Print With the release of iLife '11 comes a freshly polished version of iPhoto, the digital photo manager that's been helping us keep our photos in tip-top shape since 2001. The updated software introduces a handful of new and improved features that will surely make it easier for you to organize, edit, and share those precious digital memories. We put some tips together to get you started with the new release, or to give those of you who still haven't upgraded a sneak peak at the new update.
It's always a good idea to backup your media before an upgrade; iPhoto should be no different. There's a reason people always answer that they'll grab photos first if their house is on fire.
Head to /Users/username/Pictures and then grab the iPhoto Library folder and copy it somewhere safe. An external drive that's unplugged from your Mac when you update is a good idea.
If something does go horribly wrong during the update, Shut down iPhoto. Copy the backup you made to the Pictures folder on your Mac and replace the corrupt iPhoto Library file. Restart iPhoto '11. iPhoto will update the library and you should be golden.
If you're still having problems, right click on the iPhoto Library file. Select Show Package Contents, and then navigate to Masters. This folder contains all the photo and video originals you've imported into iPhoto over the years. If nothing else is working, drag these photos back into iPhoto and start all over.
But seriously, folks, keep one important thing in mind whenever you open up up iPhoto: backup before the update!
If you were feeling a bit claustrophobic in the previous versions of iPhoto, the new full-screen option in iPhoto '11 will certainly please you. One click turns your entire screen into a distraction-free photo organizer by hiding the Desktop, Menu Bar, and all other unwanted noise.
To go full-screen just click the button in the lower left corner.
You'll then notice five different Full-Screen Modes listed at the bottom of the window:
Events View is bigger than ever before and continues to let you to easily scan through thousands of photos without getting lost. Slide the Zoom to adjust the size of the event thumbnails.
The familiar cork board in Faces View showcases any faces that you've identified. We clearly need to identify more faces.
If you're obsessed with tagging, you'll certainly appreciate the larger Places View. If you've tagged any of your photos with a location, your map will receive a pin. Click the pin to see all photos tagged at that location.
Oh the Places You'll Go
The new Places map has a fancy set of drop down menus that show you the Countries, States, Cities and Places you've been.
Select a place, and the Map zooms into the area. Much better than the old way of zooming in and out manually.
Once you're down looking at a destination. Hit the Home button to return to world view.
Smart Map Album
Once you're zoomed into an area you can click on the Smart Album button in the bottom right hand corner to create a Smart Album of the destination you're at.
Those fashionably unkempt stacks of photos represent your curated Albums. Scan through albums the same way you would an Event.
Adjust Background
No more white or black, now you can adjust the background from white to black with a hand slider.
Just head to iPhoto > Preferences > Appearance, and then use the Background slider to adjust.
Reflections
You can also turn the Reflections option on and off in the Appearance Tab. If you're running an older machine, you might want to keep this off.
This bookshelf is the place your print projects call home. If you want to print something again, or make a few edits, you can revisit them here at any time.
Editing photos just got a whole lot more user-friendly. With the new full-screen mode there's room for a dedicated sidebar which houses all the various Quick Fixes, Effects, and Adjustments you might want to apply.
In addition to the sidebar there's also a convenient filmstrip in the bottom toolbar which enlarges as you hover over it. This filmstrip allows you to quickly navigate back and forth between photos you want to edit, without having to go back to the main iPhoto page.
rtdunham
October 31, 2010 at 9:03pm
very nice summary. makes it easier to jump in. but a couple questions:
1) i've seen books with "spreads" or "double-trucks"--an image that spans two pages. how dey do dat? the illustration in your article on page formats doesn't show one like that in the formatting sidebar.
2) i also don't see a page format like the ones shown in the accompanying book mockups with facing horizontal images that are full-page wide but have white space above and below. Do the book layouts automatically include some page designs that cannot be selected manually and imposed?
3) a comment: to send a non-full-res image in a non-themed email, just drag the photo to the mail app in the dock: that'll open mail, create a new email, and place the photo in it. You can then choose the size for the image.
4) And this final question:when sending themed emails with images, there's a checkbox bottom right for whether or not to attach the image, with only two size choices, both of which create very data-intense attachments (4-5 MB compared to, say, 150kb for a plain-jane email with the same photo). That checkbox seems to click on and off arbitrarily. Has anyone found a way (I can't find it in prefs) to set it to a default of off, or unchecked?
