Mac 101: The Open File dialog's media browser

Updated to clarify that the media browser option is in the Open dialog, not in Finder windows.

More Mac 101, our series of tips for new and novice Mac OS X users. Here's a tip that I was recently reminded of while choosing photos from a web browser for upload. Mac OS X Leopard~~'s Finder~~ has a handy media browser built into the open dialog box, not entirely unlike that found in the iLife suite.

Let's say you're looking for a photo to upload to Flickr or similar service. With your browser open, select Open from the File menu to invoke the Open Dialog Box. On the left hand side, select Media. Now you can browse your iPhoto library and even scrub through Events if you have iLife '09 installed. From there, select the photo you want, click Open and you've got it.

There are also a couple of tricks available that aren't immediately obvious. First, control-click (or right-click on your mouse) any neutral space in the dialog box to bring up a contextual menu with the option to switch between icon view and list view. Once in list view, the contextual menu adds options to open a file in its parent app, reveal its location in the Finder and display information columns (name, size, kind, etc.).

Additionally, hitting the space bar with an item selected highlights it, similar to Quick Look. A photo is brought to the forefront and music and movie previews are played.

It's handy, often overlooked and a great way to ensure that you've got exactly the file you want.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/category/mac-101/

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Mac 101

Updated to clarify that the media browser option is in the Open dialog, not in Finder windows. More Mac 101, our series of tips for new and...

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chris

this is a very buggy and limited feature. there are no sorting or viewing options and it is slow with large libraries. hopefully this is fixed in 10.6

July 28 2009 at 5:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Craig Stanton

That's strange. I only see Photobooth in my media browser but I have iLife '09. Anyone solved that problem?

July 28 2009 at 1:34 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Benjamin

Is there a way for the dialog to remember, for example, which event it is in once a photo has been chosen?

Say I am Placing images to a Photoshop document, and all the images are in the same event. Every time I place a new image I have to scroll to find the event, then scroll to the picture. Gets very repetitive...

Seem to remember in windows there was a way to tell the dialog box to remember where they were...

July 27 2009 at 4:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Adrian vG

Ah, Finder doesn't have that, but Safari, for instance, does. How come I've missed that one? :)

July 27 2009 at 3:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Frank Tinsley

Just add the preference RIGHT HERE http://idisk.me.com/franktinsley/Public/Dockdrop/Picture%201.png Apple, plskthxbye

July 27 2009 at 3:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Frank Tinsley's comment

Adrian vG

where? I see no "photo", "music" or "movies"

July 27 2009 at 3:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Frank Tinsley

Yeah I REALLY wish media library browsing was available in finder.

July 27 2009 at 3:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Martin

Thats NOT THE FINDER !

It's standard file, the standard Open dialogs found in every application.

The FInder is an application.

July 27 2009 at 2:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

someone

The thing I'm most bummed about is the lack of a grouping within this browser for choosing a picture sorted by faces... I use this browser a lot when changing my profile picture for sites and what not.

July 27 2009 at 2:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

michaeldavidcohen

How do you enable that? I haven't seen the option in my Finder's preferences.

July 27 2009 at 2:25 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Joseph

mac user since the LC II and i never knew about this. New to leopard? hahah 101 stuff. amazing. I am humbled.

July 27 2009 at 2:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Joseph's comment

Joseph

just showed my wife. She runs our iphoto library, and has been copying stuff to the desktop and then deleting it, per my advice. You just saved us about 10 steps. and 100 years.

July 27 2009 at 2:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply