iPhoto user looking for software advice

[allisonv7]

This concern is probably (hopefully) unwarranted, but I was wondering if anyone has run into problems using iPhoto as your library increased? I don't have my stats handing, but I'm guessing I have ~25K images in my library. Having a single file for the library vs. a structured folder system is making me a little worrisome as my library grows.

I've been thinking of moving from iPhoto to possibly Lightroom, or perhaps another recommended option. I'd consider myself on the high end of intermediate when it comes to photography and all of my post-processing is done in photoshop. I don't use the edit functions within iPhoto, it's purely for importing and saving unedited pictures. Photos I work up I save in a folder system I created manually.

I'm not sure what the best solution is for my needs,

 

[murphysjay]

This concern is probably (hopefully) unwarranted, but I was wondering if anyone has run into problems using iPhoto as your library increased? I don't have my stats handing, but I'm guessing I have ~25K images in my library. Having a single file for the library vs. a structured folder system is making me a little worrisome as my library grows.

I've been thinking of moving from iPhoto to possibly Lightroom, or perhaps another recommended option. I'd consider myself on the high end of intermediate when it comes to photography and all of my post-processing is done in photoshop. I don't use the edit functions within iPhoto, it's purely for importing and saving unedited pictures. Photos I work up I save in a folder system I created manually.

I'm not sure what the best solution is for my needs,

I have the same concern. When I upgraded to El Capitan and tried to use Photos instead of iPhoto it wouldn't open my iPhoto Library. It kept hanging at 4%. Could this become inaccessible at some time? You can see the folder hierarchy in iPhoto by control clicking the iPhotos library and choosing "Show Content".

 

[allisonv7]

I have the same concern. When I upgraded to El Capitan and tried to use Photos instead of iPhoto it wouldn't open my iPhoto Library. It kept hanging at 4%. Could this become inaccessible at some time? You can see the folder hierarchy in iPhoto by control clicking the iPhotos library and choosing "Show Content".

I've been putting off this update because of the iPhoto concern... based on your response I think I might pick up Lightroom and switch to it before an upgrade, just in case.

 

[MCAsan]

Seriously consider Adobe CC plan as it contains both LR and PS for $9.99 a month. You can pay by the month or annually. Adobe is putting features into LR CC that are not in the standalone LR 6. An example is Dehaze that was released as a global tool in the 2015.1 release earlier this year. The 2015.2 release adds Dehaze to the localized tools (brush, radial filter, and graduated filter).

 

[allisonv7]

Seriously consider Adobe CC plan as it contains both LR and PS for $9.99 a month. You can pay by the month or annually. Adobe is putting features into LR CC that are not in the standalone LR 6. An example is Dehaze that was released as a global tool in the 2015.1 release earlier this year. The 2015.2 release adds Dehaze to the localized tools (brush, radial filter, and graduated filter).

Good point, I have CC through work, I think I'll give that a try before I invest personally.

 

[-hh]

This concern is probably (hopefully) unwarranted, but I was wondering if anyone has run into problems using iPhoto as your library increased? I don't have my stats handing, but I'm guessing I have ~25K images in my library. Having a single file for the library vs. a structured folder system is making me a little worrisome as my library grows.

I'm at roughly 3x that size ... my main concern *HAD* been simply performance, so I went to a boot SSD and a data RAID0 to get the I/O bandwidth. Now, with Apple punting on iPhoto and the betaware aspects of 'Photos', the application support is going away, I'm also in the midst of working to migrate. This does mean leaving the Apple Ecosystem behind, but with the demise of 'iWeb' a few years ago, the features which were holding me to iPhoto have eroded away.

I've been thinking of moving from iPhoto to possibly Lightroom, or perhaps another recommended option. I'd consider myself on the high end of intermediate when it comes to photography and all of my post-processing is done in photoshop. I don't use the edit functions within iPhoto, it's purely for importing and saving unedited pictures. Photos I work up I save in a folder system I created manually.

I'm not sure what the best solution is for my needs,

I'm probably pretty similar to you: the question is what image *management* tool to use, not necessarily what image *adjustment* tool (I've been using Photoshop for the past decade for that). Adobe LR6 is probably a good choice, even if it isn't necessarily the best...and since that's also a more OS-agnostic platform, it also is an enabler to buying a Windows Tower PC, since the iMac and "trash can" Mac Pro are both poor values for the 'Prosumer' grade photographer.

-hh

 

[kenoh]

Also bear in mind it isnt actually a single file. You can go into finder and find you iphoto library, rigjt click and select explore. You will then see the internal file structure.

 

[McGiord]

I moved to Aperture before Photos was announced. Some people use a folder structure and then a photo browser.

 

[allisonv7]

I'm probably pretty similar to you: the question is what image *management* tool to use, not necessarily what image *adjustment* tool (I've been using Photoshop for the past decade for that). Adobe LR6 is probably a good choice, even if it isn't necessarily the best...and since that's also a more OS-agnostic platform, it also is an enabler to buying a Windows Tower PC, since the iMac and "trash can" Mac Pro are both poor values for the 'Prosumer' grade photographer.

-hh

I've been using Lightroom CC for a couple weeks, and it's just way too slow for me. I was hoping to learn to use it for editing, but right now I don't see that as being feasible. iPhoto is leaps and bounds faster. Currently I'm running a 2011 Mini, I've thought about upgrading, but really the computer runs great outside of my photo management.

I might just continue sticking with iPhoto for now and process in Photoshop and transfer to a basic folder system eventually.

Thanks everyone for the advice

 

[Ray2]

I've been using Lightroom CC for a couple weeks, and it's just way too slow for me. I was hoping to learn to use it for editing, but right now I don't see that as being feasible. iPhoto is leaps and bounds faster. Currently I'm running a 2011 Mini, I've thought about upgrading, but really the computer runs great outside of my photo management.

I might just continue sticking with iPhoto for now and process in Photoshop and transfer to a basic folder system eventually.

Thanks everyone for the advice

On old hardware Adobe apps are taxing. If you're used to it its one thing. If you're coming from Apple, it can be a dreadfully slow experience.

I have not read the thread carefully so this may not be an option. However, Photos runs way quicker than iPhoto. Demosiacing of raw files is much faster, the edit tools are quicker and the browser grid is near instantaneous on my 9,000 image referenced library. All I keep in Photos are shots that sync to iOS devices. So the editing is done and no raws are imported. The above is based on simply playing around with it before I made the switch.