Another Mac Convert --- With Questions!

[Oakley]

OK, I did it. I took the creative leap inot the world of Mac. I certaintly think it was a good decision. HOWEVER,

I had thought I would be able to do an easy transfer of my Photoshop Elements 5.0 Windows to the Mac version on my new laptop. Unforutnatly, Photoshop doesn't have a Mac version of 5.0 - which is really too bad because I love the cost, ease of use, and of course, the smugmug mug integrated uploader!

So I'm looking for some help/advice on what I should do. Here are my options:

Wait (a few months?) for PE 5.0 Mac to be released - which will cost me $0 to transfer from my PC. But that also means I'll need to keep my PC until such time.
Look for a new product for my Mac
Apature - $400 - amd may be more than I need
Lightrppm - see Apature
iPhoto - free - may be too basic, but I haven't tried it out yet.
???Any advice from Mac users welcome.

Cheers,

[Richard]

OK, I did it. I took the creative leap inot the world of Mac. I certaintly think it was a good decision. HOWEVER,

I had thought I would be able to do an easy transfer of my Photoshop Elements 5.0 Windows to the Mac version on my new laptop. Unforutnatly, Photoshop doesn't have a Mac version of 5.0 - which is really too bad because I love the cost, ease of use, and of course, the smugmug mug integrated uploader!

So I'm looking for some help/advice on what I should do. Here are my options:
Wait (a few months?) for PE 5.0 Mac to be released - which will cost me $0 to transfer from my PC. But that also means I'll need to keep my PC until such time.
Look for a new product for my Mac
Apature - $400 - amd may be more than I need
Lightrppm - see Apature
iPhoto - free - may be too basic, but I haven't tried it out yet.
??? Any advice from Mac users welcome.

Cheers,
If you bought a new Mac, I think you should investigate using Boot Camp or Parallels to run your existing PE5 till the Mac version is released. Just a thought.

Edit: The downside of this is that you will need a licensed version of XP to put on your Mac. On the other hand, that will also enable you to run any Windows program you like, which may be convenient.

Cheers,

[DavidTO]

If you bought a new Mac, I think you should investigate using Boot Camp or Parallels to run your existing PE5 till the Mac version is released. Just a thought.

Cheers,


NO! DON'T!

Really, if you plan on using parallels on a continuing basis, then by all means, go ahead. But don't go through the pain of all that, and put (shudder) Windows on your Mac unless you mean business.

It's an interesting position to be in. Shame on Adobe for not keeping the Mac version up with the PC version. Anyway, forget about iPhoto, it would be a step backward for someone used to PSE, and we're all about moving forward here. Aperture and Lightroom are OK, but they aren't a PS replacement.

I don't know if PSE has a demo that you can download, but the full PS does, why not put off your decision by 30 days, and give that a go?

[Richard]

NO! DON'T!

Really, if you plan on using parallels on a continuing basis, then by all means, go ahead. But don't go through the pain of all that, and put (shudder) Windows on your Mac unless you mean business.


I can understand why you prefer OS-X to Windows, David, but I really don't see why it's a terrible thing to boot into Windows from time to time when you have a good reason to do so. One reason some people stay on Windows is the greater variety of software available in the Msft ecosystem.

[Hindsight]

Aperture did have a 30 day trial, not sure if they do anymore. And Aperture is $299, not $400, however as David pointed out it's not a replacement for PS. Well... I've never used elements, so frankly maybe it is. I use both CS2 and Aperture.

[DavidTO]

I can understand why you prefer OS-X to Windows, David, but I really don't see why it's a terrible thing to boot into Windows from time to time when you have a good reason to do so. One reason some people stay on Windows is the greater variety of software available in the Msft ecosystem.


I agree. I'm just saying that to put that much overhead on your computer, to go through all the set up, to maintain two computers, basically, that you should be in it for the long haul. Not for a couple of months to tide you over.

[DavidTO]

Richard, one point I would argue is that I would rather spend the $70 or whatever on PSE4 for the Mac and live on that for the time being than load a whole other OS onto my computer. For me, that would be much preferable.

Or better yet, contact Adobe and get them to give it to me for free, since there's no PSE5 available, and they should give me a crossgrade.

[Richard]

Richard, one point I would argue is that I would rather spend the $70 or whatever on PSE4 for the Mac and live on that for the time being than load a whole other OS onto my computer. For me, that would be much preferable.

Or better yet, contact Adobe and get them to give it to me for free, since there's no PSE5 available, and they should give me a crossgrade.

If this is Ryan's sole reason to run Windows, then I certainly agree with you, David, and I like your idea of trying to get Adobe to solve his problem for free. :thumb

[Oakley]

Wow you guys - that was fast!

When I did talk to Adobe, and they gave me the bad news about no PSE 5.0 Mac, they also said they don't "do" free transfers to older versions. I didn't really probe them on it though, and maybe I should have.

I'm glad you told me not to bother with iPhoto. Question, though - should I "store" my photos in iPhoto like Mac instructs? Or shoudl I just stick to my old PC ways which was to use folders and then the organizer in PSE.

Oh, so many questions.

I do like the idea of using Lightroom. I'm going to check out the free trial for sure...

[DavidTO]

Stick to your old ways.

And tell Adobe that you're not asking for a transfer to an old version, you're asking for a transfer to their current Mac version. Again, shame on them. :D

EDIT: I think you'll find that a big difference with Elements PC vs. Mac is that it seems like on the Mac they expect you to use iPhoto as your main app, and PSE as an external editor. I don't THINK they offer the same file management.

Whatever you do, I wouldn't rely on iPhoto. It's a great app for what it is, but not for you. I would spend my time/money on professional or pro-sumer apps. Like iView Media Pro.

[dogwood]

- should I "store" my photos in iPhoto like Mac instructs? Or shoudl I just stick to my old PC ways which was to use folders and then the organizer in PSE.

This comes down to a personal DAM (digital asset management) preference, not an OS.

I use both a mac (groan... I hate it but gotta use the gear the day job provides) and several PC's. The way I handle this is to use Photo Mechanics to download (and rename) my CF cards into folders with the day and keywords (ie 2007_04_06_designer_fashion_show). The images simply get numerical #'s (ie 001.jpg, 002.jpg, etc)

Then I'll create folders within that original folder that include the processed from raw images, print res, or whatever else I need. It seems to work well when I have to grab something off the PC to use on the Mac. I never use iPhoto on the mac.

[cmason]

Check out Lightroom, I think you will like it even better than Elements (unless you are a big layer user in Elements). Download the free trial (Mac or PC) and see what you think.

[Oakley]

Check out Lightroom, I think you will like it even better than Elements (unless you are a big layer user in Elements). Download the free trial (Mac or PC) and see what you think.

UPDATE: I use LR exclusivley, and haven't turned back. It's so fast and sweet and can't even begin to describe. However, since I've started to shoot RAW again the space on my HD is shrinking! Ekk!

Thanks again for all your help!

[greenpea]

UPDATE: I use LR exclusivley, and haven't turned back. It's so fast and sweet and can't even begin to describe. However, since I've started to shoot RAW again the space on my HD is shrinking! Ekk!

Thanks again for all your help!
Since you're using LR, one suggestion: If you don't have it already, consider getting Scott Kelby's Lightroom book. I just got it, and I've learned a lot from what little I've read so far.

[Oakley]

Since you're using LR, one suggestion: If you don't have it already, consider getting Scott Kelby's Lightroom book. I just got it, and I've learned a lot from what little I've read so far.

Thanks for the tip. I have gone through all the tutorials on the LR website. I love books so I'll be sure to check that one out.

Thanks!

[Oakley]

Since you're using LR, one suggestion: If you don't have it already, consider getting Scott Kelby's Lightroom book. I just got it, and I've learned a lot from what little I've read so far.

Bought the book --- it is great! My workflow has totally improved! And I'm trying some different things with "export actions" which I never would have thought of in the past.

Thanks for the reference...

[greenpea]

Bought the book --- it is great! My workflow has totally improved! And I'm trying some different things with "export actions" which I never would have thought of in the past.

Thanks for the reference...

Glad to help. I'm loving the book myself. I'm just waiting for his PS CS3 book to come out now.