andrew_wohlfeil1 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>my computer just crashed on me and I am going to buy a mac. I am wondering what post production editing software works for macs. I read something about apature 2? What is that like compared to photoshop elements 7. does photoshop work on macs? Also I want an HDR program does anyone know one that works for macs?</p> <p>Thanks for the help<br> Andrew</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podstawek Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Hi Andrew,</p> <p>Photoshop works in Macs. Aperture 2 is there, but Lightroom gives you more options (local brushes in particular). </p> <p>I know there is a Mac version of Photomatix for HDR, but have not tried it.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andylynn Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Aperture 2 is excellent. It's not the same as Elements, it's more like a Lightroom equivalent. It maintains your catalog of images and allows you to search and sort, and also does a lot of edits, though it's much better at the full-image edits (curves, levels, color controls, etc.) than the painted-with-a-brush edits. It works "non-destructively" by maintaining the original file (it works on most raw files and most image formats like JPG, TIFF and PSD) and a database of what the edits are, and applies the edits when you load an image onscreen, print or export an edited version.</p> <p>There's also iPhoto, which is free with Macs and could be called "Aperture Light". It catalogs and does all the stuff like exporting web galleries etc., works with GPS-tagged locations and faces (with a sort-of-okay facial recognition algorithm) but does not have as many editing options.</p> <p>Also, all the Adobe software is available for Mac. The Mac and PC versions are very comparable. I do HDR in Photoshop but I also have a smaller program called Hydra that is standalone and has an Aperture plugin. One other piece of software to look at, that's Mac only, is Pixelmator. It's a replacement for Elements, with approximately the same capabilities and very good integration with OSX and iPhoto, and certain OSX-specific functionality like OpenGL integration. iPhoto plus Pixelmator would be a very capable amateur-level combination for not much money.</p> <p>Oh, and make sure to get an external hard drive and use it with Time Machine. Any drive will do, doesn't have to be Apple brand, you just have to reformat it for OSX and it should be larger than your internal hard drive. Time Machine does auto backups, lets you restore files from different dates in the past, if you lose your hard drive you can recover entirely from a Time Machine drive and if you get a new Mac you can Migrate your files and software from a Time Machine drive.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_beaumont Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Andrew, I think it would be fair to say, most (but not all) pro photographers will be using a Mac. says it all really!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpo3136b Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Andrew, I use Aperture, and it's a good program for my needs, but it's not going to be a substitute for really good photo-editing software. It's mostly for organizing large collections; you can make some basic changes to the overall photo easily; there is a simple clone and repair tool; but, for the advanced editing functions within an individual image, you will be happier with something like Photoshop or a similar program. I enjoy Aperture, but I rarely illustrate or manipulate the images beyond an overall change.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxmalossini Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Mark, I'm afraid you've just opened a can of worms!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_wohlfeil1 Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Thanks for quick helpful responses!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_beaumont Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Max,<br> LOL. I stand by what i said, though I may have been trying to spark a little fire. No one's taken the bait though!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Aperture and Lightroom alike are more photomanagement tools with some editing built in. For many people that editing capability is enough.</p> <p>For really professional post-processing, however, it is terribly hard to beat the Extended version of Photoshop.</p> <p>If you are a student or teacher, there are substantial discounts for all these software packages, and you may even find that your institution has a license for members to use the program at home for nothing or next to nothing.</p> <p>Even if you get Aperture or Lightroom, you should probably still at least pick up the Photoshop Elements.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charles_stobbs3 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I have an EMac and recently bought a Canoscan 8800F. PS Elements 4 came bundled with that scanner. It's worked fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenPapai Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Photoshop only used to work on Macs. Version 1.0</p> <p>The newest version, 64-bits, now works best if your CPU is Intel-based.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>Did I just hear an echo?</p> <p>For what it's worth, Ken, you <em><strong>are</strong> </em> aware that <em>all</em> Macs are now Intel-based and have been for some time?<br> They will also run Windoze Ecstasy or whatever it is called completely natively if ya' just gotta have that blue-screen buzz.... ;)<br> Windoze works just as well on a Mac as it does on any other Intel computer, although I confess I don't know anyone who has actually kept Windows on their machine for more than a tryout. Keeping a clone of the Mac OS on your harddrive like that just takes up too much storage space.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason_hall5 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p>If you have Lightroom or the like, I find that Photoshop Elements to be a waste of time. Much of the functionality in layers is limited, and as we all know the real power of Photoshop is in the abilities to work in layers.</p> <p>I have Lightroom and full version of Photoshop on both PC and Mac. With the brush function now in Lightroom, I rarely need Photoshop now. My advise there is to look into somthing like Lightroom (that is my nice way of saying "Get Lightroom!" :o) Then when you find yourself to limited and in need of more editing power...get the full version of Photoshop and do not bother with the Elements version.</p> <p>BTW, The same version of Lightroom runs equally well on both PC and MAC. One software, two platforms.</p> <p>Just my 2 cents</p> <p>Jason </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenPapai Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 <p><em>"</em><em>For what it's worth, Ken, you </em><strong><em>are</em></strong><em> aware that all Macs are now Intel-based and have been for some time? They will also run Windoze Ecstasy or whatever it is called completely natively if ya' just gotta have that blue-screen buzz.... ;)"</em></p> <p>Yes I know. I've been working fulltime with PCs since 1982 (DOS 1.1) and Apples (IIe my 1st) and Macs (512KB Fat Mac) since 1983. That's why I said "Intel". I've only been shooting EOS since 1990.</p> <p>Now that Windows is about to release Ver. 7, life is good.</p> <p>Adobe Photoshop version history <p><img src="http://www.kenpapai.com/blog/articles/ps1731z.jpg" alt="Papai photo of PS CS3 screen, digital darkroom, 1/05/2008" width="376" height="370" align="right" />PS 1.0 - Feb. 1990 (Mac only)<br> PS 2.0 - Nov. 1992 (PC Windows finally)<br> PS 3 - June '95<br />First use of layers.<br> PS 4 - Nov. '96 <br />Added adjustment layers and Actions (programmed scripts... the beat goes on....</p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 <p>Ken, you are font of historical knowledge, but I, too, started early on. In my case on an IBM mainframe back in 1959 (we had a Univac too, but I never got to play with it) running an "unsupported" (todayspeak:beta) version 0 of Fortran. Later in the 60s, worked with really big mainframes with sometimes as much as 512K "core".<br> Much later, got an Apple ][+, then an original Mac in 1984 (serial #4111WN)*, My first version of Photoshop was 2.5 and have upgraded about every other upgrade since. I am currently holding off for CS5. <br> In the late 90s I worked with Windows on what was then "hot" Intel hardware. Had about 5 years on various machines running mostly Microsoft Office, but I also got the latest versions of Photoshop and Omnipage Pro for it. Faithfully ran every upgrade Bill told me to until one day the upgrades killed all my non-MS software. Fortunately, although everybody told me it was the other company's fault, I retired right at that point, and left sorting it all out to my successor in the Dean's office. ;)</p> <p>If anyone wants to reminisce some more about the old days working on the "Glass TTY", start a new thread and I'll be glad to "jine in". Maybe a little off-topic <em>here</em> ?</p> <p>*You were amazing lucky to have been able to work with a 512K Fat Mac in 1983 since the original 128K Macintosh was not released until a year later ("Why 1984 won't be like 1984" was the first slogan).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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