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Change iPhoto album slideshow defaults Apps
Although I don't use iPhoto for managing my digital images, I wanted to be able to watch slideshows using Front Row on a Mac mini connected to a projector. I created a Folder Action Script to pick up a folder of images from a hot folder, and then import those images to an iPhoto album with the same name as the folder.

The problem was that the slideshow settings had to be adjusted for each album individually. I tried changing the settings for the library. That saved the music settings, but other options like slide duration, looping, and the Ken Burns effect weren't applied to new albums. I assumed that the settings would be stored in a .plist file. The file is com.apple.iPhoto.plist in the ~/Library » Preferences folder. I used the following commands from Terminal to set the slide duration to four seconds, disable the Ken Burns effect, and disable looping:
$ defaults write com.apple.iPhoto SlideDuration -int 4
$ defaults write com.apple.iPhoto SlideShowAutoPanAndZoom -string NO
$ defaults write com.apple.iPhoto LoopSlides -string NO
Note that this will only affect new albums. Settings for existing albums are stored in the AlbumData.xml file in your iPhoto library folder.

[robg adds: I tried this, but it doesn't seem to work as described on my machine. I'm posting it in the hopes that someone out there has better luck than I -- this would be quite useful if it worked. The commands do what they should do -- modify the plist file to reflect the new values -- but my newly-created albums don't reflect those settings. We have this older tip that talks about using the Library settings to get rid of the music, but it's the other options that I'd like more control over. If anyone has any suggestions/fixes, please post in the comments.]
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Change iPhoto album slideshow defaults
Authored by: Gill26 on May 10, '07 03:59:04PM

I opened com.apple.iPhoto.plist in Property List Editor and i can change to values and it works great. This will be useful when I have to teach a class and I want to limit the students.
Looks like it will work in iMovie also (com.apple.iMovie.plist)



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Change iPhoto album slideshow defaults
Authored by: gfxmonk on May 10, '07 05:31:47PM

Regarding the mentioned applescript to import photos into an album with the same name as the folder... How do you do this?

I've looked everywhere, but not found a way to use applescript to add photos to an album. Am I missing something?



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Change iPhoto album slideshow defaults
Authored by: bnj on May 23, '07 12:41:44PM

How do you get completely rid of the music?

I tried to change the default song. It worked. But if I want to play no music (unchecked the "Play music during slideshow"), it does not keep this setting for new slideshows. Does anybody know how to do that? Thank you.



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Change iPhoto album slideshow defaults
Authored by: bnj on Aug 08, '07 01:44:31PM
OK, I finally found the answer to my own question. Type defaults write com.apple.iPhoto EnableBackgroundMusic -string NO or change this setting in the Property List Editor. By the way, there is something strange on my MacBook: I do _not_ have the Property List Editor. I have it on my MacMini, although I bought both computer almost at the same time (less than one year ago). Does anybody else have this problem?

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Change iPhoto album slideshow defaults
Authored by: ben42 on Jan 13, '08 06:56:47AM

This seems to work for me. In fact, it works not only for new albums but also for existing ones. I'm running iPhoto 6 and 10.4.11.



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