Anyone use iPhoto for basic photo editing?

P

physiognomy

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Being a new Mac convert I'm still languishing without a photo editor I'm comfortable with... I was wondering whether anyone out there regularly & successfully uses iPhoto to do basic manipulations like adjusting levels, sharpening etc. I had a go with some recent shots taken with my new Contax II, but I'm not sure... You can see the results in my gallery CLICK HERE. Does anyone have any experience or tips to share?

Peter
 
Just wait till i get myself a nifty 24" iMac ;) I'm craving for that! (and .. for a 25/4 SC Color Skopar... and a Luigi case for my pentacon six... he might have to design one!) ;)

I find your photos to be nicely balanced, they give me the feeling one gets frome ektachome.
 
I use it for cropping. I like the Revert to Original feature which allows you to "undo" all editing. I have also used the touch up tool succesfully on some images. But for anything more involved, I would suggest PSE or PS. If you are starting from a JPG (and TIFF) you can still use an external editor and have the changes reflected right in iPhoto without having to reimport the image. If you are working from RAW it's a little more involved.
 
Thanks Max... The few times I've shot slide film was with Kodak Elite Chrome 400. That was with my old EOS kit & I had problems with exposure using AE. I guess that experience has shyed me away from using it again...

Michel, I also like the 'revert to original' feature... I have used it numerous times on all my photo's before I'm happy. I would love to run PS, but I only have v.7 for PC. What do you think running it through Parallels would be like?

Peter
 
I'm running an iMac G5 with the 24" screen. I use iPhoto but not that much because I tend to use the PS Elements I have for my scanner. I'd suggest that it's good for some basic stuff that most 'home' photographers would want, resize, lighten / darken, organizing; but if you are used to PS then it leaves you wanting more.

I'd check some of your scanners to see if they came with PS elements and install that. However you can make do with iPhoto.
 
Thanks Jan... I feel like a bit of a metaphoric island at the moment I'm afraid. Maybe it's just me making it more difficult than it really is... It's just me and my MacBook surrounded by all these PC's. I'm not even connected to a printer yet, although that is my fault because I haven't tried. I think a trip to the Mac store is in order tonight. Aghh... the Christmas rush... I forgot. The mall will be a nightmare! Looks like some internet research is in order. Does PSE run natively on intel macs?

Thanks again!

Peter
 
physiognomy said:
Thanks Jan... I feel like a bit of a metaphoric island at the moment I'm afraid. Maybe it's just me making it more difficult than it really is... It's just me and my MacBook surrounded by all these PC's. I'm not even connected to a printer yet, although that is my fault because I haven't tried. I think a trip to the Mac store is in order tonight. Aghh... the Christmas rush... I forgot. The mall will be a nightmare! Looks like some internet research is in order. Does PSE run natively on intel macs?

Thanks again!

Peter
Click to expand...

Peter my copy of software for Photoshop Elements runs as a piece of OSX software. It's also on the CD with software for PC users. So anyone who has PS E can give you a their CD and you can install it. I like it because it's more powerful than iPhoto but don't discount iPhoto for some quick and dirty uses. It's a good tool

cheers, Jan
 
I'm with Clintock in liking GraphicConverter. It's surprisingly versatile and capable, and the main reason I'm so ignorant about Photoshop. :)
 
Peter, I don't use Parallels and from what I have read in the Mac Forum at dpreview, it is very slow. As I said before, don't forget that whatever external editor you choose, you can incorporate it in iPhoto, go to Preferences -> General tab -> Edit Photos ...

I think iPhoto is a great photo library tool as well as a great presentation tool.

Cheers.
 
I use iPhoto for managing my photos and resizing. I've set it up so that double clicking on a pic, opens it up in PhotoShop. I definitly like to be able to revert to the original scan with 1 click.

Wim

(Edit: I also use iPhoto for ordering prints and albums and for slideshows. Very easy, very good results)
 
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