Most users of Apple’s iPhoto believe that it is a pillar of software engineering. It makes it easy to organize and manage photos, as well as color correct, fix redeye, and even email images. Apple did such a nice job engineering the interface the people rarely take the time to examine additional features that can only be found in the program’s powerful menus.
For example, Apple has made it exceptionally easy to publish a photo archive to a Mac.com based user account. Apple even added an icon to the interface the puts the feature in plain sight. That is great, if you are willing to shell out the yearly fee for a mac.com membership. But many iPhoto users don’t use mac.com, and would still like to publish their photos to the web.
Good news! Just select the range of photos you would like to publish and choose the File -> Export… and you will find additional ways to export photos from iPhoto. In this case, just click on the Web Page button at the top of the Export window, and fill in the optional information. When you click export, you will be prompted to select an export destination on the hard drive. iPhoto will export your images to this destination and create the necessary HTML pages. When the export is done, you will have a set of files that you simply need to FTP to your web server. If you are not familiar with the FTP process, odds are that a Mac.com account will make your life a dream. However, if you want to FTP the files yourself and are looking for a great FTP client, checkout Panic Software’s Transmit. It is a first-class FTP client for the Mac.
The Web Page Export function of iPhoto is so powerful that it not only exports the images from iPhoto but it automatically creates web pages with both thumbnail views of the photos, as well as larger versions that show more detail. If you are interested in an example image archive, hit my personal site by clicking here. Also check out OWCLarry’s photos from his most recent wilderness excursion by clicking here.
The lesson to be leaned here is one of exploration. It is well worth the time to dig deeper into Apple’s iApps. They often contain lesser-known features that can make owning a Mac even more fun!
