What is it?
Apple’s iPhoto is a basic image storing and organizing solution for Apple computers that is part of the iLife suite. With iPhoto, users can import images from cameras or folders, create albums, and perform basic photo-editing. iPhoto is also strongly integrated with the rest of Apple’s iLife and iWork suites so that once an image is in iPhoto it may be easily dragged into iMovie, Pages, Keynote, etc. Many Web2.0 applications also support some form of integration with iPhoto.
Key features
- Easily import and organize photos from digital devices and preexisting folders.
- Quick fixes for common problems with digital photos.
- Tools to crop, resize, rotate and reformat images.
- A variety of effects and filters to simulate photography and painting techniques.
Who uses it?
iPhoto is used by many home and educational users for a range of basic image organizational and editing needs. Because it arrives pre-installed on all Macintosh computers, iPhoto has become a very commonly used image organizing and manipulating software.
How does it work?
iPhoto is designed to allow easy importing from digital cameras, scanners, picture CDs and the internet. Almost all digital cameras work without additional software, as do many scanners. iPhoto supports most common image file formats.
Once photos are imported, they can be optionally titled, labeled, sorted and organized into groups (known as “events”). Individual photos can be edited with basic image manipulation tools, such as a red-eye filter, contrast and brightness adjustments, crop and resize and other basic functions.
Numerous options then exist to share photos. Photo albums can be made into dynamic slideshows, and optionally set to music imported from iTunes. These slideshows can be exported to QuickTime movie files, further edited in iMovie or burned directly to DVD-video discs using iDVD. iPhoto can also sync photo albums to any iPod with a color display. These iPods have an audio/video output that allow photos to be played back, along with music, on any modern television.
Things to consider before using iPhoto
- If you are interested in performing more advanced image editing and manipulation, other applications such as Photoshop might be a more appropriate choice.
- Once images have been imported and organized into iPhoto, it can be difficult to import that iPhoto library into libraries on other machines or to merge it with other libraries.
- If you are interested in having a more collaborative space for organizing and sharing images, a web-based application such as Flickr might be a more appropriate choice.
Uses as an Instructional Technology
Manipulation of images to illustrate course concepts
- Instructors can use iPhoto to manipulate images during class discussion to highlight concepts or ideas visually, such as the composition of a photograph or the choice of color in a painting that is representative of a particular phase of an artist’s career.
As a tool to enhance lectures
- Instructors can use iPhoto as a repository to hold many images for use during a lecture. The ability to create many albums or ‘events’ makes it easy to organize images according to topic or specific lecture.
- Instructors can use iPhoto as a repository for student-created images, although it is significantly difficult for multiple users to add to the same iPhoto library.
Resizing digital photos for classroom display and for use in course Web spaces
- The files created by digital still cameras are usually too large in height and width to be used effectively in course Web spaces like woodle. iPhoto can be used to resize these images so they will display properly in the Web browser for these tools.
- iPhoto can be used to format images so they will display properly on an iPod, which can then be used to connect to a classroom projection system to display images to a class.
Resources at Wooster
- iPhoto is available on virtually any Macintosh computer on campus.
- Instructional Technology provides basic instruction and support for iPhoto.
The content on this page was derived from webpages maintained by the Duke University Center for Instructional Technology and the iPhoto page maintained by WIkipedia.