iLife Tips and Tricks

iPhoto Videos:

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FAQ:

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Working with RAW images:

Does iPhoto actually use RAW image data?

All I see are JPEG copies of my RAW images.
That's a great question—yes, it certainly does, and its unique process helps simplify the RAW workflow for people who don't have time to be photo experts. The first time you edit a RAW image in the main iPhoto window, the RAW badge appears at the bottom of the window.
It looks like this:
When the badge appears, iPhoto is using your image's original RAW data to support your edits. After you click Done, your changes are applied to the RAW image data and stored as a JPEG file (the original RAW file remains unchanged). That's how iPhoto simplifies the RAW workflow—it combines RAW editing and JPEG conversion into one step.

If you use an expert program like Adobe Photoshop, you would have to make your RAW adjustments, then run a separate batch process to convert all your images to a working format, such as JPEG or TIFF. iPhoto simplifies all that.

Note: If you edit the photo again, the RAW badge won't appear because the image is now a JPEG file. To re-edit the same image from RAW, select the image and choose Revert to Original from the Photos menu. If you want to keep your first edit, choose Duplicate before reverting.

Why doesn't iPhoto display the RAW badge when I open an original RAW image in a separate Edit window?

It should, but it currently doesn't. This is an issue that we're working to resolve. Until we do, you can avoid confusion by doing all your RAW editing work in the main window.

Why does iPhoto have to convert RAW files to JPEG?

Remember that RAW is a reference or "digital negative" format; not a working format. In other words, you can't print directly from a RAW file, for example. Furthermore, other programs, such as iMovie and System Preferences, do not understand RAW. That's why iPhoto makes a JPEG copy of your RAW image at the time of import.

Can I export a 16-bit image or an XMP file from iPhoto?

At the present time, iPhoto cannot export 16-bit color or XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) files. If you export an image as a TIFF file, the resulting photo will be an 8-bit TIFF derived from your edited JPEG image. The iPhoto RAW workflow is designed for simplicity—not expert level control. If you export a photo as an original RAW image file (by choosing Original as the image format in the Export Photos dialog), you will get an unmodified RAW file without an XMP sidecar (no metadata will be embedded into the file).

When I export a RAW file from iPhoto, why aren't my changes saved as part of the export?

In the RAW photo ethic, a RAW file is regarded as a "digital negative" and is not to be modified. Changes that you make when editing in RAW mode are always saved to a secondary file. In iPhoto, that secondary file is a JPEG. In Adobe Photoshop, the secondary file is an XMP sidecar file.

What is the advantage of shooting images in RAW format?

Images captured in RAW format allow for greater image quality and editing flexibility when you bring them into an image editor, such as iPhoto. RAW is like having insurance against your shooting mistakes—your camera settings are saved separately from the image data. For a more thorough explanation of RAW images, click iPhoto 5: Using the RAW image format.

iPhoto uses the 16-bit RAW data to facilitate your edits before converting the RAW file to JPEG. This gives you greater editing flexibility since a RAW image's exposure latitude is retained, which is not the case if you simply imported a JPEG file.

Why do RAW images take so much longer to import than JPEGs?

RAW images take longer to import because iPhoto makes a JPEG copy at the time of import. The JPEG conversion allows other parts of Mac OS X, which don't understand the RAW format, to use your images even before you edit them.

My camera isn't on your list for RAW support. Why don't you support it?

Qualifying a camera for RAW compatibility takes a lot of testing, and software must be customized as we add more cameras. Because this is the first iPhoto release to support RAW images, we focused on single-lens reflex (SLR) type cameras and a few others that are most likely to be used by the high-end amateurs and professionals who value the qualities of the RAW format. We expect to add more cameras to the list with future releases of iPhoto.

My blazing fast Mac slows down when I try to browse my RAW photos. What gives?

To maintain a fast browsing speed, iPhoto displays thumbnail images, which are smaller copies of the originals. However, you can easily exceed the thumbnails' maximum set size when you move the iPhoto zoom slider to display bigger thumbnails. When you do this, iPhoto suddenly has to go to the original image file and scale it to fit your screen, in realtime, as you scroll. For example, if all your thumbnails are around 30 KB each and your original images are around 3 MB a piece, you've just increased the size of all images being browsed by 100 times! That's not an easy jump even for a Power Mac G5. This is true regardless of whether the images you're browsing are RAW or JPEG images.

You might be wondering how you can constrain iPhoto to display only the maximum thumbnail size. Lucky for you, it's really easy: When you're browsing your photos, just press the 2 key on your keyboard. This will resize your thumbnails to the maximum size.

Working with slideshows:

I created a slideshow in an album (by clicking the slideshow button), but the next time I tried to view it, all the slideshow changes I made were gone! Where did they go?
iPhoto 5 has two different kinds of slideshows, and you probably confused the old kind with the new one. (Don't worry, a few of us did that too.)
Look at the bottom of your Source list (the column on the left side of the window).
With iPhoto's new "cinematic" slideshow, all slideshows appear as their own entries in the Source list; you'll probably see that you've created more than one copy of your slideshow there. Each copy will still have the changes that you saved in it.
Just pick the one you want to keep, and delete all the extras.

What types of slideshows can I make in iPhoto?

You have two choices. In older versions of iPhoto, you could play an album as a slideshow, and the album could even retain slideshow settings. You can still do that, but you can also create an improved type of slideshow that exists on its own in the Source list. These highly customizable "cinematic" slideshows allow mixed transitions, varied slide durations, and the pan-zoom Ken Burns effect, for example.

When you click the Slideshow button, iPhoto creates one of the new slideshows in the Source List, like "London Slideshow" in this picture.

The old type of slideshow is still there too, but its control has moved. Select a regular album, then click the Play button at the bottom left corner of the iPhoto window. When you click this Play button, you'll get the older, familiar format.

Why does iPhoto display two Play buttons when I'm working on a slideshow?

The round Play button only appears when you're editing a cinematic slideshow, and is used to control its playback. The rectangular Play button is used to play the old-style slideshows that don't appear in the Source list (you can ignore it when editing a cinematic slideshow).

Does the Ken Burns effect soften my photos?

Because Ken Burns images are animated, iPhoto must scale them down to ensure reasonable performance on a range of computers. This will cause some images to look softer than they actually are, though the softening effect may not be noticeable on lower-resolution displays. For example, a landscape-oriented (horizontal) Ken Burns-effected image on an Apple 20-inch Cinema Display (1680 pixels wide) would be downsampled to an animation texture of about 1024 pixels, and then rescaled to fill the screen. This should be more noticeable than if you were viewing the slideshow on a display that was only 1024 pixels wide.

Printing:

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To print pages from a book, calendar, or card on your printer:

Select an item in your Source list.
Choose File > Print.
Select print options.
To see exactly how your pages will look before printing them, click Preview.
Click Print.

Printing a Contact Sheet:

Photographers often create contact sheets — quick-reference prints containing small versions of multiple photos, usually an entire roll's worth on each contact sheet. (The term derives from the traditional technique: a contact sheet is created by sandwiching negatives between a piece of glass and photographic paper, and then exposing the sandwich to light.)

To include only certain photos on a contact sheet, select them before choosing the Print command. You can use contact sheets to provide an at-a-glance reference for a series of photos.

But you can also use a contact sheet to squeeze several images onto a single sheet of paper.

Check the Save paper box to have iPhoto print vertical images in horizontal orientation, even if you rotated them.
You'll have to turn the sheet sideways to view some images, but you'll get more images on each sheet of paper.

Tip: You can use contact sheets to print multiple copies of one photo. Simply select only one photo before choosing Print.

Printing borderless photos:

To print photos without a border:

Select the photo or photos you want to print.
With the photo or photos selected, click the Print button. The photos appear in print project view.
Choose Standard from the themes menu on the left.
Select the printer.
Choose a paper size from the Paper menu (such as 4 x 6 or 8 x 10). The word “borderless” appears next to the sizes where this option is available. If you don’t see “borderless” as an option, either your printer doesn’t support borderless printing or you may not have the right driver installed. See Mac Help for information.
Do one of the following: If you like the way the photo looks, and you are ready to print, click Print. If you want to adjust the photo before you print, you can zoom in or out, or move the image within the frame. To do so, click the Customize button, and then follow steps 7-9.
Click the photo. The zoom slider and hand tool appear at the top of the photo.
Use the zoom slider to zoom in or out of your photo. Click the hand tool to move the photo around in the frame. If you want to further edit or customize your photo for printing, use the options in the Customize toolbar. Note: These changes will appear only in the prints you make with this print project. They will not appear in your library, albums, books, calendars, cards, or slideshows.
When you are finished editing, click Print.

Printing your own photos:

You can print your photos in a number of ways, including full page (with borders), in standard print sizes, as contact sheets, or bordered with a mat effect.

You can also edit your photos in print view. These edits are done strictly for the purpose of the print project and will not appear on the photo in your iPhoto library.

Important: If you want to print borderless (or “full bleed”) photos, print photos on perforated paper, or design greeting cards and postcards with multiple photos and a range of themes, see Related Topics below.

To print your own photos:

Select the photo or photos you want to print.
Click the Print button. Your selected photos will appear in Print Settings view.
Choose a theme from the menu on the left. The preview area shows how your photos will look when you print them.
Choose your printer, paper type, paper size, and print size from the pop-up menus. These criteria are applied to all the photos in your print project.
If you want to edit or further customize your print project, click the Customize button. This will open your photo project in print edit view and the print project icon will appear in the Source list. The icon will remain in the Source list until you cancel the print project. For more about this topic, see Related Topics below.
Click Print.

Printing options depend on the printer you’re using. See your printer documentation for more information.

Printing photos on perforated paper:
To print photos on perforated paper:

Select the photo or photos you want to print.
Crop each photo to match the size ratio you want to print (such as 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and so on). For more information, see Related Topics below.
Click the Print button. The photo or photos appear in print project view.
If you want to make any more edits to the photos before you print them, click the Customize button and then click either the Adjust button or the Settings button. For more information about editing photos to print, see Related Topics below.
Choose Standard from the themes menu on the left.
Select a printer.
Select perforated paper from the Paper Size menu. If you don't see an option for perforated paper, either your printer doesn’t support it or you may not have the right driver installed. See your printer documentation for information.
Select the size print you want to make (such as 4 x 6 or 8 x 10).
Click Print.

Printing multiples photos:

The ability to print multiples of a photo on a single page (also known as the N-Up style in iPhoto '06) using a home printer is still a prominent feature in iPhoto '08.
Its location, however, has changed slightly for iPhoto '08.

To print multiples of a specific photo on a page in iPhoto '08:

Select a picture or group of pictures you would like to print.
Select the Print icon on the bottom right of the application.
Print Size to anything other than the Standard Size. (This sets the number of pictures to be printed on a single page)
Once you select the Print Size, select the Customize... button.
Select the Settings icon.
In the Settings window, change the Photos Per Page option to Multiple of the same photo per page.
Select the OK button in order to see the changes made to your page.
Select the Print page to print your page as you see it in Print Customization mode.

Editing photos in print project view:

You can edit a photo, or a set of photos, for a particular print project without affecting the same photos in your photo library. For example, you can print a photo in sepia tone, but not save it that way in your library.

To edit photos in print project view:

Select one or more photos to print.
Click the Print button in the toolbar.
Select a theme in the menu to the left.
Click the Customize button.

Edit your photos using one of the following tools:

Themes: Choose or change the theme for your photos.

Background: Choose the border color to frame your photos. (If you don’t see the color change, click the Borders button to choose an option that has borders.)

Borders: Choose the style for your photo borders.

Layout: Choose how many images to include in a single print. Some layouts offer captions as well. (Multiple images are not available for all themes.)

Adjust: Edit your photo’s contrast, saturation, sharpness, and more, or add special effects, such as black-and-white or antique.
If the Adjust button is dimmed, select a photo in the viewing area of the print window. You can move through multiple photos by using the arrows, or by clicking the Page View button, then selecting print pages in the browser.

Settings: Choose font and type size for captions, or specify one photo per page and whether or not to include crop marks.

Note: To change the background or border of a single photo in a print project, select the photo you want, and then hold down the Option key while you make your selections.

If you want, you can zoom in and crop your photo just for this print project. Click the photo once to make these tools appear at the top of the photo.
Use the slider to zoom in on the photo, and use the hand pointer to move the photo around in the frame.

Click Print Settings to return to the Print dialog.

Customizing:

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Customizing the organize toolbar:

The toolbar is the row of buttons that appears at the bottom of the iPhoto window.

When you view the photos in a particular Event or album, you are in organize view. You can customize the toolbar in organize view by adding or removing buttons that let you perform the most common tasks for sharing your photos.

To customize the organize toolbar:

Choose View > “Show in Toolbar.”
Choose the buttons you want to appear in the toolbar from the submenu. A selected item has a checkmark next to it; choose the item again to deselect it.

Depending on how wide your screen is, you may not see all the buttons in the toolbar. Click the angle brackets (shown below) near the bottom-right corner of the window to see the missing tools, or drag the resize control at the bottom-right corner of the window to make it wider.

Changing the settings for a published album:

You can change the settings for each published album. You can add or remove the password protection or change the actions that your visitors can take, such as downloading or adding photos.

To change the settings for a published album:

Select the published album in the Source list.
Click the Settings button in the toolbar.
Change the publish settings. For more information, see Related Topics below.
Click Publish.

Editing:

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Editing photos in another application:

You can do many editing tasks in iPhoto, such as rotating and cropping a photo, changing a color photo to black and white, adjusting exposure and contrast, and reducing red-eye.
If you want to make other changes to a photo, you can open it in another image-editing application, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Important: Nondestructive editing does not apply to photos in the iPhoto library that are edited in a separate application.

Set your preferences to open photos in another application when you click the Edit button.
Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in the application.
Edit the photo. When you’re finished, save the photo using the same name and file format.

The changes you made to the photo will be visible when you return to iPhoto.

Note: When you edit a RAW-format photo, iPhoto creates a copy of the photo in JPEG format. This is the photo that opens in the other application.

To edit the photo in its original RAW format, you must set that preference separately from your edit preference.

To do so, choose:

iPhoto > Preferences and click Advanced.
Select the "Use RAW when using external editor" checkbox.

When you are finished editing, you must save the edited version on your computer and reimport it into iPhoto.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

Editing billing information:

If you need to make changes to your billing information for your Apple ID, follow these steps:

Verify that your computer is connected to the Internet, then open the application.
Select a photo from your Library by clicking it one time.
Aperture: Choose File > Order Prints - iPhoto: Choose Share > Order Prints.
Click either Account Info or Set Up Account.
Enter your Apple ID and password where prompted and click Sign In. Learn more about Apple ID accounts.
As soon as you sign in, the ordering system will automatically enable 1-Click ordering on your account.
To make changes to your billing information, click "Edit Billing." Enter any desired changes and click "OK" on the bottom right to save your changes.
Click Cancel (your account info will still be saved).

You can also make changes to your account information by visiting Apple's MyInfo page: myinfo.apple.com

Editing text in a book:

Most book themes include pages that contain text you can edit.
If you don’t see any text on a page and you want to add some, you need to choose a new design for your page that includes text.

To edit text:

Click the Page View button to display book pages in the photo browser.
Select the page that contains text you want to edit.
Click the text you want to edit, and then add or edit text.

When you need to edit text, it’s a good idea to zoom in on the text area first.
To do so, drag the size slider.

iPhoto offers an automatic spell checker to help you eliminate spelling errors.
Even better, you can have iPhoto read your text aloud, so you can hear if it stumbles over a typo or some awkward language.

Highlight the text you want to hear, then Control-click it and choose:

Speech > Start Speaking from the shortcut menu.

To turn off the automatic spell checker, choose:

Edit > Spelling.
Click “Check Spelling as You Type” to deselect it.

Editing photos in a separate window:

You can open a photo in a separate window and use the edit toolbar to perform a variety of photo-editing tasks.

Make sure your preferences are set to open a photo in its own edit window when you click the Edit button.

Choosing what happens when you click the Edit button ►
Select the photo and click the Edit button to open it in its own edit window.
Use the editing tools to edit your photo.

You can change your preferences so your photos open in edit view when you double-click them.

To do so, go to:

iPhoto > Preferences and click General.
Select “Edits photos” from the Double-click options.

You can also enlarge the photo in the edit window so it fills your screen by sliding the zoom slider.

Editing/Renaming a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

After you’ve created a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow, you can change its name.

To rename an item in the Source list:

Double-click the name of the item.
Edit the name or type a new one.

Creating:

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Creating a CD or DVD:

You can use the iPhoto burn feature to archive your photos and albums for viewing in iPhoto only. If you want to create a disc to be viewed on a Windows computer or by a photo processing company, you must use the Finder.

To create a CD or DVD using the Finder:

In iPhoto, select the album or albums you want to burn to a disc.
Export the album or albums to a folder on your computer.
When the export is finished, quit iPhoto.
Click the Finder icon in the Dock and insert a CD-RW disc or a blank CD-R or DVD-R disc into your drive.
Drag the folder that contains your exported photos onto the disc’s icon.
When the files have finished copying, choose File > Burn Disc, and then click Burn.

Creating a customized Event:

To create an Event:

Select Photos in the Source list.
Select the photos you want in your customized Event. Command-click to select non-adjacent photos.
Choose Events > Create Event.
In the dialog, click Create.

Your selected photos will be removed from their current Events and placed into the new Event.

Note: You can also create an empty Event, and move photos into it later.
To do so:

click Events in the Source list, and then click the New Event button in the toolbar, or choose Events > Create Event.

A placeholder Event thumbnail will appear at the bottom of your Events in the viewing area of iPhoto. Just as with any other Event, you can name the new Event, add photos to it, merge it with another Event, and more.

Creating a Smart Album:

Smart Albums allow you to have albums created automatically from specific photos in your library. You can make a Smart Album that contains only certain types of photos, photos with high ratings, or photos that match other criteria, including EXIF information, such as a specific shutter speed or camera model.

For example, you can create an album that contains only your highest-rated photos taken within the last two months on your digital SLR camera.

To create a Smart Album:

Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click New Smart Album in the dialog. You can also choose File > New Smart Album.
Type a name for your album in the “Smart Album name” field.
Use the pop-up menus to choose the criteria by which photos will be added to the album. For example, you might want iPhoto to add only photos that contain “Kids” as a keyword, or photos with at least a four-star rating. To add additional matching criteria, click the Add (+) button.
Click OK.

A Smart Album has a gear symbol on its icon in the Source list.
Any photos in your library that match the settings you chose are added to the album.

iPhoto automatically modifies a Smart Album when any photo that matches the album’s settings is added to or removed from your library.
You can search for photos using the criteria, including EXIF information, that you use to organize the albums.

Creating a greeting card:

You can choose from a variety of greeting card sizes and designs to create a card for any occasion.

To create a greeting card:

Select one or more photos that you want to use in your card.
Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Card in the dialog.
Type a name for your card.
Choose a card type from the pop-up menu.
Select an occasion (for example, Baby/Kids or Invitation/Thank You) in the list on the left.
Select a design for your card in the themes list on the right. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
Click Choose. iPhoto switches to card view, and your new card appears in the Source list.
Drag a photo from the top of the iPhoto window onto your card page.

Once you create a card, you can add a personal message, change photos, and order card sets to be sent to you.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating folders in the Source list:

You can add folders to the iPhoto Source list to better organize your albums. You cannot add individual photos directly to a folder.

To create a folder:

Choose File > New Folder.
Type a name for the folder and press Return.
In the Source list, drag albums, books, calendars, cards, slideshows, or other folders into the folder you just created.

You can also drag your new folder into an existing folder.

Creating a standard photo album:

You can create standard albums to better organize your photo library, group the photos you want to burn to CD or DVD, or choose pictures for a webpage.

To create a standard photo album:

Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Album in the dialog. You can also Choose File > New Album.
Type a name for your album and click Create. The album appears in your Source list.
Click Events, then drag entire Events or photos within one or more Events to your new album.

You can also add a photo to an album directly from another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to an album from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can also select the photos you want to group first, then create a standard album from them.

To do this:

Command-click to select all the photos you want to include in the album, then choose File > New Album From Selection and name your album.

You can also create an album by dragging a folder of photos from the Finder into an empty part of the iPhoto Source list.
iPhoto creates an album with the folder’s name and imports all photos contained in the folder.

Creating a book:

You can choose from a variety of book sizes and designs to create a book for any occasion.

To create a book:

Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your book.
Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Book in the dialog.
Type a name for your book.
Choose a hardcover, softcover, or wirebound softcover book size from the Book Type pop-up menu.
Select a design for your book from the scrolling themes list. When you select a book theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed book descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
Click Choose. iPhoto switches to book view, and your new book appears in the Source list.
Drag photos from the top of the iPhoto window onto your book pages.

If you want iPhoto to automatically design your book by arranging the selected photos on each page, click the Autoflow button.

Once you create a book, you can change the order of pages or photos, add and change the appearance of text, and even customize the design of individual pages.

If you chose a hardcover book and want photos to be printed on only one side of your book pages, click the Settings button in the toolbar and deselect the “Double-sided pages” checkbox.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a calendar:

You can choose from a variety of themes to create a calendar for any occasion.

To create a calendar:

Select one or more albums, or a group of photos, that you want in your calendar.
Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Calendar in the dialog.
Type a name for your calendar.
Select a design for your calendar from the scrolling themes list. When you select a theme, you can see an example of it to the right of the themes list. Some themes offer text; some don’t. If you want to go to the iPhoto website to see detailed descriptions and pricing, click the Options + Prices button.
Click Choose.
Choose the month and year you want your calendar to begin with.
Choose the number of months you want your calendar to include (up to 24).
Choose the national holidays you want to appear in your calendar.
Choose one or more iCal calendars that you want to have imported into your iPhoto calendar. (If you don’t use iCal, you won’t see anything in the “Import iCal calendars” field.)
Click OK. iPhoto switches to calendar view, and your new calendar appears in the Source list.
Drag photos from the left of the iPhoto window onto your calendar pages. If you want iPhoto to automatically design your calendar by arranging the selected photos on each page for you, click the Autoflow button.

After you create a calendar, you can add photos, add or change special dates, change the order of pages or photos, and customize the design of individual pages.

If you see angle brackets (>>) near the bottom-right corner of the window, some of the tools are hidden.
Click the angle brackets to see them, or drag the resize control in the bottom-right corner of the window to make the window wider.

Creating a slideshow:

To create a slideshow:

Select an album or group of photos you want in your slideshow.
Click the Add (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window, then click Slideshow in the dialog.
Type a name for your slideshow.
If you want, deselect the “Use selected items in new slideshow” checkbox.
Click Create.
Drag photos into the order you want in the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto viewing area.

After you create a slideshow, you can also add photos to it by dragging them directly from an Event, another album, a CD or DVD, or another location on your hard disk.
When you add a photo to a slideshow from another location on your hard disk, iPhoto automatically imports it into your photo library.

You can choose music, specify the display duration for each slide, choose transition effects, display slideshow controls, and set other options. (See Related Topics below.)

You can also view selected photos as a temporary slideshow without creating a slideshow in the Source list.

To do this:

Select a folder, album, or group of photos and click the Play button at the bottom-left corner of the iPhoto window.

Creating a new photo library:

You can create multiple photo libraries to organize your photos, albums, slideshows, books, calendars, and cards.

To create a new photo library:

Quit iPhoto.
Rename your current iPhoto Library in the Finder or move it to a new location on your hard disk (see Related Topics below).
Open iPhoto.
Click Create Library in the dialog that appears.
Type a name and choose a location for your new photo library.
Click Save.

Your new, empty photo library appears in the iPhoto Source list.
Any photos you import will be added to this library.
You can switch to another library you’ve created at any time.

Deleting:

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Deleting a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow:

There are several ways to delete an Event from your iPhoto library.

To delete an Event:

Select the Event, then do one of the following:

Press Command-Delete.
Drag the Event to iPhoto Trash.
Choose Photos > “Move to Trash.”

Warning: If you delete an Event that includes photos you have used in a slideshow, book, calendar, card, or published album, the photos will be removed from those projects.

You can retrieve your photos from iPhoto Trash until you empty the Trash, which deletes your photos permanently. To empty iPhoto Trash, select it in the Source list, and then choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you delete an Event by mistake, click Edit > “Undo Move to Trash.”

If this option is dimmed, select iPhoto Trash in the Source list, select the photos you want, and drag them to Photos in the Source list.

You can delete a folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow you’ve created without removing its photos from the photo library.

To delete items from the Source list:

Select the folder, album, book, calendar, card, or slideshow.
Press the Delete key.

You can also delete any one of these items by dragging it to the iPhoto Trash.

To delete text:

Select the text and press the Delete key.

If you delete text by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it. (This command restores only the last text you deleted.)

Deleting a photo from the library:

WARNING: Deleting a photo from your library also removes it from any album, slideshow, book, calendar, or card in which it appears.

To delete a photo from the library:

Select the photo you want to delete.
Press the Delete key.
Choose iPhoto > Empty Trash.

You can also delete a photo by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list, then choosing iPhoto > Empty Trash.

If you change your mind about deleting a photo before you empty the Trash, select the Trash, select the photo, and then choose Photos > Restore to Photo Library. You can also drag the item out of the Trash before you choose Empty Trash.

Removing photos from an album:

You can remove photos from an album you’ve created without deleting the photos from your photo library.

To remove photos:

Select the album.
Click to select the photos you want to remove.

Do one of the following:

To remove a photo from a regular album, press the Delete key. This removes the photo only from that album, not other albums or your library.
To move a photo from a regular album or Smart Album to the Trash, press Command-Option-Delete. (This also removes the photo from the library and from every album, slideshow, and book where it appears.)

You can also remove a photo from a standard album or a Smart Album by dragging it to the Trash in the Source list.

If you remove a photo from an album by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a page from a book:

To remove a page from a book:

Click the Page View button to display book pages in page view.
Select the page you want to remove.
Press Delete.

You can also choose Edit > Delete Page.

Removing a photo from a calendar:

Here are ways to remove photos from a calendar:

To remove a photo from a calendar page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a calendar by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a photo from a greeting card:

Here are ways to remove photos from a card:

To remove a photo from a card, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
To remove a photo from the photo browser, select the photo in the browser and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a greeting card by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

Removing a photo from a book:

Here are ways to remove photos from a book:

To remove a photo from a book page, select the photo and press Delete. The photo remains in the photo browser.
To remove a photo from the photo browser, click the Photo browser button, select the photo, and press Delete.

If you remove a photo from a book by mistake, choose Edit > Undo to restore it.

ColorSync:

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Color Profile:

iPhoto uses ColorSync profiles, which provide an easy way to ensure accurate color in your images from the time you import them until you print or display them.
If a photo does not already have a color profile embedded, iPhoto assigns one so the photo can be viewed properly in iPhoto.

You may want to change the color profile settings if you:

Plan to use advanced editing tools outside iPhoto
Import photos from your hard disk and decide to have iPhoto point to your original files (instead of copying them)
Know that your photo has a color profile already embedded

To set or change color profile options:

Choose iPhoto > Preferences.
Click Advanced.
Select or deselect "Copy items to the iPhoto Library."
Deselecting this option means that iPhoto will not duplicate photos when importing them into the application, but will leave them in their original locations on your computer. When you edit these images in iPhoto, however, the edited versions will be saved in the iPhoto library. Your original files remain untouched.

If you selected “Copy items,” do one of the following:

Select "Embed ColorSync profile" to assign a color profile.
This is usually "cameraRGB," an Apple-specific version of the commonly used sRGB, which allows image colors to map more closely to Apple monitors. If your image file settings specify the use of Adobe RGB, iPhoto assigns that profile.
Deselect “Embed ColorSync profile” if you want to import the photo in its current state, and do not want to add a ColorSync profile to the image.

Colorsync options:

iPhoto 6 and later versions include an option to embed a ColorSync profile when importing a photo. To access this feature, choose iPhoto > Preferences, and click the Advanced tab.

Key points of the feature:

You can only select this option if the option to copy photos to the iPhoto Library is also turned on.
If an image already contains an embedded profile, iPhoto will not overwrite it.
iPhoto does not recompress the image when embedding the profile. Since there is no image or speed degradation, leaving this option on all the time is recommended.
If the image contains no profile and this option is selected, IPhoto will normally embed a Camera RGB profile image.
IPhoto will always attempt to use the image's embedded ColorSync profile when displaying an image. If no profile is embedded i the image, iPhoto may use the CameraRGB profile to display the image to approximate a simplified color space.
Even if the option to embed a profile on import is not selected, iPhoto will embed a profile when you edit an image that lacks a profile. In this context, editing includes rotation of the photo.

Exceptions to CameraRGB:

If the photo is an AdobeRGB colorspace JPEG and contains EXIF2.2 data, and you are using Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later, iPhoto will embed an AdobeRGB1998 profile.
If the image is an AdobeRGB colorspace JPEG and contains EXIF 2.2.1 or later, iPhoto constructs a profile programmatically from information in the EXIF.
If the image is a RAW file, the profile will be created programatically based on information contained within the RAW file. The profile will be created at the time of conversion to JPEG or TIFF and embedded in the resulting JPEG or TIFF file (the RAW is left alone). Conversion happens when you edit or export a RAW image in iPhoto.
If the image contains no EXIF data to aid in creation of a profile, iPhoto may use the current display profile to render the image for viewing. If you edit the photo, this profile will be embedded in the edited copy of the image.

Alternative methods:

If you want greater control over which profile is embedded, see "Grayscale images appear inverted" for information about AppleScript items included with some versions of Mac OS X, which you can use to change the profile.
Alternatively, you can set the external editor in iPhoto to ColorSync Utility, Preview, or another application which will allow you to modify the profile.

Cropping:

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Cropping photos:
Important: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album, slideshow, book, calendar, and card where it appears.

To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit by selecting the photo and choosing Photos > Duplicate.

Here are some tips:

If you’re working in your library or an album, select the photo you want to crop and click the Edit button.
If you’re working in a slideshow, book, calendar, or card, double-click the photo you want to crop in the photo browser. This switches the photo to edit view.
If you want to crop to a specific photo dimension, select the Constrain checkbox and select a dimension from the pop-up menu, such as a square photo or a 4 x 6 postcard.
If you plan to use the photo in a book, choose 4 x 3 (Book).
If you plan to use the photo as your desktop picture, choose Display to fit the photo to your monitor screen.
If you want to do a custom crop, deselect the Constrain checkbox.

Note: If you are cropping the photo solely to print it or order a print, you can do a temporary crop for those purposes in Print view. Select the photo or photos and click the Print button to create a print job, then click Customize.

Drag the selection window to the position you want; drag it larger or smaller to enclose the desired area.

Click the Apply button in the Crop pop-up window.

To save your crop, click the Done button to return to the previous view, click the arrow key to move to the next photo, or select a new photo to edit from the photo browser at the top of the iPhoto window. (If you don’t see a row of photos at the top of the window, choose View > Thumbnails.)

If you don’t like a change you’ve made to a photo, you can undo your most recent change by choosing Edit > Undo.

For photos edited in iPhoto ’08, you can also change the crop at any time without losing your other edits, simply by opening the photo in Edit view and clicking the Crop button.

iPhoto always retains the original photo you imported, so you can change a photo back at any time by choosing Photos > “Revert to Original.”

If you are editing RAW-format photos, choose Photos > Reprocess RAW.

About Cropping:

Cropping allows you to edit a photo by selecting only the portion you like. You can also use cropping to improve a photo's composition. The ratio of width to height in photographic prints is known as the aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio is important to know when cropping because when ordering prints or a book, photos must match the required aspect ratio or they may be cropped.

For 35 mm pictures the aspect ratio is 2:3 which will produce photos of 4 x 6 in. If you intend to use the same photo to get multiple size prints, you may need to duplicate the photo and constrain and crop to the specific size prints being ordered.

Warning: Cropping a photo changes its appearance in the photo library and in every album where it appears. To edit a photo without changing it everywhere it appears, make a duplicate to edit.

Crop a photo:

Select the photo you want to crop.
Click the Edit button.
Position the arrow pointer at one corner of the area you want to select, then drag to enclose the desired area. To constrain your selection to a specific size ratio, choose a ratio from the Constrain pop-up menu before dragging to enclose the desired area. If you're ordering larger prints, choose the appropriate size (5 x 7 or 8 x 10) to constrain the image.
Click the Crop icon in the Edit pane.

If you don't like the changes you've made to a photo, you can revert to its original version by choosing "Revert to Original" from the File menu. You can also undo your most recent change by choosing Undo from the Edit menu.

Exporting:

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You can export photos from your photo library or an album so you can send them to others or import them into another application.

To export photos:

Select the photo or photos you want to export.
From the File menu, choose Export.
Click the File Export tab.
If necessary, scale images to a specific size by specifying a maximum width and height.
Click Export.
Choose a location for the photos you are exporting, then click OK.

Exporting to iDVD:

iDVD is an application that lets you design and create your own DVD discs. You can transfer your photo projects, such as a book, calendar, card, or slideshow, including the slideshow’s background music and transition effects, directly from iPhoto to iDVD to create a DVD slideshow.

You can also transfer a photo album or movie in iPhoto to iDVD.

To export your photo project, album, or movie to iDVD:

Select a photo project, album, or movie you want to export.
Choose Share > Send to iDVD.

Your photo project, album, or movie opens in iDVD with the same name as its iPhoto name.

Many of the items in your iPhoto Source list are accessible when you open iDVD. For more information about using iDVD to view iPhoto projects, albums, and movies as slideshows, see iDVD Help, available in the Help menu when iDVD is open.

Exporting a slideshow to iDVD:

iDVD is an application that lets you design and create your own DVD discs. You can transfer a slideshow or album, including its background music and transition effects, directly from iPhoto to iDVD to create a DVD slideshow.

To export a slideshow to iDVD:

Select a slideshow or album you want to export.
Chose Share > Send to iDVD.

Your slideshow opens in iDVD with the same name as its iPhoto name.

For more information about using iDVD to create a DVD slideshow, see iDVD Help, available in the Help menu when iDVD is open.

Exporting Slides as Image Files:

You can export all your slides as image files in JPEG, PNG, or TIFF format.

To export slides as image files:

Choose File > Export and then click Images.
Specify whether to create a file for every slide or only a range of slides.
To create a separate image for each build stage, select “Create an image for each stage of builds.”
Choose an option from the Format pop-up menu. The better the quality, the larger the file size.
If you choose JPEG format, use the Quality controls to specify a percentage between low and high quality.
Click Next.
Type a filename, choose a location for the files, and then click Export. Each file is named filename.001, filename.002, and so on.

Making a QuickTime movie of your photos:

You can make a slideshow movie of your photos and play it using QuickTime Player or any other application that supports QuickTime (such as a web browser or word processor).

To make a QuickTime movie:

Select the slideshow, album, or group of photos you want in your movie.
Choose File > Export.

Do one of the following:

If you selected a slideshow in step 1, type a name for your movie, choose where to save it, choose a size, and then click Export. Your QuickTime movie is saved with the same effects you chose for your iPhoto slideshow.
If you selected an album or group of photos in step 1, click the QuickTime button at the top of the Export Photos dialog and follow steps 4 through 7.

In the QuickTime pane, change the desired options:

Images: Specify the maximum dimensions of your movie in pixels and set the display duration for each photo.

Background: To add a background color to your movie, click the Color button, then click the color preview box to select the color. To add a background image, click the Image button, then click Set to select an image.

Music: Choose whether to include the same background music selected in the Slideshow Settings window.

Click Export.
Type a name for your movie and choose where to save it.
Click Save.
To view your movie, open it from within QuickTime Player or any other application that supports QuickTime.

Importing:

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Photos can be imported from a digital camera if both your computer and your camera have built-in USB ports and your camera is compatible with iPhoto.
Check your computer's specifications if you are unsure if it has built-in USB ports.
See the iPhoto Device Compatibility page to see if your camera or media reader is compatible with iPhoto.

Using advanced options when importing from a hard disk:

By default, iPhoto copies photos imported from your hard disk, leaving the originals in their original location and making duplicates for use in the iPhoto library.

However, if you already have an extensive collection of photos saved on your computer and you prefer to leave your photos in their current file structure, you can choose to have iPhoto point to your original photo files instead of copying them in iPhoto. Either way, you can still make full use of iPhoto.

If there is no color profile embedded in a photo viewed in iPhoto (many digital cameras do not include a color profile with an image), iPhoto temporarily assigns a ColorSync profile that helps display the photo properly within the application. If your photo already has a color profile embedded, iPhoto will use that color profile.

To set advanced options for photos imported from your hard disk:

Choose iPhoto > Preferences
Click Advanced.
Select or deselect "Copy files to iPhoto Library folder when adding to library." Deselecting this option means that iPhoto will not duplicate photos when importing them into the application, but will leave them in their original files on your computer. When you edit these images in iPhoto, however, the edited versions will be saved in the iPhoto library, not your original files. Your original files remain untouched.
If you selected "Copy files," select or deselect "Add ColorSync profile." The profile assigned will usually be "cameraRGB," an Apple-specific version of the commonly used sRGB, which allows image colors to map more closely to Apple monitors. If your image file settings specify the use of Adobe RGB, iPhoto assigns that profile. If another color profile is already embedded, iPhoto uses the profile provided.

In the Advanced pane, you can also make changes to your RAW-file options, by choosing to save your edited RAW photos in iPhoto as TIFF files or using RAW files with an external editor, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Importing photos from a compatible digital camera:

Connect the camera to the computer's USB port using a USB cable.
Launch iPhoto from your dock or from the Applications folder. iPhoto may also launch automatically if you set it as the default application to manage pictures.
In the source panel, click on your camera name under Devices.
Click the Import All button to import everything or press command and click on specific pictures you want to import and click Import Selected.

5. iPhoto will ask if you want to keep or delete the originals after the import is finished.

6. After you are finished, click the Eject button next to your camera's name.
Turn off your camera and disconnect it from the computer.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier, you will see the Import pane:

Click the Import button to import all your pictures.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select "Erase contents after transfer" at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, drag the camera's icon from the Finder desktop to the Trash if necessary, turn off your camera, then disconnect it from the computer.

Importing photos from a media reader or iPod (with Dock Connector) and the Belkin iPod Media Reader:

Insert the media into the media reader or connect your iPod.
Launch iPhoto from your dock or the Applications folder.
In source panel, click on the camera icon underneath Devices.
Click Import All or pick and choose specific pictures then click Import Selected.
Click the Eject button next to the camera icon or drag and drop the media icon on the desktop into the trash.

For iPhoto 06 or earlier you will see the Import pane:

Click the Import button.
To delete photos from your camera as soon as they are imported, select "Erase contents after transfer" at the bottom right of the Import pane to enable that option.
After you finish importing your photos, eject the media by dragging its icon to the Trash.

Some readers may physically eject the media while others may require that you manually eject the media. If you must manually eject the media, wait until the media icon is gone from the Finder Desktop. For more information about importing photos from an iPod, see "iPod (with Dock Connector): Use Disk Mode to Copy Photos."

Importing photos from other sources:

Choose Import to Library from the File menu.
Select either the individual photos you want to import, or select an entire folder or disk, then click Open. To select multiple photos or folders without selecting all, press and hold the Command key while clicking on photos.

Notes on importing from other sources:

Each imported item, whether a single photo or an entire disk will appear as a separate film roll. Command-clicking on multiple items during an import will result in them all appearing on the same film roll.
If importing files from a local hard drive, see "iPhoto: About Importing Pictures From Hard Disk and Available Space"
Processed photos that are offered for download from an Internet site must first be downloaded to a local drive before they can be imported into iPhoto.
Do not copy or move pictures directly into the iPhoto Library folder as they will not appear as an option in iPhoto when attempting to import.