# What is your photo software of choice?



## okcomputer

How do you organize and process your images? Are you old school, using folders and opening up images individually in Photoshop or Pixelmator? Are you hardcore Adobe, using Bridge? Aperture or Lightroom?


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## John Clay

You left out iPhoto, which is (I would imagine) the most popular amongst the average user.

Editing photos from iPhoto in an external editor can work nicely, too.


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## okcomputer

John Clay said:


> You left out iPhoto, which is (I would imagine) the most popular amongst the average user.
> 
> Editing photos from iPhoto in an external editor can work nicely, too.


I guess I'd throw iPhoto under "Other." I should have put it, but it's too late now!


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## eMacMan

Generally I work with Bridge and either Preview or PS Elements.

Elements has all the power of PhotoShopCS but lacks CMYK ability. For me a key to a good photo editor is the ability to select and work on portions of an image. The wide array of selection tools make this incredibly easy in all the versions of PS.


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## kps

Lightroom --hands down! Practically replaced Photoshop in my workflow. I use Photoshop sparingly now...most likely out of habit.


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## okcomputer

I'm currently on the fence. After being an Aperture user since its first release, I have been having an affair with Lightroom. Version 4 really removes most of the complaints I had with it, except it does not bring true OS X full-screen capability, and it is still slightly slower than Aperture 3 when it comes to importing and being able to work on images immediately.

However, I feel like it's splitting hairs between the two apps. I love that Lightroom has lens correction options built in and that is probably the biggest reason I have been using it lately, besides the fact that I have a really great set of presets that I have purchased and customized, and that it has graduated filters. If Aperture 4 brings lens correction options and graduated filters, I might move back to using it, especially if they improve performance.

I hardly ever use photoshop anymore. I can do 99% of what I need to do in Aperture or Lightroom. I couldn't go back to Bridge or just using folders. The organizational aspects of Aperture/LR are phenomenal. I still pull out PS for major clone stamping or content-aware needs, but those are very few and far between. My goal is always to take the best image I can in the camera and do minimal editing.


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## rgray

iPhoto


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## fjnmusic

okcomputer said:


> I guess I'd throw iPhoto under "Other." I should have put it, but it's too late now!


iPhoto for iOS is a great little photo editor, especially for
mobile use.


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## macfoto

I like the combination of Graphic Converter for browsing photos and using Photoshop Elements for editing.


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## SINC

I use iPhoto and Preview more than ever now with a smattering of times that I use Photoshop. Apple's editing capabilities have really improved in those two programs.


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## heavyall

Photoshop, 5-10 hrs a day.

Folders in the finder, for sure, I'm organizing a lot more than just images in these jobs.


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## iFletcher

Aperture for organizing and Photoshop CS6 for editing.


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## since84

Photoshop Elements


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## okcomputer

iFletcher said:


> Aperture for organizing and Photoshop CS6 for editing.


Interesting. Besides the obvious content-aware, cloning, selections, and layers, what can't you do within Aperture?

I rarely find myself opening PS lately for straight up photo editing. Compositing and such is a different story of course.


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## eMacMan

okcomputer said:


> Interesting. Besides the obvious content-aware, cloning, selections, and layers, what can't you do within Aperture?
> 
> I rarely find myself opening PS lately for straight up photo editing. Composting and such is a different story of course.


Let's see I use layers and a variety of selection tools on at least 50% of my edits. For example I often leave the sky the way it is, while altering density on the rest of the photo. I love editable text and being able to apply layer effects to it. To each their own.


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## iFletcher

okcomputer said:


> Interesting. Besides the obvious content-aware, cloning, selections, and layers, what can't you do within Aperture?
> 
> I rarely find myself opening PS lately for straight up photo editing. Composting and such is a different story of course.


I think its more of a comfort level I have with PS. Was using PS long before Aperture.


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## tompatrick

iPhoto does the job for me.


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## screature

kps said:


> Lightroom --hands down! Practically replaced Photoshop in my workflow. I use Photoshop sparingly now...most likely out of habit.


Same for me... Lightroom. I use for Photoshop for more esoteric work and for use in graphic design work but for straight up photo editing, almost not at all any more.


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## eMacMan

Been playing in the Sandbox with the Snow Leopard. Gave the latest version of The GIMP a try. With the additional horsepower offered by the MacPro. The Gimp was only marginally slower than PhotoShop Elements 4 on a G4 eMac. 

No longer needs X11 but still has some bugs. The first couple of fonts I tried wanted to stay at 18 points and nothing else. Healing tool would not work for me either, although the cloning tool does work. 

If price is a problem and you need all or most of the tools in PhotoShop, might be worth giving this one a week or two. Either it will work for you or drive you crazy enough to spend the $100 on PS Elements.

Also tried Pixelmator but found it a bit on the lightweight side. Still it may be adequate for many users.


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## MacDoc

GraphicConverter to a degree for organizing. Preview for basic editing with a bit from the surprising tools on PhotoBucket.

Still trying to figure out which of the higher end but leaning to Aperture. Need to learn my camera better. I think I will switch to RAW for Aus but that means more disc space and I"m getting low.


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## Cliffy

I have been using an alternative to Aperture/Lightroom. Corel AfterShot Pro. It does a nice job.


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## FeXL

Photoshop/Bridge for editing, along with numerous plugins: Imagenomic Portraiture, Topaz Adjust, OnOne PhotoTools & PhotoFrame, couple others. I will rarely use Lightroom, usually for blown skies.

Also use Nik Color Efex Pro & Silver Efex Pro but starting to wean myself off of them. Nik was recently purchased by Google and if you consented to transferring all your info/data to Google, you get software support. I find Google invasive enough as it is, let alone freely supplying even more info about my business. Ain't happening & I turned 'em down. I quite like the Silver Efex but I'll run these versions 'til the wheels fall off & find something else. Topaz BW Effects is one we're currently testing. Too bad for Nik, as I was about to upgrade Color Efex & was also going to purchase Viveza. Lost trust & lost sales is hardly a winning combination. That & I have no faith in how long Google will keep Nik whole. Far too many times in the past decent companies have been purchased, dissected for what the new owner really wanted & left for dead.

We use Photomatix Pro for our HDR and Photo Mechanic for importing, batching & other things. We used to use Noise Ninja noise reduction software but they don't offer a 64 bit version, unless you use their recently released RAW converter which includes it. I've tried it, found it wanting, a bit clumsy and I'm just not interested in a new RAW converter at this point. They claim to have the ability to be used as a plugin from PS in the next iteration, we'll see.

As to cataloging, simply the finder. I have each year's worth of data set up in a different folder, that year is broken up into two subfolders, Sessions & Event. Within those I merely name/date either the Client or the Event. Eg, John Smith 12.02.12 or CCHS V-ball 11.24.12. All associated files go into that folder, jpg's, RAW's, tif's. Files are immediately backed up on a second HD in the computer, then backed up to an external which is swapped out regularly to an offsite location (3 copies at any given time). Backups are incremental via SuperDuper.

That about covers our "photo software".


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## okcomputer

Cliffy said:


> I have been using an alternative to Aperture/Lightroom. Corel AfterShot Pro. It does a nice job.


I tried it out, and it works well, but I just didn't see any advantage over Aperture or Lightroom and even on sale it's only $20 cheaper than Aperture.


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## Arne

Photo Mechanic, Expression Media (formerly iView Media Pro, presently MediaPro owned by PhaseOne), Adobe Camera Raw. Photoshop CS6.

I just purchased CaptureOne Pro and may switch to it for RAW processing

80 percent of my photography workflow is spent in Photo Mechanic, where I ingest, rename, back up, rank, and keyword. They are then fed into Adobe Camera Raw for processing, colour correction, etc., and then catalogued/archived using Expression Media for easy retrieval.

Photo Mechanic, a photo browser, is the speed champion when it comes to viewing and sorting files, including virtually every type of RAW file. It costs $150. If it were less than $50, I would suggest that it should be in every photographer's arsenal. But at $150, and especially now that Adobe Bridge has comparable tagging and categorizing capabilities, it might be a tough sell.


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## cklondon

Aperture 3. I jumped on board with the first version and it replaced 95% of what I used to do with Photoshop.


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## keebler27

okcomputer said:


> I tried it out, and it works well, but I just didn't see any advantage over Aperture or Lightroom and even on sale it's only $20 cheaper than Aperture.


The only concern I would have using a Corel product is that word on the street doesn't bode them well. Apparently they're on the block to be sold  So in terms of a future, it's in the air (although this is unofficial from someone who works there - not me...a friend).

Myself, I use Aperture only because I started with it. I've played with LR and I think it's great too, but I'm ingrained to using AP for now. If I was a pro, I'm sure I would do a much deeper analysis.

The key, however, is use whatever you can to organize, metatag if you so desire then most definitely BACK UP  (which is an entirely different thread 

Cheers,
Keebler


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## ladyjean

Any suggestions for someone who is not experienced with photo editing software? I used "picture It" when I had a PC which allowed me to do a lot of things and was very easy to use. I have been using iphoto since I got my Mac 4 years ago. I would like to be able to do a little more than it's editing allows. Should I upgrade the iphoto or go to another program, I really need to keep it easy to use. Adobe was too difficult for me to give you some idea. Sure wish there was a "Picture It" for Mac.
Thanks, Jean


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## FeXL

Photoshop Elements, Lightroom or Aperture.


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## pm-r

I see that the wonderful old PPC "iView MediaPro" (until Microsoft took it over and the price went ballistic), has been taken over and resurrected for Intel Mac use as "Media Pro".

photo management software

My sons used to use the iView Media Pro years ago but I think they now use Lightroom and some other app. iPhoto just doesn't do what they want or need.


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## Lawrence

ladyjean said:


> Any suggestions for someone who is not experienced with photo editing software? I used "picture It" when I had a PC which allowed me to do a lot of things and was very easy to use. I have been using iphoto since I got my Mac 4 years ago. I would like to be able to do a little more than it's editing allows. Should I upgrade the iphoto or go to another program, I really need to keep it easy to use. Adobe was too difficult for me to give you some idea. Sure wish there was a "Picture It" for Mac.
> Thanks, Jean


Color it 
But, They are still working on a version for OSX 10.7
So, If you are using an earlier version of OSX then you might like this program

Otherwise, I'd suggest Lemkesoft's GraphicConverter


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## iamunique127

I used Aperture from version 2 until this Sept. when I got fed up with how slow it was making my 2008 Intel iMac. I was convinced it was time for a new Mac. As a last ditch effort I tried Lightroom 4 and found out what everyone else had been raving about. 

Although I was very pleased with Aperture (and I feel it is still superior at some tasks) I far prefer Lighroom. Overall it is much more powerful, IMO. Apple has been so late with a new version of Aperture it seems the rumours of it's demise may be true. Even ApertureExpert seems to be starving on his site from lack of anything to talk about.

I bought Elements after hearing time and again that it was the same as PS for photographs. After about the third time I found it lacking I broke down and bought CS6. As someone said earlier, Pixelmator is just too light.


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## pm-r

FWIW: I just got an email promo for "Pixa" if it would work or be useful for some users:

Pixa 1.0.2 for $17.99 - 40% off

"Pixa is a new image organizing application for OS X 10.7. The new app functions well, is easy to use, and helps people organize their images quickly and easily on their computers. ..."

Download Pixa for Mac - Quickly and easily organize your images. MacUpdate.com

Just being a messenger here..


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## eMacMan

iamunique127 said:


> I used Aperture from version 2 until this Sept. when I got fed up with how slow it was making my 2008 Intel iMac. I was convinced it was time for a new Mac. As a last ditch effort I tried Lightroom 4 and found out what everyone else had been raving about.
> 
> Although I was very pleased with Aperture (and I feel it is still superior at some tasks) I far prefer Lighroom. Overall it is much more powerful, IMO. Apple has been so late with a new version of Aperture it seems the rumours of it's demise may be true. Even ApertureExpert seems to be starving on his site from lack of anything to talk about.
> 
> I bought Elements after hearing time and again that it was the same as PS for photographs. After about the third time I found it lacking I broke down and bought CS6. As someone said earlier, Pixelmator is just too light.


PM me if you are interested in selling your copy of PS Elements. My old version 4 still works in Snow Leopard and I managed to get the Twain drivers to work as well. Sadly Adobe Bridge will only work within the user account where it was installed. A royal PIA as I do not use my admin profile for everyday use and find Bridge is crucial as an incredibly efficient way to assign keywords.

That said I hate the prospect of having to learn PS all over again which seems to be part and parcel of the Adobe cycle.


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## ladyjean

Lawrence said:


> Color it
> But, They are still working on a version for OSX 10.7
> So, If you are using an earlier version of OSX then you might like this program
> 
> Otherwise, I'd suggest Lemkesoft's GraphicConverter



Thank you, I will try Color It as I have 10.6 Looks to be exactly what I need. Thanks again.


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## squaresnappr

I use Capture One Pro and it is the best for tethering. I have Lightroom 4 and is just not as snappy as C1Pro. I also have the capture pilot on my iPad and iPhone. This feature is really awesome.


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## greenyoga

PS is very interesting for me.


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## bryanc

For scientific imaging, I use ImageJ (Fiji, actually), and Photoshop to assemble/annotate figures extensively. My wife is a photographer and photoshop wizard; since she started using Aperture, she hardly ever uses photoshop anymore, but still uses it occasionally. So Aperature + a bit of photoshop would be her answer, and Fiji + photoshop would be mine.


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