iLife® '09 Portable Genius

Chapter 2. How Do I Get My Photos into iPhoto?

You've taken the photos with your digital camera, so now you're ready to add them to your iPhoto library. Importing photos from a digital camera takes only moments, but you can also import photos from folders on your Mac (or other computers) or directly from e-mail messages. And if you have hard copies of photos (or other documents), you can add them to your library too by using Image Capture. First, though, we'll take a moment to explore the iPhoto interface and to set iPhoto's preferences to suit your needs.

• Navigating the iPhoto Interface

• Setting iPhoto's Preferences So You Can Work Quickly

• Importing Photos

• Scanning Photos Using Image Capture

• Sharing a Scanner or Camera Using Image Capture

Navigating the iPhoto Interface

iPhoto packs a ton of power into an easy-to-use interface, so first make sure you know what's what in iPhoto. Figure 2.1 shows the main iPhoto window with the key elements labeled. Most of the action takes place in this window, but you can open a photo for editing full screen so that you can see as much of a photo as possible.

Figure 2.1. The main iPhoto window.

Here's what the main elements in the user interface do:

• Source list. This pane shows your iPhoto library, recent items, libraries other people are sharing on your network, ...