Thanks for taking the iPhoto On Your Your Mac Class. I hope you find this outline helpful to you as a reference to the material we covered. I have included videos and links to various things I think you may find useful.
Note: All text that is blue is a link to another website, video, etc.
My advise for all of you is to practice what you learned soon after you have taken the class so you don't forget it!
If you have any further questions don't hestiate to contact Mike.
IMPORTING PHOTOS
The primary way of getting photos into iPhoto is by importing them from your camera. You can either insert your SD card into the slot on your Mac or plug your camera into the Mac via an USB slot.
iPhoto will ask you if you want to IMPORT ALL/IMPORT 76 PHOTOS or IMPORT SELECTED. You can select multiple photos by holding down the Command Key and clicking on the photos you want.
You can what a video about importing photos on Apple's website.
You can learn more about importing photos in iPhoto 11 on Apple's website
You can also drag and drop a photo from an email, website, or the Finder into iPhoto.
I wrote a blog post about drag and drop on the Mac.
Organizing Photos
There are multiple ways to organize photos in iPhoto.
- Events (When)
- Faces (Who)
- Places (Where)
- Albums
- Smart Albums
Events
When you import photos into iPhoto they are automatically organized into Events.
You can rename events by clicking on the name underneath the event photo.
You can merge events by dragging one event on top of another one. You can split events by opening the event, clicking on a photo that is at the beginning of the new event, click the Events menu, and click Split Events.
You can learn more about merging and splitting events on Apple's website
You can choose a different photo to represent the event by skimming across the Event. When you find a photo that you want to represent the event just press the spacebar and that photo will now represent the Event.
You can what a video about Events on Apple's website.
Faces
iPhoto has face recongnition technology built in. This is a great way to organize your photos based on who is in the photo.
Faces gets better the more you use it. You can learn more about how to name people in your photos by visiting Apple's website.
If iPhoto does not detect a face you can add a missing face. Learn how on Apple's website.
You can help iPhoto get better at detecting people by confirming or rejecting suggested matches. You can learn more about this topic on Apple's website.
You can watch a video about Faces on Apple's website.
Places
Newer cameras are often equipped with a GPS chip so it can record the location that your photo was taken at. You can use Places to view your photos on a map.
If your camera has a GPS then iPhoto will automatically put your photos on the map. If your camera does not have GPS you can manually add location information to your photos. Learn how on Apple's website.
You can learn more about Places on Apple's website.
You can watch a video about Places on Apple's website
Albums
Albums are a way for you to organize photos however you want. You can grab photos from multiple Events, Faces, or Places.
An example of how I might use an Album is when I am getting ready to put together a slidshow for my wedding anniversary. Throughout the year I can throw photos that I like into that Album and then when I am ready to make the slideshow they are ready to go.
You can create a new Album by clicking on the File menu and clicking New Album. Once an album is created just drag photos into it.
Remember, if you have any photos, Events, Faces, or Places selected when you click New Album those photos will be added automatically to the album.
You can learn more about albums on Apple's website.
Smart Albums
Smart Albums automatically update and find photos based on the criteria you choose.
An example of how I might use a Smart Album is to show me all the pictures that contain two specific people.
To create a Smart Album you click on the File menu and click New Smart Album. From there you choose your criteria. It's important to note that there is a difference betwen Any/All when it comes to matching conditions.
If I create a Smart Album that says Match ALL the following conditions:
Germany, France, and Ohio
It will not find any photos that were taken in all three locations because that is impossible.
You can learn more about Smart Albums on Apple's website.
Editing
iPhoto allows you to do basic edits like:
You can also add effect like:
- Black & White
- Sepia
- Antique
- Fade
- Boost
- Matte
- Vignette
You can watch a video about applying effects on Apple's website
You can also adjust various levels like:
- Exposure
- Contrast
- Saturation
- Defintion
- Highlights
- Shadows
- Sharpness
You can learn more about adjusting levels on Apple's website
At any point during the editing process you can always Revert to Original if you don't like what you have done to your photo.
Sharing
There are multiple ways to share your photos:
You can also burns photos to a disc. To make sure that it works on all computers and not just Macs with iPhoto insert a CD/DVD into your computer and follow the instructions in the video below: