Remove photos from iphoto and use folder system

I want to remove my photos from iphoto, and not use iphoto at all for now.

I had moved the photos to an EHD, to a new iphoto library I created.

I now want to get them out of iphoto and have them reside just in folders on this EHD. How do I do that?

I now think I may have duplicates. I have a new iphoto folder on my macbook...that looks to have some of the same photos. Maybe they are just thumbnails, but I can't tell.

In the future I will use image capture to download photos from my phone.

Any help will be appreciated.

Create the new folders that you want, and either drag and drop your pictures from iPhoto, or use the Export function via the File menu.

Any particular reason why you're doing this? Bored? Retired? Need busy work?

chas_m said:

Any particular reason why you're doing this? Bored? Retired? Need busy work?

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Because iPhoto is not always the best way to manage photos?

OP, you can drag each picture from iPhoto to a folder and it will create copies for you. If you have a lot of events, that might take a while but it's the simplest solution.

If when you loaded the photos into iPhoto you COPIED them, then you still have the originals somewhere (unless you deleted them) though they would not have any edits done in iPhoto. If you MOVED them into iPhoto or have edited them then you will have to Export them.

Why do you think you have duplicates? How do you think they were created. There are many applications, some free, that will check for and/or remove duplicates. Try Google, or search on this site.

vansmith said:

Because iPhoto is not always the best way to manage photos?

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I didn't ask him this because iPhoto is the One True Solution for everyone, I asked him because most of the time when I ask someone what their "better" plan is for manually organizing their photos, they generally describe a system *exactly* like what iPhoto already does.

On the rare occasions when they have a significantly different plan, discovering it generally helps me determine what program or service might best meet their needs.

I didn't ask him this because iPhoto is the One True Solution for everyone, I asked him because most of the time when I ask someone what their "better" plan is for manually organizing their photos, they generally describe a system *exactly* like what iPhoto already does.

Click to expand...

While it's true iPhoto organizes photos, keeps a library, and so on, most people who do not like iPhoto do not like it for those very reasons. Folks want to feel they're in charge even if they do the exact same thing manually that iPhoto does automatically. But I am happy to see you realize that iPhoto may not be the "One True Solution" for everyone! ;D

I do both - storing photos in both iPhoto and in regular folders.

I organise images first into regular finder folders to allow me to quickly find 'Events (ie folder names)' and enable me to quickly get at pictures that I might want to use for something (eg a call to email 'that photo of you and me at mum's last birthday'). Copying them from here means that iPhoto uses the folder name as the event name. These folders, also act as a backup of originals as I'd rather not have iPhoto as my only repository.

iPhoto on the other hand is brilliant in creating smart folders based on keywords (eg ' All photos of Mum') or star rating for inclusion in a photo book (whether or not ones uses Apple for this purpose) (eg 'China & Japan Cruise 2013' or to create a series for showing on tv via Apple tv eg (all photos that include son Pete to use as a background on his 18th birthday).

iPhoto is great too for 'quick' edits eg leveling horizons, amending exposure levels, trying various cropping options and can call up Photoshop for more serious editing.

Finally, iPhoto (on my 24" iMac) is a great showcase for reviewing photos with others, for example when my wife and I set select photos to post to a website gallery, creating a folder, editing images as necessary, and exporting ready for use elsewhere.

So both iPhoto and regular folders have their uses - one doesn't have to choose between them, just use the best of each and relax.

My personal view of manually organizing folders is that this may the first sign that one might be a "control freak." I bought a computer *precisely* to do exactly this sort of work -- why on earth would I waste time, for example, meticulously creating music files by artist, then sub folders by album, then the songs in original play order -- when iTunes does that for me, automatically?

I've reluctantly accepted the "stamp collector" defense that it is the *act of the organizing* that brings some people the real pleasure of the hobby, but it still mystifies me.

The fact that Aperture, Lightroom and iPhoto all essentially try to do this for you (and all three allow the option of letting you do it yourself if you prefer) tells me that programmers thought a long time about the best way to organize pictures or music (etc) and that perhaps I should use my time more productively and just let the machine handle it. My job can be making sure the backups are up-to-date.