After the Import: Getting Organized


iPhoto forces some organization on you by storing each set of imported images as a separate roll. Even if you never use iPhoto's other organizational features, you're still ahead of the old shoebox photo-filing system: you will always be able to view your photos in chronological order.

But don't stop there. Take the time to assign titles and comments to your favorite shots. By using the Information pane to perform these and other housekeeping tasks, you can make photos easier to find and keep your library well organized.

Titles are names or brief descriptions that you assign to photos and rolls: Party Photos, Mary at the Beach, and so on. iPhoto can use these titles as captions for its Web photo albums and books. Using the View menu, you can have iPhoto display titles below each thumbnail image. You can also search for photos by typing title or comment text in the Search box (page 123).

There's one more benefit to assigning titles to photos: when you're working in other iLife programs, you can search for a photo by typing part of its title in the photo media browser's Search box.

iPhoto also provides a feature that lets you assign titles more or less automatically. It's the Batch Change command, and you can read about it on page 125.

Take advantage of iPhoto's filing features, and you'll be able locate images in, well, a flash.

Assigning Titles and Comments

Use the Information pane to assign a title and comment to a photo. To display the Information pane, click the button.

Step 1.

Select the photo to which you want to assign a title and/or comment.

Step 2.

Click in the Title or Comments area of the Information pane, then type the title or comment.

Tips

On a roll. Want to quickly title (or comment) one photo after another? Press -] after typing a title or comment, and iPhoto selects the next photo and highlights its title or comment field so you can immediately begin typing. To move to the previous photo, press -[. And to keep your hands on the keyboard, press Tab and Shift-Tab to jump from one field to the next in the Information pane.

Check your spelling. Want to check the spelling of your titles and comments? Select the text you want to proofread, then choose Check Spelling from the Edit menu's Spelling submenu. Or use the keyboard: select the text you want to proofread and press -;.

Assigning Titles to Rolls

iPhoto's Import panel lets you title a roll of photos before importing them. But you don't get this opportunity when dragging photos into iPhoto from the Finder or other programs. No problem: you can use the Information panel to rename any roll.

Changing the Date

At the right edge of each roll name, iPhoto displays the roll's date and the number of photos in that roll. This ability to see how many shots are in a roll is handy when you've hidden a roll's photos as described below.

Tips for Working with Rolls

Scroll Guide

As you scroll through your photos, iPhoto displays a semi-transparent scroll guide listing roll names and dates. This can help you home in on a specific roll quickly, but if you'd rather not see this guide, choose Preferences from the iPhoto menu, click Appearance, then uncheck the Show Scrolling Information box.

Hiding Rolls You Aren't Using

To the left of each roll's name is a tiny, down-pointing triangle: click it, and iPhoto collapses the roll, hiding its images. I like to collapse every roll whose photos I don't need to see at the moment. This clears the clutter in my iPhoto window and speeds up scrolling and changing the size of thumbnails.

A related tip: press the Option key while clicking on a collapsed roll's triangle, and iPhoto expands every roll in your library. Similarly, to collapse every roll, Option-click on the down-pointing triangle of any roll.

Viewing Rolls

If iPhoto isn't displaying individual rolls, and is instead showing all the photos in your library, choose Film Rolls from the View menu. When this command has a check mark next to it, iPhoto displays your library sorted by roll.




The Macintosh iLife '06
The Macintosh iLife 06
ISBN: 0321426541
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 229
Authors: Jim Heid

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