iPhoto 101

If you’ve got a digital camera, iPhoto is the perfect companion. It enables you to import your pictures into your Mac, view them, edit them, and share them with ease. You can make good photos look stellar and turn your not-so-good ones into something better. iPhoto 6 features advanced editing tools (including RAW support) for professional photographers and amateurs alike. Here are some of the cool things you can do with iPhoto 6.

Import Photos

Once you connect your camera to your Mac, just click Import in iPhoto to download your pictures.

1. Connect your camera to your Mac. (See “Connect Your Camera” if you need help doing this.
2. Open iPhoto; the application switches to Import mode.
3. Type a name and description for your import in the Roll Name and Description fields, respectively.
4. Click Import.

View and Organize Your Pictures

Use settings in iPhoto preferences to change the way your iPhoto browser looks.

Once you import your pictures and movie files into iPhoto (you can also manually add files by dragging them from the Finder to the iPhoto Library icon in the Source column), it displays thumbnails (small image copies) of your files in the browser window. The Source column on the left allows you to select your Library, certain albums, slideshows, books, and more. Select any source item to view its images in the window.

• To change the size of the thumbnails, move the zoom slider in the bottom-right corner.
• To change the look of the browser window, choose Preferences from the iPhoto menu and click Appearance. You can select any options you want in the pane to display border outlines or drop shadows, change the background from white to black (or somewhere in between), and organize the thumbnail placement.
• To help you search for particular photos better, add keywords to your photos. Click the keyword button (the button with a key) to display the Keywords pane, which comes with a few default keywords such as Vacation, Kids, and Birthday. To assign one of these words to a photo, select a thumbnail and drag it onto the keyword in the Keywords pane. You can assign more than one keyword to any picture. To view photos by keyword, click a keyword in the Keywords pane (click Reset to return to your full library).
• To add your own custom keywords, choose Preferences from the iPhoto menu and click Keywords. Click Add to create a new keyword entry and type a name for your keyword such as “My Dog,” “Company Party,” or “Good Blackmail Material.” Close the window; your new keyword appears in the Keywords pane. (Drag the divider above the Keywords pane to increase the view.)

  

  For better organization and search capabilities, add keywords to your photos.

Edit Your Images

The Adjust palette features an assortment of tools that allow you to make your photos look the best that they possibly can.

If you want to make your photos look their best, edit them. Select a thumbnail and click the Edit button to open the image in the editor. The toolbar below the image displays all the available editing tools you can use. Here’s what each tool does (from left to right).

• If you need to rotate your image, click the Rotate button. Each click makes your image rotate 90 degrees counter-clockwise. Option-click this button to rotate the image clockwise.
• To crop your picture, choose a preset size or choose Custom from the Constrain pop-up menu. A crop selection box indicates which part of your image will be retained. If you chose Custom, a dialog opens, allowing you to enter your own dimensions before you see the crop box appear. You can then move the box anywhere to frame the area you want to keep, and resize it to zoom in on the details; the crop area’s proportions will be retained when you resize it.
• Click the Enhance button to have iPhoto automatically adjust your photo’s color and contrast.
• If someone in your photo has red-eye (not the medical condition; the photo-ruining one where a person’s eyes glow a bright red), click the Red-Eye button, then click the center of each eye to remove the red.
• If you need to remove blemishes, marks, or other small items from a photo, click the Retouch button. Use the zoom slider to zoom in on the details, move the crosshair pointer over the thing you want to remove, and then drag short strokes to blend the blemish into its surrounding areas.
• To turn a color photo into a black-and-white one, choose B & W in the Effects button menu. Or, to give a photo an old-fashion look, click Sepia in the Effects button menu, which transforms your image into a sepia-tinted photo.
• If you want total control of making your picture look its best, click the Adjust button to open the Adjust palette. Use the sliders to adjust your picture’s brightness, contrast, color saturation, color temperature, tint, sharpness, straightness, exposure, and levels.
• When finished, click Done to save your changes and return to your library.

Make a Slideshow

Use the Ken Burns Effect to make your still images come to life in your slideshows.

1. Select the photos that you want to display in your slideshow by selecting thumbnails in the Library or choosing an album.
2. Click the Slideshow button.
3. Type a title for your slideshow in the Source column.
4. Choose an effect (if you want one) from the Effect pop-up menu, and choose a transition style from the Transition pop-up menu.
5. If you want to add a motion effect to your pictures, select the Ken Burns Effect checkbox.
6. To add music, click the Music button and select one of the sample songs, or select Library (or a playlist) to select something from your iTunes library.

Make and Buy Photo Books

For your prize photos, create a photo book that can be viewed electronically onscreen, or send it directly to a print service from iPhoto to buy one for coffee table viewing.

iPhoto makes book-making easy; just choose a style, and drag and drop your photos onto the virtual pages.

1. Select your favorite pictures in the Library, then click the Book button.
2. In the dialog, choose a book size and type from the Book Type pop-up menu.
3. Select a book design theme from the left column and click Choose Theme.
4. Select whether you want iPhoto to layout your book for you (click Automatically), or you want to do it yourself (click Manually).
5. Your book appears in the Source column; click the name to name it.
6. Your book pages display in a book-editing window. Click the pages icon in the top view bar to navigate to each page overview. Click the pictures icon below it to view all photos that are still waiting to be placed in your book (if you had iPhoto make your book, you won’t see anything here).
7. On the cover page, type whatever text you want to appear on your cover.
8. To add pictures to a page, click the pictures icon to display all photos, then drag one down to a book page. If your image is too small to be fit for print, an exclamation point icon appears to alert you.
9. To delete an image from a page, drag it from the page; your photo will be held in the pictures bar for later placement.
10. To swap around photos, drag one image to another on a page.
11. To add more pages, click the Add Pages button.
12. If you want to turn your electronic creation into a real book, click Buy Book. iPhoto assembles your book and then takes you to a book order screen for purchase.

Make and Buy Calendars

Turn your photos into personalized and practical calendars for friends and family.

Wouldn’t it be great to give all your prize photos as calendars to your friends and family? Since you’ve already done the hard part, taking the great pictures, iPhoto makes this priceless gift a snap.

1. Calendars contain photos that are relevant to particular months, so start by creating an album for the calendar project. Each page can have more than one photo, so you can include more than 12 photos in the album.
2. Select your calendar album and click Calendar.
3. From the dialog box that appears, choose a theme for your calendar from the list on the left, and click Choose Theme.
4. Include any calendar information from iCal calendars, as well as national holidays and even birthdays you’ve entered into the Birthday field in your Address Book.
5. Click Autoflow to fill the images from your album into your calendar. You can rearrange them later as needed.
6. When your calendar is ready, you can click Buy Calendar to order and upload your calendar project to Apple for professional-quality printing.

Make and Buy Cards

Share your travel with everyone you know and add a personal touch.

Besides photo books and calendars, you can use the photos in your iPhoto library to create greeting cards and postcards. When you’re done, choose professional printing for your cards and take “wish you were here” to a whole new level!

1. Choose the picture you want to use for the card in your iPhoto library.
2. Click Card
3. Choose Greeting Card or Postcard from the menu, choose a theme, and continue.
4. Add text to your card. You can change backgrounds, choose frame designs, and add caption text to your cover picture.
5. Click Buy Card to order your cards, and your card will be uploaded for professional printing.

Putting your Photos on CDs

Protect your photos against disaster by backing them up to DVD, or CD.

After organizing and sharing your photos in iPhoto, you can make sure they’re not accidentally lost or damaged by copying them to a CD or DVD. The photos you copy onto CD or DVD are copied complete with their keywords, titles, comments, and so on.

1. Select your Library, roll, album, or individual photos you want to burn to a disc.
2. Click the Share menu, and choose Burn.
3. Insert a blank CD or DVD into your drive.
4. Name your disc.
5. Click the Burn button in the Burn Disc window.

Share Your Photos

You can make your entire iPhoto library (or certain albums, slideshows, and books) available to up to five computers on your local network. Here’s how to do this.

1. From the iPhoto menu, choose Preferences.
2. Click Sharing.
3. Select the “Share my photos” checkbox, then select what you want to make available. Anyone on your local network who has the “Look for shared photos” option selected will be able to view your photos in your selected albums.