Thanks- I took the plunge -- here's my question!!

rgaetano

Hi fellow members,

I took the plunge- after reading the forums for quite awhile, and bought an IMAC. I still have my Windows machines in the house, but would like to use the imac for my photography work. Most of my files are sitting on 2 separate NAS devices. So I need an application that does a nice job of organizing photos, as well as manipulate. iphoto was included on imac.

There are some great threads on the site related to DAM (digital asset management)-- they are very enlightening- but perhaps left me more confused!!

Given that I'd like to use my MAC for photo tagging, post producting and overall management, can I get your input on which software tool to buy.

I want to continue to use SMUGMUG for publishing to web - but that is about my only major requirement.

Thanks!

Rick

DavidTO

Lightroom.

EDIT: The title of your thread is not very helpful. You should consider having a more descriptive title, something that would give people an idea that you're looking for Mac software suggestions.

darkdragon

I also have to vote for Lightroom. I've been using it without issue on my iMac for a long while now. I keep all my images on an external drive connected via firewire and have seen no slowness problems.

You can also upload to smugmug directly from lightroom without an intermediate export - a real timesaver.

DavidTO

darkdragon wrote:

You can also upload to smugmug directly from lightroom without an intermediate export - a real timesaver.

And spacesaver, too!

BradfordBenn

Another vote for Lightroom.

aquaticvideographer

Aperture FTW
I have heard great things about Lightroom from a number of people.

I haven't tried it--use Aperture, myself. I really like Aperture. Very powerful, flexible, easy-to-use.

BradfordBenn

If I remember right there is a 30 day trial download of Lightroom, so you can give it a spin no risk

aquaticvideographer

Same goes for Aperture: http://www.apple.com/aperture/trial/

Wachel

Never used lightroom so keep that in mind. I love Aperture and have been using it for a few weeks. You can also upload directly to smugmug.

I would have tried LR but the $100 price difference sold me. I am only a "hobbiest" though, so price means a lot.

W.W. Webster

Lightroom!

pathfinder

If you ever think you will want the layers and masks of Photoshop for your images, Lightroom2 is the right choice. It integrates very nicely with Photoshop or other image editing programs.