Mac users - which image cataloguing software do you use?

[kevinma]

I've been using iPhoto 4 and was looking forward to upgrading to 5 but the horror stories out there are making me think of looking for something else. Any suggetsions?
Kevin.

[Mills]

What are the horror stories? I haven't heard them and had planned to upgrade.

[kevinma]

Horror stories with iPhoto 5: Issues with loading the software, corrupted images, and apparently the program strips color profiles from images when they're edited. Take a look at:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@981.1vVkaRe7MqW.0@.68a4774e

[Mills]

Not very encouraging.

[paulhillion]

iView Media Pro - it's fairly expencive but IMO worth every penny!

[johnleveritt]

I've been using iPhoto 4 and was looking forward to upgrading to 5 but the horror stories out there are making me think of looking for something else. Any suggetsions?
Kevin.

Well, a vote of confidence here for IPhoto 5.0. I upgraded to ILife on the 22nd when it came out. I have had no problems with IPhoto 5.0 yet. I went to some of the web sites and tried to duplicate some of the problems that other people were having, and couldn't duplicate any of them.

To date I have 3036 photographs in IPhoto, and nothing bad has happened (knock on wood). In my opinion, you only see what went wrong with new software on the Apple Software Forums (or any of the online forums, MacFixit, MacCentral, MacinTouch, Macnn etc.), and not what went right (usually, a few hundred complaints out of the many thousands of copies sold). If you have ILife 4.0 now and are comfortable with it, go ahead and upgrade to 5.0, the ability of IPhoto 5.0 to handle RAW files was worth the upgrade for me alone.

If your worried about IPhoto messing up your pictures, just make sure that they are all backed up. You do have them backed up now, don't you?

Just my .02 cents worth.

[PacAce]

Well, a vote of confidence here for IPhoto 5.0. I upgraded to ILife on the 22nd when it came out. I have had no problems with IPhoto 5.0 yet. I went to some of the web sites and tried to duplicate some of the problems that other people were having, and couldn't duplicate any of them.

To date I have 3036 photographs in IPhoto, and nothing bad has happened (knock on wood). In my opinion, you only see what went wrong with new software on the Apple Software Forums (or any of the online forums, MacFixit, MacCentral, MacinTouch, Macnn etc.), and not what went right (usually, a few hundred complaints out of the many thousands of copies sold). If you have ILife 4.0 now and are comfortable with it, go ahead and upgrade to 5.0, the ability of IPhoto 5.0 to handle RAW files was worth the upgrade for me alone.

If your worried about IPhoto messing up your pictures, just make sure that they are all backed up. You do have them backed up now, don't you?

Just my .02 cents worth.

Is there a way to set up Finder so that it uses iPhoto 5 to display the preview images of RAW files in Finder? That would be the only reason I would consider upgrading to iPhoto 5, if it could do that because now, I have to use EVU or PSCS to preview my RAW files.

[johnleveritt]

Is there a way to set up Finder so that it uses iPhoto 5 to display the preview images of RAW files in Finder? That would be the only reason I would consider upgrading to iPhoto 5, if it could do that because now, I have to use EVU or PSCS to preview my RAW files.

Do you mean where you can double click on a RAW file, and IPhoto launches and shows the photograph, like Preview does with other file formats now. No, it doesn't do that. However, you can highlight the RAW files and drag them onto the IPhoto icon, and IPhoto will launch, and display your RAW files. The problem here is that if you use IPhoto to store your photographs, then the new RAW files are imported, and you have to make sure to separate them from your other albums. If I understand your question, then yes IPhoto would do what you want. You can view your RAW files in the finder, in IPhoto.

I don't use IPhoto in that way. I now import my RAW files into IPhoto to view, as I did with Canon's own FileViewer, and Adobe's Photoshop before. Then I store them in IPhoto albums. The new IPhoto has new adjusting, and editing tools to work on the RAW files. They are by no means as comprehensive as those in Photoshop, but they do work fine for the casual user.

If you have Photoshop now, and don't need to sort your files into albums, order pictures, or picture books online, run a slide show, print, e-mail, or do some minor editing, then IPhoto isn't for you.

[PacAce]

Do you mean where you can double click on a RAW file, and IPhoto launches and shows the photograph, like Preview does with other file formats now. No, it doesn't do that. However, you can highlight the RAW files and drag them onto the IPhoto icon, and IPhoto will launch, and display your RAW files. The problem here is that if you use IPhoto to store your photographs, then the new RAW files are imported, and you have to make sure to separate them from your other albums. If I understand your question, then yes IPhoto would do what you want. You can view your RAW files in the finder, in IPhoto.

I don't use IPhoto in that way. I now import my RAW files into IPhoto to view, as I did with Canon's own FileViewer, and Adobe's Photoshop before. Then I store them in IPhoto albums. The new IPhoto has new adjusting, and editing tools to work on the RAW files. They are by no means as comprehensive as those in Photoshop, but they do work fine for the casual user.

If you have Photoshop now, and don't need to sort your files into albums, order pictures, or picture books online, run a slide show, print, e-mail, or do some minor editing, then IPhoto isn't for you.

No, I mean I open up Finder in Column view mode. Then I drill down folders until I find a file. If I just click on it to select it, but not double clicking, Finder will display a preview of it in the next column. For example, if I select a JPEG file, a little preview of the JPEG file will be displayed in the column to the right of the column where the file is. I would like the be able to preview my RAW files the same way but right now, the previewer program in Finder doesn't support RAW files. I was just wondering if iPhoto 5 has a link to Finder so that it can display a preview of RAW files in Finder.

[johnleveritt]

No, I mean I open up Finder in Column view mode. Then I drill down folders until I find a file. If I just click on it to select it, but not double clicking, Finder will display a preview of it in the next column. For example, if I select a JPEG file, a little preview of the JPEG file will be displayed in the column to the right of the column where the file is. I would like the be able to preview my RAW files the same way but right now, the previewer program in Finder doesn't support RAW files. I was just wondering if iPhoto 5 has a link to Finder so that it can display a preview of RAW files in Finder.

Then no, that's a function of the finder, and the System Software, not IPhoto (or any other program that I know of). IPhoto is just a standalone program, and not a part of the System. Maybe that will be in the next the release of OSX.

[PacAce]

Then no, that's a function of the finder, and the System Software, not IPhoto (or any other program that I know of). IPhoto is just a standalone program, and not a part of the System. Maybe that will be in the next the release of OSX.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Thanks.

[cactusclay]

So will the new iphoto separate an imbeded jpeg from a raw and if so how does it do that? I've was getting ready to get ilife5, so I was wonder how the raw capabilities worked. Thanks

[johnleveritt]

So will the new iphoto separate an imbeded jpeg from a raw and if so how does it do that? I've was getting ready to get ilife5, so I was wonder how the raw capabilities worked. Thanks

From what I can see (yes I tried it) IPhoto imports the RAW file (you will see the JPEG file, but only the RAW file is highlighted for importing). It remains in RAW format until you enhance it using the tools included with IPhoto, then the file is saved to a JPEG format automatically, leaving your original intact wherever you imported it from. So if you want to use Photoshop (or something else), to rework the file, just click and drag, or Option Click for multiple files, and drag it or them to the Photoshop icon, rework the file(s), and re-save it(them) back to IPhoto.

[Tom Camilleri]

I use Extensis Portfolio 6. I've been using it since version 4 and like it a lot. There is a new version out but I haven't upgraded.

[johnleveritt]

I use Extensis Portfolio 6. I've been using it since version 4 and like it a lot. There is a new version out but I haven't upgraded.

Yep, version 7 is out, $189.95 new, $99.95 for the upgrade mailorder.

For a Mac user, IPhoto is still cheaper $79.00 (free with a new computer), and now that it handles RAW files, it's very competitive with other programs.

Not to mention that you get five programs with ILife, iPhoto 5, iMovie HD, iDVD 5, Garageband 2, iTunes 4.7. I personally only use IPhoto, and ITunes all of the time, so those two programs alone are worth the $79.00 price.

Just my opinion of course.

[kevinma]

I upgraded to iPhoto5; it went without a hitch and I like the new version, mainly because it's speedier. I don't do any editing in iPhoto; instead, I open the images in PS from iPhoto. Works fine.
Kevin.

[PacAce]

[QUOTE=johnleveritt]Yep, version 7 is out, $189.95 new, $99.95 for the upgrade mailorder.

/QUOTE]

I took a look at Portfolio 7 and even downloaded a trial version but decided not to install it after I read that it only supports RAW files from 10D and earlier. It doesn't seem to support the 1DmkII RAW files or anything newer than that.

I did try out iView Multimedia Pro v2.0 but gave up on it when it kept crapping out after I loaded 22,000 image entries in the catalog. it's supposedly able to handle up to 128,000 entries without a problem.

So now I'm still looking for a viable image cataloging program. :confused:

[rssfhs]

Canon's ImageBrowser works fine for me. Seems to load faster than iPhoto, which keeps all the photos in the same library folder, but what do I know...

[jmcafee]

I HAD been extremely pleased with Canon ImageBrowser that came with my PowerShot A80. I liked how it allowed for customizable printouts and captions. HOWEVER... a few weeks ago it began unexpectedly quitting each time it launched (I'm running a flat panel Mac G4 running OS X 10.2.8.) I upgraded ImageBrowser to version 5.02.1, but it still crashes with each launch. Can anyone offer assistance? Will upgrading the Mac OS solve the problem? (By the by, I gave up iPhoto due to it's printing limitations and the fact that it corrupted my photo library.) Thanks!

[yonni]

I HAD been extremely pleased with Canon ImageBrowser that came with my PowerShot A80. I liked how it allowed for customizable printouts and captions. HOWEVER... a few weeks ago it began unexpectedly quitting each time it launched (I'm running a flat panel Mac G4 running OS X 10.2.8.) I upgraded ImageBrowser to version 5.02.1, but it still crashes with each launch. Can anyone offer assistance? Will upgrading the Mac OS solve the problem? (By the by, I gave up iPhoto due to it's printing limitations and the fact that it corrupted my photo library.) Thanks!

Yes, I use Image Browser too. It's fast and lets me review Raw images quickly. I am running 10.3.9 though.

[UncleDoug]

iView Media Pro - it's fairly expencive but IMO worth every penny!


Second this.:D

[FlipsidE]

Right now, I'm sticking with iPhoto 4. At this point in my photography career (for lack of a better word), I honestly think there are better places I can spend money than on Cataloging programs.

I still need like $4000+ worth of lenses and a new body (sports photography). I just signed up for NYIP, and I'm not sure how much more that's going to cost me.

[GS Rider]

iphoto 6 is pretty good now...