How to Organize Images With iPhoto

iPhoto is an image editing and management application that is part of the iLife suite of products included with the Apple OS-X operating system. iPhoto is all about simplicity and ease of use for the novice image editor. The image import and editing capabilities will not satisfy the serious amateur or professional photographer, but will suffice for the novice or beginner photographer. In this article we will explore how to use iPhoto to organize your digital images.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Apple OS-X running iPhoto
• Digital images

1. Add Event

   There are two ways to organize images in iPhoto, and at first it may be confusing because you may not understand the difference between an "EVENT" and an "ALBUM." An event is something that "happens" and an album is something you create. For example, you may now want to upload all the pictures you took over the Christmas holiday season. When you connect your camera and begin importing images, iPhoto will automatically upload to LAST IMPORT unless you specify a new event. Just create a new event from the drop down menu.

2. Import Photos

   Once you have a new event, import your images into the new event and type in an appropriate title. Events include all the images from the upload. The blurry ones, dark ones, out-of-focus ones, everything you have imported are included in the event. The event becomes your image archive of all the images you took from that time and place. Events are not for sharing; they are for archiving images in an organizational structure you define and can remember.

3. Create New Album

   Albums are for sharing. I may want to post an album to a website, send it to an individual or upload it to a photo site to create a calendar or book. I will probably only want to put the best images form the event into the album. To create a new album, simply select NEW ALBUM from the drop down menu and type in a name. The empty album will appear in the frame at the left.

4. Add Photos

   After you have created your new album you can add photos by simply selecting them and dragging them to the new album. Your images will still remain as part of the event they were imported from and be visible in ALL PHOTOS as well. By dragging them to the Album you are not duplicating the images, but simply adding them to the album view.

5. Keywords and Ratings

   Once you have a new album you can label and rate the images. I recommend you only do this for albums, since it takes a lot of time and you don't need to label and rate all the duplicate shots that are not of the best quality. You can then sort your images by rating and using keywords to easily find them at a later time. iPhoto is an easy way to organize and manage your images, even if you use another program for image editing.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to include dates in your events, so you can separate them from similar annual events.

• Use iPhoto as a way to manage your image archive.

Resources

• Apple Computers