06-05-2010, 08:40 AM

I recently purchased an iMac so Im fairly new at this.

I got some photos which I would like to import to iPhoto but it sorts it by date, faces or locations which makes it quite messy.

I was wondering is there any way to categorize it into folders or something so iPhoto only sorts the photos that are in that exact folder by date.

To give you a better understanding of what I mean this is how I have imagined the setup:

-Pictures from iPhone
-Vacation pictures
-Photoclub pictures
-My girlfriend
-Private pictures

is there any way I can categorize the pictures like this so I have to enter "vacation pictures" and then click sort by events so that iPhoto will show the events by dates only from the vacation pictures and not include pictures added in "photoclub pictures" and "my girlfriend"?

The only way it seems to me to do this is create different users on the iMac and have the different pictures on different users, it seems like a lot of work just to separate some pictures from each other.

I hope I managed to explain myself properly as english is not my mother tongue. I appreciate all the help I get.

JD

06-05-2010, 09:30 AM

You can organise by date, roll, event etc. by default. Just look in the "view by" window in preferences.
To do what you wish you would need to create albums of those names specifically, but I don't think you can auto import into those, you need to drag them manually.

06-05-2010, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by Kevriano

You can organize by date, roll, event etc. by default. Just look in the "view by" window in preferences.
To do what you wish you would need to create albums of those names specifically, but I don't think you can auto import into those, you need to drag them manually.

but if I create albums and drag them manually into albums it will duplicate them into that album. It will also be under "Pictures" and if I select "events" it will take all the pictures from every album and sort them by events. not leaving anything out.

I wanted to separate it so I can sort vacation pics by event and photoclub pics by event without getting them mixed up

06-05-2010, 05:35 PM

I think you're making it far too complicated than it needs to be.

My photos, from whatever source, are held in folders, some folders are within Pictures folders others are 'freestanding'. When I import into iPhoto it creates an Event for each folder, each event having that folders name. Photos from one folder do not get added to other events even if they have the same date or name.

So folders named, say 'Cropredy 2008', 'Pauls 50th Birthday', 'Northumberland in Winter' all end up in their own iPhoto Event. Within each Event I can sort by date or whatever. I don't have to do any resorting of Events within iPhoto, although sometimes I create albums to pull together all photos of particular people or places.

Incidentally, if you have thousands of photos or you want to keep say personal photos completely separate from business photos you could create additional iPhoto libraries but generally Events does everything you need.

06-07-2010, 10:06 AM

You can also use keywords and smart albums. Assign a keyword to your photos when you import them (iPhone, vacation, etc.) Then create a smart album that keys on that keyword. then, every time you use the keyword "iPhone', for instance, the photo will automatically show up in the correct album. You can have more that one keyword per photo, if you want. This does not duplicate the photos, just creates an alias to the original photo, sono extra space wasted.

06-09-2010, 04:34 AM

I am also newish to Macs - but am frustrated by iPhoto being unable to display Albums and Events based on directory structures. Many of us must be organised and have already put photos into "Christmas Parties" then subfolders of "2010" "2009" etc. It seems impossible to display this "basic" view and I am forced into automated clever views - which, sometimes are inappropriate. I do agree they are super for organising the seriously disorganised - but any chance of a simple "directory view"?

06-09-2010, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by RoySharma

I am also newish to Macs - but am frustrated by iPhoto being unable to display Albums and Events based on directory structures. Many of us must be organised and have already put photos into "Christmas Parties" then subfolders of "2010" "2009" etc. It seems impossible to display this "basic" view and I am forced into automated clever views - which, sometimes are inappropriate. I do agree they are super for organising the seriously disorganised - but any chance of a simple "directory view"?

That's what Albums are for. Check out the Apple website for some useful support videos.