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Apple issues iPhoto update to support iCloud, more

Apple's iPhoto program has been updated to incorporate iCloud support, allowing photos to be pushed between Macs and mobile devices using iOS 5.

Topher Kessler MacFixIt Editor
Topher, an avid Mac user for the past 15 years, has been a contributing author to MacFixIt since the spring of 2008. One of his passions is troubleshooting Mac problems and making the best use of Macs and Apple hardware at home and in the workplace.
Topher Kessler
2 min read

Along with today's release of the iCloud service and OS X 10.7.2, Apple has issued an update to iPhoto '11 (version 9) that incorporates support for iCloud and devices running iOS 5, in addition to fixing a number of bugs, and performance and compatibility issues that have cropped up for users. According to the update, the following features have been added or fixed in the update:

The iPhoto update is available via Software Update Screenshot by Topher Kressler
  • Left and right swipe gestures can now be used to navigate between photos in Magnify (1-up) view.

  • Previously imported photos are now displayed in a separate section of the Import window.

  • Book/calendar themes and card categories can now be selected using a pop-up menu in the carousel view.

  • Resolves an issue that could cause some pages of books to print incorrectly.

  • Rebuilding a library now correctly preserves saved slideshows and books.

The update is a significant 376.3MB download through Software Update, but as with other updates should soon be available on Apple's support downloads site.

Though the update should go smoothly for most people, in the past some people have had troubles with iPhoto updates, especially for people with multiple libraries, extensively customized libraries, or other unconventional setups. Be sure you not only back up your entire system, but check to ensure your iPhoto libraries are also securely backed up before applying this update. If you keep your libraries on separate drives than the main boot drive, it may help to manually back them up to ensure they are safe.

As with other updates, if you have any problems with installing this update, you can either restore your system from the backup you made beforehand and try again, or you can also try replacing the iPhoto libraries with your backed-up versions and trying the program again if the problem was a temporary issue with upgrading or otherwise handling the libraries.

iPhoto library repair
Holding the Option and Command keys together when launching iPhoto will bring up the library repair and rebuilding tools, which may be useful if you are having problems with your library after updating to the latest version of iPhoto. Screenshot by Topher Kressler

If problems with updating libraries continues, when you have restored your backup you might consider launching iPhoto with the Option and Command keys held down. Doing this will bring up the iPhoto library repair and maintenance routines, so try running them on your library to ensure it is set up correctly before installing the latest version of iPhoto and upgrading your library to match it.



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