New Ibook help with mac software

Stustaff

Hi all I know there are a good amount of mac users on here and after getting my first mac, an Ibook I could do with a bit of help.

I have read ALL of the unsolicited mac help thread but could do with a bit of advice.

Basically what I want to know is what is the best software solution for following this process(feel free to suggest alterations to the process)

Take photo with 350D/rebelXT

Connect Card/camera to MAC and transfer pics over

Review images and delete rubbish

adjust/crop/fix/sharpen etc images

Rename keepers

File keepers some way of searching with keyword date etc

Backup keepers to disc

Upload keepers to DGrin

Upload selected shots to website(using ilife and .mac account?)

this is a process I need to define for when Im travelling, spending 3 months touring america in sept.

The other obvious thing is cost! im pretty broke now!
Any free or reasonably priced software would be great and by reasonably priced I mean under $100 dollars ideally as little as possible, free options would be fantastic!

Thanks in advance

Stu

JohnR

A new iBook comes with iPhoto which should take care of all this:
Review images and delete rubbish
adjust/crop/fix/sharpen etc images
Rename keepers
File keepers some way of searching with keyword date etc


You can burn CD's directly with the OS. Drag/drop files into folder or onto the blank CD-R and choose burn. That takes care of this:
Backup keepers to disc


I'm not sure if this is part of the question?
Connect Card/camera to MAC and transfer pics over
This is done either via a cable supplied with your camera or a CF card reader you purchase.
If you need a Card reader, B&H has a good one for $29.99. I have used this one and had no problems with it.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=229973&is=REG&addedTroughType=search



You can download the OSX Smugmug uploader. It's free.
http://www.smugmug.com/help/macs
Takes care of this:
Upload keepers to DGrin

Uh...then you ask for this:
Upload selected shots to website(using ilife and .mac account?)
Why bother with this when you have Smugmug? And if you don't have Smugmug, you can get the cheapest plan for only $39.95 per year. .Mac is around $90, though you can find deals at some places but not as cheap as $39.95


There...if you spend $39.95 for Smugmug and then $30 for the CF card reader, you would only have to spend $70 to do what you wanted. (heck, you wouldn't even have to buy the CF reader...just use the USB cable that came with the camera)

So..that takes care of this!
Any free or reasonably priced software would be great and by reasonably priced I mean under $100 dollars ideally as little as possible, free options would be fantastic!

Stustaff

Thanks JohnR

I guess I had considered that but I havent used Iphoto much, i have CS2 and Bridge on my pc and I guess because Iphoto is free with the system I felt it wouldnt be up to much?

I already have a .mac account for general back up purposes (calender contacts etc) whilst I will be away, I also like find the ability to use that and Iweb to easily publish a blog and a page of selected images to be available for my family and friends (i Will prob link to smugmug gallery from there to allow them to order shots they want.

I was on holiday last week so am going to have a dry run if you like this week.

Bearing in mind I will be taking lots of shots and prob also using an external hard drive will iphot be compatible with having photos stored on the built in derive and the external?

Andy

You've Won!!!!

Stustaff wrote:

.
.
.
I have read ALL of the unsolicited mac help thread but could do with a bit of advice.

,
,

You DID? CONGRATULATIONS, you are the 13th person to say that exact phrase here on Dgrin!!! Not only are you a wise, and astute photographer, smart to buy a Mac, and use the great Unsolicited Advice thraed, but you're now a few quid ahead of the game - I've just added a free year of service on to your SmugMug account, you can see that info in your control panel (renewal date)...

Stustaff

Andy wrote:

You DID? CONGRATULATIONS, you are the 13th person to say that exact phrase here on Dgrin!!! Not only are you a wise, and astute photographer, smart to buy a Mac, and use the great Unsolicited Advice thraed, but you're now a few quid ahead of the game - I've just added a free year of service on to your SmugMug account, you can see that info in your control panel (renewal date)...

WOW!

Andy, thank you very very much!

A few weeks ago I was looking for an online place to store my photos I looked at a LOT of sites, I eventually got here through a recomendation on stevesdigicams forum and liked the look of smugmug.

What really sold Smugmug to me though and got me to buy my first year were the furums here at dgrin, a forum is for me the window through which you can see how a business is ran.

Andy you were a big selling point in that due to your quick responses and help to users another was that thread about the guy wanting to upload 100,000,000,000 photos or however many it was, and also just the general help and support from smugmuggers(hmm?).

and finnaly just to kiss ass a touch more I was on holiday snowboarding in Sierra nevada last week and used your and others tips for how to shoot in snow and have some great pics, gallery appearing soon just got to sort the 400 or so photos first!!!

actually one last question Andy, are you british? I had assumed you wee american from your location but have never heard an american say "a few quid"!

Thanks again

Stu

Andy

Stustaff wrote:

WOW!


actually one last question Andy, are you british? I had assumed you wee american from your location but have never heard an american say "a few quid"!

Thanks again

Stu

Hi Stu Many thanks for the very kind words - it's really appreciated! We're so glad to hear it when our forums provide useful info for our members - it's what makes it all worthwhile!

no, I'm not from across the pond, I'm a New Yorker! I do visit quite often, though:

Charachter in Camden Town:


Postcard Shot:


Durdle Door


Bodiam Castle


I love your country! But, Youse Goiys tawk a liddle funny yunno?

Stustaff

Nice pics I love the Bodiam castle shot!

Was at durdle door myself last July, yours is one of the first shots I have seen of Durdle door that doesnt have durdle door in it! lovely angle though and makes a good shot.

I dont talk like that! im not from London Im from Derby ( a few quid says you have no idea where that is! no googling though)
I am going over to the US in sept to get married and spend three months travelling around the place hence the need for somewhere to put my images somewhere with space!

and yes the tips are great just the altering of the xposure up to 1.3 and 1.6 has really made the snow shots miles better.

mercphoto

Stustaff wrote:

Connect Card/camera to MAC and transfer pics over

Either use iPhoto, or use Image Capture (look under Applications, Utilities). I personally use Image Capture. You can configure it to automatically start when it sensing a camera or picture card attach to the computer. I use a FireWire card reader as well. Very fast.

Review images and delete rubbish, adjust/crop/fix/sharpen etc images

iPhoto, Photoshop Elements.

Rename keepers

iPhoto, Bridge (part of Photoshop), iView Media Pro.

The rest of your questions could be handled by any of those programs above as well. iPhoto and Image Capture came bundled with your Apple.

Dee

Image capture?
Geesh, I've been using a Mac since the Apple IIe series and am now running Tiger. You can tell how much attention I pay to Marketing People -- I am totally unaware of this image capture. I'll have to give it a look.

I use iViewMultimedia (not pro) and a cardreader from Fry's ($9.99). I have a camera cable somewhere :-(

But I also use drag and copy with the card reader. Make my folder, open the card/stick and find the images and simply drag to the new destination folder and drop -- it's copied away!

I've never been able to figure out iPhoto -- too "easy" I guess, and there were some problems with copying or not copying and moving instead, my photos to that silly old users/library stuff I'm still trying to grok! All this OSX stuff is driving me nuts, permission, log in, sometimes I wish I was back in the simple days of OS9 which I knew pretty well.

Oh well, I'm wandering off -- I'll have to look at this image capture...:):

colourbox

I use Image Capture to import because it lets you preview the files on the card, and it has an option to import only selected photos instead of the whole card, since I don't always erase the entire card after the previous download. Use Image Capture preferences to set it as the default downloader instead of iPhoto.

If you shoot RAW, think about using Bridge rather than iPhoto, because then you can use Bridge for rating, deleting, and keywording, and use Adobe Camera Raw for far superior RAW control compared to iPhoto. You can still use iPhoto for long-term cataloging since Bridge is only a folder browser.

In Bridge I made a Label called "smugmug." I apply the label to images I want to upload. Then I just do a Find, and when those images come up in their own window, I Select All and drag the lot into the smugmug Mac uploader. Then I get some coffee while it transmits. I suppose you could also tag, drag, and drop from iPhoto.

Stustaff

Hmm another question! Iphoto is ok actually like a lot of the stuff I can do but dont really like it for editing!

Now realising I have an ibook with 1gb of ram what editing software will run well on it?
I use PS CS2 on my pc and used to use PSP on it so for the ibook should i go for PSP or elements?
or is there a differnt solution that again doesnt cost the earth?

DavidTO

OK,

First off if you're shooting RAW, don't use iPhoto. If you're shooting JPEG, iPhoto is fine, but don't use it to correct your photos. For JPEG, a combo of iPhoto and PS Elements is fine.

iView Media is great for cataloging, and will keep track of offline media as well. Get the Pro version if you're shooting RAW (although it's over your budget).

You don't need to worry about importing, yes there are options, but just putting a card in a reader or connecting the camera will prompt for import.

Stustaff

ok so is elements ok for dealing with some RAW processing and converting to JPEG?

mercphoto

Stustaff wrote:

ok so is elements ok for dealing with some RAW processing and converting to JPEG?

I'm unsure, but your 350XT should have come with Canon software to do RAW conversion. Should have Digital Photo Professional. Its not a particularly fast converter but it produces nice output. I'm pretty happy with it and use it the (few) times I shoot RAW. Someone who shoots RAW with more frequency might have differing opinion.

Stustaff

ah never thought of using the canon software! will give it a go cheers.

W.W. Webster

Stustaff wrote:

ok so is elements ok for dealing with some RAW processing and converting to JPEG?

Absolutely! I use it exclusively for all my post-production requirements, including RAW conversion to JPEGs.

Stustaff

ok dokey next question (sorry)

RAM! i bought it with 512 and planned to upgrade it can I get 2gb and just stick that in or do I have to match and get 512?

the Ram I have lookad at is from crucial and is DDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR333 • 2.5V • 128Meg x 64 for £95

or same but 512 for £35.

as Im going to be doing a little work on RAW images im guessing the more the better?

Andy

Stustaff wrote:

ok dokey next question (sorry)

RAM! i bought it with 512 and planned to upgrade it can I get 2gb and just stick that in or do I have to match and get 512?

the Ram I have lookad at is from crucial and is DDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR333 • 2.5V • 128Meg x 64 for £95

or same but 512 for £35.

as Im going to be doing a little work on RAW images im guessing the more the better?

Get 2gig, and you can buy the ram from 3rd party and do it yourself, it takes about 30 seconds. You'll need all the ram you can get for happy photo processing.

Stustaff

Andy wrote:

Get 2gig, and you can buy the ram from 3rd party and do it yourself, it takes about 30 seconds. You'll need all the ram you can get for happy photo processing.

I thought it only had one slot on a ibook? and a max of up to 1gb?

in the manual it says a max of 1.5gb including the 512 built in + 1gb added?

is it actually poss to put more in?

marlof

AFAIK the iBook maxes out at 1.5 GB. So get 1GB and add it in the free slot. And be happy, my Ancient One (iBook G3 800 MHz) maxed out at 640 MB (128 internally, 512 in the additional slot).

George1

What is Bridge and where do I find it? This may solve some of my raw problem.

colourbox wrote:

I use Image Capture to import because it lets you preview the files on the card, and it has an option to import only selected photos instead of the whole card, since I don't always erase the entire card after the previous download. Use Image Capture preferences to set it as the default downloader instead of iPhoto.

If you shoot RAW, think about using Bridge rather than iPhoto, because then you can use Bridge for rating, deleting, and keywording, and use Adobe Camera Raw for far superior RAW control compared to iPhoto. You can still use iPhoto for long-term cataloging since Bridge is only a folder browser.

In Bridge I made a Label called "smugmug." I apply the label to images I want to upload. Then I just do a Find, and when those images come up in their own window, I Select All and drag the lot into the smugmug Mac uploader. Then I get some coffee while it transmits. I suppose you could also tag, drag, and drop from iPhoto.

DavidTO

George1 wrote:

What is Bridge and where do I find it? This may solve some of my raw problem.

Bridge is part of Adobe Creative Suite 2, or Photoshop if you buy that on it's own.

George1

Thanks for the quick reply. I am using PSE 3. Waiting for PSE4 to be universal and waiting for them to work the bugs out of the new intel Macs. I need a new Mac bad. This one really grunts with big raw files.

DavidTO wrote:

Bridge is part of Adobe Creative Suite 2, or Photoshop if you buy that on it's own.

Stustaff

How do I get bridge to recognise raw files from a 350d?
seems i need to convert them to DNG?

is there a piece of software that allows that that anyone is aware of?

Stustaff

Stustaff wrote:

How do I get bridge to recognise raw files from a 350d?
seems i need to convert them to DNG?

is there a piece of software that allows that that anyone is aware of?

Well I got that sorted and since i was last on have added an extra 1Gb of RAM.... Zoooooooooom

wxwax

Stustaff wrote:

Well I got that sorted and since i was last on have added an extra 1Gb of RAM.... Zoooooooooom

Bummer that no-one saw your question. For the benefit of others, how did you solve the problem or RAW 350D files?

Stustaff

Hi WXWAX yeh no worries though, basically I went to ADobe's site and foound their free DNG converter which converts my 350D/rebelxt RAW into DNG which all adobe products are happy using.

wxwax

Stustaff wrote:

Hi WXWAX yeh no worries though, basically I went to ADobe's site and foound their free DNG converter which converts my 350D/rebelxt RAW into DNG which all adobe products are happy using.

Glad to hear it.

Adobe's holding me hostage, tho. They won't let me read a DNG file unless I upgrade to CS2. They're beginning to resemble Microsoft.