Section 1.4. New Color Screen

1.4. New Color Screen

The greatest enhancements to the iPod photo are the new color screen and its re-organized menu structure. In the iPod photo, the top level menu allows you to choose between Music and Photos. In the Music menu, you can view by Playlists, Artists, Albums, etc (see Figure 1-9).

In the iPod photo Music menu there is now a new separate item for AudioBooks.

Figure 1-9. The new menu structure in the iPod photo

Contrast this to the older iPod, where there is a Browse menu for you to browse songs by Artists, Albums, etc (see Figure 1-10).

Figure 1-10. The menu structure in the older iPods

Chapter 2. Using your iPod Photo

In this chapter, I will show you the various ways to use the iPod photo. In particular, I will be concentrating on using the photo feature of the iPod photo.

2.1. Obtaining and Installing iTunes

In order to use all the new features in iPod photo, you need to have the latest version of iTunes. You can download iTunes 4.7 from http://www.apple.com/itunes. However, your iPod package already comes with iTunes 4.7, so you can just install iTunes directly from the CD.

The CD contains both the Mac and PC editions of iTunes 4.7.

When you first start iTunes with your iPod photo connected, iTunes will prompt you with a dialog box (see Figure 2-1). Check the "Automatically copy photos to my iPod" option if you want to automatically copy photos to your iPod photo.

Figure 2-1. Setting iPod options in iTunes

2.2. Photo Syncing using iTunes 4.7

You can use iTunes to synchronize your photos on your Mac with your iPod photo. First, connect your iPod to your Mac. In iTunes, locate the iPod photo and click on the iPod icon at the bottom of the screen (see Figure 2-2).

Figure 2-2. Using iTunes

2.2.1. Synchronizing with a folder

In the Photos tab, check the "Synchronize photos from" tab and select the folder that stores your photos (see Figure 2-3). In my case, I have stored my photos in a folder on the Desktop called "My Photos".

Figure 2-3. Setting the photo synchronization options

By default, iTunes will copy all the photos (including subdirectories) into the iPod.

However, you can check the "Copy selected folders only" option if you want to selectively copy the folders you want. In this case, you simply check the folders you want to copy (see Figure 2-4).

Figure 2-4. Selecting the folders to synchronize

Note that when iTunes copies your photos to the iPod photo, it does not copy the full-resolution versions of your photos by default. That is, it compresses your photos so that they are just sufficient to display on your iPod. In Figure 2-3, I have checked the "Include full-resolution photos" option so that iTunes will copy the full-resolution of my photos. This is useful when you are performing a backup of your photos, or are intending to use your iPod photo to transfer your photos to another computer.

Note that you must enable your iPod photo for disk use (see Figure 2-5) (so that your iPod can be mounted as a drive on your Mac) if you want to access the full-resolution photos.

Figure 2-5. Enabling the iPod to be used as a hard disk

To locate the full-resolution copies of your photos in your iPod photo, double click on the iPod icon on your desktop and examine the Photos folder (see Figure 2-6).

Figure 2-6. Examining the folders containing your photos in the iPod photo

Do not delete the Thumbs folder! The Thumbs folder contains the actual thumbnail- size images used by iPod photo. If you delete it, your iPod photo will no longer be able to display the photos. And you may subsequently have problems in synchronizing with iTunes.

If you experience problems with your iPod photo after deleting the Thumbs folder, see the section on Section 2.10.

To view the copied photos on your iPod photo, go to your iPod photo and select Photos (see Figure 2-7) and you will see the following menus :

Slideshow Settings
Photo Library (the Photo Library item contains the complete set of photos)
Birthday Photos
Japan Trip Photos

Navigate to the photo album you want to view and press the Select button on your iPod photo.

Figure 2-7. Viewing the photos on your iPod photo

To view a photo in full screen, select the photo and press the Select button again (see Figure 2-8).

Figure 2-8. Viewing a photo in full screen

2.2.2. Synchronizing with iPhoto

Besides synchronizing with a folder on your Mac, you can also synchronize your iPod photo with iPhoto. This is useful for transferring photos from your digital camera to your Mac and then to your iPod photo.

You need iPhoto 4.0.3 and above if you want to synchronize photos using iPhoto.

To synchronize with iPhoto, in the iPod options window, select the Photos tab and check the "Synchronize photos from" option and select iPhoto (see Figure 2-9).

Figure 2-9. Synchronizing your iPod photo with iPhoto

Note that if you have previously chosen to synchronize from a folder and now change to synchronize with iPhoto (or if you change from iPhoto to a folder), all the photos on your iPod photo will be deleted.

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In the warning dialog that follows , click OK if you want to delete all your current photos in your iPod photo (see Figure 2-10).

Figure 2-10. All existing photos on the iPod photo would be deleted if you change the synchronization option

You will now be able to choose to copy all photos and albums, or selectively copy the selected albums only (see Figure 2-11). Check the "Include full-resolution photos" option to copy the photos in their full- resolutions .