photo editing sw for iMac...??? [Archive] - Large Format Photography Forum

BradS

16-Jul-2009, 14:13

Joanna Carter

16-Jul-2009, 14:21

I'm buying an Apple iMac and wondering about the software they offer as part of the order process. They offer Aperture 2 photo editing software at a discount if you bundle it at the time of purchase...

Any opinions or feedback with this software? My needs are very modest - basically need to scan, crop and re-size....not really much else. Would be really cool to be able to easily....uhm, construct a color image from scans of color separation negs too but, I've never done that just sounds really interesting.
As far as I can tell, Aperture is designed primarily for digital camera workflow but I am open to correction. As far as compositing Tri-Colour images, I am fairly certain that you would really be better off getting Photoshop from the get-go.

Shen45

16-Jul-2009, 18:40

I'm buying an Apple iMac and wondering about the software they offer as part of the order process. They offer Aperture 2 photo editing software at a discount if you bundle it at the time of purchase...

Any opinions or feedback with this software? My needs are very modest - basically need to scan, crop and re-size....not really much else. Would be really cool to be able to easily....uhm, construct a color image from scans of color separation negs too but, I've never done that just sounds really interesting.

Have a look at this link Brad .. the price is amazing :)

Not certain if it is for you Mac.

http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/

Steve

Captain_joe6

16-Jul-2009, 18:44

Aperture is not built for intense image editing. It really shines when you give it a good RAW file to begin with, or a good scan, and only need to do color corrections and some minor spotting, but if you want to do anything more than that, you've got to work in Photoshop. In my opinion, Aperture would be the most ideal image editing application if it added only hr ability to make selections within the image, and work on those discreet selected areas. Perhaps in Aperture 3...

But yes, go with Photoshop. You'll be happier.

And, as a final note, Aperture beats the hell out of Lightroom for doing conversions to B&W. Hands down.

That is all.

BradS

16-Jul-2009, 19:27

Have a look at this link Brad .. the price is amazing :)

Not certain if it is for you Mac.

http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks! I've use the Gimp a little bit. It is realy quite a package....takes some getting used to....is there an easy way to tri-color ....uh...how do you call it when you construct a color image from B&W color separation negs? I guess the trick to doing this is aligning the three (or four) images accurately.

Joanna Carter

17-Jul-2009, 01:52

Thanks! I've use the Gimp a little bit. It is realy quite a package....takes some getting used to....is there an easy way to tri-color ....uh...how do you call it when you construct a color image from B&W color separation negs? I guess the trick to doing this is aligning the three (or four) images accurately.
In theory, Gimp should be able to do tri-colour images. I went to the trouble of downloading and having a play with it, read some of the docs and a couple of tutorials and, yes, it can do a lot of things but my feeling is that it is not as easy or intuitive as Photoshop. Of course, there is quite a price difference between Gimp and Photoshop and, from my experience, the difference is justified in terms of productivity.

Patrick Dixon

17-Jul-2009, 03:28

I've used gimp quite a bit and now switched to PS.

You get used to either interface but gimp doesn't do 16 bit files or adjustment layers which are pretty useful IMO.

You can manually align on either package using overlay layers and adjusting opacity - so that you can move one layer over another.

BradS

17-Jul-2009, 09:05

In theory, Gimp should be able to do tri-colour images. I went to the trouble of downloading and having a play with it, read some of the docs and a couple of tutorials and, yes, it can do a lot of things but my feeling is that it is not as easy or intuitive as Photoshop. Of course, there is quite a price difference between Gimp and Photoshop and, from my experience, the difference is justified in terms of productivity.

...and here you've hit upon on the main point. The Gimp seems very capable but impossibly arcane. It took me nearly fifteen minutes just to figure out how to get it to scan a neg, crop the resulting image and save as a TIFF. I still haven't figured out how to fix dust and scratches with it. These activities are all relatively easy with the limited version of Photoshop that was bundled with the scanner.

Patrick Dixon

17-Jul-2009, 10:10

I still haven't figured out how to fix dust and scratches with it.

Use the clone tool which is pretty much identical to the PS one.

Photojeep

24-Jul-2009, 09:52

I don't know about the tri-color sep thing but in addition to Photoshop, I also use Lightroom. At my college, we have our classrooms set up with iMacs for student use and they run PS (actually the entire CS4 suite) and Lightroom with zero problems. The machine is robust and powerful so I think any software you choose will work just fine.

Best,
Randy

Wayne Crider

24-Jul-2009, 18:51

My buddy, a professional wedding/portrait photographer, uses Aperture exclusively. I did some small 35mm work, scanned it and turned it over to him for a newsletter he was doing for a client of mine. I got to tell you I was very impressed with the capabilities when it ran me thru the palettes and showed me some of the tricks of the program. It's not a selection/layer type of program like PS, but it's color/saturation/brightness and levels abilities, (amongst others) and it's file handling is pretty sweet. It's more tuned in to the standard Photographers needs and not so much for the digital artist who really needs to manipulate/layer correct stuff. If I had a newer computer that could run it I'd buy it without a thought and it would be a perfect complement to PS as sometimes you just need a little revision, especially when working on a number of files.

rphenning

27-Jul-2009, 10:44

Aperture 2 slowed down/froze my computer with 10MB raw files from a digital so I wouldn't begin to think about giving it scans from film. I uninstalled and installed it, updated it, opened and closed it and nothing worked.

It was a cool program I suppose but I didn't like much about it at all simply because of the way it killed my Macbook Pro. I not too long ago switched to photoshop elements of all things and that is perfect for spotting negatives, resizing, and making sure the colors are correct to the negative.

Gem Singer

27-Jul-2009, 11:03

I use Photoshop Elements 6.0 with my IMac, along with 4 gigs of memory.

Works like a charm for both color shots with a DSLR and scans from large format B&W negatives.

Elements is a fraction of the cost of the full blown version of Photoshop, and it is much simpler to operate.

I'm not a computer genius, and if I can learn to use Elements for editing and printing, anyone can do it.

Dennis

27-Jul-2009, 11:19

I am still using elements 2 and it does everything I need. Might say more about my needs than the program. You can do quite a lot with photoshop elements.

dcypher

17-Aug-2009, 06:39

Nothing beats the Photomechanic and Photoshop (elements) combo, imho... Photomechanic is a very fast image browser, also works perfect with scanned images and it is the best IPTC captioning tool around. Once you get to know it, it will save you lots of time. PS or PS elements for the image adjustments only off course :-)

bbauer

19-Aug-2009, 12:36

For me Photoshop was an easy choice because of the number of books available for everything from a complete novice to the sophisticated stuff that I've never had a need for but glad to know is available if I ever move in that direction.

BradS

19-Aug-2009, 14:05

I actually have been getting on pretty well with Gimp. Running version 2.6 at home now and so far, it seems much better than the earlier version i had tried some years ago.

Gregg Cook

20-Aug-2009, 23:01

Google Picasa for freeware, Lightroom for workflow and basics, Photoshop if you need real image editing power.

nossky

24-Aug-2009, 06:00

Joanna Carter

24-Aug-2009, 09:42

i do some work with adobe - if you're currently enrolled as a student, you can pick up the student editions of creative suite 4 at 80% off the full retail price. also, you can pick up a 30-day trial (and get more information) at http://studenteditions.adobe.com.
Not forgeting that the student edition must no longer be used once you have graduated or finished your course; you then need to buy a full version to be legal.

nossky

24-Aug-2009, 14:50

Not forgeting that the student edition must no longer be used once you have graduated or finished your course; you then need to buy a full version to be legal.

Actually, if you check out the Creative Suite 4 Student Editions FAQ (http://studenteditions.adobe.com/#/learnMore/faq), it says plainly "there is no time limit on using the Student Editions."

The Student Editions do not expire, and you may continue to use them as long as you like, even after graduation.

Kuzano

24-Aug-2009, 19:47

Not forgeting that the student edition must no longer be used once you have graduated or finished your course; you then need to buy a full version to be legal.

My student edition checked with the college and when it found out I was no longer registered as a student, it quit working.

I had to correct it rather harshly because it overlooked the fact that I am an instructor in the community education department, which also qualifies me.

Gawd, I hate buggy software!!!