Do you really use iPhoto on your Macs?

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hey,



I'm planning to make the switch to the Mac soon and I was wondering about one of the iLife apps - iPhoto - Do you really use it to manage the photos on your Mac? Is it good and useful enough?



I promise I will make the switch, no matter what your answers are - so you can answer honestly
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    I use it all the time. It's the primary way that I store all of my photos, print them, share them, publish them to the Web, etc. It's slick and I'm looking forward to getting iPhoto '08. Right now I can only Photocast and I'm looking forward to the Web Gallery. Events look nice too.
  • Reply 2 of 21
    skyboltskybolt Posts: 111member
    I, too, use iPhoto -- great little app, especially for the general user. If you are a professional, then its not for you, but for standard photo organization, manipulation, emailing, etc., its great.
  • Reply 3 of 21
    Actually, after using Aperture for a while because it had features that iPhoto '06 did not have, I found myself giving '08 a good test yesterday and found that it likely will do what I need, more easily than Aperture (not that it will replace Aperture).



    Beyond the well-publicized Events and other things, the image adjustments now include Highlights and Shadows and noise reduction, which is pretty much why I went for the more expensive Aperture in the first place. Haven't printed any images yet, but they look pretty good on-screen. iPhoto '08 is definitely a big improvement over '06.
  • Reply 4 of 21
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    Hey,



    I'm planning to make the switch to the Mac soon and I was wondering about one of the iLife apps - iPhoto - Do you really use it to manage the photos on your Mac? Is it good and useful enough?



    I promise I will make the switch, no matter what your answers are - so you can answer honestly



    Two words, hell yes.
  • Reply 5 of 21
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Absolutely. It makes organization a snap.
  • Reply 6 of 21
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    I wasn't able to open an iPhoto library created with an earlier iPhoto after switching machines.



    That experience soured me on iPhoto as a photo storage. Since then I have been using it to import my photos from the camera, and exported them out to folders.



    iPhoto now has the option to leave your photos where they are and just catalogue them. I don't really need iPhoto itself for anything, but as the other Apple apps use the iPhoto library to access photos, I'm going to let it catalogue my stuff at some point.
  • Reply 7 of 21
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lirand View Post


    Hey,



    I'm planning to make the switch to the Mac soon and I was wondering about one of the iLife apps - iPhoto - Do you really use it to manage the photos on your Mac? Is it good and useful enough?



    I promise I will make the switch, no matter what your answers are - so you can answer honestly



    There's a poll someone put up on these forums about which iLife app people use the most. Currently iPhoto is winning- by a lot.
  • Reply 8 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by meelash View Post


    There's a poll someone put up on these forums about which iLife app people use the most. Currently iPhoto is winning- by a lot.



    Wow, I would have guessed iTunes.

    but iPhoto would be my second-most-used.
  • Reply 9 of 21
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Remember, even if you are not explicitly "using" iPhoto as a stand alone app, there's every chance that you'll end up using it as the photo database that allows you to browse those assets in other programs.



    iTunes, iPhoto, (apparently now) iMovie are the system wide tools for organizing, browsing and selecting media, from Keynote to to iWeb, with the same media browser pane across many apps.
  • Reply 10 of 21
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    iPhoto is tremendous. I use iPhoto and iTunes quite a lot. I'm not sure I use the other iApps very frequently. Of course I love Mail, which as a mail reader is the best one available for any platform, but it's not an iApp, I suppose. iCal gets some usage from time to time, but iTunes and iPhoto are definitely the heavyweights of the iApps. I have never used GarageBand. I have used iMovie once or twice, although if I had a video camera I'm sure it would be heavily used. It's a great little tool for throwing videos together quickly.
  • Reply 11 of 21
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Yeah why not. It suits me perfectly.
  • Reply 12 of 21
    I was a previous user of Adobe Lightroom, but after updating to iPhoto '08, I am dumping Lightroom.



    iPhoto '08 is pretty fast, imports RAW images, and has an awesome web gallery on .Mac. I'm still impressed by its web gallery feature.



    Two thumbs up to the new iPhoto!
  • Reply 13 of 21
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by southerndoc View Post


    I was a previous user of Adobe Lightroom, but after updating to iPhoto '08, I am dumping Lightroom.



    iPhoto '08 is pretty fast, imports RAW images, and has an awesome web gallery on .Mac. I'm still impressed by its web gallery feature.



    Two thumbs up to the new iPhoto!



    Ironically I thought the web gallery the biggest meh part about it. It's cool, I guess, but it's more of a .Mac feature. I love the new iPhoto myself.
  • Reply 14 of 21
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post


    Wow, I would have guessed iTunes.

    but iPhoto would be my second-most-used.



    iTunes is not strictly a part of the iLife package. Otherwise, it would definitely top iPhoto.
  • Reply 15 of 21
    imacfpimacfp Posts: 750member
    We use it and only it. For a consumer it really is the best option and I like the new events organization. I don't have .Mac so I can't speak to that part of it and I've not recently used the printing, prints, book, calendar, etc. so again I can't say anything about them.
  • Reply 16 of 21
    mydomydo Posts: 1,888member
    My wife uses iPhoto to make books and what not. She's spent $1000 doing that. BUT she prefers the Canon software that came with her camera for uploading and sorting.
  • Reply 17 of 21
    I forgot about the book printing!



    We tried that a couple of months ago and it was awesome.; we made a 40 page booklet in the small size, softcover. I have now made several books of my favorite photos (Seasons, Birds, our big trip last year, our big trip this year) and have requested multiple copies of the first two to give to friends; I keep the data on my computer for whenever I want to order again. I am now working on three new books and actually find myself planning shots that will make good spreads.



    Actually putting the books together is a lot of fun; it can be a family event unto itself. There aren't too many layout options to make it cumbersome, but enough to make each page unique. A quick online order and presto, the book is on its way.



    I have had many requests for a calendar, so I am currently putting together a calendar of photos of our local volcano through the year.
  • Reply 18 of 21
    idaveidave Posts: 1,283member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gon View Post


    iPhoto now has the option to leave your photos where they are and just catalogue them. I don't really need iPhoto itself for anything, but as the other Apple apps use the iPhoto library to access photos, I'm going to let it catalogue my stuff at some point.



    How do you do that? One thing I've never liked about iPhoto is that it moves/duplicates photos, when I'd just as soon leave them where they are to begin with. I can't find the option you mention in preferences.
  • Reply 19 of 21
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post




    I have had many requests for a calendar, so I am currently putting together a calendar of photos of our local volcano through the year.



    I made a calendar for my mother. It turned out pretty well. I was disappointed at the size of the calendar. It was a bit small for how much it cost. I understand that the calendars are now bigger, although I'm not sure that's exclusive to iPhoto 08.



    Anyway I do recommend and will do another this year myself.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    Cool!



    The books are a little more than I would like, too, but still cheaper, including shipping to Japan from the US, than buying something similar here. Go figure.
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