January 27, 2005

10:36 AM

iPhoto 5: I love the new iPhoto and I'm really impressed with the new photobook formats. I want to order one, but after using the auto-format, half the images did a nice full page bleed while others are tiny and centered on the page. I can't seem to figure out how to stretch the smaller photos into a full page bleed. The photos are all the same large size and bit depth. Anyone figure this out yet?
posted by mathowie to (8 comments total)

First off, this is only based on my experience with iPhoto 4, because I haven't bought iPhoto 5 yet. However, I ran into the same thing when I've made books in the past.

As I recall, each page is based on a template that you can change on a page-by-page basis. When I made a book for my grandmother, for example, some of the pages had two picture and some three pictures, but I could change these around via a menu at the bottom of the iPhoto screen. Once I changed a page, all of the pictures would flow into the new layout based on the order that they were in in my album. I ended up generating the book, picking different page layouts, rearranging the order of my picture in the base album, go back to the book and repeat until I was happy. I'd imagine there might be something similar for the new book layouts.


As an aside, how is the performance compared to iPhoto 4? I've been hearing mixed reviews.....
posted by Read at 11:52 AM on January 27, 2005

I always had somewhat buggy, slow performance with iPhoto 4, so for me, 5 seems tighter, faster, and more stable. But it's not perfect, and I still get a lag when changing image sizes or jumping to edit and back.

One thing I've noticed is that I can't seem to open images in external editors with a right click, only if I eschew the built in editor on double click. Before with iPhoto 4, I could set a double click to open the iphoto editor and the right click to open in Photoshop, but it's greyed out for me in 5.
posted by mathowie at 12:28 PM on January 27, 2005

performance: I'm pleased with it. When it's "taking time" it throws a thumbnail of the picture, so at least you have an idea of what photo you're working on.

Matt's Problem:

With 48 photos, I chose collage and did an auto layout (all the photos are identical size and bit depth.)

Ok: so the "page type" dictates the layout. For example, on a two page Collage, one is small photo is laid on top of a larger photo (both at angles). If I want to change which photo is where, I can drag & drop.

But I can't change the angle nor size.

The idea is that you have a preset, beautiful looking page. I'm unclear on how well it handles odd sizing of photos.

Now if you want to "manually" layout the book - you still are using their templates. At the top where the page browser is, there is a button (top left) where you can take the unused photos and drag them into the templates.
posted by filmgeek at 12:30 PM on January 27, 2005

The setting for editing photos is found under preferences...perhaps you should set the app first?

It works over here. Bonus - sometimes I like the retouch & red eye in iPhoto. If you set it to double click in an external app, the Edit button still uses iPhotos' built in editor.
posted by filmgeek at 12:34 PM on January 27, 2005

Weird, I just got the Apple eNews mailer, which states "In addition to great new themes...??iPhoto 5 features a totally redesigned and dramatically improved book layout tool. After automatically laying out a book for you, it lets you experiment freely?drag photos from page to page or change themes or layouts on the fly. "

I'm sure you prefer an unbiased opinion, but I thought it oddly coincidental that the email arrived as I was reading this thread. Matt, are you on the Apple eNews list? If you like, I'll forward the email to you.

Also in this week's eNews: Peachpit Press just published a new QT movie: "January 21, iLifeTV #1: Getting to Know iPhoto 5". You can download it here. I haven't watched it yet, but it may hold the answer you're looking for.
posted by mds35 at 12:39 PM on January 27, 2005

No, I know you can move photos around on the pages and stuff, it's just that on my first test of a small "Portfolio" book, I have some pages with just one photo on them, and the photo is small, while other pages with one photo fill the entire page. They both seem to be the same page type. I'll keep trying though.

On the external app thing, iPhoto automatically knew about Photoshop (carried over from my iPhoto4 settings I'm guessing), but the option still seems grayed out to me. I'll try resetting PS as the app.
posted by mathowie at 12:48 PM on January 27, 2005

Here's the problem I'm seeing as a screenshot. Both of these page types are set to "One" but one is full bleed, the other is not, and I can't figure out how to fix that. It's a small version of the Portfolio template.
posted by mathowie at 1:06 PM on January 27, 2005

Aha! filmgeek figured it out. The subtle hidden button "Page Design" does the layout of each page type, and a full bleed image was an option there.
posted by mathowie at 1:08 PM on January 27, 2005