Freeware tool iPhoto Buddy, which allows you to split your gigantic iPhoto library into smaller, more manageable volumes, received an incremental upgrade to version 1.18 recently. The latest edition integrates with Apple’s new iLife ’04 suite and includes better support for long library names.
While iPhoto 4, which is part of iLife ’04, introduces a more nimble photo library, iPhoto Buddy creator Rick Neil notes on his Web site: “Using multiple Libraries allows you to organize your photos the way you want to, rather than just chronologically. And it preserves the tried and true paradigm in which each program has a collection of user-created and user-managed documents (in this case, Libraries) in which it stores its data.”
iPhoto Buddy also works with iMovie and iDVD; you can use it to open either application and import photos from any of your libraries for inclusion in movies and DVDs. And it features several preference panes from which you can tailor how the application interacts with the three iApps.
System requirements call for Mac OS X v.10.2.4 (Jaguar) or higher, iPhoto 2 or higher, iMovie 3 or higher, and iDVD 3 or higher. iPhoto Buddy occupies no more than 6MB of hard drive space. And while it is freeware, Neil does ask for a small donation if you download it from his Web site and find it useful.