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10 amazing iPhoto tips

The 10 best iPhoto tips for Mac we know. Get more out of Apple iPhoto on the Mac than you ever thought possible.

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  • 2 Create New Library Use multiple libraries 1
  • 1 Edit in App Edit Photos in app 2
  • 3 Edit Multiple Edit multiple 3
  • 4 Add Location Info Add location information 4
  • 5 Export Location Information Export location information 5
  • 6 Event Key Photo Choose Event Key Photo 6
  • 7 Merge Events Merge Events 7
  • 8 Share as Social Share on social media 8
  • 10 iPhoto Trash iPhoto Trash 9
  • 9 Pets as Faces Pets to Faces 10
  • More stories
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Tip 1 of 10: Create a new library: use multiple iPhoto libraries

You can use iPhoto with more than one library. This can be handy if you want to have separate libraries for Work or Home, or split large libraries up.

Hold the Option (Alt) key while opening iPhoto to start with a window marked Which Photo Library Do you Want To Use? Click Create New to build the new library.

You can choose File > Switch to Library in iPhoto whenever you want to move to the other library.

Read:

How to set up Photos for OS X, tips for using Photos for Mac

How to use iCloud Photo sharing and iCloud Photo Library

Tips for setting up and using Photos for Mac

Set Photo Stream up on your Apple devices

Photos for Mac review

Next Tip »

Next Prev 2 Create New Library

You can use iPhoto with more than one library. This can be handy if you want to have separate libraries for Work or Home, or split large libraries up.

Hold the Option (Alt) key while opening iPhoto to start with a window marked Which Photo Library Do you Want To Use? Click Create New to build the new library.

You can choose File > Switch to Library in iPhoto whenever you want to move to the other library.

Read:

How to set up Photos for OS X, tips for using Photos for Mac

How to use iCloud Photo sharing and iCloud Photo Library

Tips for setting up and using Photos for Mac

Set Photo Stream up on your Apple devices

Photos for Mac review

 

Step 2 of 10: Edit Photos in another app like Pixelmator or Photoshop

You can change the default app for image editing from iPhoto to a more powerful app.

Click iPhoto > Preferences > Advanced and change the Edit Photos to Choose App.

Choose the App in your Applications folder and click Open.

That app will be used whenever you edit a photo.

Read: Best image editing apps for Mac

 

Step 3 of 10: Edit multiple images at once

Most people don’t know that you can select more than one image at a time when editing in iPhoto. Hold down Shift to select multiple images and click the Edit button. This opens a new viewer with the selected images and the Quick Fixes tools on the right. You can now click on each image and edit it individually, and compare effects from one image to another side-by-side. It's a great way to edit images from the same situation.

 

Step 4 of 10: Add location information manually

You can add location information manually to photos (if it isn’t already).

Pick a photo and press Command + I (or choose View > Info).

Enter the name of the place in Assign a Place to search for it using Maps.

 

Step 5 of 10: Export location information to other files

When you export files (to use in other services like Facebook) you can add the location information to the photos.

Choose File > Export Photos and select the Location Information checkbox.

Now click Export and the files will be exported along with the location information that you have added.

 

Step 6 of 10: Choose an Event Key Photo with the space bar

Slide the mouse left and right over the collections in the Events window to flick through the photos in that Event.

If you like the look of a photo you can set it as the Key Photo (the default photo that appears when your mouse is hovering elsewhere).

Just tap the spacebar when you are hovering the mouse over a photo you like the look of in Events to set that image as the Key Photo.

 

Step 7 of 10: Merge events together for a neater collection

You can merge different events together by clicking and dragging one event on top of another.

If one of the events has a name, the new merged event will take its name.

If both events have a name, then the event you are dragging to will take the name (not the event being dragged.)

Read: How to transfer photos from Mac to Android & Windows tablets

 

Step 8 of 10: Quickly Share Events on social media

You can quickly share an event on Facebook by clicking Share > Facebook.

If you haven’t got Facebook set up, then visit iPhoto > Preferences > Accounts to add your social media information.

Read: 14 photo-sharing tips for Mac OS X

 

Step 9 of 10: iPhoto has its own Trash

The iPhoto app is pretty special in that it has its own Trash. When you delete photos from iPhoto they don’t go to the main Trash, but to a separate Trash (found in the iPhoto sidebar).

You can click on this to view all the images you have deleted.

You can also Control + Click the Trash icon in iPhoto to get the Empty Trash command.

This enables you to reclaim hard drive space by deleting the Trash.

 

Step 10 of 10: Add your pets to Faces

You can add pets to iPhoto using the Faces function.

While Faces is designed for people, we’ve found it can distinguish between different pets as well (although not as well as with human faces).

It’s neat to have your pets in iPhoto though even if you have to add the pictures manually.

Read: Best cameras for 2015

Read: 10 essential tips for photo editing in iPhoto and Preview

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