iphoto + pse vs aperture

[pointandshootg9]

Hi
I'm thinking of changing from shooting in jpeg to shooting raw. Mainly I want to do this because I have a Canon G9 and I want to improve a bit on the dynamic range of my sensor by shooting raw. The main tool I want to use is highlight recovery.

My library is currently in iphoto (10,000 images). I like iphoto because it is simple and my wife understands how to use it. I want to keep all my photos in one place if possible. Unfortunately iphoto doesn't "do" raw very well. It does not have a highlight recovery tool (that I know of).

I've been thinking of adding on PSE for editing my better shots but keeping my hum-drum shots in the iphoto library. However I'm tempted to buy aperture instead. Is there any reason why aperture would be better than combining PSE + iphoto?

[ljameso1]

I use iPhoto and PSE. PSE is where I process the raw files then convert to tiffs so can keep my layers. Using aperture means you wouldn't need the work around of saving edited pic to a desktop folder then import into iphoto, but more expensive. PS you can have as many iphoto libraries as you want. PSE does not have a library although comes with a file browser called bridge.

[ricklepage]

Unfortunately iphoto doesn't "do" raw very well. It does not have a highlight recovery tool (that I know of).

I've been thinking of adding on PSE for editing my better shots but keeping my hum-drum shots in the iphoto library. However I'm tempted to buy aperture instead. Is there any reason why aperture would be better than combining PSE + iphoto?

You might want to look at this thread (http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47112), which talks about workflow for iPhoto and Photoshop Elements, but I have a couple of other comments:


iPhoto '09 (and I think '08) does have highlight recovery
iPhoto's Raw editing is generally a subset of Aperture's, but it's pretty close to what you get there.
Aperture is quite good, and if you really are only interested in light editing (no compositing, filters, and other stuff that you would get with PSE or PS), then it's a good choice. Apple's done a really good job of improving it over the years.
If you go the Aperture route, it plays much nicer with PSE in terms of 'round-tripping' than iPhoto does, so you can add a low-cost, full-on digital editor easily.


Hope this helps,
rick

[Kitsap Guy]

You might want to look at this thread (http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47112), which talks about workflow for iPhoto and Photoshop Elements, but I have a couple of other comments:


Aperture is quite good, and if you really are only interested in light editing (no compositing, filters, and other stuff that you would get with PSE or PS), then it's a good choice. Apple's done a really good job of improving it over the years.

rick

Hi (after a long absence),

I've just begun looking into this same subject, and being a newbie to editing in general, I just have a thought (actually a question). Even though I'm just learning, I started doing cursory experiments with filters, etc. on almost every photo I edited, just to see how they looked. Surprisingly, I found that I accepted subtle filter effects on some of them, as well as subtle effects using various blending modes, using layers. Because of this, I have decided for now that I probably wouldn't be doing any editing in Aperature, as iPhoto 9 appears to be more than enough for just the basics, so the expense wouldn't be justified.

But these are the thoughts of one who's not been around the block so many times yet, so I'm just wondering if I'm missing something. Thanks, everyone.

Lon

[danlj28]

I've been struggling with this same issue for several months. I wanted to start shooting in RAW + JPEG so that as I learned more I'd have more flexibility to edit. I did some of the simple iPhoto 8 or Picasa (free from Google) but thought I might want more later. My camera's RAW ( Panasonic ) is not yet supported by Apple and I don't know if or when although, I've heard Apple & Panasonic have a strong relationship.

I went with PSE because while they don't natively process and keep the Panasonic in RAW, they can convert my RW2 to DNG (Adobe's future proof common format bet).

Aperture Pros: Better iPhoto recognition and integration. iPhoto has menu item to browse your Aperture Library. Pro type package. I was impressed during trial period.

Aperture Cons: for me. no RAW recognition by iPhoto or Aperture. Cost.

PSE Pros: (and Adobe Bridge that comes with Mac version) Lots of info (such as this forum) even if people say what is iPhoto? :). Price. DNG for me is better than wondering if Apple will ever support my camera. iPhoto can set up PSE as your external editor which is simple and good work flow for JPEG. Without iphoto recognizing my RAW, I've got another challenge. The fact that my friends and family who are into photography all use PSE (windows) is helpful. I really like the choice of Guided Help (wizards) in PSE (as you learn).

PSE/Bridge Cons: Lots to learn especially with three programs in the mix.

I agree with wanting to keep iPhoto for other users (wife, kids) who want simple editing. I decided however NOT to upgrade to iPhoto 9 at this point. My PSE investment < $80 was a better one for now than iPhoto for what i wanted.

Try Aperture trial (hard to find on Apple site). Try PSE trial too but if your buy follow uninstall process with clean utility (see Adobe) before your new install. Try free Picasa if you don't need to preserve in RAW. It handles RAW but converts to JPEG right away.

I bought the book The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski. Great layout and general PSE guidance but no advice on iPhoto integration. Mac chapter on "Bridge" is only available online and also doesn't mention iPhoto. You would think that people would address software that comes with every Mac for photos when writing books and software manuals for Macs about photography! Adobe claims in their data sheet that PSE "works with iPhoto" but includes NOTHING on iPhoto in getting started pamphlet.

Bottom line is I probably would have bought Aperture if the RAW support was there. That is offset now by the power of the community for PSE. Now I'm hungry to learn PSE, which is why I came here.