iPhoto question

[147798]

Question, if anyone knows the answer:

I have an iMac Intel core duo w/2GB RAM.

I found I prefer to edit in full screen mode in iPhoto08, and have set it to default to "edit in full screen." However, I find in full screen mode that opening or moving out of pictures with adjustments (e.g. red eye, blemish removal, and some saturation or exposure adjustments) can be REALLY slow (lots of spinning beach balls). Sometimes when I open the picture, I see the original first, and then the blemish removal or red eye correction pops in. So, I'm assuming iPhoto 08 is using some kind of layers that it presents on top of the original, and that seems to be what's slowing it down.

So, my question is -- are there fixes (or helps) for this issue? For instance, would more RAM help, or a faster processor? (I know this would "always" help, but are these kind of adjustment applications particularly sensitive to RAM, processor speeds, bus speeds, disk feeds, etc.)

Or, if I like all the adjustments and don't mind "finalizing" the picture with adjustments (to get rid of these "layers"), is there an easy way to "accept all changes" or something like that? I tried duplicating the photo, but that seems to keep the changes as adjustments, rather than creating a new master (I tested this by, after duplicating, saying "revert to original" from the dup, and it did!). I'm sure I could drag the pic to the desktop, and then re-import, but that's pretty cumbersome, plus it will make a new event that I then have to merge back into my old event, and I want the new copy in the same event.

Is there an easier way to "accept all changes"?

I know this isn't an iPhoto forum, but I think this question is a bit advanced for the Apple iPhoto forum, so I figured I'd try my luck here.

 

[Super Macho Man]

You are correct that iPhoto doesn't save photos in a modified state, it merely saves your edits as a set of instructions and "replays" those instructions on demand so as not to alter the original photo. Why does it not make a derived copy of the photo with edits intact? I don't know.

Unfortunately I don't think there is any way to avoid what you are experiencing. It's not that your CPU is too slow or that you don't have enough RAM, it's that iPhoto is just extremely inefficient in the way it does some things. For all its other strengths, the iPhoto dev team has apparently never paid much attention to performance. (It actually used to be much worse. )

 

[M@lew]

No what iPhoto does is creates a copy of the original to edit on. Therefore you have AT LEAST 2x the photos you want to edit.

The way bking1000 explained where only a set of actions are saved happens in programs like Adobe Lightroom and Aperture.

Also, I do not know a way to alter the editing process. If you are really keen on editing I would get Lightroom/Aperture or a program similar as iPhoto WILL eat up your harddrive space.

 

[147798]

I understand what you are saying about iPhoto making a copy after edits. That is what I understand, as well (in fact, I can open the package contents and SEE the jpg with edits). But still, there are performance issues on edited photos vs. unedited ones. It now seems to me to be around the sharpen/noise reduction editing features.

I found a similar thread on the Apple discussion forums, and I tested these functions specifically, and confirmed them to be the root of the issue. For some reason, pictures with these edits slow the loading and unloading of the photo from edit view. See http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6231430#6231430

 

[dllavaneras]

The worst part is that if you assign an external editor, right click and press "edit with external editor" but don't do any edits at all, iPhoto still copies the photo!

I haven't edited one single pic with iPhoto, and all my external edits are saved with the "save as..." command, so the original is untouched. Yet I found that I have over 4.5 GB in the "Modified" folder! Can I trash all those pics? Or would that corrupt the library?

 

[147798]

My understanding with iPhoto is that you don't need to do a "save as" (unless you do mean to save it externally for some other reason). iPhoto will keep your edited in the modified folder AND maintain your original in the Originals folder.

Not sure if it would trash your library. If you tested it on one photo, it won't trash your complete library -- only that one photo link. So, try it with a junky photo. Import, edit with external editor, save as, then go into the pkg and trash the Modified photo. Let us know how it turns out!

 

[ChrisA]

Yet I found that I have over 4.5 GB in the "Modified" folder!

The current cost of disk drives is about $0.25 per GB. So it seems the iPhote "waste of space" is costing you all of $1.13 Don't worry about it when the disk gets filled the cost will be even less than $0.25/GB

 

[dllavaneras]

The current cost of disk drives is about $0.25 per GB. So it seems the iPhote "waste of space" is costing you all of $1.13 Don't worry about it when the disk gets filled the cost will be even less than $0.25/GB

4.5 GB in files I'll never use means I can´t save around 5000 new pictures in my hard drive. So yes, as cheap as it may be, it's a BIG waste of space. Besides, I don't live in the US and storage space isn't as cheap. It's anywhere from 5 to 10 times more expensive.

 

[armani]

In my opinion it was silly to build iPhoto this way, especially Apple has created Aperture and I thought Apple would use the same strategy for iPhoto. I was very surprised...... I did notice that as soon as I press "edit" iPhoto creates a copy.

 

[jolton]

I used to begrudge this feature in iPhoto as well, but after giving it time and consideration I actually grew to like it.

Yes it may use more space but if you think about the fact that the main demographic of users iPhoto is targeted to, they just want something that works and something safe and easy to use w/ their photos.

Having the ability to always, no matter what, go back to your original photo is great.

Now granted, a lot of us here don't need that feature. However, that's why there's Aperture, Photoshop, etc.