Need recommendation for mac software!

Howdy guys,

Recently, I bought a Mac for my son who is currently pursuing the Bachelor's degree in designing. so, I need help for the photo editing software which can help him for quick and easy image enhancement task. I found few sites which are listed below.

http://veprit.com/photosense
http://www.fotor.com/mac/index.html
http://www.pixelmator.com/

Could you people recommend an easy software from the list?

I'd love to hear back from you, thanks!

Welcome to our forums.

Here is my recommendation:

1. Affinity Photo $49.95 (Available in the Mac App Store) This software is professional grade and has great reviews.

2. Pixelmator (Available from the Mac App Store) I personally own this and can testify to its quality. I'm just a so, so photographer and find Pixelmator more than I really need but it was on sale in the App store at the time I purchased it.

Of the two, I would say go for Affinity Photo. As the old adage goes... "you get what you pay for" ;D

May I second the recommendation for Affinity.

I have posted on another thread on these Forums that I conducted my own comparative study of a number of pay-for photo editing apps. I purchased all of these out of a sense of fair play and because free trials force one to make a decision in a limited tome period.

After about three months, the clear front runner was Affinity. I had used Apple's Aperture since its introduction and place Affinity above Aperture and marginally below Photoshop.

This is a very personal choice, of course and I must say that there is a steep and prolonged learning curve with Affinity; but this is an app with a clear eye on the future.

Personal statement: I have no financial interest in any company whatsoever. I received no discounts or other benefits.

Ian

Thanks Guys for your comments - while working in academic radiology, I used Photoshop being on PCs at the time - never became that adept, steep learning curve and need to use almost daily in my experience; played w/ GIMP on a Linux laptop for a while and disliked (for the same reasons mentioned). When I migrated to Macs and OS X in retirement, I've been using Preview for most of my 'simple' needs, and Pixelmator maybe several times month for more advanced features, BUT I must say that even w/ the latter, I tend to forget the finer options, SO still a learning curve issue which I'll likely not overcome.

Now I've read some reviews about Affinity, so must ask (especially after Ian's comments), is this app any easier to retain how it works w/ limited use - if not, then I'll just stick w/ Pixelmator - thanks for any opinions - Dave

Dave

We are of a similar vintage , and as I said above, there's a lot to learn and a lot to retain. But, there superb videos from the company taking you from the " what do I need to know to get by" through all the intermediate steps to the advanced stuff.

I'm not on top of the app even yet, but I feel this app has a future and for what you get, it's remarkably priced.

Ian

IWT said:

Dave

We are of a similar vintage , and as I said above, there's a lot to learn and a lot to retain. But, there superb videos from the company taking you from the " what do I need to know to get by" through all the intermediate steps to the advanced stuff.

I'm not on top of the app even yet, but I feel this app has a future and for what you get, it's remarkably priced.

Click to expand...

Hi again Ian - BOY, if I were not in retirement and needed such an app 2-3X per week, would not be a hard decision at all, although I might give Pixelmator a first try, BUT a couple of times a month is just is a 'killer' for me regarding retention of the many features of the latter, and I suspect the same would be true w/ Affinity - will definitely keep the app in mind. Thanks for your comments. Dave

i am interested in finding an app which will allow me to edit images/pictures.
I have taken a photo of a family tree...you know the ones with all the boxes to contain family history names, dates etc.
well i want to erase the text that is in each of the boxes and enter text of my own family.
I managed to do this nicely for two of my nieces boys several years ago...but i then had Adobe PS.

On my Mac, I used preview to edit the image. when i selected information in boxes to delete...it left a grey box.
i could insert text box with my info in but it does not look good over the grey boxes.
I also want t insert a picture which i am sure would not be difficult but then too would not look good over the grey box.

I see that Pixelmator may be a good app to get.
I won't be using the app that often but would like a good one to do a variety of photo editing in future too.
Does anyone know if it will do what i described above.

with black friday coming up, i may be able to find a good price for something anyone suggests.
thnx

lori5060 said:

i am interested in finding an app which will allow me to edit images/pictures.
I have taken a photo of a family tree...you know the ones with all the boxes to contain family history names, dates etc.
well i want to erase the text that is in each of the boxes and enter text of my own family.
I managed to do this nicely for two of my nieces boys several years ago...but i then had Adobe PS.

On my Mac, I used preview to edit the image. when i selected information in boxes to delete...it left a grey box....................

Click to expand...

Hi Lori - you've attached your post to an older thread and may not receive the attention deserved - possibly a moderator will come along and generate a new thread from your OP and subsequent posts?

Now, if you have a Mac computer w/ Keynote, then Preview + Keynote can accomplish your needs w/ some effort - I use Preview daily but have not found an easy way to insert images into the app (referring to your wanting to add family pics) - let me explain w/ a series of images - the first below is a 'family tree image' downloaded from the web (look at my explanations at the bottom in white); the second is where I've changed several boxes to a solid green color using the arrowed menu selections; in the third, I've simply added text w/ that menu command; in the 4th image, I added larger green boxes, then imported that pic into Keynote along w/ several downloaded pics from the web of some older people - these were then positioned in the larger boxes - did a screen capture using OPTION-CMD-4 and brought that back into Preview - added the 'Grandpa & Grandma' names in that app - final image shows the results - SO, possible w/ what may be on your computer.

Now, I also have Pixelmator which could certainly accomplish the task, but a learning curve w/ that app - also Keynote by itself may also complete the task - let me stop there for you to consider these suggestions, and also to see if others may 'chime in' - good luck! Dave

thankyou radave...for your help and attachments.
i will look into keynote and see what i can come up with.

i agree pixelmator does have a learning curve but it is very similar to Adobe PS which i used a lot on windows.
i just can't see the screen that well as it is black with tiny printing.
not sure if I have a problem with the download or because it is a trial version
or just the way the program is.

hi again
i have a .png image of a family tree which has several boxes with text (names ) in them. I wanted to erase the names and enter my own. i see that it is relatively easy to insert new boxes and pics but i want to retain the basic picture of tree and components and just enter new names. that is where I am having difficulty.
managed a bit of editing using Keynote but yet again...cant get it all the way i want.
I truly want to use Pixelmator as it seems very much PS which i liked using and after taking courses in it found things quite easy to do

i had posted another thread this am in error asking about this app...i tried to delete it or move it but could not.

lori5060 said:

hi again
i have a .png image of a family tree which has several boxes with text (names ) in them. I wanted to erase the names and enter my own. i see that it is relatively easy to insert new boxes and pics but i want to retain the basic picture of tree and components and just enter new names. that is where I am having difficulty.
managed a bit of editing using Keynote but yet again...cant get it all the way i want.
I truly want to use Pixelmator as it seems very much PS which i liked using and after taking courses in it found things quite easy to do

i had posted another thread this am in error asking about this app...i tried to delete it or move it but could not.

Click to expand...

Hi again Lori - as to your other thread, a number of us have left posts, so please check to see if the information is of use to you and post any responses there concerning Pixelmator.

As to your initial question(s) above, about the PNG image of your family tree, keep in mind that the PNG image format likely is a 'merged' image w/o any layers, i.e. the names cannot be changed w/o adding a 'box' and putting in new text - try to post that image so we can see what you want to do and make more insightful suggestions - a picture or several helps much more than an attempted explanation (that's why I seem to post SO many pics - ) - Dave

Radave...well i did go back at all replies and most were helpful. I did manage to change the scale. i was thinking it was in Pixelmator but found in Apple system preferences just like everyone was saying. it worked great. now i don't think i even need Pixelmatr and maybe not even use Keynote. what a bonus!! But good to know about these two as I had not used them.

i fooled around a bit more and thanks to you and your attachments...I was able to figure out what to do using Preview. I opened my image and at first, I could not figure out where you found the tools to do the editing..but found it eventually in Markup Icon.

I was successful in creating a blank box and placed over existing box covering all the text of previous baby info. from there just created text box and entered text.

my picture as is was too large to attach. could not figure out how to manually resize to 1500x1500. so attached a screen shot.
tho it is blue and i would like to make Pink for a girl baby...but the pinks don't show up very nice.

overall, i am so happy with my work....thanks to the many helpful suggestions, ideas and tips from all the people who replied.
ps...does anyone know if keynote can change the shading of the background?

well I'm back again radave
i have completed my fam tree picture with all its information in it.
i originally edited a jpg file and now i want to insert a picture into an oval frame.

cannot figure out how to crop oval. tried but could not find a feature..either in preview nor keynote.
can you help?

lori5060 said:

well I'm back again radave
i have completed my fam tree picture with all its information in it.
i originally edited a jpg file and now i want to insert a picture into an oval frame.

cannot figure out how to crop oval. tried but could not find a feature..either in preview nor keynote.
can you help?

Click to expand...

Hi again Lori.... - BOY, I uploaded a bunch of pics in this thread! First, tell us which app(s) you decided to use for the family tree? Second, if you can post a pic or two showing what you want to do may help us - thanks. Dave

hi RadDave....for my family tree chart i had a jpg image which i use for all charts i create. i erase old info and inserted new info for each baby family.
i had posted an image of it previously...please check back. ill see if i can copy the link....http://www.mac-forums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25336&stc=1&d=1479249990

the oval in top centre is where i want to put a picture of the baby. i can insert a picture but it is square and would like it to be within the boundaries of the oval. I have done it before using Windows but can't remember what i did!!

lori5060 said:

hi RadDave....for my family tree chart i had a jpg image which i use for all charts i create. i erase old info and inserted new info for each baby family.
i had posted an image of it previously...please check back. ill see if i can copy the link....http://www.mac-forums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25336&stc=1&d=1479249990

the oval in top centre is where i want to put a picture of the baby. i can insert a picture but it is square and would like it to be within the boundaries of the oval. I have done it before using Windows but can't remember what i did!!

Click to expand...

OK Lori - I went back several posts and found the image below - there is an Oval 'Baby Pic' (see arrow) - you have a square image of the baby and want an oval one - correct? Also, is this an image that is in Preview or in Keynote - still not clear to me? Please respond - Dave
.

Sorry RadDave
Yes that is where I want baby pic to go. I forgot to mention that I only used preview's markup feature to enter text into the jpg file. I did try keynote, inserting my jpg into a blank form and try to insert pic but could not get to work.
There probably is a way I just can't figure it out.

lori5060 said:

Sorry RadDave
Yes that is where I want baby pic to go. I forgot to mention that I only used preview's markup feature to enter text into the jpg file. I did try keynote, inserting my jpg into a blank form and try to insert pic but could not get to work.
There probably is a way I just can't figure it out.

Click to expand...

OK Lori - you need to provide further explanation(s) - what app did you use (e.g. Keynote) to get the oval baby pic onto your family tree - cannot really help w/o knowing exactly what you are doing and using, sorry. Dave

Thanks RadDave
Sorry I will have to go back into preview and keynote and redo the steps I took ... can't remember what I tried as I tried so many things. Will work on that and get back to you.

RadDave
to clarify...the oval was inserted in the family tree chart template file when i worked on Windows.
i just thought i could drop a picture inside that oval and all would be great.

well i began from scratch with an unedited file.......and documented what i did
using preview/markup, i was able to enter peoples info
that is all the apps i used.... didn't even go into keynote at all....

i tried to attach the new file but got message that need to reduce size from 3641x2333 to 1500x1500, could not figure out how to do that
but no matter the file i previously attached is pretty much the same. except instead of the oval lined image there is a cluster of birds (was on original image)

i cropped baby pic to square and renamed file so extension is .png thinking that would work better

NOPE...i tried drag and drop, tried copy/paste...NOPE can't figure this out.
this seems to be a basic insert image thing....what am i missing?