Switching to Mac? Maximize compatibility!

[CalamityJanet]

A while back there was a discussion about whether or not to use "maximize compatibility" when saving your PSDs in Elements since it increases the file size. I turned mine off as I'm sure others have also. After that I switched to an iMac (with PSE4) but continued to use my WindowsXP laptop (with PSE5) as well. I just upgraded to iPhoto '08 (I LOVE IT!) and moved all the photos from the laptop to the iMac. Most of my PSDs do not display thumbnails.:(Only the few that I saved prior to turning off "maximize compatibility" have thumbnails. I had to open each one in PSE4 and resave it so that there would be a thumbnail. Very time consuming! Maybe someone more knowledgable knows if there was an easier way?

Anyway, if you're planning to switch to Mac you may want to check maximize compatibility when saving PSDs.:)

[MarkRoderick]

Like you and so many others, I am planning to switch from PC to Mac. Because you're going through the switch, I'll take the liberty of asking you a couple of questions:

Can I assume the Photoshop Elements - the Editor part - is basically the same on both platforms? I realize the Organizer is missing from the Mac version, but I'm curious as to whether there is a whole new (and steep) learning curve on the Editor when you switch.

When you switched, how did you deal with the photo captions that were in the Organizer on the PC? Did they automatically transfer, or did you lose all of them? How about "Notes" you had created for individual photos in the Organizer?

Thanks.

MARK RODERICK

[CalamityJanet]

Hi Mark,

As far as I can tell the editor is the same. Shortcut keystrokes vary a little but there's really not a big learning curve involved once you remember the basics.

As for captions and notes...I didn't have any on my photos so I don't know about those. My tags did transfer and show up as "keywords" in the information pane for each image in iPhoto.

I had barely found my way around iPhoto '06 when I upgraded to '08 a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it! I liked the Organizer and at first I found iPhoto to be a bit quirky, but once I got it all figured out, with the help of other Mac users here, I like it MUCH better than the organizer. The only thing I really miss is version sets.

There are some really good books out there to help with the switch. I recommend "Switching to the Mac, The Missing Manual" by David Pogue and Adam Goldstein. There's also a Missing Manual for iPhoto '06 by David Pogue and Derrick Story...there's probably an updated version for iPhoto '08. I'd be lost without these two books!

[Wendy]

Hi Janet ...

Once I have finished editing I decide if I want to keep a layered file or not ... most images (like my holiday photographs etc) I know that I will never need any of the layers created whilst editing the images so I simple flatten those and save as best quality jpgs.

Scrapbooking pages ... well I may just want the layers from those so I save them in a folder on my hard disc as psds BUT ... I also save a flattened jpg which I put into iPhoto. That way I get the best of both worlds as it takes up less space than using maximise and I can see my images in iPhoto too :)

Wendy

[CalamityJanet]

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for the tips...again! I have a stack of index cards next to my iMac titled "WWWD" (What Would Wendy Do?:D). I had written down all your tips for saving PSDs and flattened jpegs that you posted for me months ago. It was a real life-saver when my PC's hard drive died last week and I finally moved all my photos to the Mac. It took a while, but now I'm all organized just as you describe. I got rid of lots of PSDs that I didn't need and from this point forward I'll be able to stay on top of the situation...I hope!

[Wendy]

Hi Janice ...

So glad that you found then useful ...

I have just done a trawl though my hard disks cleaning things up and dumping all sorts of things. I think that one of the problems with having lots of space is that you keep so many odds and ends that are not needed ... and psds where jpgs would be fine.

My wake up call came when Photoshop started to slow down as I was working on very large files ... a lot of "housework" later and its now running just fine again. Mine was a couple of small but vital thing ...

When I was making a kit I was putting each item in a 12 x 12 psd file ... simply cropping away the excess transparent area saved me lots of disk space.

... also when I did a layout to do with it. I saved the psd in with the kit AND also in my layered .psd acrapbook pages (with a flattened version in iPhoto). Simply removing the .psd layout from the kit saved lots of space. :)

Wendy

[CalamityJanet]

Thanks Wendy! I just added another page to my "WWWD" file!

I haven't really explored the scrapbooking side of things yet...I spent the summer scanning all my slides and negatives from the past, over 5000 more photos in iPhoto now:eek: so scrapping will start soon. I'll start collecting kits soon and I'm really looking forward to it! I didn't want to start before getting the scanning done or I would have gotten sidetracked for sure. As always, your tips will be a big help!:)