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iPhoto is a lot more powerful than most people give it credit for. Not only can it store, display and organise your photos in a really cool, convenient way, but with a little digging you can find features that will make the process of searching and finding photos a lot easier than without them. In the last tutorial (pg 40) we showed you how to add keywords to your snaps; in this tutorial we’ll take things one step further and show you how to put those keywords to an incredibly cool use. With the use of the Manage Keywords window you can not only refine the words you’ve used but also add brilliant shortcuts that will have you sailing through your collection in no time at all. Like we said in the previous tutorial, if you get into the habit of managing and editing keywords as you import your pictures it will save you the need to do huge housekeeping jobs much later down the line.
1: Access it
Open up iPhoto and then use the Window option on the top menu for iPhoto; alternatively use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+K.
2: Drag and drop
When the new window appears you will see all of your keywords as little buttons. You can drag and drop these into the top space to add as a shortcut.
3: See them all
Thankfully the window can be resized so you can see all of your keywords and they can be easily dragged too. Make the window as big as you need.
4: Keep on adding
Drag and drop as many keywords into the shortcut window as you like. In the button you’ll now see a letter – this is your new shortcut button.
5: Time to edit
With your top bar adequately stacked with your favourite keywords it’s time to refine the shortcuts and do some housekeeping. Hit the Edit button.
6: Rename them
Make changes to keywords to either make them more specific or make them much more general. Use the Rename button to make modifications.
7: Change shortcuts
With a keyword that has a shortcut selected, use the Shortcut button to begin editing the shortcut. We find numbers far easier to remember than letters.
8: Remove too
You can also use this editing window to add and remove keywords using the plus and minus buttons. If you opt to remove, an iPhoto prompt will appear.
9: Nicely numbered
After a couple of minutes’ work you will see that your keywords shortcut list suits you better and your main body of keywords should be much tighter.
Click Image to Enlarge:
This tutorial is the seventh in our Learn iPhoto Week series; for more articles just like this, visit the Learn iPhoto Week tag. At the end of the week, we’ll be giving away a prize to one lucky person who gets in touch with a question or problem related to iPhoto on Mac or iOS. To get involved, simply tweet your question, plus the hashtag #LearniPhotoWeek, to @iCreateMagazine or post on our Facebook wall.
