Mac Users - software of choice

as-i-said said:
LR2 trial is going well, still havent found out where it puts them though:cuckoo:
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It leaves them where they were, that is the main reason I changed from Aperture (although I found out later that you can actually do this with Aperture too). It makes its own table with the information about photos in it. Look at the options in the import photos wizard.
 
cowasaki said:
It leaves them where they were, that is the main reason I changed from Aperture (although I found out later that you can actually do this with Aperture too). It makes its own table with the information about photos in it. Look at the options in the import photos wizard.
Click to expand...


thanks ;)
 
I have Aperture 2 on my iMac and Nikon Capture DX2 on my MacBook. I'm still not sure which I prefer most... a morphing of both would be superb. I also have Photomatix and Portrait Professional for the rare times I take portraits.

I've never been able to get my head around PS... can't stand the layers and far prefer the non-destructive element of Aperture. Cost is also a factor; I can't see the point of spending shed loads of money on PS just to "finish things off". About the only thing I would use PS for is adding a watermark, and I'm determined to find something that can do that for a lot less than £400
 
I have started using Photoshop more and more (mainly because I need to justify the ludicrous outlay to the wife :)). Actually I'm really starting to enjoy it now. Up to now I've been using mainly Aperture (which in itself is a very good image processor)
 
I use PS CS3 and I love it :love: Thought about upgrading to CS4 Extended as some extra features that would be quite useful (like stack processing to reduce noise for example). Never tried LR, aperture or Iphoto. I use a Mac Pro and IPhotos not included. :)
 
IMHO prev posts are right - it's what works best for you.

I am a recent convert to lightroom 2 - I downloaded aperture and lightroom and personally took to lightroom in an instant - I'd recommend you do the same and see which you feel is best.

iphoto - ssssllllloooooooowwwww. :bang: Forget it - I really only used it to store images and the posts above confirm that you can do it way better in aperture or lightroom (and poss others). Lightroom has a great raw converter and you can really pump the images very quickly. If you need more control or more specifics then it's on to the next step....

Photoshop CS3 - if you're going to do any serious post processing you're going to need ps elements or full version or similar.

Get yourself a wacom tablet - very very useful and great fun to use. I wouldn't be without mine. For me I have an A4 (A3 is too big and takes up too much desk - forget it unless you want to show off!) but started on A5 - I'm sure the small ones are just as useful.

Loads of hard disk space and ram! Although this seems less of an issue these days... But it is cheap.

If you work on a laptop like me and spend lots of time in photoshop I'd seriously consider a second monitor - either big to work on or piddly to stuff your pallettes on - your choice.

These are just my thoughts - good luck!
 
I use aperture 2 and think it is an excellent program. A lot of editing can now be done within aperture with the availability of new plugins. It also integrates extremely well with PS (I have elements 6 version).

The two programs together make a nice neat package. Also good value for money.

Only minor point but found upgrading to 4GB ram in my macbook pro helped to speed up both applications to an acceptable level.
 
I find this to be a winning combination:

Lightroom for quick transfer to the Mac, easy image selection/rejection, meta-data/file organisation, colour/tonal adjustments and publishing.

PhotoShop for any 'heavy-duty' retouches that involve layering or large amounts of cloning.

I wouldn't want to be without Lightroom because it makes organising & tagging your files very easy and because it makes basic adjustments fast and easy. I wouldn't want to be without PhotoShop because it allows me to do more complex retouches.

It's an expensive solution though! On a budget, I guess you could use iPhoto instead of Lightroom and GIMP instead of PhotoShop (yikes!).

I have Aperture too but I use Lightroom because it has adjustment brushes.
 
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