Photo editing program for MacBook Pro

[mom0299]

DH is getting me a MacBook Pro for Mother's Day! I have a Dell laptop now, but I'm moving to the dark side and going with a Mac. Currently I use Picasa to edit photos, but I've been wanting something that does more. Is iPhoto a good program? Will that be enough for me as an amateur photographer with a DSLR who LOVES to take pics? I can also get Aperture 3put on the Mac. Is that a lot better than iPhoto? I'd appreciate any advice from someone who has used these programs. TIA!

 

[MisguidedSabrina]

first of all, good choice in switching to a mac. I have a macbook pro, best purchase I've made.

iPhoto is actually a good program. That's what I always use to edit my photos. If you are a beginner at photo editing then it's perfect.
I also use Photoshop elements.

 

[shawn68]

Congrats from a fellow mac. You made the right choice. I also have a macbook pro and love it. I use Lightroom for my workflow, and do most editing in photoshop elements 9.

 

[mikegood2]

Congrats on the new MacBook Pro!

I think that it partially depends on how you shoot. If you mostly shoot jpegs and are making basic photo adjustments than iPhoto wouldn't be a bad choice. If you want to go farther than you also may want to download the free 30 day demo (full version of app) of Photoshop Elements and give it a try. You can do so much more it that program. It probably has 80% - 90% of what Photoshop has for under $100.

If you mostly shoot RAW than I would definitely look into Aperture or Lightroom. They work so much better with the RAW workflow. I use Lightroom, but I would suggest downloading trial versions of both programs and see which one you feel more comfortable with. One thing to keep in mind is that you can get Aperture for $80 thru the Mac App store.

 

[VVFF]

As a PC user who recently bought a macbook pro to replace a dying laptop...a few thoughts...

1. Mac's can and do crash/freeze up
2. Mac's do have frustrating oddities just like PCs
3. They are built very well and have nicer than average screens.

They aren't quite the god-like entities that some people may make them out to be

As for photo editing, I'd go ahead and try to start with Lightroom. It's good and can grow with you.

 

[handicap18]

I mostly use Nikon CaptureNX2 for my photo editing stuff. You can get Picasa on the Mac. I have used the trial version of Elements but didn't get the full version. Yet. I also bought Aperture for $79 on the App Store. I've used it a bunch, but still like Capture NX2 better.

Pretty much anything you can use on the PC you can use on the Mac (for photo editing).

I've had my iMac for about a year now and my only regret is not getting one sooner. DW has had her MacBook Pro for about 6 months and tells me almost every day that she loves it.

While (almost) everything VVFF said is correct (IMO, they are the God-like entities... ), IMO, Mac's are still better than PC's. For instance. One of the software updates I did last fall fried my operating system. I brought it to the Apple store and they reinstalled the OS. Took 45 minutes and cost me nothing. Yesterday DW had some wacky Window's virus type thing on her MacBook Pro. She called Apple, they gave her a time for the Apple store last night. They took it off at no charge.