Section A.1. The Most Important Advice In This Chapter

A.1. The Most Important Advice In This Chapter

Apple's traditional practice is to release a new version of iPhoto (and iMovie, and iDVD) that's full of bugs and glitchesand then, just when public outcry reaches fever pitch a couple of weeks later, send out a .0.1 updater that cleans up most of the problems. That's exactly what happened with iPhoto 6.

The list of bugs in 6.0 included photocasting problems, problems viewing thumbnails in large libraries, freezes when ordering cards, calendars and books, bogus "elements missing" messages when opening older iDVD projects, crashes when emptying the Trash, and more. Spare yourself the headache : update your copy to 6.0.2 (or whatever the latest version is)!

To do that right now, choose iPhoto Check for Updates.

A.1.1. Importing, Upgrading, and Opening

Getting photos into iPhoto is supposed to be one of the most effortless parts of the process. Remember, Steve Jobs promised that iPhoto would forever banish the "chain of pain" from digital photography. And yet

A.1.1.1. "Unable to upgrade this photo library becausedoes not have access"

If you see the "current user does not have access" message when you open iPhoto 6 for the first time, something's gone wrong with the invisible Unix permissions that govern your library, possibly because somebody moved the iPhoto Library folder.

The steps to correct the problem are pretty straightforward, but they're lengthy. You can read them, step by step, in this Web article: http://docs. info .apple.com/article.html?artnum=303135.

A.1.1.2. "Unable to upgrade this photo library"

There's another reason iPhoto might not be able to upgrade your old iPhoto Library, too: There are locked files somewhere inside your iPhoto Library. If something's locked, iPhoto can't very well convert it to the version 6 format.

Trouble is, there can be hundreds of thousands of files in an iPhoto Library. How are you supposed to find the one file that's somehow gotten locked?

The quickest way is to type out a Unix command. Don't worry, it won't bite.

Open your Applications Utilities folder, and double-click Terminal. The strange , graphics-free, all-text command console may look alien and weird, but youll witness its power in just a moment.

Type this, exactly as it appears here: sudo chflags -R nouchg

and add a space at the end (after "nouchg"). Do not press Return or Enter yet.

Now switch to the Finder. Open your Pictures folder and drag your iPhoto Library folder right into the Terminal window. Now the command looks something like this:

sudo chflags -R nouchg /Users/Casey/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library/

Press Return or Enter to issue the command. Mac OS X asks for your account password, to prove that you know what you're doing. Type it, press Return or Enter, and your problem should be solved .

A.1.1.3. iPhoto doesn't recognize my camera.

iPhoto generally "sees" any recent camera model, even if it's not listed on Apple's Device Compatibility page (www.apple.com/iphoto/compatibility). If you don't see the Import screen (Chapter 4) even though the camera most assuredly is connected, try these steps in order:

• Make sure the camera is turned on. Check the USB cable at both ends.

• Try plugging the camera into a different USB port.

• Some models don't see the computer until you switch them into a special "PC" mode, using the control knob.

• Try turning on the camera after connecting its USB cable to the Mac.

• Turn the camera off, then on again, while it's plugged in.

• If iPhoto absolutely won't notice its digital companion, use a memory-card reader as described in Section 4.2.7.1.

A.1.1.4. iPhoto crashes when I try to import.

This problem is most likely to crop up when you're bringing pictures in from your hard drive or another disk. Here are the possibilities:

• The culprit is usually a single corrupted file. Try a test: Import only half the photos in the batch. If nothing bad happens, split the remaining photos in half again and import them . Keep going until you've isolated the offending file.

• Consider the graphics program you're using to save the files. It's conceivable that its version of JPEG or TIFF doesn't jibe perfectly with iPhoto's. (This scenario is most likely to occur right after you've upgraded either your graphics program or iPhoto itself.)

  To test this possibility, open a handful of images in a different editing program, save them, and then try the import again. If they work, then you might have a temporary compatibility problem. Check the editing program's Web site for update and troubleshooting information.

• Some JPEGs that were originally saved in Mac OS 9 won't import into iPhoto. Try opening and resaving these images in a native Mac OS X editor like Photoshop. Speaking of Photoshop, it has an excellent batch-processing tool that can automatically process mountains of images while you go grab some lunch .

Finally, a reminder, just in case you think iPhoto is acting up: iPhoto imports RAW filesbut not from all camera models. For details, see Section 4.2.6.

A.1.1.5. iPhoto crashes when I try to empty the Trash.

First, upgrade to iPhoto 6.0.2 or later.

Then open iPhoto while pressing and Option; in the dialog box shown in Section A.5.1.2, turn on "Rebuild the photos' small thumbnails" and click Rebuild.

A.1.1.6. There are white lines through my thumbnails!

This will sound familiar: First, upgrade to iPhoto 6.0.2 or later.

Then open iPhoto while pressing and Option; in the dialog box shown in Section A.5.1.2, turn on "Rebuild all of the photos" and click Rebuild.

A.1.1.7. iPhoto won't import images from my video camera.

Most modern digital camcorders can store your still images on a memory card instead of DV tape. If you're having a hard time importing these stills into iPhoto with a direct camera connection, try these tips:

• Take out the tape cassette before connecting the camcorder to your Mac.

• Try copying the files directly from the memory card to your hard drive with a memory-card reader. Once the images are on your hard drive, you should be able to import them into iPhoto.

A.1.1.8. What if I don't want iPhoto to import all the pictures from my camera?

Two possibilities. First, use the Automator program described in Section 13.6.

Figure A-1. Top: First, make sure that Image Capture, not iPhoto, intercepts and downloads the photos when you connect your digital camera. To do so, open Image Capture, then choose Image Capture Preferences.
From the Camera Preferences popup menu, choose Image Capture. (In fact, you could even choose another program to intervene when your camera is plugged in, by choosing Other from this menu).
Middle: This is the main Image Capture window that now appears when you plug in your camera. To download only some of the photos, click Download Some.
Bottom: This "slide sorter window is where you can choose the individual pictures you want to download. Or, use the buttons at the top to rotate or delete selected shots from the camera. In slide sorter view, Shift-click or -click the thumbnails of the pictures you want. In list view, Shift-click or -click as though they're Finder list-view files.
From now on, Image Capture, not iPhoto, will open whenever you plug in your camera. Once the pictures are on your hard drive, copy them into iPhoto simply by dragging them (or the folder they're in) into the photo-viewing area.

Second, use Image Capture. A sort of grandfather to iPhoto, this Mac OS X program comes on every Mac. Although it doesn't perform even a hundredth of the feats that iPhoto can, it does offer one feature iPhoto lacks selective importing. To make this change, use the procedure outlined in Figure A-1.