Just got a "new" MacBook Pro, coming from a PC, have questions!
I just received my first Mac today, a refurbished 15" MacBook Pro 2.4ghz with 2gigs of ram and a 160 gig HD. Coming from a Windows machine, I obviously have some questions:
I'm confused about how file storage for things like pictures works... I see I can simply put individual images into my Pictures folder, but when I import them into iPhoto or the trial version of Aperture 2.1 I downloaded, I'm assuming the entire files get duplicated somewhere else. And it seems that Aperture and iPhoto put them in different places. What's the easiest way to store my pictures so they can be accessed by whatever needs them while not having them duplicated everywhere? FWIW, I'm used to how Picasa organizes things, since that's what I was using as an image viewer in Windows... my plan with the Mac was to use iPhoto to view photos, and Aperture to do my editing.
With windows, I'm used to running an uninstall program to delete programs... I think I've figured out that the way to do it with a Mac is to simply drag the icon from the Applications folder to the trashcan, correct?
I did figure out how to transfer my iTunes library so it was kept intact!
Is grabbing the bottom right corner of a window the only way to resize it? I'm just used to Windows XP where you can grab whatever side of a window you want.
I'm sure I'll have more!
I'm confused about how file storage for things like pictures works... I see I can simply put individual images into my Pictures folder, but when I import them into iPhoto or the trial version of Aperture 2.1 I downloaded, I'm assuming the entire files get duplicated somewhere else. And it seems that Aperture and iPhoto put them in different places. What's the easiest way to store my pictures so they can be accessed by whatever needs them while not having them duplicated everywhere? FWIW, I'm used to how Picasa organizes things, since that's what I was using as an image viewer in Windows... my plan with the Mac was to use iPhoto to view photos, and Aperture to do my editing.
With windows, I'm used to running an uninstall program to delete programs... I think I've figured out that the way to do it with a Mac is to simply drag the icon from the Applications folder to the trashcan, correct?
I did figure out how to transfer my iTunes library so it was kept intact!
Is grabbing the bottom right corner of a window the only way to resize it? I'm just used to Windows XP where you can grab whatever side of a window you want.
I'm sure I'll have more!
Comments
I don't care for iPhoto as a viewer personally, unless I viewed everything at full-screen - it's just too clumsy and slow otherwise IMO (I only use it to look at my RAW files right now). I use Xee as my photo viewer, but I miss FastStone to no end.
Haven't played with Aperture yet, so I'm not sure about that (although I'm looking into it or LR).
Yea, to uninstall apps, just drag and drop to the Trash. And ditto with the bottom right corner.
People like to bash it but for average users I think its excellent. Just let iPhoto do all the work. The key to getting the most out of it is to use keywords and ratings of your photos. I do this whenever I load pics into iPhoto from my camera. This extra time up front makes finding pictures later very easy. Type in what your looking for in the search bar and you get it.
It took a while for me to get used to iPhoto when switched over from windows but now I can't imagine life without it. Its my favorite and most used iLife app.
Is grabbing the bottom right corner of a window the only way to resize it? I'm just used to Windows XP where you can grab whatever side of a window you want.
What is WindowDragon?
WindowDragon was created because it is often inconvenient to click on a window's title bar or resize button to move and resize windows. WindowDragon allows a window's entire structure to be used as move or resize zone. In other words, WindowDragon makes it possible to move or resize a window by clicking anywhere within that window.
Additionally, WindowDragon allows you to resize a window from any corner, and it allows you to drag all of an application's windows in tandem.
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I don't know if WindowDragon is compatible with Leopard. Check out these sites.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16952
http://www.musingsfrommars.org/index...tcat=25&p=1663
http://www.macupdate.com/reviews.php?id=16952
As far as editing, in iPhoto preferences, you can set an external editor (Aperature, Photoshop, etc.), so that when, in iPhoto you click on edit, that external editor will open, you can edit and then the new photo will be put right back were it was. Very clean.
If you use the "import all photos to iPhoto library (or whatever it says in preferences -- not at the mac right now), you will not have duplicates. iPhoto does, however, keep the original of you photo so that if at any time in the future you want to revert and then re-edit, you can. Very clever.
Good luck and welcome!
I spent an hour or so yesterday going through my photo library in iPhoto, organizing things in a better way, deleting a bunch of stuff I should have deleted long ago, etc. Then I imported all of that into aperture, thinking it was a completely separate library, then deleted everything in iPhoto. Then I realized everything I was looking at in Aperture was a low resolution thumbnail blown up real big. ACK!!! I unfortunately had a few pictures that were not stored anywhere else, so I"m looking for a hopefully free file recovery program, before I shell out $40 for one.
Once again thanks for the replies.