Please help with iPhoto problem

[AugieM]

I occasionally export entire groups of photos from iPhoto to my hard drive where I keep them in folders. I don't want them on iPhoto because they are private so I don't want people seeing them when I'm showing them stuff from iPhoto.

Today I noticed iPhoto is automatically scanning my hard drive and importing those folders back into iPhoto as events. This is crazy. I'm going through and deleting images from iPhoto, wondering if they are actually also deleting from my hard drive.

I've never noticed this before. I can't find a setting for this. Anyone who can help?

 

[switon]

RE: a potential longterm solution...

Hi AugieM,

A possible longterm solution for you is to have more than one iPhoto Library. One for your public photos and one for you private photos. When you start iPhoto you choose whether to load your public or private libraries.

...just a thought...

Switon

P.S. Are you sure that iPhoto is re-importing your photos from external folders? When you export photos from iPhoto, it does not actually delete the photos from iPhoto, so it might appear that they are being re-imported while in fact they were always there. To remove the photos from iPhoto takes more than just exporting them, is all I am saying.

 

[AugieM]

thanks, Switon

Thanks, Switon. You know I did realize that I would have to delete the photos after exporting them, which I did, but I also thought well maybe when you export and put the exported images into a file, it creates an "event" of the same name. Maybe iPhoto didn't actually re-import them, but maybe iPhoto created these events when i exported.

But that theory doesn't seem right, because I can't recreate it.

I like your idea of two iPhoto libraries. Any idea how I do that?

Thanks again,
Mark aka AugieM

 

[Jenni8]

If you temporarily move your library the app will open a dialogue to either look for your library or to create a new one. Then you can move your other library back and just open the library you want to use directly from the library icon rather than your iPhoto app icon. Then just don't turn on Photo Stream for your private photos for your new library. Their must be a way to have iPhoto ask every time you open the app for which library, like Lightroom, I just don't know it. At least this was how I created a secondary Library. Sometimes my main library is forgotten when it comes to my screen saver, so I just have to re open my preferred library and my screen saver will show my iPhoto library again.

 

[switon]

RE: 2 or more iPhoto Libraries...

I like your idea of two iPhoto libraries. Any idea how I do that?

Hi Mark and Jenni8,

Assuming you have an iPhoto icon in your Dock, if you hold down the alt (option) key when clicking on your Dock's iPhoto icon, then iPhoto open a menu window with three button options, "Create New...", "Choose", or "Other Library...". The "Choose" button allows you to open one of the libraries in the menu list. The "Create New..." button allows you to create a new iPhoto Library, and the "Other Library..." allows you to select other disks, including networked shared disks, where you store other iPhoto Libraries. Thus you can create as many photo libraries as you wish. I always create a new library for each trip I take. And I have about 50 different iPhoto Libraries, one for each different project, stored on about 5 different disk drives, including a networked RAID system. So, you see, different photo libraries can help organize photos for different projects, just like you wish to do.

Good luck,
Switon

 

[AugieM]

thank you both

Jenni and Swinton thanks a lot. I will try both of those things. I'm also going to bite the bullet and call Apple to have them try to explain what happened and how I can simply avoid it.

MM

 

[Jenni8]

Hi Mark and Jenni8,

Assuming you have an iPhoto icon in your Dock, if you hold down the alt (option) key when clicking on your Dock's iPhoto icon, then iPhoto open a menu window with three button options, "Create New...", "Choose", or "Other Library...". The "Choose" button allows you to open one of the libraries in the menu list. The "Create New..." button allows you to create a new iPhoto Library, and the "Other Library..." allows you to select other disks, including networked shared disks, where you store other iPhoto Libraries. Thus you can create as many photo libraries as you wish. I always create a new library for each trip I take. And I have about 50 different iPhoto Libraries, one for each different project, stored on about 5 different disk drives, including a networked RAID system. So, you see, different photo libraries can help organize photos for different projects, just like you wish to do.

Good luck,
Switon

I knew their was some easy trick to it. Thanks!

 

[switon]

RE: that alt/option key...

I knew their was some easy trick to it. Thanks!

You are welcome...glad to help.

Actually, holding down the alt/option key when clicking on "things" can reveal a lot on interesting stuff. Another useful one is holding down the option key while clicking on the wireless icon in the menu bar, this reveals an option to open the WiFi Diagnostics.app which is useful for finding Bonjour devices within reach of your laptop.

Regards,
Switon