September 17, 2008

By now you should have completed Lessons 3 and 4 in the iLife 05 Textbook. You started on page 67 of Lesson 3 and learned how to launch iPhoto, drag pictures into the iPhoto Window and organize photos by film rolls (or titles). You learned about the Source Column and the Information Pane. Also, how to delete and rotate images. You should have in your notes the last three paragraphs of "What You've Learned" on page 77.

On Lesson 4 you learned how to create Albums. Remember: Albums are the primary method for organizing photos in iPhoto. An album in iPhoto is virtually the same as a playlist in iTunes. You can create a New Album in the Source list by going to File > New Album or by pressing the + sign at the bottom of the Source column or by clicking Command-N. I also asked you to answer the 15 questions on the previous blog entry (you should have these answers in your "notes".)

You also learned how to reorder the photos in an album and how to add Comments, Keywords and Ratings to images. You learned to create Smart Albums (using Keywords and Ratings). Copy the following and paste it in your notes:

A keyword is a preset word or phrase that you can assign to any image. Assigning keywords makes it easy to find specific kinds of photos in your collection. You can select a keyword from a preset list or you can create your own keywords. Older versions: go to View > Keywords first; then go to iPhoto > Preferences > Keywords. Add a new keyword by pressing the + sign. New versions: go to Windows > Show Keywords (or Command–K) and add a new keyword by going to Edit Keywords and pressing the + sign, or add them directly under the pictures.

You can also add ratings to your photos. You can rate your images with 1 to 5 stars. Using keywords and ratings in your pictures is important when you want to create “Smart Albums”. You just go to the Information Pane and click and drag across the rating line (this will add the stars), while a picture is selected. If you want to see the ratings make sure that you select My Rating under View (or just Rating in newer versions under View also).

When you add individual pictures to iPhoto, iPhoto puts them in separate rolls or titles. You can always drag them to another film roll or title by dragging them there directly (on newer versions) or adding them to the film roll titles in older version.

You should also have in your notes the "Tips" on the following pages: 75, 84, 86, 101 and 107. Also the summary on page 115 ("What You've Learned").

So, by now you should be experts in creating Albums and Smart Albums in iPhoto. If you feel that you should review a few things, please do so. You should also know how to crop, enhance and straighten pictures, and how to remove red-eyes, as well as organizing your sources into Folders.

The following is your Class Assignment for September 17, 2008:

You will connect to the Server by going to Go on your Menu Bar (make sure you click on your Desktop first if you cannot see "Go" on your Menu Bar). If you don't see the Server's Address there, add: 10.1.10.2 and click Connect. Enter your Password and select iLife05 on the Window that pops up. There you'll see many folders with pictures. I need you to select two folders of your choice - DO NOT DOWNLOAD ALL THE PICTURES IN iPHOTO!!! Just select 15 to 20 pictures from one folder and drag them into the iPhoto Window. Do the same for the second folder. Make sure you change the name of the film roll (to whatever you want, it could be "Flowers", "Cute Animals", etc.) You should show the pictures as film rolls per topic, all the flower pictures, for instance, should appear under the film roll or title "Flowers".

Delete unwanted pictures - if any. Now, you'll learn to create a Slideshow with some of your favorite pictures. 1) Once your pictures are in iPhoto, create an Album called "Favorite Pictures" and add your favorite pictures there. 2) Create a Slideshow, by selecting your album and clicking the Slideshow button on the bottom of the iPhoto window - for newer versions of iPhoto: please press the + sign at the bottom of the Source Column and select Slideshow from the Window that pops up, or press Command-Shift-N. 3) Go to Settings and deselect "Repeat Slideshow", 3 seconds per slide is fine and make sure Automatic Ken Burns Effect is also selected; you can change the Transition if you want, click OK when done. 4) Go to Music and select a song. 5) Play your Slideshow and show it to Mrs. Feld.

When you complete this assignment you can go to Lesson 5. We will start on page 142 first - "Making a Quick Slideshow". Create the "Birthday Party" Slideshow per the book instructions. Type the definition of Transition, under No. 8, on page 147 in your notes. Also type the last 2 paragraphs on page 150 in your notes.

Shortcut Advice: Any time you need to undo the last thing you did you can go to Edit > Undo or just press Command-Z. Learn the shortcuts!