Please explain iPhoto to me

I am not in any way shape or form new to the mac. However I have never used iPhoto. I always just kept my photos in folders. I do use iPhoto to import the photos off my iPhone's p.r. All of those photos are saved in a file called an album. If I started using an iPhoto how would i organize? Would I have multiple albums each correlating towards something? Do I just organize all photos within iPhoto in "folders" (you can have albums in albums apparently) If I delete the album file would it delete all of the photos there? And if I renamed it as say "all photos" transfered all the pictures on my compter to it and and kept importing would that be it? All my pictures in one album? I just need help. Also if I delete an event within iPhoto does it delete all the pictures? I organize my p.r. pictures in the folders in iphoto and all the events are just annoying. I know they are supposed to organize actual events from a day or period but I have events with just random saved and taken photos off my phone that don't seem to organize anything. (Sorry for being an idiot)

iPhoto 08 The Missing Manual

I highly recommend the Missing Manual series, the most recent for iPhoto is I believe for version 08, but should answer your questions well.

iPhoto is the visual equivalent of iTunes.

All your photos are stored internally in the iPhoto Library. The photos are basically stored in two folders -- originals (never touched) and modified. From there they are organized chronologically from when they were taken (EXIF data). You DO NOT MESS with the iPhoto Library package file except from within iPhoto.

How the photos are *presented* bears little relationship to how they are actually filed, because how they are filed should be of no concern or interest to you. The photos are seen to be in a master library, shown either by Events (chronologically), Photo (one huge list), Faces, or Places.

As with iTunes and its Playlists, iPhoto has Albums. You can sort albums any way you like, it doesn't affect the actual files in any way whatsoever. Albums are just subsets of the Library, so deleting photos from albums has no effect on the library -- a photo can only be removed from iPhoto by deleting it from the library.

Some people prefer to manage the folders and the sorting and all that themselves. iPhoto is not the program for those sorts of people. iPhoto does that work for you so you can focus (get it?) on looking at pictures. There are alternative programs for people who prefer to manage pictures themselves, such as the one mentioned in my signature.

I think iPhoto is a great program for most people, but "tinkerers" would do well to find an alternative, as messing with the Library and iPhoto's database can cause unpredictable results, up to and including loss of images.

lyun2074 said:

Why version 08?

Click to expand...

errr. because they hadn't written an 09 version!

Actually the 09 version IS now available.

Chas m has it right - if you want to be in total control of your photos, don't use iPhoto. When I first switched to the Mac, not much over a year ago, I started using iPhoto, but quickly realised that it didn't give me enough flexibility in relation to my use of other software. I now download into separate date folders as I've done in the past.