to a specific photo dimension, select the Constrain checkbox and select a dimension from the pop-up menu, such as a square photo or a 4 x 6 postcard.
  • If you plan to use the photo in a book, choose 4 x 3 (Book).
  • If you plan to use the photo as your desktop picture, choose Display to fit the photo to your monitor screen.
  • If you want to do a custom crop, deselect the Constrain checkbox.

Note: If you are cropping the photo solely to print it or order a print, you can do a temporary crop for those purposes in Print view. Select the photo or photos and click the Print button to create a print job, then click Customize.

Drag the selection window to the position you want; drag it larger or smaller to enclose the desired area.

Click the Apply button in the Crop pop-up window.

To save your crop, click the Done button to return to the previous view, click the arrow key to move to the next photo, or select a new photo to edit from the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto window. (If you don’t see a row of photos at the top of the window, choose View > Thumbnails.)

If you don’t like a change you’ve made to a photo, you can undo your most recent change by choosing Edit > Undo.

For photos edited in iPhoto ’08, you can also change the crop at any time without losing your other edits, simply by opening the photo in Edit view and clicking the Crop button.

iPhoto always retains the original photo you imported, so you can change a photo back at any time by choosing Photos > “Revert to Original.”

If you are editing RAW-format photos, choose Photos > Reprocess RAW.

About Cropping:

Cropping allows you to edit a photo by selecting only the portion you like. You can also use cropping to improve a photo’s composition. The ratio of width to height in photographic prints is known as the aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio is important to know when cropping because when ordering prints or a book, photos must match the required aspect ratio or they may be cropped.

For 35 mm pictures the aspect ratio is 2:3 which will produce photos of 4 x 6 in. If you intend to use the same photo to get multiple size prints, you may need to duplicate the photo and constrain and crop to the specific size prints being ordered.

Warning: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album where it appears. To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit.

Crop a photo:

  1. Select the photo you want to crop.
  2. Click the Edit button.
  3. Position the arrow pointer at one corner of the area you want to select, then drag to enclose the desired area. To constrain your selection to a specific size ratio, choose a ratio from the Constrain pop-up menu before dragging to enclose the desired area. If you’re ordering larger prints, choose the appropriate size (5 x 7 or 8 x 10) to constrain the image.
  4. Click the Crop icon in the Edit pane.

If you don’t like the changes you’ve made to a photo, you can revert to its original version by choosing “Revert to Original” from the File menu. You can also undo your most recent change by choosing Undo from the Edit menu.

Deleting:

Deleting a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

There are several ways to delete an Event from your iPhoto library.

To delete an Event:

Select the Event, then do one of the following:

  • Press Command-Delete.
  • Drag the Event to iPhoto Trash.
  • Choose Photos > “Move to Trash.”

Warning: If you delete an Event that includes photos you have used in a slideshow, book, calendar, card, or published album, the photos will be removed from those projects.

You can retrieve your photos from iPhoto Trash until you empty the Trash, which deletes your photos permanently. To empty iPhoto Trash, select it in the Source list, and then choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you delete an Event by mistake, click Edit > “Undo Move to Trash.”

If this option is dimmed, select iPhoto Trash in the Source list, select the photos you want, and drag them to Photos in the Source list.


You can delete a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow you’ve created without removing its photos from the photo library.

To delete items from the Source list:

  1. Select the folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow.
  2. Press the Delete key.

You can also delete any one of these items by dragging it to the iPhoto Trash.

To delete text:

  • Select the text and press the Delete key.

If you delete text by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it. (This command restores only the last text you deleted.)


Deleting a photo from the library:

Warning: Deleting a photo from your library also removes it from any album, slideshow, book, calendar, or card in which it appears.

To delete a photo from the library:

  1. Select the photo you want to delete.
  2. Press the Delete key.
  3. Choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

You can also delete a photo by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list, then choosing iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you change your mind about deleting a photo before you empty the Trash, select the Trash, select the photo, and then choose Photos > Restore to Photo Library. You can also drag the item out of the Trash before you choose Empty Trash.

Removing photos from an album:

You can remove photos from an album you’ve created without deleting the photos from your photo library.

To remove photos:

  1. Select the album.
  2. Click to select the photos you want to remove.

Do one of the following:

  • To remove a photo from a regular album, press the Delete key. This removes the photo only from that album, not other albums or your library.
  • To move a photo from a regular album or Smart Album to the Trash, press Command-Option-Delete. (This also removes the photo from the library and from every album, slideshow, and book where it appears.)

You can also remove a photo from a standard album or a Smart Album by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list.

If you remove a photo from an album by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a page from a book:

To remove a page from a book:

  1. Click the Page View button to display book pages in page view.
  2. Select the page you want to remove.
  3. Press Delete.

You can also choose Edit > Delete Page.


Removing a photo from a calendar:

Here are ways to remove photos from a calendar:

  • To remove a photo from a calendar page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a calendar by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a photo from a greeting card:

Here are ways to remove photos from a card:

  • To remove a photo from a card, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a greeting card by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.


Removing a photo from a book:

Here are ways to remove photos from a book:

  • To remove a photo from a book page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, click the Photo browser button, select the photo, and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a book by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Creating:

Creating a CD or DVD:

You can use the iPhoto burn feature to archive your photos and albums for viewing in iPhoto only.
If you want to create a disc to be viewed on a Windows computer or by a photo processing company, you must use the Finder.

To create a CD or DVD using the Finder:

  1. In iPhoto, select the album or albums you want to burn to a disc.
  2. Export the album or albums to a folder on your computer.
  3. When the export is finished, quit iPhoto.
  4. Click the Finder icon in the Dock and insert a CD-RW disc or a blank CD-R or DVD-R disc into your drive.
  5. Drag the folder that contains your exported photos onto the disc’s icon.
  6. When the files have finished copying, choose File > Burn Disc, and then click Burn.

Creating a customized Event:

To create an Event:

  1. Select Photos in the Source list.
  2. Select the photos you want in your customized Event. Command-click to select non-adjacent photos.
  3. Choose Events > Create Event.
  4. In the dialog, click Create.

Your selected photos will be removed from their current Events and placed into the new Event.

Note: You can also create an empty Event, and move photos into it later.

To do so:

  • click Events in the Source list, and then click the New Event button in the toolbar, or choose Events > Create Event.

A placeholder Event thumbnail will appear at the bottom of your Events in the viewing area of iPhoto. Just as with any other Event, you can name the new Event, add photos to it, merge it with another Event, and more.

Creating a Smart Album:

Smart Albums allow you to have albums created automatically from specific photos in your library. You can make a Smart Album that contains only certain types of photos, photos with high ratings, or photos that match other criteria, including EXIF information, such as a specific shutter speed or camera model.

For example, you can create an album that contains only your highest-rated photos taken within the last two months on your digital SLR camera.

To create a Smart Album:

  1. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click New Smart Album in the dialog. You can also choose File > New Smart Album.
  2. Type a name for your album in the “Smart Album name” field.
  3. Use the pop-up menus to choose the criteria by which photos will be added to the album. For example, you might want iPhoto to add only photos that contain “Kids” as a keyword, or photos with at least a four-star rating. To add additional matching criteria, click the Add (+) button.
  4. Click OK.

A Smart Album has a gear symbol on its icon in the Source list.
Any photos in your library that match the settings you chose are added to the album.

iPhoto automatically modifies a Smart Album when any photo that matches the album’s settings is added to or removed from your library.
You can search for photos using the criteria, including EXIF information, that you use to organize the albums.

Creating a greeting card:

You can choose from a variety of greeting card sizes and designs to create a card for any occasion.

To create a greeting card:

  1. Select one or more photos that you want to use in your card.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Card in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your card.
  4. Choose a card type from the pop-up menu.
  5. Select an occasion (for example, Baby/Kids or Invitation/Thank You) in the list on the left.
  6. Select a design for your card in the themes list on the right. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  7. Click Choose. iPhoto switches to card view, and your new card appears in the Source list.
  8. Drag a photo from the top of the iPhoto window onto your card page.

Once you create a card, you can add a personal message, change photos, and order card sets to be sent to you.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.


Creating folders in the Source list:

You can add folders to the iPhoto Source list to better organize your albums. You cannot add individual photos directly to a folder.

To create a folder:

  1. Choose File > New Folder.
  2. Type a name for the folder and press Return.
  3. In the Source list, drag albums, books, calendars, cards, slideshows, or other folders into the folder you just created.

You can also drag your new folder into an existing folder.

Creating a standard photo album:

You can create standard albums to better organize your photo library, group the photos you want to burn to CD or DVD, or choose pictures for a webpage.

To create a standard photo album:

  1. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Album in the dialog. You can also Choose File > New Album.
  2. Type a name for your album and click Create. The album appears in your Source list.
  3. Click Events, then drag entire Events or photos within one or more Events to your new album.

You can also add a photo to an album directly from another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to an album from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can also select the photos you want to group first, then create a standard album from them.

To do this:

  • Command-click to select all the photos you want to include in the album, then choose File > New Album From Selection and name your album.

You can also create an album by dragging a folder of photos from the Finder into an empty part of the iPhoto Source list.
iPhoto creates an album with the folder’s name and imports all photos contained in the folder.

Creating a book:

You can choose from a variety of book sizes and designs to create a book for any occasion.

To create a book:

  1. Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your book.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Book in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your book.
  4. Choose a hardcover, softcover, or wirebound softcover book size from the Book Type pop-up menu.
  5. Select a design for your book from the scrolling themes list. When you select a book theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed book descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  6. Click Choose. iPhoto switches to book view, and your new book appears in the Source list.
  7. Drag photos from the top of the iPhoto window onto your book pages.

If you want iPhoto to automatically design your book by arranging the selected photos on each page, click the Autoflow button.

Once you create a book, you can change the order of pages or photos, add and change the appearance of text, and even customize the design of individual pages.

If you chose a hardcover book and want photos to be printed on only one side of your book pages, click the Settings button in the toolbar and deselect the “Double-sided pages” checkbox.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a calendar:

You can choose from a variety of themes to create a calendar for any occasion.

To create a calendar:

  1. Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your calendar.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Calendar in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your calendar.
  4. Select a design for your calendar from the scrolling themes list. When you select a theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  5. Click Choose.
  6. Choose the month and year you want your calendar to begin with.
  7. Choose the number of months you want your calendar to include (up to 24).
  8. Choose the national holidays you want to appear in your calendar.
  9. Choose one or more iCal calendars that you want to have imported into your iPhoto calendar. (If you don’t use iCal, you won’t see anything in the “Import iCal calendars” field.)
  10. Click OK. iPhoto switches to calendar view, and your new calendar appears in the Source list.
  11. Drag photos from the left of the iPhoto window onto your calendar pages. If you want iPhoto to automatically design your calendar by arranging the selected photos on each page for you, click the Autoflow button.

After you create a calendar, you can add photos, add or change special dates, change the order of pages or photos, and customize the design of individual pages.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a slideshow:

To create a slideshow:

  1. Select an album or group of photos you want in your slideshow.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Slideshow in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your slideshow.
  4. If you want, deselect the “Use selected items in new slideshow” checkbox.
  5. Click Create.
  6. Drag photos into the order you want in the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto viewing area.

After you create a slideshow, you can also add photos to it by dragging them directly from an Event, another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to a slideshow from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can choose music, specify the display duration for each slide, choose transition effects, display slideshow controls, and set other options. (See Related Topics below.)

You can also view selected photos as a temporary slideshow without creating a slideshow in the Source list.

To do this:

  • Select a folder, album, or group of photos and click the Play button at the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window.


Creating a new photo library:

You can create multiple photo libraries to organize your photos, albums, slideshows, books, calendars, and cards.

To create a new photo library:

  1. Quit iPhoto.
  2. Rename your current iPhoto Library in the Finder or move it to a new location on your hard disk (see Related Topics below).
  3. Open iPhoto.
  4. Click Create Library in the dialog that appears.
  5. Type a name and choose a location for your new photo library.
  6. Click Save.

Your new, empty photo library appears in the iPhoto Source list.
Any photos you import will be added to this library.
You can switch to another library you’ve created at any time.

Editing:

Editing photos in another application:

You can do many editing tasks in iPhoto, such as rotating and cropping a photo, changing a color photo to black and white, adjusting exposure and contrast, and reducing red-eye.
If you want to make other changes to a photo, you can open it in another image-editing application, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Important: Nondestructive editing does not apply to photos in the iPhoto library that are edited in a separate application.

  1. Set your preferences to open photos in another application when you click the Edit button.
  2. Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in the application.
  3. Edit the photo. When you’re finished, save the photo using the same name and file format.

The changes you made to the photo will be visible when you return to iPhoto.

Note: When you edit a RAW-format photo, iPhoto creates a copy of the photo in JPEG format. This is the photo that opens in the other application.

To edit the photo in its original RAW format, you must set that preference separately from your edit preference.

To do so, choose:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click Advanced.
  • Select the “Use RAW when using external editor” checkbox.

When you are finished editing, you must save the edited version on your computer and reimport it into iPhoto.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
  • Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

Editing billing information:

If you need to make changes to your billing information for your Apple ID, follow these steps:

  1. Verify that your computer is connected to the Internet, then open the application.
  2. Select a photo from your Library by clicking it one time.
  3. Aperture: Choose File > Order Prints – iPhoto: Choose Share > Order Prints.
  4. Click either Account Info or Set Up Account.
  5. Enter your Apple ID and password where prompted and click Sign In. Learn more about Apple ID accounts.
  6. As soon as you sign in, the ordering system will automatically enable 1-Click ordering on your account.
  7. To make changes to your billing information, click “Edit Billing.” Enter any desired changes and click “OK” on the bottom right to save your changes.
  8. Click Cancel (your account info will still be saved).

You can also make changes to your account information by visiting Apple’s MyInfo page: myinfo.apple.com

Editing text in a book:

Most book themes include pages that contain text you can edit.
If you don’t see any text on a page and you want to add some, you need to choose a new design for your page that includes text.

To edit text:

  1. Click the Page View button to display book pages in the photo browser.
  2. Select the page that contains text you want to edit.
  3. Click the text you want to edit, and then add or edit text.

When you need to edit text, it’s a good idea to zoom in on the text area first.
To do so, drag the size slider.

iPhoto offers an automatic spell checker to help you eliminate spelling errors.
Even better, you can have iPhoto read your text aloud, so you can hear if it stumbles over a typo or some awkward language.

Highlight the text you want to hear, then Control-click it and choose:

  • Speech > Start Speaking from the shortcut menu.

To turn off the automatic spell checker, choose:

  • Edit > Spelling.
  • Click “Check Spelling as You Type” to deselect it.

Editing photos in a separate window:

You can open a photo in a separate window and use the edit toolbar to perform a variety of photo-editing tasks.

Make sure your preferences are set to open a photo in its own edit window when you click the Edit button.

  1. Choosing what happens when you click the Edit button ►
  2. Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in its own edit window.
  3. Use the editing tools to edit your photo.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
  • Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

You can also enlarge the photo in the edit window so it fills your screen by sliding the zoom slider.

Editing/Renaming a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

After you’ve created a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow, you can change its name.

To rename an item in the Source list:

  1. Double-click the name of the item.
  2. Edit the name or type a new one.

iPhoto

Working with RAW images:

Does iPhoto actually use RAW image data?

All I see are JPEG copies of my RAW images.
That’s a great question—yes, it certainly does, and its unique process helps simplify the RAW workflow for people who don’t have time to be photo experts. The first time you edit a RAW image in the main iPhoto window, the RAW badge appears at the bottom of the window.
It looks like this:

When the badge appears, iPhoto is using your image’s original RAW data to support your edits. After you click Done, your changes are applied to the RAW image data and stored as a JPEG file (the original RAW file remains unchanged). That’s how iPhoto simplifies the RAW workflow—it combines RAW editing and JPEG conversion into one step.

If you use an expert program like Adobe Photoshop, you would have to make your RAW adjustments, then run a separate batch process to convert all your images to a working format, such as JPEG or TIFF. iPhoto simplifies all that.

Note: If you edit the photo again, the RAW badge won’t appear because the image is now a JPEG file. To re-edit the same image from RAW, select the image and choose Revert to Original from the Photos menu. If you want to keep your first edit, choose Duplicate before reverting.

Why doesn’t iPhoto display the RAW badge when I open an original RAW image in a separate Edit window?

It should, but it currently doesn’t. This is an issue that we’re working to resolve. Until we do, you can avoid confusion by doing all your RAW editing work in the main window.

Why does iPhoto have to convert RAW files to JPEG?

Remember that RAW is a reference or “digital negative” format; not a working format. In other words, you can’t print directly from a RAW file, for example. Furthermore, other programs, such as iMovie and System Preferences, do not understand RAW. That’s why iPhoto makes a JPEG copy of your RAW image at the time of import.

Can I export a 16-bit image or an XMP file from iPhoto?

At the present time, iPhoto cannot export 16-bit color or XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) files. If you export an image as a TIFF file, the resulting photo will be an 8-bit TIFF derived from your edited JPEG image. The iPhoto RAW workflow is designed for simplicity—not expert level control. If you export a photo as an original RAW image file (by choosing Original as the image format in the Export Photos dialog), you will get an unmodified RAW file without an XMP sidecar (no metadata will be embedded into the file).

When I export a RAW file from iPhoto, why aren’t my changes saved as part of the export?

In the RAW photo ethic, a RAW file is regarded as a “digital negative” and is not to be modified. Changes that you make when editing in RAW mode are always saved to a secondary file. In iPhoto, that secondary file is a JPEG. In Adobe Photoshop, the secondary file is an XMP sidecar file.

What is the advantage of shooting images in RAW format?

Images captured in RAW format allow for greater image quality and editing flexibility when you bring them into an image editor, such as iPhoto. RAW is like having insurance against your shooting mistakes—your camera settings are saved separately from the image data. For a more thorough explanation of RAW images, click iPhoto 5: Using the RAW image format.

iPhoto uses the 16-bit RAW data to facilitate your edits before converting the RAW file to JPEG. This gives you greater editing flexibility since a RAW image’s exposure latitude is retained, which is not the case if you simply imported a JPEG file.

Why do RAW images take so much longer to import than JPEGs?

RAW images take longer to import because iPhoto makes a JPEG copy at the time of import. The JPEG conversion allows other parts of Mac OS X, which don’t understand the RAW format, to use your images even before you edit them.

My camera isn’t on your list for RAW support. Why don’t you support it?

Qualifying a camera for RAW compatibility takes a lot of testing, and software must be customized as we add more cameras. Because this is the first iPhoto release to support RAW images, we focused on single-lens reflex (SLR) type cameras and a few others that are most likely to be used by the high-end amateurs and professionals who value the qualities of the RAW format. We expect to add more cameras to the list with future releases of iPhoto.

My blazing fast Mac slows down when I try to browse my RAW photos. What gives?

To maintain a fast browsing speed, iPhoto displays thumbnail images, which are smaller copies of the originals. However, you can easily exceed the thumbnails’ maximum set size when you move the iPhoto zoom slider to display bigger thumbnails. When you do this, iPhoto suddenly has to go to the original image file and scale it to fit your screen, in realtime, as you scroll. For example, if all your thumbnails are around 30 KB each and your original images are around 3 MB a piece, you’ve just increased the size of all images being browsed by 100 times! That’s not an easy jump even for a Power Mac G5. This is true regardless of whether the images you’re browsing are RAW or JPEG images.

You might be wondering how you can constrain iPhoto to display only the maximum thumbnail size. Lucky for you, it’s really easy: When you’re browsing your photos, just press the 2 key on your keyboard. This will resize your thumbnails to the maximum size.

Working with slideshows:

I created a slideshow in an album (by clicking the slideshow button), but the next time I tried to view it, all the slideshow changes I made were gone! Where did they go?
iPhoto 5 has two different kinds of slideshows, and you probably confused the old kind with the new one. (Don’t worry, a few of us did that too.)
Look at the bottom of your Source list (the column on the left side of the window).
With iPhoto’s new “cinematic” slideshow, all slideshows appear as their own entries in the Source list; you’ll probably see that you’ve created more than one copy of your slideshow there. Each copy will still have the changes that you saved in it.
Just pick the one you want to keep, and delete all the extras.

What types of slideshows can I make in iPhoto?

You have two choices. In older versions of iPhoto, you could play an album as a slideshow, and the album could even retain slideshow settings. You can still do that, but you can also create an improved type of slideshow that exists on its own in the Source list. These highly customizable “cinematic” slideshows allow mixed transitions, varied slide durations, and the pan-zoom Ken Burns effect, for example.

When you click the Slideshow button, iPhoto creates one of the new slideshows in the Source List, like “London Slideshow” in this picture.

The old type of slideshow is still there too, but its control has moved. Select a regular album, then click the Play button at the bottom left corner of the iPhoto window. When you click this Play button, you’ll get the older, familiar format.

Why does iPhoto display two Play buttons when I’m working on a slideshow?

The round Play button only appears when you’re editing a cinematic slideshow, and is used to control its playback. The rectangular Play button is used to play the old-style slideshows that don’t appear in the Source list (you can ignore it when editing a cinematic slideshow).

Does the Ken Burns effect soften my photos?

Because Ken Burns images are animated, iPhoto must scale them down to ensure reasonable performance on a range of computers. This will cause some images to look softer than they actually are, though the softening effect may not be noticeable on lower-resolution displays. For example, a landscape-oriented (horizontal) Ken Burns-effected image on an Apple 20-inch Cinema Display (1680 pixels wide) would be downsampled to an animation texture of about 1024 pixels, and then rescaled to fill the screen. This should be more noticeable than if you were viewing the slideshow on a display that was only 1024 pixels wide.

Importing:

Photos can be imported from a digital camera if both your computer and your camera have built-in USB ports and your camera is compatible with iPhoto.
Check your computer’s specifications if you are unsure if it has built-in USB ports.
See the iPhoto Device Compatibility page to see if your camera or media reader is compatible with iPhoto.

Importing photos from a compatible digital camera:

  1. Connect the camera to the computer’s USB port using a USB cable.
  2. Launch iPhoto from your dock or from the Applications folder. iPhoto may also launch automatically if you set it as the default application to manage pictures.
  3. In the source panel, click on your camera name under Devices.
  4. Click the Import All button to import everything or press command and click on specific pictures you want to import and click Import Selected.

5. iPhoto will ask if you want to keep or delete the originals after the import is finished.

6. After you are finished, click the Eject button next to your camera’s name.
Turn off your camera and disconnect it from the computer.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier, you will see the Import pane.
Click the Import button to import all your pictures.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select “Erase contents after transfer” at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, drag the camera’s icon from the Finder desktop to the Trash if necessary, turn off your camera, then disconnect it from the computer.


Importing photos from a media reader or iPod (with Dock Connector) and the Belkin iPod Media Reader:

  1. Insert the media into the media reader or connect your iPod.
  2. Launch iPhoto from your dock or the Applications folder.
  3. In source panel, click on the camera icon underneath Devices.
  4. Click Import All or pick and choose specific pictures then click Import Selected.
  5. Click the Eject button next to the camera icon or drag and drop the media icon on the desktop into the trash.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier you will see the Import pane.
Click the Import button.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select “Erase contents after transfer” at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, eject the media by dragging its icon to the Trash.

Some readers may physically eject the media while others may require that you manually eject the media. If you must manually eject the media, wait until the media icon is gone from the Finder Desktop. For more information about importing photos from an iPod, see “iPod (with Dock Connector): Use Disk Mode to Copy Photos.

Importing photos from other sources:

  1. Choose Import to Library from the File menu.
  2. Select either the individual photos you want to import, or select an entire folder or disk, then click Open. To select multiple photos or folders without selecting all, press and hold the Command key while clicking on photos.

Notes on importing from other sources:

  1. Each imported item, whether a single photo or an entire disk will appear as a separate film roll. Command-clicking on multiple items during an import will result in them all appearing on the same film roll.
  2. If importing files from a local hard drive, see “iPhoto: About Importing Pictures From Hard Disk and Available Space
  3. Processed photos that are offered for download from an Internet site must first be downloaded to a local drive before they can be imported into iPhoto.
  4. Do not copy or move pictures directly into the iPhoto Library folder as they will not appear as an option in iPhoto when attempting to import.
Exporting:

You can export photos from your photo library or an album so you can send them to others or import them into another application.

To export photos:

  1. Select the photo or photos you want to export.
  2. From the File menu, choose Export.
  3. Click the File Export tab.
  4. If necessary, scale images to a specific size by specifying a maximum width and height.
  5. Click Export.
  6. Choose a location for the photos you are exporting, then click OK.
Cropping:

Cropping photos:
Important: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album, slideshow, book, calendar, and card where it appears.

To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit by selecting the photo and choosing Photos > Duplicate.

Here are some tips:

  • If you’re working in your library or an album, select the photo you want to crop and click the Edit button.
  • If you’re working in a slideshow, book, calendar, or card, double-click the photo you want to crop in the photo browser. This switches the photo to edit view.
  • If you want to crop to a specific photo dimension, select the Constrain checkbox and select a dimension from the pop-up menu, such as a square photo or a 4 x 6 postcard.
  • If you plan to use the photo in a book, choose 4 x 3 (Book).
  • If you plan to use the photo as your desktop picture, choose Display to fit the photo to your monitor screen.
  • If you want to do a custom crop, deselect the Constrain checkbox.

Note: If you are cropping the photo solely to print it or order a print, you can do a temporary crop for those purposes in Print view. Select the photo or photos and click the Print button to create a print job, then click Customize.

Drag the selection window to the position you want; drag it larger or smaller to enclose the desired area.

Click the Apply button in the Crop pop-up window.

To save your crop, click the Done button to return to the previous view, click the arrow key to move to the next photo, or select a new photo to edit from the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto window. (If you don’t see a row of photos at the top of the window, choose View > Thumbnails.)

If you don’t like a change you’ve made to a photo, you can undo your most recent change by choosing Edit > Undo.

For photos edited in iPhoto ’08, you can also change the crop at any time without losing your other edits, simply by opening the photo in Edit view and clicking the Crop button.

iPhoto always retains the original photo you imported, so you can change a photo back at any time by choosing Photos > “Revert to Original.”

If you are editing RAW-format photos, choose Photos > Reprocess RAW.

About Cropping:

Cropping allows you to edit a photo by selecting only the portion you like. You can also use cropping to improve a photo’s composition. The ratio of width to height in photographic prints is known as the aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio is important to know when cropping because when ordering prints or a book, photos must match the required aspect ratio or they may be cropped.

For 35 mm pictures the aspect ratio is 2:3 which will produce photos of 4 x 6 in. If you intend to use the same photo to get multiple size prints, you may need to duplicate the photo and constrain and crop to the specific size prints being ordered.

Warning: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album where it appears. To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit.

Crop a photo:

  1. Select the photo you want to crop.
  2. Click the Edit button.
  3. Position the arrow pointer at one corner of the area you want to select, then drag to enclose the desired area. To constrain your selection to a specific size ratio, choose a ratio from the Constrain pop-up menu before dragging to enclose the desired area. If you’re ordering larger prints, choose the appropriate size (5 x 7 or 8 x 10) to constrain the image.
  4. Click the Crop icon in the Edit pane.

If you don’t like the changes you’ve made to a photo, you can revert to its original version by choosing “Revert to Original” from the File menu. You can also undo your most recent change by choosing Undo from the Edit menu.

Deleting:

Deleting a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

There are several ways to delete an Event from your iPhoto library.

To delete an Event:

Select the Event, then do one of the following:

  • Press Command-Delete.
  • Drag the Event to iPhoto Trash.
  • Choose Photos > “Move to Trash.”

Warning: If you delete an Event that includes photos you have used in a slideshow, book, calendar, card, or published album, the photos will be removed from those projects.

You can retrieve your photos from iPhoto Trash until you empty the Trash, which deletes your photos permanently. To empty iPhoto Trash, select it in the Source list, and then choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you delete an Event by mistake, click Edit > “Undo Move to Trash.”

If this option is dimmed, select iPhoto Trash in the Source list, select the photos you want, and drag them to Photos in the Source list.


You can delete a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow you’ve created without removing its photos from the photo library.

To delete items from the Source list:

  1. Select the folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow.
  2. Press the Delete key.

You can also delete any one of these items by dragging it to the iPhoto Trash.

To delete text:

  • Select the text and press the Delete key.

If you delete text by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it. (This command restores only the last text you deleted.)


Deleting a photo from the library:

Warning: Deleting a photo from your library also removes it from any album, slideshow, book, calendar, or card in which it appears.

To delete a photo from the library:

  1. Select the photo you want to delete.
  2. Press the Delete key.
  3. Choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

You can also delete a photo by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list, then choosing iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you change your mind about deleting a photo before you empty the Trash, select the Trash, select the photo, and then choose Photos > Restore to Photo Library. You can also drag the item out of the Trash before you choose Empty Trash.

Removing photos from an album:

You can remove photos from an album you’ve created without deleting the photos from your photo library.

To remove photos:

  1. Select the album.
  2. Click to select the photos you want to remove.

Do one of the following:

  • To remove a photo from a regular album, press the Delete key. This removes the photo only from that album, not other albums or your library.
  • To move a photo from a regular album or Smart Album to the Trash, press Command-Option-Delete. (This also removes the photo from the library and from every album, slideshow, and book where it appears.)

You can also remove a photo from a standard album or a Smart Album by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list.

If you remove a photo from an album by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a page from a book:

To remove a page from a book:

  1. Click the Page View button to display book pages in page view.
  2. Select the page you want to remove.
  3. Press Delete.

You can also choose Edit > Delete Page.


Removing a photo from a calendar:

Here are ways to remove photos from a calendar:

  • To remove a photo from a calendar page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a calendar by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a photo from a greeting card:

Here are ways to remove photos from a card:

  • To remove a photo from a card, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a greeting card by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.


Removing a photo from a book:

Here are ways to remove photos from a book:

  • To remove a photo from a book page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, click the Photo browser button, select the photo, and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a book by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Creating:

Creating a CD or DVD:

You can use the iPhoto burn feature to archive your photos and albums for viewing in iPhoto only.
If you want to create a disc to be viewed on a Windows computer or by a photo processing company, you must use the Finder.

To create a CD or DVD using the Finder:

  1. In iPhoto, select the album or albums you want to burn to a disc.
  2. Export the album or albums to a folder on your computer.
  3. When the export is finished, quit iPhoto.
  4. Click the Finder icon in the Dock and insert a CD-RW disc or a blank CD-R or DVD-R disc into your drive.
  5. Drag the folder that contains your exported photos onto the disc’s icon.
  6. When the files have finished copying, choose File > Burn Disc, and then click Burn.

Creating a customized Event:

To create an Event:

  1. Select Photos in the Source list.
  2. Select the photos you want in your customized Event. Command-click to select non-adjacent photos.
  3. Choose Events > Create Event.
  4. In the dialog, click Create.

Your selected photos will be removed from their current Events and placed into the new Event.

Note: You can also create an empty Event, and move photos into it later.

To do so:

  • click Events in the Source list, and then click the New Event button in the toolbar, or choose Events > Create Event.

A placeholder Event thumbnail will appear at the bottom of your Events in the viewing area of iPhoto. Just as with any other Event, you can name the new Event, add photos to it, merge it with another Event, and more.

Creating a Smart Album:

Smart Albums allow you to have albums created automatically from specific photos in your library. You can make a Smart Album that contains only certain types of photos, photos with high ratings, or photos that match other criteria, including EXIF information, such as a specific shutter speed or camera model.

For example, you can create an album that contains only your highest-rated photos taken within the last two months on your digital SLR camera.

To create a Smart Album:

  1. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click New Smart Album in the dialog. You can also choose File > New Smart Album.
  2. Type a name for your album in the “Smart Album name” field.
  3. Use the pop-up menus to choose the criteria by which photos will be added to the album. For example, you might want iPhoto to add only photos that contain “Kids” as a keyword, or photos with at least a four-star rating. To add additional matching criteria, click the Add (+) button.
  4. Click OK.

A Smart Album has a gear symbol on its icon in the Source list.
Any photos in your library that match the settings you chose are added to the album.

iPhoto automatically modifies a Smart Album when any photo that matches the album’s settings is added to or removed from your library.
You can search for photos using the criteria, including EXIF information, that you use to organize the albums.

Creating a greeting card:

You can choose from a variety of greeting card sizes and designs to create a card for any occasion.

To create a greeting card:

  1. Select one or more photos that you want to use in your card.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Card in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your card.
  4. Choose a card type from the pop-up menu.
  5. Select an occasion (for example, Baby/Kids or Invitation/Thank You) in the list on the left.
  6. Select a design for your card in the themes list on the right. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  7. Click Choose. iPhoto switches to card view, and your new card appears in the Source list.
  8. Drag a photo from the top of the iPhoto window onto your card page.

Once you create a card, you can add a personal message, change photos, and order card sets to be sent to you.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.


Creating folders in the Source list:

You can add folders to the iPhoto Source list to better organize your albums. You cannot add individual photos directly to a folder.

To create a folder:

  1. Choose File > New Folder.
  2. Type a name for the folder and press Return.
  3. In the Source list, drag albums, books, calendars, cards, slideshows, or other folders into the folder you just created.

You can also drag your new folder into an existing folder.

Creating a standard photo album:

You can create standard albums to better organize your photo library, group the photos you want to burn to CD or DVD, or choose pictures for a webpage.

To create a standard photo album:

  1. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Album in the dialog. You can also Choose File > New Album.
  2. Type a name for your album and click Create. The album appears in your Source list.
  3. Click Events, then drag entire Events or photos within one or more Events to your new album.

You can also add a photo to an album directly from another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to an album from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can also select the photos you want to group first, then create a standard album from them.

To do this:

  • Command-click to select all the photos you want to include in the album, then choose File > New Album From Selection and name your album.

You can also create an album by dragging a folder of photos from the Finder into an empty part of the iPhoto Source list.
iPhoto creates an album with the folder’s name and imports all photos contained in the folder.

Creating a book:

You can choose from a variety of book sizes and designs to create a book for any occasion.

To create a book:

  1. Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your book.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Book in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your book.
  4. Choose a hardcover, softcover, or wirebound softcover book size from the Book Type pop-up menu.
  5. Select a design for your book from the scrolling themes list. When you select a book theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed book descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  6. Click Choose. iPhoto switches to book view, and your new book appears in the Source list.
  7. Drag photos from the top of the iPhoto window onto your book pages.

If you want iPhoto to automatically design your book by arranging the selected photos on each page, click the Autoflow button.

Once you create a book, you can change the order of pages or photos, add and change the appearance of text, and even customize the design of individual pages.

If you chose a hardcover book and want photos to be printed on only one side of your book pages, click the Settings button in the toolbar and deselect the “Double-sided pages” checkbox.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a calendar:

You can choose from a variety of themes to create a calendar for any occasion.

To create a calendar:

  1. Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your calendar.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Calendar in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your calendar.
  4. Select a design for your calendar from the scrolling themes list. When you select a theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  5. Click Choose.
  6. Choose the month and year you want your calendar to begin with.
  7. Choose the number of months you want your calendar to include (up to 24).
  8. Choose the national holidays you want to appear in your calendar.
  9. Choose one or more iCal calendars that you want to have imported into your iPhoto calendar. (If you don’t use iCal, you won’t see anything in the “Import iCal calendars” field.)
  10. Click OK. iPhoto switches to calendar view, and your new calendar appears in the Source list.
  11. Drag photos from the left of the iPhoto window onto your calendar pages. If you want iPhoto to automatically design your calendar by arranging the selected photos on each page for you, click the Autoflow button.

After you create a calendar, you can add photos, add or change special dates, change the order of pages or photos, and customize the design of individual pages.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a slideshow:

To create a slideshow:

  1. Select an album or group of photos you want in your slideshow.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Slideshow in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your slideshow.
  4. If you want, deselect the “Use selected items in new slideshow” checkbox.
  5. Click Create.
  6. Drag photos into the order you want in the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto viewing area.

After you create a slideshow, you can also add photos to it by dragging them directly from an Event, another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to a slideshow from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can choose music, specify the display duration for each slide, choose transition effects, display slideshow controls, and set other options. (See Related Topics below.)

You can also view selected photos as a temporary slideshow without creating a slideshow in the Source list.

To do this:

  • Select a folder, album, or group of photos and click the Play button at the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window.


Creating a new photo library:

You can create multiple photo libraries to organize your photos, albums, slideshows, books, calendars, and cards.

To create a new photo library:

  1. Quit iPhoto.
  2. Rename your current iPhoto Library in the Finder or move it to a new location on your hard disk (see Related Topics below).
  3. Open iPhoto.
  4. Click Create Library in the dialog that appears.
  5. Type a name and choose a location for your new photo library.
  6. Click Save.

Your new, empty photo library appears in the iPhoto Source list.
Any photos you import will be added to this library.
You can switch to another library you’ve created at any time.

Editing:

Editing photos in another application:

You can do many editing tasks in iPhoto, such as rotating and cropping a photo, changing a color photo to black and white, adjusting exposure and contrast, and reducing red-eye.
If you want to make other changes to a photo, you can open it in another image-editing application, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Important: Nondestructive editing does not apply to photos in the iPhoto library that are edited in a separate application.

  1. Set your preferences to open photos in another application when you click the Edit button.
  2. Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in the application.
  3. Edit the photo. When you’re finished, save the photo using the same name and file format.

The changes you made to the photo will be visible when you return to iPhoto.

Note: When you edit a RAW-format photo, iPhoto creates a copy of the photo in JPEG format. This is the photo that opens in the other application.

To edit the photo in its original RAW format, you must set that preference separately from your edit preference.

To do so, choose:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click Advanced.
  • Select the “Use RAW when using external editor” checkbox.

When you are finished editing, you must save the edited version on your computer and reimport it into iPhoto.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
  • Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

Editing billing information:

If you need to make changes to your billing information for your Apple ID, follow these steps:

  1. Verify that your computer is connected to the Internet, then open the application.
  2. Select a photo from your Library by clicking it one time.
  3. Aperture: Choose File > Order Prints – iPhoto: Choose Share > Order Prints.
  4. Click either Account Info or Set Up Account.
  5. Enter your Apple ID and password where prompted and click Sign In. Learn more about Apple ID accounts.
  6. As soon as you sign in, the ordering system will automatically enable 1-Click ordering on your account.
  7. To make changes to your billing information, click “Edit Billing.” Enter any desired changes and click “OK” on the bottom right to save your changes.
  8. Click Cancel (your account info will still be saved).

You can also make changes to your account information by visiting Apple’s MyInfo page: myinfo.apple.com

Editing text in a book:

Most book themes include pages that contain text you can edit.
If you don’t see any text on a page and you want to add some, you need to choose a new design for your page that includes text.

To edit text:

  1. Click the Page View button to display book pages in the photo browser.
  2. Select the page that contains text you want to edit.
  3. Click the text you want to edit, and then add or edit text.

When you need to edit text, it’s a good idea to zoom in on the text area first.
To do so, drag the size slider.

iPhoto offers an automatic spell checker to help you eliminate spelling errors.
Even better, you can have iPhoto read your text aloud, so you can hear if it stumbles over a typo or some awkward language.

Highlight the text you want to hear, then Control-click it and choose:

  • Speech > Start Speaking from the shortcut menu.

To turn off the automatic spell checker, choose:

  • Edit > Spelling.
  • Click “Check Spelling as You Type” to deselect it.

Editing photos in a separate window:

You can open a photo in a separate window and use the edit toolbar to perform a variety of photo-editing tasks.

Make sure your preferences are set to open a photo in its own edit window when you click the Edit button.

  1. Choosing what happens when you click the Edit button ►
  2. Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in its own edit window.
  3. Use the editing tools to edit your photo.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
  • Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

You can also enlarge the photo in the edit window so it fills your screen by sliding the zoom slider.

Editing/Renaming a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

After you’ve created a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow, you can change its name.

To rename an item in the Source list:

  1. Double-click the name of the item.
  2. Edit the name or type a new one.

Using iPhoto:

Working with RAW images:

Does iPhoto actually use RAW image data?

All I see are JPEG copies of my RAW images.
That’s a great question—yes, it certainly does, and its unique process helps simplify the RAW workflow for people who don’t have time to be photo experts. The first time you edit a RAW image in the main iPhoto window, the RAW badge appears at the bottom of the window.
It looks like this:

When the badge appears, iPhoto is using your image’s original RAW data to support your edits. After you click Done, your changes are applied to the RAW image data and stored as a JPEG file (the original RAW file remains unchanged). That’s how iPhoto simplifies the RAW workflow—it combines RAW editing and JPEG conversion into one step.

If you use an expert program like Adobe Photoshop, you would have to make your RAW adjustments, then run a separate batch process to convert all your images to a working format, such as JPEG or TIFF. iPhoto simplifies all that.

Note: If you edit the photo again, the RAW badge won’t appear because the image is now a JPEG file. To re-edit the same image from RAW, select the image and choose Revert to Original from the Photos menu. If you want to keep your first edit, choose Duplicate before reverting.

Why doesn’t iPhoto display the RAW badge when I open an original RAW image in a separate Edit window?

It should, but it currently doesn’t. This is an issue that we’re working to resolve. Until we do, you can avoid confusion by doing all your RAW editing work in the main window.

Why does iPhoto have to convert RAW files to JPEG?

Remember that RAW is a reference or “digital negative” format; not a working format. In other words, you can’t print directly from a RAW file, for example. Furthermore, other programs, such as iMovie and System Preferences, do not understand RAW. That’s why iPhoto makes a JPEG copy of your RAW image at the time of import.

Can I export a 16-bit image or an XMP file from iPhoto?

At the present time, iPhoto cannot export 16-bit color or XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) files. If you export an image as a TIFF file, the resulting photo will be an 8-bit TIFF derived from your edited JPEG image. The iPhoto RAW workflow is designed for simplicity—not expert level control. If you export a photo as an original RAW image file (by choosing Original as the image format in the Export Photos dialog), you will get an unmodified RAW file without an XMP sidecar (no metadata will be embedded into the file).

When I export a RAW file from iPhoto, why aren’t my changes saved as part of the export?

In the RAW photo ethic, a RAW file is regarded as a “digital negative” and is not to be modified. Changes that you make when editing in RAW mode are always saved to a secondary file. In iPhoto, that secondary file is a JPEG. In Adobe Photoshop, the secondary file is an XMP sidecar file.

What is the advantage of shooting images in RAW format?

Images captured in RAW format allow for greater image quality and editing flexibility when you bring them into an image editor, such as iPhoto. RAW is like having insurance against your shooting mistakes—your camera settings are saved separately from the image data. For a more thorough explanation of RAW images, click iPhoto 5: Using the RAW image format.

iPhoto uses the 16-bit RAW data to facilitate your edits before converting the RAW file to JPEG. This gives you greater editing flexibility since a RAW image’s exposure latitude is retained, which is not the case if you simply imported a JPEG file.

Why do RAW images take so much longer to import than JPEGs?

RAW images take longer to import because iPhoto makes a JPEG copy at the time of import. The JPEG conversion allows other parts of Mac OS X, which don’t understand the RAW format, to use your images even before you edit them.

My camera isn’t on your list for RAW support. Why don’t you support it?

Qualifying a camera for RAW compatibility takes a lot of testing, and software must be customized as we add more cameras. Because this is the first iPhoto release to support RAW images, we focused on single-lens reflex (SLR) type cameras and a few others that are most likely to be used by the high-end amateurs and professionals who value the qualities of the RAW format. We expect to add more cameras to the list with future releases of iPhoto.

My blazing fast Mac slows down when I try to browse my RAW photos. What gives?

To maintain a fast browsing speed, iPhoto displays thumbnail images, which are smaller copies of the originals. However, you can easily exceed the thumbnails’ maximum set size when you move the iPhoto zoom slider to display bigger thumbnails. When you do this, iPhoto suddenly has to go to the original image file and scale it to fit your screen, in realtime, as you scroll. For example, if all your thumbnails are around 30 KB each and your original images are around 3 MB a piece, you’ve just increased the size of all images being browsed by 100 times! That’s not an easy jump even for a Power Mac G5. This is true regardless of whether the images you’re browsing are RAW or JPEG images.

You might be wondering how you can constrain iPhoto to display only the maximum thumbnail size. Lucky for you, it’s really easy: When you’re browsing your photos, just press the 2 key on your keyboard. This will resize your thumbnails to the maximum size.

Working with slideshows:

I created a slideshow in an album (by clicking the slideshow button), but the next time I tried to view it, all the slideshow changes I made were gone! Where did they go?
iPhoto 5 has two different kinds of slideshows, and you probably confused the old kind with the new one. (Don’t worry, a few of us did that too.)
Look at the bottom of your Source list (the column on the left side of the window).
With iPhoto’s new “cinematic” slideshow, all slideshows appear as their own entries in the Source list; you’ll probably see that you’ve created more than one copy of your slideshow there. Each copy will still have the changes that you saved in it.
Just pick the one you want to keep, and delete all the extras.

What types of slideshows can I make in iPhoto?

You have two choices. In older versions of iPhoto, you could play an album as a slideshow, and the album could even retain slideshow settings. You can still do that, but you can also create an improved type of slideshow that exists on its own in the Source list. These highly customizable “cinematic” slideshows allow mixed transitions, varied slide durations, and the pan-zoom Ken Burns effect, for example.

When you click the Slideshow button, iPhoto creates one of the new slideshows in the Source List, like “London Slideshow” in this picture.

The old type of slideshow is still there too, but its control has moved. Select a regular album, then click the Play button at the bottom left corner of the iPhoto window. When you click this Play button, you’ll get the older, familiar format.

Why does iPhoto display two Play buttons when I’m working on a slideshow?

The round Play button only appears when you’re editing a cinematic slideshow, and is used to control its playback. The rectangular Play button is used to play the old-style slideshows that don’t appear in the Source list (you can ignore it when editing a cinematic slideshow).

Does the Ken Burns effect soften my photos?

Because Ken Burns images are animated, iPhoto must scale them down to ensure reasonable performance on a range of computers. This will cause some images to look softer than they actually are, though the softening effect may not be noticeable on lower-resolution displays. For example, a landscape-oriented (horizontal) Ken Burns-effected image on an Apple 20-inch Cinema Display (1680 pixels wide) would be downsampled to an animation texture of about 1024 pixels, and then rescaled to fill the screen. This should be more noticeable than if you were viewing the slideshow on a display that was only 1024 pixels wide.

Importing:

Photos can be imported from a digital camera if both your computer and your camera have built-in USB ports and your camera is compatible with iPhoto.
Check your computer’s specifications if you are unsure if it has built-in USB ports.
See the iPhoto Device Compatibility page to see if your camera or media reader is compatible with iPhoto.

Importing photos from a compatible digital camera:

  1. Connect the camera to the computer’s USB port using a USB cable.
  2. Launch iPhoto from your dock or from the Applications folder. iPhoto may also launch automatically if you set it as the default application to manage pictures.
  3. In the source panel, click on your camera name under Devices.
  4. Click the Import All button to import everything or press command and click on specific pictures you want to import and click Import Selected.

5. iPhoto will ask if you want to keep or delete the originals after the import is finished.

6. After you are finished, click the Eject button next to your camera’s name.
Turn off your camera and disconnect it from the computer.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier, you will see the Import pane.
Click the Import button to import all your pictures.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select “Erase contents after transfer” at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, drag the camera’s icon from the Finder desktop to the Trash if necessary, turn off your camera, then disconnect it from the computer.


Importing photos from a media reader or iPod (with Dock Connector) and the Belkin iPod Media Reader:

  1. Insert the media into the media reader or connect your iPod.
  2. Launch iPhoto from your dock or the Applications folder.
  3. In source panel, click on the camera icon underneath Devices.
  4. Click Import All or pick and choose specific pictures then click Import Selected.
  5. Click the Eject button next to the camera icon or drag and drop the media icon on the desktop into the trash.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier you will see the Import pane.
Click the Import button.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select “Erase contents after transfer” at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, eject the media by dragging its icon to the Trash.

Some readers may physically eject the media while others may require that you manually eject the media. If you must manually eject the media, wait until the media icon is gone from the Finder Desktop. For more information about importing photos from an iPod, see “iPod (with Dock Connector): Use Disk Mode to Copy Photos.

Importing photos from other sources:

  1. Choose Import to Library from the File menu.
  2. Select either the individual photos you want to import, or select an entire folder or disk, then click Open. To select multiple photos or folders without selecting all, press and hold the Command key while clicking on photos.

Notes on importing from other sources:

  1. Each imported item, whether a single photo or an entire disk will appear as a separate film roll. Command-clicking on multiple items during an import will result in them all appearing on the same film roll.
  2. If importing files from a local hard drive, see “iPhoto: About Importing Pictures From Hard Disk and Available Space
  3. Processed photos that are offered for download from an Internet site must first be downloaded to a local drive before they can be imported into iPhoto.
  4. Do not copy or move pictures directly into the iPhoto Library folder as they will not appear as an option in iPhoto when attempting to import.
Exporting:

You can export photos from your photo library or an album so you can send them to others or import them into another application.

To export photos:

  1. Select the photo or photos you want to export.
  2. From the File menu, choose Export.
  3. Click the File Export tab.
  4. If necessary, scale images to a specific size by specifying a maximum width and height.
  5. Click Export.
  6. Choose a location for the photos you are exporting, then click OK.
Cropping:

Cropping photos:
Important: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album, slideshow, book, calendar, and card where it appears.

To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit by selecting the photo and choosing Photos > Duplicate.

Here are some tips:

  • If you’re working in your library or an album, select the photo you want to crop and click the Edit button.
  • If you’re working in a slideshow, book, calendar, or card, double-click the photo you want to crop in the photo browser. This switches the photo to edit view.
  • If you want to crop to a specific photo dimension, select the Constrain checkbox and select a dimension from the pop-up menu, such as a square photo or a 4 x 6 postcard.
  • If you plan to use the photo in a book, choose 4 x 3 (Book).
  • If you plan to use the photo as your desktop picture, choose Display to fit the photo to your monitor screen.
  • If you want to do a custom crop, deselect the Constrain checkbox.

Note: If you are cropping the photo solely to print it or order a print, you can do a temporary crop for those purposes in Print view. Select the photo or photos and click the Print button to create a print job, then click Customize.

Drag the selection window to the position you want; drag it larger or smaller to enclose the desired area.

Click the Apply button in the Crop pop-up window.

To save your crop, click the Done button to return to the previous view, click the arrow key to move to the next photo, or select a new photo to edit from the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto window. (If you don’t see a row of photos at the top of the window, choose View > Thumbnails.)

If you don’t like a change you’ve made to a photo, you can undo your most recent change by choosing Edit > Undo.

For photos edited in iPhoto ’08, you can also change the crop at any time without losing your other edits, simply by opening the photo in Edit view and clicking the Crop button.

iPhoto always retains the original photo you imported, so you can change a photo back at any time by choosing Photos > “Revert to Original.”

If you are editing RAW-format photos, choose Photos > Reprocess RAW.

About Cropping:

Cropping allows you to edit a photo by selecting only the portion you like. You can also use cropping to improve a photo’s composition. The ratio of width to height in photographic prints is known as the aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio is important to know when cropping because when ordering prints or a book, photos must match the required aspect ratio or they may be cropped.

For 35 mm pictures the aspect ratio is 2:3 which will produce photos of 4 x 6 in. If you intend to use the same photo to get multiple size prints, you may need to duplicate the photo and constrain and crop to the specific size prints being ordered.

Warning: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album where it appears. To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit.

Crop a photo:

  1. Select the photo you want to crop.
  2. Click the Edit button.
  3. Position the arrow pointer at one corner of the area you want to select, then drag to enclose the desired area. To constrain your selection to a specific size ratio, choose a ratio from the Constrain pop-up menu before dragging to enclose the desired area. If you’re ordering larger prints, choose the appropriate size (5 x 7 or 8 x 10) to constrain the image.
  4. Click the Crop icon in the Edit pane.

If you don’t like the changes you’ve made to a photo, you can revert to its original version by choosing “Revert to Original” from the File menu. You can also undo your most recent change by choosing Undo from the Edit menu.

Deleting:

Deleting a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

There are several ways to delete an Event from your iPhoto library.

To delete an Event:

Select the Event, then do one of the following:

  • Press Command-Delete.
  • Drag the Event to iPhoto Trash.
  • Choose Photos > “Move to Trash.”

Warning: If you delete an Event that includes photos you have used in a slideshow, book, calendar, card, or published album, the photos will be removed from those projects.

You can retrieve your photos from iPhoto Trash until you empty the Trash, which deletes your photos permanently. To empty iPhoto Trash, select it in the Source list, and then choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you delete an Event by mistake, click Edit > “Undo Move to Trash.”

If this option is dimmed, select iPhoto Trash in the Source list, select the photos you want, and drag them to Photos in the Source list.


You can delete a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow you’ve created without removing its photos from the photo library.

To delete items from the Source list:

  1. Select the folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow.
  2. Press the Delete key.

You can also delete any one of these items by dragging it to the iPhoto Trash.

To delete text:

  • Select the text and press the Delete key.

If you delete text by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it. (This command restores only the last text you deleted.)


Deleting a photo from the library:

Warning: Deleting a photo from your library also removes it from any album, slideshow, book, calendar, or card in which it appears.

To delete a photo from the library:

  1. Select the photo you want to delete.
  2. Press the Delete key.
  3. Choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

You can also delete a photo by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list, then choosing iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you change your mind about deleting a photo before you empty the Trash, select the Trash, select the photo, and then choose Photos > Restore to Photo Library. You can also drag the item out of the Trash before you choose Empty Trash.

Removing photos from an album:

You can remove photos from an album you’ve created without deleting the photos from your photo library.

To remove photos:

  1. Select the album.
  2. Click to select the photos you want to remove.

Do one of the following:

  • To remove a photo from a regular album, press the Delete key. This removes the photo only from that album, not other albums or your library.
  • To move a photo from a regular album or Smart Album to the Trash, press Command-Option-Delete. (This also removes the photo from the library and from every album, slideshow, and book where it appears.)

You can also remove a photo from a standard album or a Smart Album by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list.

If you remove a photo from an album by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a page from a book:

To remove a page from a book:

  1. Click the Page View button to display book pages in page view.
  2. Select the page you want to remove.
  3. Press Delete.

You can also choose Edit > Delete Page.


Removing a photo from a calendar:

Here are ways to remove photos from a calendar:

  • To remove a photo from a calendar page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a calendar by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a photo from a greeting card:

Here are ways to remove photos from a card:

  • To remove a photo from a card, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a greeting card by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.


Removing a photo from a book:

Here are ways to remove photos from a book:

  • To remove a photo from a book page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
  • To remove a photo from the photo browser, click the Photo browser button, select the photo, and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a book by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Creating:

Creating a CD or DVD:

You can use the iPhoto burn feature to archive your photos and albums for viewing in iPhoto only.
If you want to create a disc to be viewed on a Windows computer or by a photo processing company, you must use the Finder.

To create a CD or DVD using the Finder:

  1. In iPhoto, select the album or albums you want to burn to a disc.
  2. Export the album or albums to a folder on your computer.
  3. When the export is finished, quit iPhoto.
  4. Click the Finder icon in the Dock and insert a CD-RW disc or a blank CD-R or DVD-R disc into your drive.
  5. Drag the folder that contains your exported photos onto the disc’s icon.
  6. When the files have finished copying, choose File > Burn Disc, and then click Burn.

Creating a customized Event:

To create an Event:

  1. Select Photos in the Source list.
  2. Select the photos you want in your customized Event. Command-click to select non-adjacent photos.
  3. Choose Events > Create Event.
  4. In the dialog, click Create.

Your selected photos will be removed from their current Events and placed into the new Event.

Note: You can also create an empty Event, and move photos into it later.

To do so:

  • click Events in the Source list, and then click the New Event button in the toolbar, or choose Events > Create Event.

A placeholder Event thumbnail will appear at the bottom of your Events in the viewing area of iPhoto. Just as with any other Event, you can name the new Event, add photos to it, merge it with another Event, and more.

Creating a Smart Album:

Smart Albums allow you to have albums created automatically from specific photos in your library. You can make a Smart Album that contains only certain types of photos, photos with high ratings, or photos that match other criteria, including EXIF information, such as a specific shutter speed or camera model.

For example, you can create an album that contains only your highest-rated photos taken within the last two months on your digital SLR camera.

To create a Smart Album:

  1. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click New Smart Album in the dialog. You can also choose File > New Smart Album.
  2. Type a name for your album in the “Smart Album name” field.
  3. Use the pop-up menus to choose the criteria by which photos will be added to the album. For example, you might want iPhoto to add only photos that contain “Kids” as a keyword, or photos with at least a four-star rating. To add additional matching criteria, click the Add (+) button.
  4. Click OK.

A Smart Album has a gear symbol on its icon in the Source list.
Any photos in your library that match the settings you chose are added to the album.

iPhoto automatically modifies a Smart Album when any photo that matches the album’s settings is added to or removed from your library.
You can search for photos using the criteria, including EXIF information, that you use to organize the albums.

Creating a greeting card:

You can choose from a variety of greeting card sizes and designs to create a card for any occasion.

To create a greeting card:

  1. Select one or more photos that you want to use in your card.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Card in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your card.
  4. Choose a card type from the pop-up menu.
  5. Select an occasion (for example, Baby/Kids or Invitation/Thank You) in the list on the left.
  6. Select a design for your card in the themes list on the right. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  7. Click Choose. iPhoto switches to card view, and your new card appears in the Source list.
  8. Drag a photo from the top of the iPhoto window onto your card page.

Once you create a card, you can add a personal message, change photos, and order card sets to be sent to you.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.


Creating folders in the Source list:

You can add folders to the iPhoto Source list to better organize your albums. You cannot add individual photos directly to a folder.

To create a folder:

  1. Choose File > New Folder.
  2. Type a name for the folder and press Return.
  3. In the Source list, drag albums, books, calendars, cards, slideshows, or other folders into the folder you just created.

You can also drag your new folder into an existing folder.

Creating a standard photo album:

You can create standard albums to better organize your photo library, group the photos you want to burn to CD or DVD, or choose pictures for a webpage.

To create a standard photo album:

  1. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Album in the dialog. You can also Choose File > New Album.
  2. Type a name for your album and click Create. The album appears in your Source list.
  3. Click Events, then drag entire Events or photos within one or more Events to your new album.

You can also add a photo to an album directly from another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to an album from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can also select the photos you want to group first, then create a standard album from them.

To do this:

  • Command-click to select all the photos you want to include in the album, then choose File > New Album From Selection and name your album.

You can also create an album by dragging a folder of photos from the Finder into an empty part of the iPhoto Source list.
iPhoto creates an album with the folder’s name and imports all photos contained in the folder.

Creating a book:

You can choose from a variety of book sizes and designs to create a book for any occasion.

To create a book:

  1. Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your book.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Book in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your book.
  4. Choose a hardcover, softcover, or wirebound softcover book size from the Book Type pop-up menu.
  5. Select a design for your book from the scrolling themes list. When you select a book theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed book descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  6. Click Choose. iPhoto switches to book view, and your new book appears in the Source list.
  7. Drag photos from the top of the iPhoto window onto your book pages.

If you want iPhoto to automatically design your book by arranging the selected photos on each page, click the Autoflow button.

Once you create a book, you can change the order of pages or photos, add and change the appearance of text, and even customize the design of individual pages.

If you chose a hardcover book and want photos to be printed on only one side of your book pages, click the Settings button in the toolbar and deselect the “Double-sided pages” checkbox.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a calendar:

You can choose from a variety of themes to create a calendar for any occasion.

To create a calendar:

  1. Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your calendar.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Calendar in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your calendar.
  4. Select a design for your calendar from the scrolling themes list. When you select a theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
  5. Click Choose.
  6. Choose the month and year you want your calendar to begin with.
  7. Choose the number of months you want your calendar to include (up to 24).
  8. Choose the national holidays you want to appear in your calendar.
  9. Choose one or more iCal calendars that you want to have imported into your iPhoto calendar. (If you don’t use iCal, you won’t see anything in the “Import iCal calendars” field.)
  10. Click OK. iPhoto switches to calendar view, and your new calendar appears in the Source list.
  11. Drag photos from the left of the iPhoto window onto your calendar pages. If you want iPhoto to automatically design your calendar by arranging the selected photos on each page for you, click the Autoflow button.

After you create a calendar, you can add photos, add or change special dates, change the order of pages or photos, and customize the design of individual pages.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a slideshow:

To create a slideshow:

  1. Select an album or group of photos you want in your slideshow.
  2. Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Slideshow in the dialog.
  3. Type a name for your slideshow.
  4. If you want, deselect the “Use selected items in new slideshow” checkbox.
  5. Click Create.
  6. Drag photos into the order you want in the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto viewing area.

After you create a slideshow, you can also add photos to it by dragging them directly from an Event, another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to a slideshow from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can choose music, specify the display duration for each slide, choose transition effects, display slideshow controls, and set other options. (See Related Topics below.)

You can also view selected photos as a temporary slideshow without creating a slideshow in the Source list.

To do this:

  • Select a folder, album, or group of photos and click the Play button at the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window.


Creating a new photo library:

You can create multiple photo libraries to organize your photos, albums, slideshows, books, calendars, and cards.

To create a new photo library:

  1. Quit iPhoto.
  2. Rename your current iPhoto Library in the Finder or move it to a new location on your hard disk (see Related Topics below).
  3. Open iPhoto.
  4. Click Create Library in the dialog that appears.
  5. Type a name and choose a location for your new photo library.
  6. Click Save.

Your new, empty photo library appears in the iPhoto Source list.
Any photos you import will be added to this library.
You can switch to another library you’ve created at any time.

Editing:

Editing photos in another application:

You can do many editing tasks in iPhoto, such as rotating and cropping a photo, changing a color photo to black and white, adjusting exposure and contrast, and reducing red-eye.
If you want to make other changes to a photo, you can open it in another image-editing application, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Important: Nondestructive editing does not apply to photos in the iPhoto library that are edited in a separate application.

  1. Set your preferences to open photos in another application when you click the Edit button.
  2. Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in the application.
  3. Edit the photo. When you’re finished, save the photo using the same name and file format.

The changes you made to the photo will be visible when you return to iPhoto.

Note: When you edit a RAW-format photo, iPhoto creates a copy of the photo in JPEG format. This is the photo that opens in the other application.

To edit the photo in its original RAW format, you must set that preference separately from your edit preference.

To do so, choose:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click Advanced.
  • Select the “Use RAW when using external editor” checkbox.

When you are finished editing, you must save the edited version on your computer and reimport it into iPhoto.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
  • Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

Editing billing information:

If you need to make changes to your billing information for your Apple ID, follow these steps:

  1. Verify that your computer is connected to the Internet, then open the application.
  2. Select a photo from your Library by clicking it one time.
  3. Aperture: Choose File > Order Prints – iPhoto: Choose Share > Order Prints.
  4. Click either Account Info or Set Up Account.
  5. Enter your Apple ID and password where prompted and click Sign In. Learn more about Apple ID accounts.
  6. As soon as you sign in, the ordering system will automatically enable 1-Click ordering on your account.
  7. To make changes to your billing information, click “Edit Billing.” Enter any desired changes and click “OK” on the bottom right to save your changes.
  8. Click Cancel (your account info will still be saved).

You can also make changes to your account information by visiting Apple’s MyInfo page: myinfo.apple.com

Editing text in a book:

Most book themes include pages that contain text you can edit.
If you don’t see any text on a page and you want to add some, you need to choose a new design for your page that includes text.

To edit text:

  1. Click the Page View button to display book pages in the photo browser.
  2. Select the page that contains text you want to edit.
  3. Click the text you want to edit, and then add or edit text.

When you need to edit text, it’s a good idea to zoom in on the text area first.
To do so, drag the size slider.

iPhoto offers an automatic spell checker to help you eliminate spelling errors.
Even better, you can have iPhoto read your text aloud, so you can hear if it stumbles over a typo or some awkward language.

Highlight the text you want to hear, then Control-click it and choose:

  • Speech > Start Speaking from the shortcut menu.

To turn off the automatic spell checker, choose:

  • Edit > Spelling.
  • Click “Check Spelling as You Type” to deselect it.

Editing photos in a separate window:

You can open a photo in a separate window and use the edit toolbar to perform a variety of photo-editing tasks.

Make sure your preferences are set to open a photo in its own edit window when you click the Edit button.

  1. Choosing what happens when you click the Edit button ►
  2. Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in its own edit window.
  3. Use the editing tools to edit your photo.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
  • Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

You can also enlarge the photo in the edit window so it fills your screen by sliding the zoom slider.

Editing/Renaming a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

After you’ve created a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow, you can change its name.

To rename an item in the Source list:

  1. Double-click the name of the item.
  2. Edit the name or type a new one.

FAQ

Working with RAW images:

Does iPhoto actually use RAW image data?

All I see are JPEG copies of my RAW images.
That’s a great question—yes, it certainly does, and its unique process helps simplify the RAW workflow for people who don’t have time to be photo experts. The first time you edit a RAW image in the main iPhoto window, the RAW badge appears at the bottom of the window.
It looks like this:
When the badge appears, iPhoto is using your image’s original RAW data to support your edits. After you click Done, your changes are applied to the RAW image data and stored as a JPEG file (the original RAW file remains unchanged). That’s how iPhoto simplifies the RAW workflow—it combines RAW editing and JPEG conversion into one step.

If you use an expert program like Adobe Photoshop, you would have to make your RAW adjustments, then run a separate batch process to convert all your images to a working format, such as JPEG or TIFF. iPhoto simplifies all that.

Note: If you edit the photo again, the RAW badge won’t appear because the image is now a JPEG file. To re-edit the same image from RAW, select the image and choose Revert to Original from the Photos menu. If you want to keep your first edit, choose Duplicate before reverting.

Why doesn’t iPhoto display the RAW badge when I open an original RAW image in a separate Edit window?

It should, but it currently doesn’t. This is an issue that we’re working to resolve. Until we do, you can avoid confusion by doing all your RAW editing work in the main window.

Why does iPhoto have to convert RAW files to JPEG?

Remember that RAW is a reference or “digital negative” format; not a working format. In other words, you can’t print directly from a RAW file, for example. Furthermore, other programs, such as iMovie and System Preferences, do not understand RAW. That’s why iPhoto makes a JPEG copy of your RAW image at the time of import.

Can I export a 16-bit image or an XMP file from iPhoto?

At the present time, iPhoto cannot export 16-bit color or XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) files. If you export an image as a TIFF file, the resulting photo will be an 8-bit TIFF derived from your edited JPEG image. The iPhoto RAW workflow is designed for simplicity—not expert level control. If you export a photo as an original RAW image file (by choosing Original as the image format in the Export Photos dialog), you will get an unmodified RAW file without an XMP sidecar (no metadata will be embedded into the file).

When I export a RAW file from iPhoto, why aren’t my changes saved as part of the export?

In the RAW photo ethic, a RAW file is regarded as a “digital negative” and is not to be modified. Changes that you make when editing in RAW mode are always saved to a secondary file. In iPhoto, that secondary file is a JPEG. In Adobe Photoshop, the secondary file is an XMP sidecar file.

What is the advantage of shooting images in RAW format?

Images captured in RAW format allow for greater image quality and editing flexibility when you bring them into an image editor, such as iPhoto. RAW is like having insurance against your shooting mistakes—your camera settings are saved separately from the image data. For a more thorough explanation of RAW images, click iPhoto 5: Using the RAW image format.

iPhoto uses the 16-bit RAW data to facilitate your edits before converting the RAW file to JPEG. This gives you greater editing flexibility since a RAW image’s exposure latitude is retained, which is not the case if you simply imported a JPEG file.

Why do RAW images take so much longer to import than JPEGs?

RAW images take longer to import because iPhoto makes a JPEG copy at the time of import. The JPEG conversion allows other parts of Mac OS X, which don’t understand the RAW format, to use your images even before you edit them.

My camera isn’t on your list for RAW support. Why don’t you support it?

Qualifying a camera for RAW compatibility takes a lot of testing, and software must be customized as we add more cameras. Because this is the first iPhoto release to support RAW images, we focused on single-lens reflex (SLR) type cameras and a few others that are most likely to be used by the high-end amateurs and professionals who value the qualities of the RAW format. We expect to add more cameras to the list with future releases of iPhoto.

My blazing fast Mac slows down when I try to browse my RAW photos. What gives?

To maintain a fast browsing speed, iPhoto displays thumbnail images, which are smaller copies of the originals. However, you can easily exceed the thumbnails’ maximum set size when you move the iPhoto zoom slider to display bigger thumbnails. When you do this, iPhoto suddenly has to go to the original image file and scale it to fit your screen, in realtime, as you scroll. For example, if all your thumbnails are around 30 KB each and your original images are around 3 MB a piece, you’ve just increased the size of all images being browsed by 100 times! That’s not an easy jump even for a Power Mac G5. This is true regardless of whether the images you’re browsing are RAW or JPEG images.

You might be wondering how you can constrain iPhoto to display only the maximum thumbnail size. Lucky for you, it’s really easy: When you’re browsing your photos, just press the 2 key on your keyboard. This will resize your thumbnails to the maximum size.

Working with slideshows:

I created a slideshow in an album (by clicking the slideshow button), but the next time I tried to view it, all the slideshow changes I made were gone! Where did they go?
iPhoto 5 has two different kinds of slideshows, and you probably confused the old kind with the new one. (Don’t worry, a few of us did that too.)
Look at the bottom of your Source list (the column on the left side of the window).
With iPhoto’s new “cinematic” slideshow, all slideshows appear as their own entries in the Source list; you’ll probably see that you’ve created more than one copy of your slideshow there. Each copy will still have the changes that you saved in it.
Just pick the one you want to keep, and delete all the extras.

What types of slideshows can I make in iPhoto?

You have two choices. In older versions of iPhoto, you could play an album as a slideshow, and the album could even retain slideshow settings. You can still do that, but you can also create an improved type of slideshow that exists on its own in the Source list. These highly customizable “cinematic” slideshows allow mixed transitions, varied slide durations, and the pan-zoom Ken Burns effect, for example.

When you click the Slideshow button, iPhoto creates one of the new slideshows in the Source List, like “London Slideshow” in this picture.

The old type of slideshow is still there too, but its control has moved. Select a regular album, then click the Play button at the bottom left corner of the iPhoto window. When you click this Play button, you’ll get the older, familiar format.

Why does iPhoto display two Play buttons when I’m working on a slideshow?

The round Play button only appears when you’re editing a cinematic slideshow, and is used to control its playback. The rectangular Play button is used to play the old-style slideshows that don’t appear in the Source list (you can ignore it when editing a cinematic slideshow).

Does the Ken Burns effect soften my photos?

Because Ken Burns images are animated, iPhoto must scale them down to ensure reasonable performance on a range of computers. This will cause some images to look softer than they actually are, though the softening effect may not be noticeable on lower-resolution displays. For example, a landscape-oriented (horizontal) Ken Burns-effected image on an Apple 20-inch Cinema Display (1680 pixels wide) would be downsampled to an animation texture of about 1024 pixels, and then rescaled to fill the screen. This should be more noticeable than if you were viewing the slideshow on a display that was only 1024 pixels wide.

Printing

To print pages from a book, calendar, or card on your printer:

  1. Select an item in your Source list.
  2. Choose File > Print.
  3. Select print options.
  4. To see exactly how your pages will look before printing them, click Preview.
  5. Click Print.

Printing a Contact Sheet:

Photographers often create contact sheets — quick-reference prints containing small versions of multiple photos, usually an entire roll’s worth on each contact sheet. (The term derives from the traditional technique: a contact sheet is created by sandwiching negatives between a piece of glass and photographic paper, and then exposing the sandwich to light.)

To include only certain photos on a contact sheet, select them before choosing the Print command. You can use contact sheets to provide an at-a-glance reference for a series of photos.

But you can also use a contact sheet to squeeze several images onto a single sheet of paper.

Check the Save paper box to have iPhoto print vertical images in horizontal orientation, even if you rotated them.
You’ll have to turn the sheet sideways to view some images, but you’ll get more images on each sheet of paper.

Tip: You can use contact sheets to print multiple copies of one photo. Simply select only one photo before choosing Print.

Printing borderless photos:

To print photos without a border:

  1. Select the photo or photos you want to print.
  2. With the photo or photos selected, click the Print button. The photos appear in print project view.
  3. Choose Standard from the themes menu on the left.
  4. Select the printer.
  5. Choose a paper size from the Paper menu (such as 4 x 6 or 8 x 10). The word “borderless” appears next to the sizes where this option is available. If you don’t see “borderless” as an option, either your printer doesn’t support borderless printing or you may not have the right driver installed. See Mac Help for information.
  6. Do one of the following: If you like the way the photo looks, and you are ready to print, click Print. If you want to adjust the photo before you print, you can zoom in or out, or move the image within the frame. To do so, click the Customize button, and then follow steps 7-9.
  7. Click the photo. The zoom slider and hand tool appear at the top of the photo.
  8. Use the zoom slider to zoom in or out of your photo. Click the hand tool to move the photo around in the frame. If you want to further edit or customize your photo for printing, use the options in the Customize toolbar. Note: These changes will appear only in the prints you make with this print project. They will not appear in your library, albums, books, calendars, cards, or slideshows.
  9. When you are finished editing, click Print.

Printing your own photos:

You can print your photos in a number of ways, including full page (with borders), in standard print sizes, as contact sheets, or bordered with a mat effect.

You can also edit your photos in print view. These edits are done strictly for the purpose of the print project and will not appear on the photo in your iPhoto library.

Important: If you want to print borderless (or “full bleed”) photos, print photos on perforated paper, or design greeting cards and postcards with multiple photos and a range of themes, see Related Topics below.

To print your own photos:

  1. Select the photo or photos you want to print.
  2. Click the Print button. Your selected photos will appear in Print Settings view.
  3. Choose a theme from the menu on the left. The preview area shows how your photos will look when you print them.
  4. Choose your printer, paper type, paper size, and print size from the pop-up menus. These criteria are applied to all the photos in your print project.
  5. If you want to edit or further customize your print project, click the Customize button. This will open your photo project in print edit view and the print project icon will appear in the Source list. The icon will remain in the Source list until you cancel the print project. For more about this topic, see Related Topics below.
  6. Click Print.

Printing options depend on the printer you’re using. See your printer documentation for more information.

Printing photos on perforated paper:
To print photos on perforated paper:

  1. Select the photo or photos you want to print.
  2. Crop each photo to match the size ratio you want to print (such as 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and so on). For more information, see Related Topics below.
  3. Click the Print button. The photo or photos appear in print project view.
  4. If you want to make any more edits to the photos before you print them, click the Customize button and then click either the Adjust button or the Settings button. For more information about editing photos to print, see Related Topics below.
  5. Choose Standard from the themes menu on the left.
  6. Select a printer.
  7. Select perforated paper from the Paper Size menu. If you don’t see an option for perforated paper, either your printer doesn’t support it or you may not have the right driver installed. See your printer documentation for information.
  8. Select the size print you want to make (such as 4 x 6 or 8 x 10).
  9. Click Print.

Printing multiples photos:

The ability to print multiples of a photo on a single page (also known as the N-Up style in iPhoto ’06) using a home printer is still a prominent feature in iPhoto ’08.
Its location, however, has changed slightly for iPhoto ’08.

To print multiples of a specific photo on a page in iPhoto ’08:

  1. Select a picture or group of pictures you would like to print.
  2. Select the Print icon on the bottom right of the application.
  3. Print Size to anything other than the Standard Size. (This sets the number of pictures to be printed on a single page)
  4. Once you select the Print Size, select the Customize… button.
  5. Select the Settings icon.
  6. In the Settings window, change the Photos Per Page option to Multiple of the same photo per page.
  7. Select the OK button in order to see the changes made to your page.
  8. Select the Print page to print your page as you see it in Print Customization mode.


Editing photos in print project view:

You can edit a photo, or a set of photos, for a particular print project without affecting the same photos in your photo library. For example, you can print a photo in sepia tone, but not save it that way in your library.

To edit photos in print project view:

  1. Select one or more photos to print.
  2. Click the Print button in the toolbar.
  3. Select a theme in the menu to the left.
  4. Click the Customize button.

Edit your photos using one of the following tools:

Themes: Choose or change the theme for your photos.

Background: Choose the border color to frame your photos. (If you don’t see the color change, click the Borders button to choose an option that has borders.)

Borders: Choose the style for your photo borders.

Layout: Choose how many images to include in a single print. Some layouts offer captions as well. (Multiple images are not available for all themes.)

Adjust: Edit your photo’s contrast, saturation, sharpness, and more, or add special effects, such as black-and-white or antique.
If the Adjust button is dimmed, select a photo in the viewing area of the print window. You can move through multiple photos by using the arrows, or by clicking the Page View button, then selecting print pages in the browser.

Settings: Choose font and type size for captions, or specify one photo per page and whether or not to include crop marks.

Note: To change the background or border of a single photo in a print project, select the photo you want, and then hold down the Option key while you make your selections.

If you want, you can zoom in and crop your photo just for this print project. Click the photo once to make these tools appear at the top of the photo.
Use the slider to zoom in on the photo, and use the hand pointer to move the photo around in the frame.

Click Print Settings to return to the Print dialog.

Customizing

Customizing the organize toolbar:

The toolbar is the row of buttons that appears at the bottom of the iPhoto window.

When you view the photos in a particular Event or album, you are in organize view. You can customize the toolbar in organize view by adding or removing buttons that let you perform the most common tasks for sharing your photos.

To customize the organize toolbar:

  1. Choose View > “Show in Toolbar.”
  2. Choose the buttons you want to appear in the toolbar from the submenu. A selected item has a checkmark next to it; choose the item again to deselect it.

Depending on how wide your screen is, you may not see all the buttons in the toolbar. Click the angle brackets (shown below) near the bottom-right corner of the window to see the missing tools, or drag the resize control at the bottom-right corner of the window to make it wider.

Changing the settings for a published album:

You can change the settings for each published album. You can add or remove the password protection or change the actions that your visitors can take, such as downloading or adding photos.

To change the settings for a published album:

  1. Select the published album in the Source list.
  2. Click the Settings button in the toolbar.
  3. Change the publish settings. For more information, see Related Topics below.
  4. Click Publish.

Editing

Editing photos in another application:

You can do many editing tasks in iPhoto, such as rotating and cropping a photo, changing a color photo to black and white, adjusting exposure and contrast, and reducing red-eye.
If you want to make other changes to a photo, you can open it in another image-editing application, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Important: Nondestructive editing does not apply to photos in the iPhoto library that are edited in a separate application.

  1. Set your preferences to open photos in another application when you click the Edit button.
  2. Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in the application.
  3. Edit the photo. When you’re finished, save the photo using the same name and file format.

The changes you made to the photo will be visible when you return to iPhoto.

Note: When you edit a RAW-format photo, iPhoto creates a copy of the photo in JPEG format. This is the photo that opens in the other application.

To edit the photo in its original RAW format, you must set that preference separately from your edit preference.

To do so, choose:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click Advanced.
  • Select the “Use RAW when using external editor” checkbox.

When you are finished editing, you must save the edited version on your computer and reimport it into iPhoto.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
  • Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

Editing billing information:

If you need to make changes to your billing information for your Apple ID, follow these steps:

  1. Verify that your computer is connected to the Internet, then open the application.
  2. Select a photo from your Library by clicking it one time.
  3. Aperture: Choose File > Order Prints – iPhoto: Choose Share > Order Prints.
  4. Click either Account Info or Set Up Account.
  5. Enter your Apple ID and password where prompted and click Sign In. Learn more about Apple ID accounts.
  6. As soon as you sign in, the ordering system will automatically enable 1-Click ordering on your account.
  7. To make changes to your billing information, click “Edit Billing.” Enter any desired changes and click “OK” on the bottom right to save your changes.
  8. Click Cancel (your account info will still be saved).

You can also make changes to your account information by visiting Apple’s MyInfo page: myinfo.apple.com

Editing text in a book:

Most book themes include pages that contain text you can edit.
If you don’t see any text on a page and you want to add some, you need to choose a new design for your page that includes text.

To edit text:

  1. Click the Page View button to display book pages in the photo browser.
  2. Select the page that contains text you want to edit.
  3. Click the text you want to edit, and then add or edit text.

When you need to edit text, it’s a good idea to zoom in on the text area first.
To do so, drag the size slider.

iPhoto offers an automatic spell checker to help you eliminate spelling errors.
Even better, you can have iPhoto read your text aloud, so you can hear if it stumbles over a typo or some awkward language.

Highlight the text you want to hear, then Control-click it and choose:

  • Speech > Start Speaking from the shortcut menu.

To turn off the automatic spell checker, choose:

  • Edit > Spelling.
  • Click “Check Spelling as You Type” to deselect it.

Editing photos in a separate window:

You can open a photo in a separate window and use the edit toolbar to perform a variety of photo-editing tasks.

Make sure your preferences are set to open a photo in its own edit window when you click the Edit button.

  1. Choosing what happens when you click the Edit button ►
  2. Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in its own edit window.
  3. Use the editing tools to edit your photo.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

  • iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
  • Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

You can also enlarge the photo in the edit window so it fills your screen by sliding the zoom slider.

Editing/Renaming a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

After you’ve created a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow, you can change its name.

To rename an item in the Source list:

  1. Double-click the name of the item.
  2. Edit the name or type a new one.