I am soooooo very FRUSRATED!!!!!!

I am hoping that someone can help me. I have been always on a PC but have been wanting to switch over to Mac for a long time now. I mean every time I would go to Future Shop or Best Buy or any other computer store I would drool over the Mac's. I talked to lots of people who said being a photographer and editing pictrues a Mac would be the best.....so that all being said I finally got my dream computer it is a 27" iMac 2.7Ghz quad core Intel Core i5..... I started to play around with it and thought this is great!! I bought the Photoshop CS5 since I always had CS3 on my PC I needed to update. Well that is when my not really problems but chaos started. I can't find my pictures...then I find them in iphoto and go in there and figure out how to open it up into my CS5. Then I get an external hard drive and at this point I have albums and pictures all over the world and I am worried about breaking them thing....so I copied my pics to a disc and got rid of all my pictures so I have a gorgeous EMPTY computer that i am not looking at and afraid to use because I don't know where and how to get my pics to my external without openeing up in somethinng that I won't be able to find. I know how to run a computer and love learning but am at a loss here. I have trolled around the forums here and have found a bunch of things but that is making me more and more confused. I have since dumped my iphoto into my garbage and took out the trash and now I have Aperture because I love the editing in there it is very similar to my Lightroom. I always used Picasa on the PC so I did read somewhere in here to try out the Macintosh Explorer which I have d/ on my Mac. I have read here also to grab my aperture library and move it to my External I did that so how come I cannot find my pics to look at them where are they. IS there a book that I should read that is for dummies like me or am i making this so much harder than it actually is. I really want to learn this computer and I know that once I get it I will love it. HELP!!!!!!!! I realize there are all just random questions here but my basic is the photos. Since that is my livelihood I need to learn how and where they are going.!!!!!!
Be kind I have only had the thing for about a week........
Karen

iPhoto photos are not stored in a regular folder. They are stored in the iPhoto Library in the Pictures folder, so trashing iPhoto was the worst thing to do. Trashing iPhoto took all your photos along with it, as far as I know. iPhoto is not meant to be used like a normal folder. You don't have access to the individual, original photos. (Well, you can access them, but you aren't meant to.) iPhoto handles all your photo managing, so everything is done within the application. If you want to use the photos in another program, I guess you could just drag them from iPhoto into a new folder on the desktop (or somewhere else) and import them into Photoshop from there.

There is probably a simple way of getting your photo library into another application, but someone else will have to help you with that. Just remember that iPhoto is not used like other photo editing software in the sense that the photo files themselves are not meant to be accessed or tampered with directly.

Honestly, having a bit of problem sorting out exactly what is going on . . . Too many words! ;P

Regardless, I will post some random tidbits that may (or may not) help.

1) Simply deleting iPhoto shouldnt trash your pictures. The iPhoto Lbrary folder should still be on your Mac
2) Aperture tells you where your Libraries are. If you choose Switch Library it scans for available Aperture Libraries and you should be able to see the path to them
3) You can import directly from your iPhoto Library to Aperture (and probably did when you installed Aperture)
4) Missing Manual series are great and cover a range of topics

Hope this helps

Of importance here is this...

Aperture and iPhoto are effectively digital asset management DATABASES. They obfuscate the location of your files by design (they're stored in special directories under your users Pictures directory, but DON'T MESS WITH THEM). If you want to export a photo, export it.

I can't answer how to move this to an external because well, I use Lr exclusively..

Oh and don't just go randomly deleting things, especially when your work may be tied to it. That's just asking for extreme amounts of frustration.

I cannot answer your specific questions, but I can recommend the "Missing Manual series"

Some of the Mac specifics were making me nuts until I got the Missing Manual for iPhoto and the Missing Manual for Snow Leopard (you will need the one for Lion). Amazon has them.

Hang in there, switching to Mac takes a little relearning and forgetting PC ways. Try to learn how Mac does stuff, don't try to make your Mac work like a PC.

Thanks everyone for your comments I am trying. Larry I realize that maybe I am trying to make it work like a PC because that is what I am used to. Basically the biggest thing I am worried about is my pics. The rest I can take the time to learn. I am just completely lost the minute I hook my camera up. I want the pics to go to my EHD but when I look in my EHD they are there under the Aperture library. And I can't get to them. I am feeling pretty stupid here...sorry about that :-(

In both Aperture and iPhoto (and Lightroom as far as I am aware) there is a concept called "round-tripping." Since I know iPhoto better than the other two, I'll explain the concept using that program, but I'm confident it works more-or-less the same on the others.

First, you set in the preferences that you'd like to use Photoshop CS5 as your "external editor."

Then you double-click on a photo you'd like to edit in iPhoto. Photoshop CS5 automatically opens up with a copy of your picture.

Once you're done editing in Photoshop, you simply save it. The saved photo is automatically sent back to iPhoto.

There's a REASON why all these photo programs "seal off" the photos into a "vault" and don't let you near them. It's to PREVENT exactly what you are trying to do -- mess with them without thinking and destroy or lose the "originals." You're supposed to work on COPIES of the pictures ONLY and not think about the originals AT ALL EVER. This workflow gives you the safety of original preservation AND the ability to go "back" to the "original" no matter how many changes you've made.

In all three programs, there is an easy option to store the photo library/vault on whatever drive you want. The main concept here is that you have to LET GO of the idea that YOU have to micromanage the organization of the pictures. You don't, just let the program do that. You also have to let go of the idea that you need to be able to access the "original." You don't. Ever. You can make a duplicate as easily as dragging a photo out to the desktop, so there's no need for you to muck about in the library.

As Dysfuntion says, once the program has set up its database, YOU DON'T MESS WITH IT. Because you don't have to. Everything -- absolutely EVERYTHING -- you might want to do with the pictures can be done from within the program.

Hi,

Not really sure I fully understand what you are trying to do,so forgive me if I am telling what you already know.

Quote by justk
so I copied my pics to a disc

Click to expand...

OK all your photos are now backed up on discs.

Quote by justk
I don't know where and how to get my pics to my external without openeing up in somethinng

Click to expand...

Put in disc connect external open the disc and then select all photos on disc (menu bar > edit select all) open external and paste (menu bar > edit >paste)

Quote by justk
I have since dumped my iphoto into my garbage and took out the trash and now I have Aperture

Click to expand...

If you want to import into Aperture Just use the import browser and import buttons. You can view if you have created them Albums > projects etc form the library inspector.

Also you can download the Aperture 3 PDF from here.
http://documentation.apple.com/en/aperture_otherhelp/Exploring Aperture 3 (en).pdf

Quote by justk
I am just completely lost the minute I hook my camera up. I want the pics to go to my EHD but when I look in my EHD they are there under the Aperture library. And I can't get to them

Click to expand...

.

From within Aperture select the files you wish to move. You can select multiple projects. Then go to the File menu and select “Relocate Masters”. Then select the destination folder. By default this will save the files by project name on to the destination disk.
Do not move the files directly from Finder onto your external hard drive.

justk said:

Thanks everyone for your comments I am trying. Larry I realize that maybe I am trying to make it work like a PC because that is what I am used to. Basically the biggest thing I am worried about is my pics. The rest I can take the time to learn. I am just completely lost the minute I hook my camera up. I want the pics to go to my EHD but when I look in my EHD they are there under the Aperture library. And I can't get to them. I am feeling pretty stupid here...sorry about that :-(

Click to expand...

Unless there's something odd about it your camera should immediately appear as an icon on your desktop when you plug it in (i.e. mount like any external storage device), then you can access it via the Mac Finder exactly the same as via Windows Explorer (functionally, they're identical, just a file/folder manager that lets you access your drives; although the Finder does have a few extra features over Explorer, but that's not important right now); then you should be able to copy the files to your external HDD so you still have the originals backed-up there...

Ah, yes, deleting iPhoto itself will not remove your photos. It's the iPhoto Library file within the Pictures folder that contains your actual photos. But again, don't manage your photos that way!

Wow. So much has been said already, but I'll try and toss my 2 pence in anyway. You mentioned that you have Lightroom, so I'm curious to know why you didn't just install it? It works the same with OS X as it does with Windows.

Aperture. Since you went through the trouble of buying and installing it, it's important to realize that you can very easily have all of your photos stored on an external drive and have Aperture reference them from there. The best thing to do with either Aperture OR Lightroom, is to make sure that the database files are kept on the Mac's internal hard drive. This way, it will take very little time for the applications to access them.

The scratch drive on the other hand, is usually best to keep on a separate partition from the actually operating system, and if possible on a faster disk in general. An SSD drive would be ideal, but this isn't always economical. The scratch drive FYI is where the cached files are stored, as well as where you can put the physical RAW/Jpg/Tiff/DNG etc.. files.

The other important thing to realize about Aperture is that much like Lightroom, you can have it list your folder heirarchy's (kind of). It doesn't list them exactly, because it creates album folders. But still, those will contain the same folders as you might have created manually. I much prefer things this way, because you get the best of both worlds.

You get the benefit of a database system where tagging photos with keywords will get you a very powerful searching tool, but you'll also have faux folders with a heirarchy structure that mimics one you might already have in order, so you can feel free to browse said folders if you know exactly where to look for something if it hasn't been tagged.

Personally speaking, I only work from external hard drives, and I back my files up redundantly, across multiple externals. As for editing, Chas was on to the right idea. You certainly can do a round trip without hassle so long as you choose PS CS5 as your external editor. But if you're using Aperture, unless you're doing some heavy duty layer work, you won't have much of a reason to even go into PS.

I don't know about Aperture anymore, because I use LR, but... when I use PS for that extra bit of a touch-up, LR asks if I want to export to PS with the LR adjustments, and then asks *well, more like tells me* if I want to stack the final product with the original (which technically is not really the original since it is a non destructive edit and only affects the xmp data) . So when I'm exporting that final image from TIFF to jpg, I usually wind up deleting that TIFF image when done to preserve space. Those TIFF's are huge... so be careful with that.

I personally wouldn't bother with iPhoto if I were you. It's quite redundant and much less useful than Aperture or Lightroom.

Doug

Thanks everyone for your help. I have bought the missing manual books so I have been reading and it is really a great book so far!!!! I have reinstalled the iphoto and will just turn it "off". I am realizing as I read the book that I am just trying to DO more than I actually have to. Retraining my PC brain is going to take more than just a couple of days!!!!! But you guys were great in your responses!!

I figured as much. Glad you found the book to help you!

Yeah, we've seen this a lot among PC switchers, we call it "overthinking." Once you let go it and adapt to the simpler (and from our perspective more logical ... er, most of the time ...) Mac way, you'll be amazed at yourself.

i´ve created a full iphoto course on my site - this might help you to get a better hang on the mac - have a look here: iPhoto - The Mac Mania

TheMacMania said:

i´ve created a full iphoto course on my site - this might help you to get a better hang on the mac - have a look here: iPhoto - The Mac Mania

Click to expand...

Cool! I'm gonna have a look at that. Thanks!

TheMacMania said:

i´ve created a full iphoto course on my site - this might help you to get a better hang on the mac - have a look here: iPhoto - The Mac Mania

Click to expand...

Very nice job Rhoda.
It is great place to start learning about the various functions of iPhoto.

DavidH

thank you both!!!

TheMacMania said:

i´ve created a full iphoto course on my site - this might help you to get a better hang on the mac - have a look here: iPhoto - The Mac Mania

Click to expand...

Oh thank you so much!

you are so welcome, hope it helps with your mac issues. it´s really worth learning this computer.

I know I'm in the minority here and I know I tend to bring this up at every iPhoto thread but.....

I struggle with iPhoto. To me the closed library system is awkward and non-Apple-like. iTunes doesn't feel the need to package eveything away! Getting images back out of iPhoto is unnecessarily clunky and unintuitive. All IMHO of course.

I even tried a clean start with the latest version of iPhoto but it drives me nuts. Horses for courses etc.

I still prefer Picasa (which is where this ramble is heading). I like the rest of the Apple iLife/iWork suites but iPhoto just can't match or improve upon my photo workflow in the same way as Picasa can.

To the OP, if you used Picasa on the PC, liked it, and it performed the tasks you needed I can recommend it for Mac too.

I will say that the switching process often goes better if you sometimes just go with the flow and accept a different way of doing things. But that doesn't mean you have to be railroaded into doing everything another way.