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Photos & iPhoto

Photos

From within the Photos App, click on the image you want to edit. Then click on the ‘Edit’ button. Click on the ‘Extensions’ button (looks like a circle with three dots inside) and select ‘More…’. Check the box next to ‘Edit in Acorn’. Now click on Extensions again and choose ‘Edit in Acorn’. Your image will open in Acorn. It is always a good idea to work on a copy of your image and not the original. When you are done editing your photo in Acorn, close your image and press the Save Changes button in Photos.

Share an Image with Photos

You can quickly share an image you have open in Acorn with Photos using the File ▸ Share ▸ Add to Photos menu item. Photos will open and your image will appear under ‘Last Import’.

iPhoto

Setting up iPhoto to use Acorn as its external editor iPhoto lets you choose an external editor for photos. While a lot of image correction can be done inside of iPhoto itself, Acorn is here to help with the more advanced editing.

  1. Open up iPhoto.
  2. Select from the menu iPhoto ▸ Preferences.
  3. Make sure the Advanced tab is selected (in older versions of iPhoto this was located in the General tab).
  4. Locate the pull down that says Edit Photos.
  5. Select the pull down and choose In application...
  6. A dialog box will open up, navigate to Applications and select Acorn.

Now when you hit the edit button with a photo selected in iPhoto, it will open the photo up in Acorn.

Quickly edit a photo from iPhoto This will allow you to quickly edit a photo from iPhoto, and keep it in iPhoto. Letting iPhoto take control of managing where the files are on your computer can be a great way to keep your computer clean and organized. With this method you will not be able to go back and undo, correct, or modify the changes you have made. For example, if you put text on your photo, once you hit save you will not be able to edit the text again.

  1. Select the photo you would like to edit in iPhoto. You might want to take this opportunity to duplicate it by choosing from the menu Photos ▸ Duplicate. Now you have a copy of the photo in case something goes awry. You can always delete the original one later.
  2. If you have Acorn set up as your external editor, then click the 'Edit' button in iPhoto to have your image open in Acorn. If you don't want to set up Acorn as the external editor, then drag and drop the duplicated photo onto Acorn's icon in the dock.
  3. Now your photo is open in Acorn. Add text, edit, and play.
  4. Choose File ▸ Save.
  5. Say ‘Save Anyway’ if Acorn pops up with a File Format Warning.
  6. Close the picture in Acorn.
  7. Now go back to iPhoto. If you double click the image to enlarge it, you will see your changes.

Note: Sometimes the thumbnail in iPhoto will not update right away to reflect the changes you have just made. However, if you open the photo up in iPhoto or add it into a book or calendar the changes that you have made will be present.

Additional Relevant Documentation

Using Acorn with Photos (video tutorial)