First timer with RAW on a MAC with iphoto - Help please

Mike1970

Mike1970

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I have just made the move to a DSLR from years with a compact.

To date I have used iphoto

I will now be taking photos in RAW and am not sure what happens with iphoto. Can I store my RAW images and make jpegs to send by email etc? If I have a really good image I will obviously be looking to print the RAW version as opposed to the Jpeg.

Totally confused as to how this will work on iphoto - can it work on iphoto? - should i be considering using something else than iphoto?

All hints, tips, advice however apparently 'obvious' will be much apreciated

Thanks
 
There is no difference between importing in RAW and JPEG when using iPhoto. The conversion will be carried using by iPhoto's default setting for the camera. For basic editing iPhoto is fine, but you may want to look at upgrading to Aperture or Lightroom further down the road.
With you RAW files in iPhoto you can export them as JPEGs, but for a lot of applications including Mail the conversion can be done automatically. When you open the insert or attach dialogue in the app go down to pictures, click on iPhoto library, and it'll open up you library structure as it's arranged in iPhoto.
 
hoolio said:
What DSLR have you just moved to?
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After getting very tempted to go for something very fancy, I followed the advice of Mr Rockwell and got a D3100 (some good deals around). Am going to concentrate on gaetting a few nice lenses together along with my ability and then look to jump up a notch
 
MarkLG said:
There is no difference between importing in RAW and JPEG when using iPhoto. The conversion will be carried using by iPhoto's default setting for the camera. For basic editing iPhoto is fine, but you may want to look at upgrading to Aperture or Lightroom further down the road.
With you RAW files in iPhoto you can export them as JPEGs, but for a lot of applications including Mail the conversion can be done automatically. When you open the insert or attach dialogue in the app go down to pictures, click on iPhoto library, and it'll open up you library structure as it's arranged in iPhoto.
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Thanks Mark - going to have a play around with it tonight - standby for some frustrated questions!
 
As Mark has said iPhoto will handle RAW images just fine. However I would suggest that once you get confident with RAW , which shouldn't take long, you may want to look at other programmes that will let you use the full advantages of shooting RAW. Photoshop Elements has ACR ( Adobe Camera Raw) which lets you utilise he increased data available in a RAW images. or my preferred option is Lightroom. Don't rush out and get either of these yet. Get comfortable using RAW in iPhoto , but then look at these as an addition for the future. Boyh are available as trials so you can check them out before buying

Have fun
 
Chappers said:
As Mark has said iPhoto will handle RAW images just fine. However I would suggest that once you get confident with RAW , which shouldn't take long, you may want to look at other programmes that will let you use the full advantages of shooting RAW. Photoshop Elements has ACR ( Adobe Camera Raw) which lets you utilise he increased data available in a RAW images. or my preferred option is Lightroom. Don't rush out and get either of these yet. Get comfortable using RAW in iPhoto , but then look at these as an addition for the future. Boyh are available as trials so you can check them out before buying

Have fun
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Thanks John

A buddy of mine has pointed me towards lightroom, but definitely with you on mastering things first before moving on - there's a real danger of info overload and skipping the basics
 
One thought to bear in mind. Aperture uses graphics acceleration on the GFX card, Lightroom does not
Just sayin...
 
Lightroom just uses the computer CPU for everything. Apple's Aperture software uses the CPU and the GFX card for faster results..
I also find Aperture very forgiving to learn as it can import your IPhoto catalogue too and is more tolerant
 
MIKEROPHONICS said:
Lightroom just uses the computer CPU for everything. Apple's Aperture software uses the CPU and the GFX card for faster results..
I also find Aperture very forgiving to learn as it can import your IPhoto catalogue too and is more tolerant
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I agree with this, I share a a common library between iPhoto and Aperture. I tend to import from the camera into iPhoto, then use iPhoto to scan through the images and 'deadhead' the bad ones because I find iPhoto is quicker for sifting through images, Aperture sometimes takes a few seconds to load the next image. Once I've weeded out the keepers, I switch to Aperture to edit them, once they are done I use Aperture to export them to file, or direct to Facebook or Flickr.
 
Danger_MouseUK said:
I agree with this, I share a a common library between iPhoto and Aperture. I tend to import from the camera into iPhoto, then use iPhoto to scan through the images and 'deadhead' the bad ones because I find iPhoto is quicker for sifting through images, Aperture sometimes takes a few seconds to load the next image. Once I've weeded out the keepers, I switch to Aperture to edit them, once they are done I use Aperture to export them to file, or direct to Facebook or Flickr.
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I use the Quick Preview option in Aperture to cull from the first import, it makes it much faster rejecting those shots that are obviously not good enough to spend time on.

I really only use two image applications 99% Aperture and the rest on Pixelmator
 
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if you are a mach set check out aperture i use it 90% of the time for my work
 
Thanks all - this is good news as I'd rather stick with a Mac product as I've used iPhoto for years

Thanks for all your comments - helpful as ever
 
Aperture 3.0 is a Mac product and costs about £40 from the Online Apple Store you can download it in about 8 minutes. If you like iPhoto them this is a natural progression and you can do quite a bit with it. If you go to YouTube and Search on Aperture Tutorials it will give you some ideas what you can do with it.


Sent from my iPad using Talk Photography Forums
 
I too use aperture and find it great all around and slideshows with music are really nice.I have a free copy of LR5 but can't push myself to install it as i know it will be a headache to learn after aperture.
 
I've sort of made up my mind to move onto aperture as I'm a Mac fan and am used to iPhoto- can you give an idea of what aperture will allow me to do that iPhoto doesn't?
 
Hi Mike,it has a ton of features and editing tools and slideshow creation. try Lynda.com for a free weeks trial and there are some great tuitional videos on there
that you can watch during your trial.
i used iPhoto for a time but this is lightyears ahead and for around £44 a bargain i think.
 
SsSsSsSsSnake said:
Hi Mike,it has a ton of features and editing tools and slideshow creation. try Lynda.com for a free weeks trial and there are some great tuitional videos on there
that you can watch during your trial.
i used iPhoto for a time but this is lightyears ahead and for around £44 a bargain i think.
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Thanks Chris - I'll take a look
 
Wanted to add that you can probably set your camera to take each photo as RAW+JPEG. Uses more card/ computer space but quicker to email or print straight from jpeg version.
 
I wouldn't say that Lightroom isn't a Mac product. OK it's not produced by Apple, but all the first Beta's were for OSX, Windows users had to wait 8 months to get theirs. I've used it on both Windows and Mac's.

Before you spend any money why not download a trial of both and see what you prefer. The organisation of iPhoto into events etc.. is one thing that really puts me off it. think Aperture is the same. Some people love this but I don't like the way it drives me to use it's sorting method, I much prefer a more individual approach. This is not a criticism of Aperture ( well it is I suppose) but this cataloguing method just doesn't work for me. If you like the way iPhoto organises your images then fine go with Aperture, but I would suggest you try the free trial of each product first so you know you've made the right decision
 
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