10-24-2009, 05:24 PM

I recently purchased my first DSLR (Nikon D3000) and have been looking at different software for editing with. I have a 13" Macbook Pro and a 15" Macbook Pro. I have iPhoto which they came with, but seems very limited in what I can do and in the results it gives me so I downloaded the trial version of Photoshop Elements 8. I do not need all the professional options that full photoshop would give me so I'm sure Elements would be fine, but I am looking for input as to what any of you would recommend I use. Also if you know, how do I bring pics currently in iPhoto into Elements to edit them? As far as to what kind of pictures I shoot, mostly family, travel/street and outdoors/nature. I currently shoot in JPEG, but might eventually switch to shooting in RAW as my skills progress.

10-24-2009, 05:36 PM

Hey there.

Congrats on your purchase, sure you'll never look back!

I gather the Nikon comes with some RAW processing software on one of the bundled CD/DVDs like Canon's EOS range - if so I'd highly recommend switching to RAW. If anything you can recover what seems at first a dull, flat photo into something great which is a lot harder to do with JPEGs.

Anyways, with regards to editing what do you have in mind?

I personally use Photoshop, as I do composite images, advanced editing etc so the additional features are required - I also find it easy to use.

If you're just brightening photos up and removing dust spots though the RAW processor that came with the camera should be more than enough. Apple's Aperture would as be a good upgrade in this department over iPhoto but it doesn't offer many 'editing' features, you can go to the apple site and download a trial.

If you're after something to actually edit then yes, Elements is good. But I'd also look at G.I.M.P. which is highly regarded as 'the free photoshop'.

Hope that helps.

10-26-2009, 10:29 PM

There is a mac version of GIMP called Seashore. Also check out the command line tool Imagemagick.

10-26-2009, 10:47 PM

If you want to go with the more professional route then you would be using Aperture, Light Room, or Photoshop.

I really like Pixelmator for these kinds of things.

10-26-2009, 11:05 PM

I personally tried both Aperture and lightroom. Aperture was okay but I personally prefer lightroom.

01-22-2010, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by danielb

There is a mac version of GIMP called Seashore. Also check out the command line tool Imagemagick.

GIMP is fully functional on Macs, as long as you have X11 (which I'm pretty sure comes installed.)

01-22-2010, 09:53 PM

Originally Posted by DMR79

Also if you know, how do I bring pics currently in iPhoto into Elements to edit them?

In iPhoto's preferences, you can specify a third-party app to be invoked when you select a photo for editing. This can of course be PSE. Once the photo has been saved in PSE, it is updated with your changes in iPhoto as well (and you can still get back to the unedited original if ever needed).

Originally Posted by Corbab

GIMP is fully functional on Macs, as long as you have X11 (which I'm pretty sure comes installed.)

X11 is not installed by default on either Leopard or Snow Leopard. It's an optional install (can't remember, but I think this is also true of Tiger as well).

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01-31-2010, 10:07 PM

I'll post here, so you guys know I searched and am not a lazy bum.

I'm looking for simple photo editing software. It needs to be cheap ($<50) pretty quick, and needs to do these basic things:

- Crop
- Resize
- Color correction
- gamma, contrast, brightness, and other basic exposure corrections

That's about it.

I saw above that both GIMP and Pixelmator were recommended. GIMP needs X11, but what is that? Is it a pain in the neck to get? Is it worth the trouble?

What are some pros & cons between GIMP and Pixelmator?

Thanks.

01-31-2010, 11:06 PM

Use Preview - it is already on your mac and it was Ok in Tiger, better in Leopard and quite capable in SL. It will do all those things you list at no further cost.

02-01-2010, 02:44 AM

Originally Posted by DMR79

Also if you know, how do I bring pics currently in iPhoto into Elements to edit them?

1. In iPhoto's preferences, you can set PS Elements as the default editor. Once that's done, clicking on a photo will launch PS Elements and open that photo.

2. When you're done making changes, save (not Save As!). Close PSE.

3. The modified and updated image is available in iPhoto. This is called "round trip editing" and it works great.

02-01-2010, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by Collin Bl

Use Preview - it is already on your mac and it was Ok in Tiger, better in Leopard and quite capable in SL. It will do all those things you list at no further cost.

Thanks Colin. I will look into that.

Before reading that, I downloaded Pixelmator yesterday and installed it. I quite like it and was thinking it may be worth the $60 to register it once the demo expires. But I will try Preview first.

02-01-2010, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by JeremyZ

I'll post here, so you guys know I searched and am not a lazy bum.

I'm looking for simple photo editing software. It needs to be cheap ($<50) pretty quick, and needs to do these basic things:

- Crop
- Resize
- Color correction
- gamma, contrast, brightness, and other basic exposure corrections

iPhoto does all of this, and its included on your Mac.

It doesn't do resize from *within* the program, but it allows it on export.

The program referred to in my signature does not yet do these things, but it will soon.