iPhoto '08: The Missing Manual

380 iphoto ’08: the missing manual

File Menu

Most of the commands in the File menu involve creating new storage entities: albums,

books, slideshows, and so on. See Chapters 5, 11, and 8, respectively. This is also where

you do all your printing.

New Album

Creates a new photo album in the Source list, and prompts you to name it. (You can

also create an album by pressing c-Norclickingthe+buttoninthemainiPhoto

window.)

New Album From Selection

Select some photos in the iPhoto window, then choose this command. iPhoto creates

a new album, already stocked with the selected pictures.

New Smart Album

Opens a dialog box where you can set up criteria for a smart album, as described on

page 128.

New Folder

This humble command is the key to the all-powerful folder. A folder is a Source-list

icon that can contain other icons, like albums, book layouts, and slideshows.

Import to Library

Use this command to add photos to your iPhoto Library from your hard disk, a CD,

or some other disk. Choose Add to Library, select the file or folder you want to add,

then click the Import button in the Import Photos dialog box. Keyboard shortcut:

Shift-c-I.

Export

Yes, kids, it’s the amazing peripatetic Export command—in a different menu every

version of iPhoto!

Anyway, it opens the Export Images window, whose panels offer the following ways

of copying photos:

 •FileExport. Makes fresh copies of your photos in the file format and size you specify.

You can export photos in their existing file format or convert them to JPEG, TIFF,

or PNG format. You also can set a maximum size for the photos, so that iPhoto

scales down larger photos on the fly as it exports them.

 •WebPage. Publishes selected photos as a series of HTML pages that you can post on

a Web site. The finished product includes an index page with clickable thumbnails

that open individual pages containing each photo. (See Chapter 10 for step-by-step

instructions on using this pane to set image sizes and format the HTML pages.)

File Menu

appendix b: iphoto ’08, menu by menu 381

 •QuickTime.Turns a series of photos into a self-running slideshow, saved as a

QuickTime movie that you can post on the Internet, send to friends, or burn to a

CD. You can set the size of the movie, pick a background color, and add music (the

sound file selected for the current photos’ album or slideshow) before exporting.

You’ll find more about going from iPhoto to QuickTime in Chapter 12.

You can save yourself a trip to the Export menu by using the keyboard shortcut Shift-

c-E. (By the way, you may find additional tabs in the Export dialog box if you’ve

installed iPhoto plug-in software.)

Close Window

Closes the frontmost window. Usually, you’ll use this command after opening a photo

into its own window for editing. If only the main iPhoto window is open, this com-

mand quits the program. Keyboard shortcut: c-W.

Edit Smart Album

Lets you edit the criteria for an existing smart album. Select the album before choosing

this command. When you click OK, iPhoto updates the smart album.

Subscribe to Photo Feed

Asks you for the URL (Web address) for a Web gallery that somebody has built, so

that you can enjoy their pictures in your copy of iPhoto. See page 241.

Print

Opens iPhoto’s Print dialog box, where you can print contact sheets, greeting cards,

full-page photos, or groups of photos in standard sizes like 4 x 6 or 5 x 7. See Chapter

9 for details.

Browse Backups

This command is exclusively for the benefit of people who use Time Machine, the

automated backup program in Mac OS X Leopard.

Unbeknownst to most people, iPhoto ’08 comes with a very special miniature version

of itself that’s intended exclusively for using Time Machine to recover lost, damaged,

or deleted files.

If you’ve been using Time Machine (see Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual), start

by choosing this command (or just click the Time Machine icon on your Dock).

Now something weird and wonderful happens: The entire world of menus, windows,

and Dock drops away, leaving only a stripped-down version of iPhoto in its place.

There’s no toolbar, no menu bar, no way to resize the window or change the thumbnail

sizes. There’s very little in the Source list except Photos, Events, and your albums. And

there’s a Search box, too.

File Menu