04-21-2009, 05:47 PM

When we used to have a PC, I could go into Windows Explorer, and see all the photos we had.

Now, on the iMac, all the photos imported via iPhoto are bundled into the iPhoto Library section. I can double click on it and view the folders within that.

If I didn't have a Mac, could I still see all of the photos, or are they now locked into only ever being able to be seen on the Mac?

I don't have a PC to be able to check.

Thanks

04-21-2009, 08:36 PM

Yes you would be able to see them - they are just files in folders (the hierarchy of which is managed by iPhoto - don't move things around).

04-22-2009, 01:11 AM

Thanks - I wasn't wanting to move things around. I just thought that if we ever went back to a PC, that all of the photos would be lost because the Mac had bundled them into some format the PC could not use.

It seems very restrictive to not be able to stop iPhoto from taking 5 copies of every photo, and then not being able to get rid of them. How does that make sense? All you'll be left with is a huge and bloated photo library which you don't have any option of housekeeping.

04-22-2009, 02:32 AM

Why is iPhoto making five copies of every photo? It should only make one, which can be viewed by itself, in its event, or in any photo albums you put it in.

If you put your photos into a normal folder and import them into iPhoto from there, you'll have the iPhoto library as well as a raw backup copy that can be transferred to any computer.

04-22-2009, 02:56 AM

Originally Posted by peveril

Thanks - I wasn't wanting to move things around. I just thought that if we ever went back to a PC, that all of the photos would be lost because the Mac had bundled them into some format the PC could not use.

It seems very restrictive to not be able to stop iPhoto from taking 5 copies of every photo, and then not being able to get rid of them. How does that make sense? All you'll be left with is a huge and bloated photo library which you don't have any option of housekeeping.

The copies are easily explained:
- Thumbnail version(s)
- Original
- Edits: If you make changes to a pic, iPhoto never overwrites the original

Does it cause Library bloat? Yup. Is it negligible? IMO: yes. Harddrives have so much storage per $ that a gig or two of extra disk space for conservative photo management isn't a big deal.

As mentioned, if you export all your images from within iPhoto (not the finder!) it'll only copy the real images you have in your library, not all the extra stuff, so do that if you ever move back to a pc.