iPhoto 7/’08 observations
Posted on August 9, 2007 by Brian Webster
Filed Under iPhoto, Development, iPhoto Library Manager |
I’ve only been playing around with iPhoto 7 for a little bit now, but I’ve found some interesting nuggets on how things have changed in comparison to iPhoto 6. And yes, the official version number for the new iPhoto is 7, even thought it’s part of iLife ‘08. Thanks for not making things totally confusing, Apple. *sigh*
Events are the new Rolls
As I suspected might be the case, it appears that the new Events feature in iPhoto 7 is, structurally speaking, a rebranded use of Rolls from iPhoto 6 and earlier. In fact, I don’t see the term “roll” used anywhere in the iPhoto 7 interface anymore. I’m happy with the new Events interface, as it is a marked improvement and much more useful than rolls were under iPhoto 6. At the core of things, they basically work the same, but there are a couple important differences in behavior.
Like rolls, events are mutually exclusive, so every photo belongs to a single event, no more, no less. However, in iPhoto 6, every distinct import was grouped into a single roll. In iPhoto 7, a single import can now result in multiple events, depending on what settings you have in the preferences, and the dates of the photos that were taken.
Library folders are now packages
In previous versions of iPhoto, your library folder was just that, a folder. It appeared as a normal folder in the Finder, and you could dig through it and mess with things just as easily as any other folder. In iPhoto 7, Apple has decided to make iPhoto folders into packages instead. A package is simply a folder that doesn’t appear as a folder in the Finder. Most applications are actually packages (or rather, a special type of package called a bundle), and many other things, from plugins to documents are also marked as packages. You can still see what’s inside a package by control-clicking it in the Finder and selecting “Show Package Contents”.
This may cause a little terminology confusion in the short run, as the term “iPhoto library folder” is used fairly pervasively, but I think in the long run this is a good move by Apple. Countless people have unknowingly borked their iPhoto libraries in various ways by moving stuff around inside the library folder. This is actually not unreasonable behavior, but iPhoto reacts very poorly to having its library messed around with. So, my basic reaction is, “What took them so long?”.
For those curious in the technical details, iPhoto libraries don’t require an extension, as is the norm for most applications that store their data in packages, but instead have their “Is Package” bit set so that the Finder displays it as a package, even without an extension. It also sets the type/creator on the folder so that the library is displayed as a pretty icon in the Finder, as well as a Contents/PkgInfo file containing the same information.
Auto import folder
I don’t see this mentioned anywhere in the documentation, but there is now a new folder inside the library named “Auto Import”. It appears that how this works is, if you put some photos into the Auto Import folder, then the next time you launch iPhoto, it will look in that folder and import any photos it finds there. It does delete any photos in that folder after importing them. There is also an “auto import” Applescript command, but calling it doesn’t seem to do anything, at least not as far as I can see. I have a feeling this may have been a feature that was pulled out late in development, and they just forgot to remove the Applescript command and the actual folder inside the library.
New keyword interface
Another iPhoto release, another new interface for assigning keywords. By my count, this is at least the 4th different interface iteration for this feature in iPhoto. I also think this is the first time that the new interface has actually been an improvement over the old one.
In iPhoto 7, you can actually edit keywords directly inside the main viewer. This is quite cool, as it will autocomplete existing keywords as you type, and if you type a new keyword and type a comma, it will automatically create a new keyword with what you typed. This is a vast improvement over iPhoto 6, where you had to go into the preferences window just to add new keywords to your list.
But how do you edit the keywords of multiple photos at a time? This actually took me a good while to find, as the info window no longer contains a tab for editing keywords as it did before, and the keywords pane/button no longer exists down in the lower left corner of the window. I eventually found it, under the Window menu, there is a “Show Keywords” item that brings up a window with all your keywords.
From this window, you can select multiple photos, and then click the keyword buttons to assign/unassign keywords to the entire selection. You can also drag keywords up to the “Quick Group” area above and assign one letter keyboard shortcuts to them. For example, if I have “n” assigned to the keyword “nebula”, anytime I have something selected in the main iPhoto window, I can just press “n” to add/remove the “nebula” keyword from the selected photos.
I think this is the first version of iPhoto that really has a good interface for assigning keywords. Don’t know what took them so long, but there it is. My only gripe would be to have a button available somewhere in the bottom section of the window to bring up the keywords window, as I can see many people never even realizing that it’s available. I was actively looking for it, and it took me a good couple of minutes to find it.
There are many other large and small new features in iPhoto 7, which I may go into in more detail later, but those are the things that popped out at me in the first couple of hours of playing with it. I’ll be posting more later with other nuggets as I find them.
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14 Responses to “iPhoto 7/’08 observations”
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What with the Auto Import folder being inside the library package, it’s not very convenient to open that package and add photos to it. I created a alias of that library and put it on the desktop. I added some pictures while the library was open and no change. As you mentioned, after closing and reopening the library those photos were imported. AND they were deleted from that folder.
Here’s hoping you get iPLM updated soon. Great app.
One problem with library folders being packages is that it makes it more difficult to edit photos outside iPhoto (with Lightroom for example) and export them back to iPhoto. Lightroom does not see the iPhoto library subfolders anymore.
Does the new iphoto have any new features to help eliminate duplicate photos? Does a new version of iphoto library manager have anything that would help in eliminating duplicate photos?
Thanks
I used iPhoto Library Manager a few months ago to merge two iPhoto 6 libraries I had created previously. Everything went smooth.
Then, upgraded to iPhoto 7 yesterday.
It seems to me that all photos from the library I merged into the existing one (ie imported into the main library) retain a date of creation being the date of the merging. Then, when upgrading to iPhoto 8, I find myself with a new HUGE event dated from the day I merged the libraries. I consequently lost all previous date information (”creation date” is set at the merging date).
Is there a possibility a next version of iPhoto LM handle that issue ?
Thanks a lot for that very useful software.
I uploaded iLife 08 and opened an old iPhoto library with iPhoto 07.
iPhoto Librarian wouldn’t recognize the new “library/package - leves it dull on the selection list. I went scurrying to preserve my multiple library options.
Downloaded iPhoto Buddy, iPhoto Library selector, then iPhoto Library Manager. Same results with all products - the new “package” is dulled out on the selection list.
In your comments you said your program worked - what m I doing wrong?
Clicking the “Add Library” button won’t let you add a library, but you can still add a library by dragging and dropping it directly into the library list. The toolbar button and menu item will of course be fixed in the upcoming update.
When I bring all 15,000 oics (in a great many “rolls”) into iPhoto 8:
All rolls are now named, and photos from different dates are in each roll- is there any way of maintaining the exact same distribution when importing as Events.
Actually my rolls are events- and I must keep the this way. (but the rolls span many dates)
Thanks
To clarify above: I have not yet installed iPhoto 08. It sounds like a good improvement but until I understand if I can keep my “rolls” together (even if they are now called “events”), I do not see how it can be used. Also, do the pic names and keywords change, or will they remain the same as on 06?
Why didn’t they use a package before? Because people enjoy accessing their photos from other programs without opening iPhoto. They didn’t make an improvement with the package, they are creating proprietary use of photos (for those who can’t skirt around it, which I have) by iPhoto. If I had known it would ruin my access to my photo library like this, I wouldn’t have installed it.
Was wondering what additional features are available with the paid version? I don’t see this on the site?
I left this on the MacWorld site and didn’t get any responses. If you can figure out, I’d be most appreciative.
I like to manage my photos by manually assigning dates to the rolls (now Events) so that they appear in a preferred order onscreen. This worked just fine in the iLife 6 version. However when I converted to 8 (what happened to 7?), the dates of the rolls were all mixed up, and stuff from 2003, for example, showed a 2006 date. Thank goodness I labeled most of my rolls with months/dates.
I thought I could fix the order issue by going to the Photos pulldown, clicking “Adjust Date and Time”, setting the new date, and checking “modify original file”. This I did for all of my many rolls. However when I closed iPhoto and reopened, some new assignments worked and some didn’t. Everytime I open iPhoto now, certain rolls/events have the dates changed. It’s driving me crazy.
Also, I’ve noticed that you can’t open the Photo library in the Finder anymore. You used to be able to open the library and get to certain years (although it was almost impossible to get to a specific photo!).
Thanks for any suggestions!
iPhoto 7 is great. The new keywording is brilliant. But what really bugs me is the keyword recall. It’s useless. OK, so there is a search bar there where you can type things…Great! Change the pull down to keyword…Great! Go to type a keyword in and this stupid box pops up with all the keywords nd you have o physically look through the keywords to find what you wan, and then click on it. I have a couple hundred keywords already and it’s a highly annoying proces and makes the whole thing useless IMO. Whas that point in that?
Surely they could implement typing in the search bar….Get it together Apple!
OK, it appears I’m the idiot. Discount the above post!
One thing to look out for in the Keyword area. If you have set up a Keyword and used it throughout your iPhoto Library, then later discover you have mis-spelled that keyword, BEWARE. Before correcting the Keyword’s spelling, first go to the Edit Menu and Choose Select All. This will Select ALL the photos in your Library. NOW go to Edit Keyword in the Keyword Menu, and make the correction to the mis-spelled Keyword. Click to leave the Keyword window, and all photos using the old mis-spelled Keyword will be updated to the newly corrected spelling of the Keyword.
P.S. I learned the HARD WAY NOT to change the spelling of a Keyword unless ALL Photos in your Library have been Selected FIRST!!