Poll: Which do you use most - iPhoto, Lightroom, or Aperture?

[rjp]

In case you are not aware, you do not have to actually import your files into iPhoto... you can point iPhoto to wherever you decide to store your images. I keep my files on an external hard drive... iPhoto then just creates its file/folder system for the thumbnails only... prior to this ability, I refused to use the app for catalogue purposes.

While I use iPhoto, mostly for the book/calendar stuff, I actually use Extensis Portfolio to catalogue my images. If you're a working photographer, you may want to create your own ways of sorting your work... such as who bought what, how much, paid or not... not the kind of stuff for the general shooter. FYI, Portfolio catalogues any file, not just images. That said, you gotta like the direction that Aperture and Lightroom are going in.

I work in the news business. Most Mac users have Photo Mechanic as their browser... many Windows users have AC/DC. Reuters uses proprietary software. In all three cases, I'm referring to a browser software that doesn't have a cataloguing capability. Regarding Photo Mechanic, the features that attract us, is the macros, code replacements and ftp capabilities built in, to mention three. (Both Aperture and Lightroom have macros capabilities.) I think for the non-news photographers, either Aperture or Lightroom would be excellent choice.

I find it interesting that Grimace prefers the cleaner looking Aperture... it's the info-in-my-face look of Lightroom that I like. Apple's tutorials for Aperture are excellent. That's why you download the demos and play.

Again, regarding someone's Olympus RAW file format... don't save any of your RAW files in their original fromat. Resave them as Adobe DNG. I can't even remember the original model of digital Canon camera we started with but we can not open those RAW files in the latest version of Photoshop. Save your files as DNGs... Adobe promises to support that format... do you have an app that doesn't yet support your new digital camera format?... convert it to DNG and then open it.

Very interesting! I was not aware that I did not have to import my photos into iPhoto in order to use it. It bothers me that my photos are all in some mysterious library file somewhere. Can I take out the ones I already imported? I'd like to put them in a regular directory structure on another drive.

 

[law guy]

I can't imagine many people would have both Lightroom and Aperture...

I'm another dual user - LR is my editing main stay and Aperture is around for... well, at this point: books.

 

[kalex]

For those using lightroom and aperture, how do you go about adjustments and metadata? is there anyway to use one's adjustsments in another program and vice versa? I currently use lightroom but want to try out aperture, the only thing stopping me is redoing my keywords and edits over again.

how do you handle this?


thanks

Alex

 

[nostaws]

I use lightroom, but admittedly haven't really spent time in aperture.

Doesn't editing a file in iPhoto create a whole new file? vs. Lightroom (and Aperture) which just record the changes made to the file, and apply those changes when the file is opened?

If that is the case iPhone would tend to take up considerably more room on your hard drive.

 

[Rotary8]

I throw all of my low res exports into iphoto to show off to guests and friends off my macbook. I wish iPhoto knew how to reference images instead of copying them into its' own folder. Becomes a bit of a waste when you're dealing with 4-5 mb jpegs. You'll end up having double of everything. iTunes has the option to link mp3's from another folder instead of copying it to its own folder, why not iPhoto as well?

As for workflow it's Lightroom all the way. My d80 is plagued with a few hot/stuck pixels at higher iso's and Lightroom is smart enough to know where they are so that it automatically clones them out for me. Aperture didn't have this at 1.5 and unsure if it has it now.

 

[Clix Pix]

Anyone tried the new Nik Viveza Plug-in yet?

It's a bit pricey ($250 USD) but it sounds as though it could add some real value to Aperture.....

 

[DaveSidaway]

I throw all of my low res exports into iphoto to show off to guests and friends off my macbook. I wish iPhoto knew how to reference images instead of copying them into its' own folder. Becomes a bit of a waste when you're dealing with 4-5 mb jpegs. You'll end up having double of everything. iTunes has the option to link mp3's from another folder instead of copying it to its own folder, why not iPhoto as well?

As for workflow it's Lightroom all the way. My d80 is plagued with a few hot/stuck pixels at higher iso's and Lightroom is smart enough to know where they are so that it automatically clones them out for me. Aperture didn't have this at 1.5 and unsure if it has it now.

Go to the iPhoto Preferences - Advanced - Importing: Copy items to the iPhoto Library... leave the box unchecked. Instead, the library will create aliases to the originals... wherever they may be. I'm referring to iPhoto in iLife '08.

I like that noted Lightroom feature.

 

[tony-in-japan]

Aperture 2 VS. Lightroom RAW SPEED SHOOTOUT...

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but which program would win the Speed Shootout to convert RAW files?

Anybody who uses both programs on the same machine and know the results?

Thanks.