sagephotoworld.com Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 I'm going to get myself a Macbook (not pro). I'll get more RAM but not from Apple. In terms of software.... There's Lightroom, Aperture and Photoshop Elements/ CS3. Which is the best? I'm using PSE2 on my PCs and have held off buying a moreadvanced version for a couple of years since I knew I was going down the Mac route. Heck, when I go down the Mac route I might well reformat my existing Windowslaptop and use it under Linux! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 There's no "best" -- the apps have different strengths. Luckily, both apps have 30-day trial versions so you can decide for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rit_romey Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 I will just warn you about something which has been a real pain to me. The macbook screen is very glossy and the vertical gradient you get is very annoying if you want to do some serious photography. The image changes drastically with the tilt of the screen as a result you are never sure how the image would look on another screen. There is no point trying to calibrate the monitor to any decent degree because of this as well. I would suggest you to go for a desktop or a macbook pro at least (in which case the effect is much sobered). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagephotoworld.com Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 It's mostly for on-the-road work. I have a desktop PC at home and I can always plug a VGA monitor in. In terms of colour, I'm far more impressed by laptop LCDs than by CRTs which seem to change colour balance on a daily basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 CS3 or Elements will do small areas or the pic, neither of the other two will. That means you can not burn/dodge. The glossy screen is fine if there is no back light. Buy a mouse for the laptop for editing. You can nat make selections without it. i GB is fine for CS3 unless you run big TIFFS. Try your stuff first. Elements is a good starter, but I would miss some features of CS3 like actions, lens correction filter, and layer masking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagephotoworld.com Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 Heh. You're right about Lightroom - what a piece of junk! There's nothing that Lightroom can do that I can't do with DPP for $300 less! I just downloaded and tried it (patiently) on my 256mb 1.6Ghz web surfing box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m_barbu1 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 If you're going Mac, it would be silly, IMO, to not get software from Apple. The biggest selling point of a Mac is the usability of their software, and that it's typically as "pretty" as their hardware. I would suggest getting Aperture -- at least trying it out! Also, I would suggest selling your existing laptop and putting that money, together with your "new laptop money", towards a MacBook Pro. The larger resolution options are going to be quite handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m_barbu1 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Incidentally, Aperture and Lightroom are not replacements for Photoshop, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshroot Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 <i>"Buy a mouse for the laptop for editing. You can nat make selections without it."</i> <p> I'm not sure what Ronald means by this. You can do anything with the trackpad that you can with a mouse. <p> Perhaps he means that using the trackpad is annoying when making selections vs using a mouse. In which case I would agree. However, you do not HAVE to have a mouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagephotoworld.com Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 Out of curiosity, I just tried Bibble Lite. Very nice - a bit sluggish on my surfing PC but it produced some very nice results. The whole point of the Macbook versus the Pro is that it's small. Otherwise I'd get the iMac. If the EEEPC had been any good then I'd have got one of those. It lacks badly though as Linux is still very poor for photo processing. I have two aims in getting a Macbook: 1. To get away from Windows. 2. To get something capable but small and lightweight. I would have gone for the Macbook Air but for the fact I don't want to spend $1700 on something that can't really handle external optical drives other than its own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Does DPP set up an archive (library) of your images for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagephotoworld.com Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 I do my own archiving. All I need is something to do the processing. Heck, Picassa isn't too bad but I need something to do the real editing with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshroot Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 I use CS3 myself. But Photoshop Elements is one of the best software deals around in my opinion. If you don't need the PS3 features that Elements is missing, you will be in great shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stp Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 You may want a tablet rather than a mouse or the trackpad for doing work on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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