Publishers of technology books, eBooks, and videos for creative people

Home > Articles

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Importing from a Camera

For this lesson, we'll look at the importing process from the perspective of Charlie, the high school student, and imagine using his camera. This is how he manually imported his images into iPhoto.

Importing may seem challenging at first, but it really couldn't be easier.

  1. Plug your camera into your Mac with the cable that came with your camera.

    Two things will happen. Your camera will show up as a new source in the Source column, and the iPhoto window will display a large camera icon, letting you know it's ready to import the photos from your camera.

    It's a good idea to erase photos from your camera after you import them, both to free up space on the memory card so you can take more pictures, and to keep from having to deal with duplicate photos later. You can do it yourself in your camera, but a really easy way is to have iPhoto erase photos automatically when it's done importing.

  2. If you want iPhoto to erase photos, check the box near the Import button.

    A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm that you want to delete the originals.

  3. Select Delete Originals, and iPhoto will manage the rest.

    The photos will appear as thumbnails in the iPhoto window, and you are done with your digital camera.

  4. Click the eject button to the right of the camera in the Source column, and your real camera can be safely disconnected from your Mac.

Of course, you don't have a camera loaded with Charlie's photographs, so to mimic his experience, you're going to add photos to your Library in the other way photos end up in iPhoto—copied from your hard disk.

Preparing for the Lesson

You will begin by dragging a folder full of photos to iPhoto.

  1. Launch iPhoto.

    If you've never used the application before, the window will be empty. But even if it were not, iPhoto would be ready for your “roll” of film.

  2. Open the Lessons folder that you copied to your hard disk from the enclosed DVD.
  3. Open the Lesson03 folder, and drag the entire folder called L3.Student roll 1 into your open iPhoto window.

    iPhoto will automatically start importing the folder of photographs as if it were a roll of film.

    The iPhoto window is providing information about this import. If you had a camera attached, you would see it named here. At this point, iPhoto will indicate that no camera is connected, but will still show the photos importing. It runs through the images sequentially in the iPhoto window as they are copied into your Library, and it also shows how many images remain to be imported.

    When all of the photos have been imported, the iPhoto window will reveal the pictures Charlie took in the studio as part of his report on the ceramic process.

    Whenever you import new photos into iPhoto, they end up in the iPhoto Library.

    The Library photos are organized in order of date and time imported. The default view of your photos is by film roll, which shows a film roll icon followed by the date of import and the name (if any) of the roll. The photos line up below the name of the role.

    The small triangle next to the roll icon allows you to open and close the roll. When you have many rolls, this top line serves as the roll label even if the pictures aren't visible, and it makes browsing much easier.

Change Roll Information

iPhoto automatically names each of your rolls of film, and dates it with the time and date of your import. Roll names come from the camera, and tend to be gibberish and pretty useless. If you dragged a folder in, as you just did, the roll name is the folder name, and the date is the date the folder was created, not when it was dragged into iPhoto. Now is a good time to see how to adjust this information.

  1. Click the roll icon (or name).

    iPhoto places blue squares around the roll's title line and individually on each photo in the roll. (If you do not see a roll icon in your Library viewer, click the View menu and choose Film Rolls.)

    Notice the information fields on the left side of the window, beneath the sources.

  2. Type new text in the data fields in the lower left. Remove the “L3” from the title and change the date to today (the day you imported the roll).

    The fields are not adjusted globally for every shot in the roll—only for the roll itself. (This is similar to the Get Info work you did with iTunes in Lesson 1.)

Delete Photos

If a picture didn't come out, waste little time leaving it around to clog the pathways of productivity. Delete it. Select a photograph and press the Delete key on your keyboard. If you delete a photo from your Library, it's removed from your hard disk permanently. Make sure this is a move you want to make.

There are a few shots in Charlie's photo shoot that he wants to weed out immediately.

  1. Scroll through the roll, looking at the photos. If the photos are hard to see, it's time to put the Size Slider to use. You can slide the knob (at the lower-right part of the iPhoto window) left and right, to grow and shrink the size of the images in your display.

    You're not changing the photos, mind you, just zooming in to look around. Tiny pictures tend to be too small for all but the most general kind of visual searching; try a medium size where they are large enough to recognize—all the better for adjusting them a little. The good news is that you can change the size whenever you want, to best fit whatever kind of searching you are doing at the given moment.

  2. Find the photo of the painters that looks like this, and select it.

    A blue box should outline the photo.

  3. Press Delete on your keyboard.

    The shot will disappear. It's gone from your hard disk.

  4. Delete anything else you don't like or that is redundant.

Rotate Photos

Perhaps the most frequent adjustment you'll make to photographs, particularly right after you import them, is to reorient them so they are all right side up.

On the bottom of the iPhoto window, alongside a row of interesting-looking options (which, with great discipline, you are ignoring for the moment), is a button that rotates photographs counterclockwise (or, if you hold the Option key, clockwise). The first time you go through a roll of film, it's a good idea to delete bad pictures and rotate the remainder so they are oriented correctly. If no photos are selected, the button is greyed out.

  1. The first photo in Charlie's roll is sideways. Select it.
  2. Click the Rotate Photo button. The default is clockwise. (Hold down the Option key to toggle the rotation to a counterclockwise direction.)

    If you want to change the default direction in which this button rotates photos, go to iPhoto Preferences and change the Rotate option. Most people tend to hold the camera in the vertical position one specific way all the time. You'll see in your own photos whether or not the default is right for you.

  3. Continue through Charlie's roll of film until you have properly oriented all the images in the roll.

    Once the images are rotated, iPhoto repositions them in the Library so each row accommodates the tallest image.

When you're done with this lesson, all the photos should be oriented properly and look like this in your iPhoto Library:

Now you're ready to do more subtle refinements on your rolls of film.

Peachpit Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Peachpit and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Peachpit products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email ask@peachpit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Adobe Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.peachpit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020