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To me, the best improvement in iPhoto is the use of multiple libraries.
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T h e   R o a d   L e s s   T r a v e l e d
Apple's iPhoto gets a makeover


Feb. 12, 2003


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, The Post-Standard

   Apple's iPhoto software just got a lot better. The new version, iPhoto 2.0, is available free from Apple's Web site, www.apple.com.
   iPhoto is the image-management program that comes with every new Macintosh. It's the standard of comparison for all other image-management programs, whether for Windows, Macs or Linux PCs. It only runs on OS X Macintoshes.
   The new version, iPhoto 2, has four big improvements:
   One-click photo enhancement. It's not as smart as the enhancement functions in Photoshop Elements 2.0 (my current standard for how this sort of thing should be done), but it's a nice addition.
   Faster operation. Everything is snappier. I didn't measure the speedup, but it's obvious you won't have to watch grass grow while running iPhoto any more.
   Multiple libraries. You don't have to use more than one, but nothing will stop you from using dozens or even hundreds of separate iPhoto storage folders. (iPhoto calls its storage folders libraries.)
   Quick archiving of any number of photos into self-contained iPhoto libraries on CDs or DVDs.
   iPhoto is one of Apple's cleverly designed "i-apps" (Internet-connected applications). The others are iMovie, for easy video recording, iDVD, for quick DVD creation, and iTunes, for audio conversion and playback. Apple also sells iLife, a suite that integrates the four individual programs. (I bought iLife and will report on it soon.)
   To me, the best improvement in iPhoto is the use of multiple libraries. This should help keep iPhoto from turning into The Grinch That Ate Your Computer by letting you create separate iPhoto libraries for various categories. Under the single-library system, iPhoto's library folder could grow to many gigabytes -- mine topped out at 11 gigabytes a couple of times.
   If iPhoto can't find the last library folder it used -- if that library was on a CD that's no longer in the drive, for example -- it asks whether you want to use an existing library or create a new one. That's nice. But what if you merely want to change from one existing library to another? The choice isn't listed.
   The way to do this isn't clear -- and in fact, many users might assume they can't do it. But it's easy.
   To force iPhoto to switch to a different existing library folder, hold down the Cmd and Option keys while dragging the folder to the iPhoto icon in the Dock. This forces iPhoto to open that folder as a library. (In fact, the folder you dropped on the icon becomes the new default iPhoto library folder. To choose a different one later, use the same drag-and-drop technique.)
   If iPhoto is running when you drop a folder on its Dock icon, it closes down and quickly reopens with the new images. This is interesting behavior, but I doubt that Apple intended it that way.
   If you like to experiment with the way your Mac works, you might see right away that dropping a library folder onto the iPhoto Dock icon without holding down Cmd and Option won't work. iPhoto won't respond unless you hold down the two modifier keys. (Tip: Cmd-Option-drag is the standard way to try to force get any program to open a file it doesn't otherwise recognize.)
   You can put iPhoto libraries onto CDs or DVDs by clicking a "Burn" button at the bottom of the window. If you haven't selected any albums or images, iPhoto 2 archives all the albums and images in your current iPhoto library. Otherwise it archives only the folders and images you've selected.
   Each archive is stored as a standard, self-contained iPhoto library. This allows you to break up a single, large library into smaller ones quickly and easily. (This was absurdly difficult to do before.) You can send mail off iPhoto CDs or DVDs to friends and family members who have modern Macs, although you'll have to convince them to upgrade to the current version of iPhoto.
   iPhoto CD and DVD archives are stored in iPhoto's own semi-inscrutable format. (I finally understand it after steeping myself in iPhotology and seeking guidance from a mystic.) If you need to share pictures with Windows or Linux users, don't use the "Burn" button. Use the Export function instead. It's in the File menu.
   Want to make video slideshows you can put on DVD? iPhoto will do that, too, a little more slickly than the previous version did. You simply select as many photos as you want and click the "DVD" button. It can even make movies out of still images using the "Ken Burns" effect. (Burns is the young TV producer famous for Civil War and baseball documentaries. His technique of panning and zooming around still images isn't original, but he's done more to make it famous than anyone else has.)
   iPhoto's pan and zoom capabilities aren't as sophisticated as the ones built into Photo to Movie, the program I use under OS X to make pan and zoom movies out of still pictures, but iPhoto's method gives you a way to try out the technique for free.
   The photo enhancement button spruced up some of the images I tried it on. It's a handy way to make a quick fix, but don't rely on it as a substitute for a good photo editor. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 is my recommended OS X photo editor. In iPhoto's preferences, you can list Photoshop Elements 2.0 as iPhoto's native editor -- the program called into action when you double-click a picture.