How to Access Your iPhoto Library without Opening iPhoto

iPhoto is the image browser and editor built in to the Mac OS. It is a very power and easy to use tool, but Leopard and the iLife 08 suite have changed the way iPhoto organizes the files. It is no longer easy to access them in Finder. Here are some ways to find your pictures when you aren't able to drag them from iPhoto itself.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
    

   You may have a hard time finding your iPhoto library when you go to upload a file on the internet. For most applications, there will be a "media" menu on the side bar of the Finder window with the option of "music", "photos" and "movies" (see picture). This is where all your iPhoto and iTunes files are. If you have uploaded videos in iPhoto, you can find them under the "movies" section.

2. If you don't have a "media" menu, there is another work around. First, open your hard drive and navigate to your pictures folder.

3. 
    

   You'll see an application icon for iPhoto, right click or control-click it and click "show package contents" (see picture). This will show you the file structure of iPhoto.

4. Now, your pictures are either in the folder titled "originals" or "modified". The "originals" folder has the original files you imported into iPhoto and the "modified" folder has the edits you've made in iPhoto.

5. To save yourself some time in the future, you can right click or control-click these folders and click "make alias". This will create a shortcut that you can drag into your pictures folder, making them always available without going through all these steps.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't delete, add, or change the file structure of your iPhoto library outside of iPhoto, this can corrupt your library.

[toogie2]

on 3/28/2009 Thanks! This is something that has been driving me nuts about iPhoto since the update.

[lrecker]

on 1/7/2009 Excellent article.

[Kallicat]

on 1/4/2009 Good information to have an I will share it with my friend who has a Mac.