A Switcher and iPhoto

Good Day everyone!!

I was looking through all topics looking for some info about iPhoto, and i found a lot f topics that gave me some light, but I don't know if I understood correctly, so I hope someone could tell me if I'm right or wrong:

iPhoto library is -kind of- similar to iTunes library, right? is just that iTunes library is more "visible" that iPhoto's...

1. what I mean is, that anything that I do in iPhoto, will have consequences [feel like a drama movie] in my photos, so if I delete one photo in iPhoto, it'll be gone for good [in case I selected the option of copying all the photos to the library]

2. if my photo folder is 4Gb, my iPhoto library is supposed to be 4Gb too, right?

3. If I understood right, iPhoto will make a copy of a photo I edit, right? what's considered "edit"? I mean, if I apply some effect to the photo, but instead of saving the change I discard them, would it make a copy of the photo?

for what I see, this is the software that more problems give to the switchers, not because its a complicated app, but because of the way it works, totally different to a usual windows software.

I know this question was asked a trillion times... but English is not my native language, so I'm not really sure if I understood correctly.

Thanks in advance!

iPhoto only makes one copy of your photos -- the "original." It then creates a second one -- a "modified" copy -- if you edit it. This is a safety feature to protect your originals so you can ALWAYS get back to them.

No matter how many ways and times you edit a photo, there is only the "modified" one and the "original" one. That's it.

To answer your first question, if you delete a photo in iPhoto *and empty iPhoto's separate Trash*, then it's gone for good.

You're right that iPhoto works similarly (but not quite the same) as iTunes, and that both are totally different to the way most Windows software works. Personally I find iPhoto to be terrific.

iPhoto works similar to the way, what I call, "photographer's apps" function - like Aperture and Adobe's Lightroom. It makes non-destructive changes to your pictures so that you always have the original there in case you need it.

iTunes and iPhoto are similar in that they will both manage the directory structure for you so that you no longer have to worry about that particular job. iPhoto is different, in that it stores your pictures inside a database and designed to only be used from within iPhoto, while iTunes uses the standard file structure still allowing you direct access through Finder.

Thanks chas_m and bobtomay for answering so fast!!

it's absolutely clear for me now how iPhoto works, and at least for me is wonderful, it's a great way to manage your photos in a so easy way [just yesterday I discovered that if you edit the artist name in iTunes from i.e. TOOL to Tool, it changes the folder name too awesome!!]

Having a backup of my photos is like having a backup of your music, no? I mean, of course is easier to re-download a Pink floyd album than all of your photos... but making this comparison made me realize that you always say "make a copy" no because iPhoto library is unstable or easy-to-corrupt, its just a safety measurement.... for me is like "your music has never stopped working, neither your photos, but if something goes wrong is easier to download an album that a lot of people in the world has, than a photo album that only you had".

I don't know if this is unusual, but I couldn't get used to Aperture :S I don't know why, but it wasn't "comfortable" to me... but iPhoto, oh man, is terrific!!