A recent interrogative email from the MacMaineiac Mailbag: “How and where does iPhoto store the images I download into it from my digital camera?” An excellent question!

For purposes of our discussion, we’ll assume you’re using iPhoto 6 (a must-have upgrade, even with iLife ’07 but six months away), and that you’re using it for the first time.

You place the memory card in your USB card reader and iPhoto opens. iPhoto analyzes the contents of the card and announces “there are 40 images to import”. At that point you should take the time to fill in the two fields asking for Roll Name and Description. Let’s say that you name the roll “Popham Beach Sunset” and provide the description “Fred, Donna, Joseph, Claire, and Emma at Popham Beach for sunset”.

You choose to automatically erase the memory card after the images are downloaded, and the process begins. A few minutes later you have 40 images in your iPhoto Library.
Now look in the “Pictures” folder in your “Home” folder. There you’ll find a folder called “iPhoto Library” (duh). Inside this folder you’ll see a file called “AlbumData.xml”. This file is very important, as it contains data about each image in your Library – things like ratings you’ve assigned, keywords, descriptions, etc. Don’t mess with it.

Next you’ll see a folder called “Data”. This folder contains the thumbnail images that iPhoto creates and uses in its various windows. They are smaller and have less resolution than the originals.

You’ll then notice a folder called “Originals”. This folder contains all the original downloaded images, organized first by year and then by roll name. Sure enough, you’ll find a folder named “Popham Beach Sunset” in the “2006” folder. If you don’t give a Roll a name when downloading, you can add one later. Unnamed rolls get numerical names, like “Roll 1”.

When you edit an image within iPhoto, iPhoto makes a copy of the image, leaving the original alone. When iPhoto saves your edits, it places that image in a folder it creates in the iPhoto Library called “Modified”, which has the same year/Roll Name hierarchy structure as the “Originals” folder. Modified images are then displayed in the iPhoto thumbnails unless you select “Revert to Original” from the “Photo” menu, which will recall and display the original image and your modifications will be gone forever. See? Nothin’ to it.

© 2006 Peter F. Zimowski