Section 14.3. Managing Photo Libraries


14.3. Managing Photo Libraries

iPhoto can comfortably manage as many as 250,000 photos in a single collection, give or take a few thousand, depending on your Mac model and how much memory it has.

But for some people, 250,000 pictures is a bit unwieldy. It makes them nervous to keep that many eggs in a single basket . They wish they could break up the library into several smaller, easier-to-manage, easier-to-back-up chunks .

If that's your situation, you can archive some of the photos to CD or DVD using the Burn command described earlier, and then delete the archived photos from your library to shrink it down in size . For example, you might choose to archive older photos, or albums you rarely use.


Note: Remember, archiving photos to CD using the Burn command doesn't automatically remove them from iPhoto; you have to do that part yourself. If you don't, your Photo Library won't get any smaller. Just make sure that the CD you've burned works properly before deleting your original photos from iPhoto.

14.3.1. iPhoto Disk Images

The one disadvantage of that offload-to-disc technique is that it takes a big hunk of your photo collection offline , so that you can no longer get to it easily. If you suddenly need a set of photos that you've already archived, you have to hunt down the right disc before you can see the photos. That could be a problem if you happen to be on the road in New York and need the photos you left on a CD in San Francisco.

Here's a brilliant solution to that CD-management problem: Turn your iPhoto CDs into disk image files on your hard drive.

Open Disk Utility (which sits in your Applications Utilities folder); then insert the iPhoto CD or DVD youve burned. In the left pane of the Disk Utility window, click the disc's icon. (Click the CD or DVD icon bearing a plain-English name , like "iPhoto Library" usually it's the last one listed. Don't click the icon bearing your CD burner 's name, like "PIONEER DVR-103.")

Then choose File New Disk Image From [disk name], or click the New Image button in the toolbar at the top of the window. In the Convert Image dialog box, you can type a name for the disk image youre about to create. (You can even password-protect it by choosing AES-128 from the Encryption pop- up menu.) Choose a location for the disk image, like your Desktop, and then click Save.

You've just created a disk image file whose name ends with .dmg. It's a "virtual CD" that you can keep on your hard drive at all times. When you want to view its contents in iPhoto, double-click the .dmg icon. You'll see its contents appear in the form of a CD icon in the iPhoto album list, just as though you'd inserted the original iPhoto disc.

You can spin off numerous chunks of your iPhoto collection this way, and "mount" as many of them simultaneously as you likea spectacular way to manage tens of thousands of photos, chunk by chunk , without having to deal with a clumsy collection of CDs.

14.3.2. Multiple iPhoto Libraries

There are two good reasons why you might want to consider splitting your photo collection into smaller libraries:

  • iPhoto itself is faster, especially during scrolling, because there are fewer photos in it.

  • You can keep different types of collections or projects separate. You might want to maintain a Home library for personal use, for example, and a Work library for images that pertain to your business. Or you can start a new library every other year.

14.3.2.1. Creating new libraries

iPhoto provides a built-in tool for creating fresh Photo Libraries and switching between several of them:

  1. Quit iPhoto .

    You're going to do the next step in the Finder.

  2. While pressing the Option key, open iPhoto again .

    When iPhoto starts up, it senses that you're up to something. It offers you the chance to create a new library, or to choose an existing one (Figure 14-3).

  3. Click Create Library. In the following dialog box, type a name for the new library (like iPhoto Library 2 ), and click Save .

    You're offered not only the chance to create a new library, but also to choose a location for it that's not your regularly scheduled Pictures folder.

    When iPhoto finishes opening, all remnants of your old Photo Library are gone. You're left with a blank window, ready to import photos.

Figure 14-3. If you hide the iPhoto Library from iPhoto, the program invites you either to find it or to create a new one. If your goal is to begin a fresh library for the new year, for example, click Create Library.

Using this technique, you can spawn as many new Photo Libraries as you need. You can archive the old libraries on CD or DVD, move them to another Mac, or just keep them somewhere on your hard drive so that you can swap any one of them back in whenever you need it.

As for how you swap them back in you have two options: Apple's way, and an easier way.

14.3.2.2. Swapping libraries (Apple's method)

Once you've built yourself at least two iPhoto Library folders, you can use the same Option-key trick (see step 2 above) to switch among them. When the dialog box in Figure 14-3 appears, click Choose Library, and then find and open the library folder that you want to open.

When iPhoto finishes reopening, you'll find the new set of photos in place.

14.3.2.3. Swapping libraries (automatic method)

If that Option-key business sounds a little disorienting, you're not alone. Brian Webster, a self-proclaimed computer nerd, thought the same thingbut he decided to do something about it. He wrote iPhoto Library Manager, a free program that streamlines the creation and swapping of iPhoto libraries. Waste no time in downloading it from the "Missing CD" page at www.missingmanuals.com or Brian's own site at http://homepage.mac.com/bwebster.

The beauty of this program is that it offers a tidy list of all your Library folders; you can switch among them with two quick clicks.

Here are a few pointers for using iPhoto Library Manager:

  • The program doesn't just activate existing iPhoto Library folders; it can also create new Library folders for you. Just click the New Library button in the toolbar, choose a location and name for the library, and click OK (see Figure 14-4).

  • You still have to quit and relaunch iPhoto for a change in libraries to take effect. Conveniently, iPhoto Library Manager includes Quit iPhoto and Relaunch iPhoto buttons in its toolbar.


    Tip: You can also switch libraries using the pop-up menu from iPhoto Library Manager's Dock icon.
    Figure 14-4. iPhoto Library Manager is a program that lets you switch between as many different iPhoto Library folders as you want. Just select a library folder from the list on the left by turning on the corresponding checkbox, then relaunch iPhoto to view photos from the selected library. Double-click a library name in the list on the left to edit it. The names that you give your libraries within iPhoto Library Manager are independent of names of the corresponding library folders on disk.
  • iPhoto Library Manager is fully AppleScriptable. If you're handy with writing AppleScript scripts (Chapter 13), you can write one that swaps your various libraries automatically with a double-click.




iPhoto 6
iPhoto 6: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 059652725X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 183

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