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May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | Hey fellow Mac users, need your advice here. Wife is driving me NUTS - we each have Macs and I love mine. She equally loves hers EXCEPT for a good simple photo viewer. I use iPhoto + Photoshop + Aperture. Her attempts to use the same programs end in utter failure because 1) she will not listen to my tips, 2) she has zero patience for learning curve. She spends hours researching others who complain about the same stuff (time she could be learn to use the damn programs).
What she needs to be able to do is the following:
- import from camera
- batch manipulate (ie, resize or rotate a who group of photos)
- resize either dimensions or quality
- file manipulate, save location, etc.
- keep things organized
Sounds like it should be simple (and of course I have NO trouble with mine, not that it matters one bit to her). Her reference frame is a PC Program called "ACDSee" which she knows like the back of her hand. Nothing else will compare. There IS a beta MAC version but it sucks.
What do YOU use? Do you know ACDSee? Is there something similar for MAC? What do you recommend?
She's not a pro photographer and the extent of touch up is red eye, lighten/darken, rotate and crop. That's about it.
Any help would be appreciated |
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April 2008
Posts: 1851
Location: Newington, CT | "Her attempts to use the same programs end in utter failure because 1) she will not listen to my tips, 2) she has zero patience for learning curve. She spends hours researching others who complain about the same stuff (time she could be learn to use the damn programs)."
Thing 1: Are you sure you didn't marry my ex?!?!
Thing 2: Photoshop is the only thing that comes to mind. GREAT software.
Sorry, not very useful, I know... |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 5332
Location: Bluffton, SC | Spoke to a couple of artists in the office and here's what they had to offer -
- I use iPhoto and your friend is right..it really is intuitive...and she can do most of the things he lists: importing images, cropping, resizing, red-eye, group saving/organization...right in the program (unless she wants to do heavy duty manipulation) she really just needs to look at her drop-down menus and look through the options.
She could use a ‘lighter version” of Photoshop such as Photoshop Elements or other alternatives such as “Gimp” (open source, I think...) Pixel, and Acorn..although not familiar with them as a user.
- One other choice is Picasa. That's what my mom uses to manage/manipulate/organize all her photos. Mom's not really a computer person (though really not bad for 75), but she accomplishes a lot with Picasa. Specifically for Mac: http://picasa.google.com/mac/
Hope one of those can help.
(Posted here in case anyone here can add anything useful to this) |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Kimby-D uses iPhoto on the Mac. The digital camera automatically dumps the pictures in there by date, from where she can organize quickly and easily. It does everything she wants/needs/can-deal-with. She also has the whole damn library feed her screen saver in an Burns-esque visual show. Sometimes she just sits in front of the Mac and watches her life pass before her eyes. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 5332
Location: Bluffton, SC | A neighbor of mine did the same thing with pics of the family over several years of Christmases, put it to music and then streamed it to his flat screen tv during his annual party. Worked like a dream. All the women folk flocked to the screen like moths to a candle leaving us to fend for ourselves over manhattans and cigars.
But we lived... |
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April 2010
Posts: 1227
Location: Connersville, Indiana | I use I photo and photo booth on my mac, plus the tutorials are easy. |
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August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | +1 for Picassa
Photoshop is definitely out if she's struggling with iPhoto.
I use Bridge for my organising (comes with PhotoShop CS4 - but would just give her more to whinge about)
Another alternative if she's determined to worship ACDC is to dual boot.
Get someone else show her how to use iPhoto - it's really the only option. Much as I love my wife, I can't show her squat, cos it's just gonna start an argument. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 5332
Location: Bluffton, SC | Originally posted by muzza:
Get someone else show her how to use iPhoto - it's really the only option. Much as I love my wife, I can't show her squat, cos it's just gonna start an argument. Muz is right. I'd throw the computer out first.
And I say that with love. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | I'd say it isn't your problem to solve, since she doesn't want your help. BTDT x 10,000 . iPhoto is very simple to use even without reading any instructions, so if she is resisting using it the problem isn't the program. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | Dave, isn't Julie the same woman who's able to hack into iPhone apps? And she has trouble with a computer program? |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | I use ACDSee. :p |
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July 2010
Posts: 187
Location: Nahant, MA | I use iPhoto most often, sometimes Photoshop Elements for editing. It's cheap and cheerful. |
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May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | It's not that she's not capable or computer savvey. She's quite good with Photoshop, jailbrakes iphones and ipads, has hacked every app know to man, blah, blah.
I think her issue with iPhoto (if I understand it correctly) is that the actual raw files are managed within the iPhoto database itself which she finds a pain in the ass to have to export for other use. What she would prefer (and is used to) is a program like ACDSee which is just a shell that allows you to manage your own files externally to the program itself.
A typical scenario
- she'll get a photo from someone by email
- now there is a copy in Downloads
- she'll import it into iPhoto and maybe rotate it
- now there is acopy in downloads and iphoto
- later she will want to manipulate the background so she exports it to Pictures
- now there is a copy in Downloads, iPhoto and Pictures
- later she'll want to make an album so she'll import the altered one back into iPhoto.
- now there are 4 copies of it and she doesn't have the patience to figure out which one is which.
I'll tell her to give Picassa a try. Thanks for all the tips. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Doesn't a Mac allow you to save it wherever you want to? |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | Yes, you can save wherever. Except it seems iPhoto saves everything within its internal library and can nto be accessed directly by other apps.
It's sort of like iTunes. Everything is fine within the iTunes environment and iTunes accesses the actual mp3 files in their native location. But imagine if iTunes imported all your music into one HUGE library file and you could not access any individual song by another program unless you exported it from the library first. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Well, that sucks. Looks like Picassa might be what she needs, then. |
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October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | You can export a photo out of iPhoto, but the original stays in the database. It also keeps the original version and the altered version in two different places within it's environment. Yeah it can be a pita in that regard. |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | I hate iPhoto for the same reason she does Dave. And iTunes is worse. One of the things I like about Macs is that the user is totally in control of almost everything. With these 2 applications you lose that control.
If you've already got Photoshop CS4 or CS5, try using Bridge (comes with CS4 or 5) - it's the Adobe version of Aperture. |
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December 2004
Posts: 112
Location: Ballston Lake, N.Y. | If you click on the iPhoto Library icon in the Pictures folder then control click and do "show package contents" you'll find a folder with all the original photo files for iphoto. |
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October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Zen, nice tip. Thanks. |
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December 2008
Posts: 253
Location: Seattle | http://www.acdsee.com/offers/proformac/
Now in Beta, and might be worth a look. |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | Thanks for all the tips guys. She's taking a look at Picasa. |
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Mac Photo Help Needed