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Aperature 2
- Thread starter bfowler
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I'm in the same boat as you as to wanting to learn more about the different photo handling programs! I got my new Mac with Photoshop Elements and I find it cumbersome to perform "open" and "save to" between it and iPhoto because I have to use Bridges as an intermediator. On my old PC with PS Elements, I could easily move between it and my folders with archived images. Aperture and Lightroom appear to simplify retrieving/editing/saving images - I think!
Yeah it does make it easier to retrieve/edit/saving images specially with the vault function. I have not really tried it but I would give the Aperture tutorials on the apple site a look.
Goto the manufacurer's website and DL a trial version. Most of the good software out there has a FULL FUNCTION trial for some limited time. Use the ones you're interested in try out the same functions on the same photo with all of them. Figure out which ones can do what the others can't.
Personally i've just started this process. I have a 60 day trial of Nikon Capture NX2 and a 30 day trial of Aperture 2. I didn't much like the Photoshop elements i had for my PC so not sure i'm going to look into photoshop for my Mac.
Right now it looks like i'm going to be doing what it appears many do and that is using several different programs. For me that means purchasing both Capture and Aperture though as they have individual strengths and I will be using them for different reasons.
Oh, and although they seem very straight forward and for simple things intuitive the tutorials are a great resource to help judge what you can/want to do with the different programs.
Personally i've just started this process. I have a 60 day trial of Nikon Capture NX2 and a 30 day trial of Aperture 2. I didn't much like the Photoshop elements i had for my PC so not sure i'm going to look into photoshop for my Mac.
Right now it looks like i'm going to be doing what it appears many do and that is using several different programs. For me that means purchasing both Capture and Aperture though as they have individual strengths and I will be using them for different reasons.
Oh, and although they seem very straight forward and for simple things intuitive the tutorials are a great resource to help judge what you can/want to do with the different programs.
With iPhoto and Elements it's easy. Go into iPhoto's "preferences" and select "Adobe elements" as your "image editor". After this whenever you double click a photo in iPhoto it will come up inside Elements. When you are done making edits do a "Save" (Not "Save As..") and the edited image will appear back inside iPhoto.
Aperture works the same way.
Aperture is good for cataloging and organizing your photos and for making overall adjustments to them. It works a lot like iPhoto but is a lot more flexible and has more features. Aperture (and iPhoto) is not a true image editor. For that look at either Adobe Photoshop Elements or the full up Adobe Photoshop CS3. (Elements has most of what's needed at 1/5 the price) Photoshop is needed is you want to go inside the image and change stuff, for example remove a utility pole from a landscape shot or clean up skin problems in a portrait or composite multiple photos together.
Aperture 2 has quite a sophisticated range of editing tools. OK, not as comprehensive as Photoshop, but, IMO, Aperture is perfectly adequate to 'tweak' 99% of my pix. There's also a simple, one-click route to take an image into the external editor of your choice, and saving the resulting version back in Aperture (and linked to the master image).
ChrisA, you have helped me again! Yes, selecting Photoshop Elements as the editing application in iPhoto Preferences makes "open" and "save" images between the 2 much easier and faster. I should have realized that
would not have allowed Windows to have an edge in image handling. Now if would only make the "Grab" as easy as"Print Screen"!I've had my Mac 3 weeks now, and I feel I've only scratched the surface of knowing how it works. This forum is a tutortial in itself!