iPhoto: how to change filenames of photos in library

In article <bv9imh$2um5$1@otis.netspace.net.au>,
"leo" <halloleo.DeleteThis@noospaam.myrealbox.com> wrote:

 > when i have imported photos to my library in iPhoto i want to change their
 > filename. how can i do that.

I don't believe you can, though I'm still using 2.0. I would also love
to see this feature. It would be useful for backing up the files and
also giving the files to others (email for example).<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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In article <bv9imh$2um5$1@otis.netspace.net.au>,
"leo" <halloleo.TakeThisOut@noospaam.myrealbox.com> wrote:

 > hi there
 >
 > when i have imported photos to my library in iPhoto i want to change their
 > filename. how can i do that.
 >
 > it would be particularly useful if its possible to change multiple names at
 > once.

Don't bother trying to change the filenames. The idea of iPhoto is that
it's like a database for storing your photos; you don't need to know where
or how the photos are stored because you always use iPhoto to get at the
photos. When you want to work with the photos in some other way, you tell
iPhoto to export them or you tell it to open them with another program.

Instead, just change the photo's "Title" in iPhoto. That's the name that's
shown under the photo. (At first, it'll be the same as the filename.) To
changethe title, make sure the info section is visible under the album
section; if it isn't, click on the "i" button. Then select a photo, and
edit its title in the info area.

If you really absolutely must change the filenames of the photos, the best
way is to do it BEFORE you import them into iPhoto. If it's too late for
that, here's one way to rename the files:

1) Select the photos in iPhoto and Export them to another folder on your
hard drive. Make sure you select the options for Original Format and
Full-size images. There's also an option to use the original filename, or
name the exported files using the photo's Title or the Album name.

2) Rename those exported files in the Finder, or using another program like
Renamer4Mac.

3) Delete the original photos from iPhoto.

4) Take the photos you exported & renamed, and drag them back into iPhoto.
They'll be re-imported.

5) You'll probably have to retype the Titles of the photos and put them
back into their albums.

6) Empty the trash.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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"Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.morris.RemoveThis@this.is.invalid> wrote in message news:<wayne.morris-ECB672.01434929012004.RemoveThis@shawnews.wp.shawcable.net>...

 > Don't bother trying to change the filenames. The idea of iPhoto is that
 > it's like a database for storing your photos; you don't need to know where
 > or how the photos are stored because you always use iPhoto to get at the
 > photos.

This seems very dangerous to me -- in the long term. Having had the
pain of going to a 10 year old backup that was stored in a proprietary
format and being unable to read it because that sw won't run on my
current os (ok, that was Windows, maybe Macs are better), I've been
very reluctant to use iPhoto as my primary storage mechanism. While I
import into iPhoto and use it to show pics on screen, I am maintaining
a separate photo library using just folders and ReadMe.txt files to
describe what's in them.

While even file formats change, I figure someone 10 or more years in
the future (and with photos it could be 50 or more) someone is much
more likely to be able to recover the folder structure and read a text
file than to be able to decipher iPhoto's database info. I use one
folder per year (2001, 2002, etc.) and one folder per event (usually a
day) with those folders starting with the date (e.g., "040129 Robs BD"
if Rob's brithday party was today, Jan 29, 2004). I tried retrieving
photos without iPhoto in its folders and that's much messier. You have
a folder for the year, another for the month, and another for the day
-- including many days that have no photos in them! It makes it really
difficult to find an event.

It's true that this way, I have double the file space per photo, but
fortunately HD's are cheap.

If you want your photos or other documents available far into the
future, beware of proprietary file formats.

Martin<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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In article <45cf32b4.0401291141.6cb8239 DeleteThis @posting.google.com>,
hellman DeleteThis @stanford.edu (Martin Hellman) wrote:

 > "Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.morris DeleteThis @this.is.invalid> wrote in message
 > news:<wayne.morris-ECB672.01434929012004 DeleteThis @shawnews.wp.shawcable.net>...
 >
  > > Don't bother trying to change the filenames. The idea of iPhoto is that
  > > it's like a database for storing your photos; you don't need to know where
  > > or how the photos are stored because you always use iPhoto to get at the
  > > photos.
 >
 > This seems very dangerous to me -- in the long term. Having had the
 > pain of going to a 10 year old backup that was stored in a proprietary
 > format and being unable to read it because that sw won't run on my
 > current os (ok, that was Windows, maybe Macs are better), I've been
 > very reluctant to use iPhoto as my primary storage mechanism. While I
 > import into iPhoto and use it to show pics on screen, I am maintaining
 > a separate photo library using just folders and ReadMe.txt files to
 > describe what's in them.

If you want to keep copies in an alternate non-proprietary organization,
you could Export albums or rolls as web pages and burn them to CD or DVD.
Use "Better HTML Export" to get full control over the appearance & contents
of the generated web pages; you can do things like name the files using the
photo titles, include thumbnail, medium-size, and full-size copies of the
photos, include dates and comments, etc. Should be a lot easier than your
current method.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: iPhoto: how to change filenames of photos in library 

"Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.morris.DeleteThis@this.is.invalid> wrote in message
news:wayne.morris-ECB672.01434929012004@shawnews.wp.shawcable.net...
 > In article <bv9imh$2um5$1@otis.netspace.net.au>,
 > "leo" <halloleo.DeleteThis@noospaam.myrealbox.com> wrote:
 >
  > > when i have imported photos to my library in iPhoto i want to change
their
  > > filename. how can i do that.
 >
 > Don't bother trying to change the filenames. The idea of iPhoto is that
 > it's like a database for storing your photos; you don't need to know where
 > or how the photos are stored because you always use iPhoto to get at the
 > photos. When you want to work with the photos in some other way, you tell
 > iPhoto to export them or you tell it to open them with another program.

first of all, thanks fir the detailed info!

secondly, well, i know that iPhoto acts like a database, but it's a bit of a
worry that the raw pictuers are just a big mess... (thinkling of using other
photo organising tools, etc...)

 > Instead, just change the photo's "Title" in iPhoto. That's the name
that's
 > shown under the photo. (At first, it'll be the same as the filename.) To
 > changethe title, make sure the info section is visible under the album
 > section; if it isn't, click on the "i" button. Then select a photo, and
 > edit its title in the info area.
 >
 > If you really absolutely must change the filenames of the photos, the best
 > way is to do it BEFORE you import them into iPhoto. If it's too late for
 > that, here's one way to rename the files:
 >
 > 1) Select the photos in iPhoto and Export them to another folder on your
 > hard drive. Make sure you select the options for Original Format and
 > Full-size images. There's also an option to use the original filename, or
 > name the exported files using the photo's Title or the Album name.
 >
 > 2) Rename those exported files in the Finder, or using another program
like
 > Renamer4Mac.
 >
 > 3) Delete the original photos from iPhoto.
 >
 > 4) Take the photos you exported & renamed, and drag them back into iPhoto.
 > They'll be re-imported.
 >
 > 5) You'll probably have to retype the Titles of the photos and put them
 > back into their albums.
 >
 > 6) Empty the trash.

great detailed description, but this workflow is abit to cumbersome for
me... there's no way to change the database references (i guess that are xml
files) directly _and_ change the real filenames synchronously?

mmmh, well in that case, i guess, in future i will read the photos from the
camera with the little reader app which came with camera, rename the
filenames and _than_ import them in iPhoto...

cheers, leo<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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