14.1. About iPhoto Discs

14. iPhoto File Management

When you don't have to buy film or pay for processing, photos have a way of piling up very quickly. Apple says iPhoto can hold an unlimited number of photos and, technically, that's true (as long as you have enough memory and hard drive space). But in fact, once you go much above 25,000 pictures, iPhoto winds up gasping for RAM and acts as if you've slathered it with a thick coat of molasses.

For some photo fans, this comes as a distressing bit of news. You downloaded the software, entrusted your best work to it, even bought a book about it ”and now you learn it's going to cop out on you in another couple of years .

Fortunately, a little knowledge ”and a handful of blank, recordable CDs or DVDs ”can keep you happily in iPhoto at reasonable speeds. The trick is learning how to manage iPhoto's library files. These techniques will also serve you when you want to transfer photos to another Mac or when it comes time to back up your photo collection.

This chapter covers both iPhoto's behind-the-scenes filing system and what's involved in backing it up: swapping photo libraries, burning them to CD, transferring them to other machines, and merging them together.