iPhoto 5. The Missing Manual

A.4. Editing

There's not much that can go wrong here, but when it does, it really goes wrong.

A.4.1.

A.4.1.1 iPhoto crashes when I double-click a thumbnail to edit it.

You probably changed a photo file's name in the Finder ”in the iPhoto Library folder, behind the program's back. iPhoto hates this! Only grief can follow.

Sometimes, too, a corrupted picture file will also make iPhoto crash when you try to edit it. Use the Show Image File script described on page 330 to locate the scrambled file in the Finder. Open the file in another graphics program, use its File Save As command to replace the corrupted picture file, and then try again in iPhoto.

A.4.1.2 My Adjust panel is missing most of its sliders!

If your Mac has only a G3 processor inside, them's the breaks. All you get is Brightness and Contrast sliders. (The rest require a G4 processor or later.)

A.4.1.3 iPhoto won't let me use an external graphics program when I double-click a thumbnail.

Choose iPhoto Preferences. Make sure that the Other button is selected and that a graphics programs name appears next to it. (If not, click Other, then click Set, and then choose the program you want to use.)

Also make sure that your external editing program still exists . You might have upgraded to a newer version of that program, one whose file name is slightly different from the version you originally specified in iPhoto.

A.4.1.4 My picture doesn't fit right on 4 x 6, 5 x 7, or 8 x 10 inch paper.

Most digital cameras produce photos in a 4:3 width-to-height ratio. Unfortunately, those dimensions don't fit squarely into any of the standard print sizes.

The solution: Crop the photos first, using the appropriate print size in the Constrain pop-up menu (see page 150).

A.4.1.5 I've messed up a photo while editing it, and now it's ruined!

Highlight the file's thumbnail and then choose File Revert to Original. iPhoto restores your photo to its original state, drawing on a backup it has secretly kept.