Using an iMac for Photoshop editing

Hi. I'm a photographer and have been using a 17" MacBook Pro for the last 5 years and doing all my Photoshop editing on it. The MacBook has served me well but has developed a hardware issue and requires a new logic board. Rather than sink $500 or so into the repair I am considering spending a little more and upgrading to a slightly newer used 21.5" iMac. It's a mid 2010 model. Are there any Photoshop users out there that have been using iMacs and are happy (or unhappy) w/ the performance of their machines in regard to image editing? I'm particularly concerned about image quality as displayed on the iMac screen. Thanks for any feedback anyone cares to offer.
Here are some of the specs on the iMac I'm considering:
Dual core 3.06 GHz processor
8 GB Ram
500 GB 7200 RPM HD
256 MB VRAM

I use PS CS3 on a 2009, 27 inch iMac with the same CPU and GPU specs and I am not having any issues.
I have a 1 TB HD installed, though.
If you purchase this iMac, I would increase the RAM to the max. 16 GBs of RAM.
Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com).
Photoshop likes fast CPU, lots of RAM and lots of hard drive space for scratch disk areas.
The GPU while not that impressive, but serviceable for 3D and video work, will be more than fine for 2D Photoshop work.

Similar Messages

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    If so, what are you using as a scratch disk?
    The reason I ask is that I hear a lot of photographers are now using iMacs to do their image editing in Photoshop. The new iMacs are almost as fast as the old-design Mac Pro's and a lot less expensive than the upcoming "black trash can" Mac Pro.
    But knowing that in order to run decent, Photoshop requires a scratch disk on a separate HDD or SDD than the application drive, I hesitate to buy a new iMac. Any suggestions? Thanks.

    Auroria wrote:
    crh24 wrote:
    I use Photoshop CS6 on my late 2012 iMac with 32GB DRAM.  Runs fine for me and I have the scratch disk set to a fast Thunderbolt drive.
    <...>
    I am just wondering about the status of the scratch disk for an iMac -- being on an external drive vs. an internal. In your case the 32Gb RAM, graphics and external T-bolt combines well to get the job done.
    I have had minimal response over at Adobe forum so far. They tend to be rather Windows-centric there, having done away with the Mac Photoshop forum. Thanks.
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    I've found that with the 3TB Fusion drive I really don't need to use a secondary drive for the cache.  I currently set the cache to the internal hard drive and I keep all of my photos on the external T-bolt drive and it seems to run very smoothly but I didn't notice a slowdown when the cache and photos were on two different external T-bolt drives.

  • I am planning to buy mac mini 2.5Gzh. I will be using it mainly for video editing and I am planning to upgrade up to 8GB. Is it a good buy or should I try some other alternative.

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    Great advice from RRFS!
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    what is the best set hard drive set up on an iMac for video editing? i only have one internal 2tb hard drive.

    CIANCIO.mov wrote:
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    The second.
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  • Hi sir im using fcp 7 for video editing in i mac, how can i edit mts files in fcp 7 without log n transfer, is their solution for fcp 7?

    Hi sir im using fcp 7 for video editing in i mac, how can i edit mts files in fcp 7 without log n transfer, is their solution for fcp 7?

    >No, you are not right.
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    Hello all,
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    Eeewww! Oh, the horror of what you are trying to suggest! 
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  • Which of these would be the best iMac for video editing?

    Hello, pretty simple question, which of these 2 iMac configurations would be best suited for video editing? I want to use Final Cut Pro X and Adobe After Effects (not cutting edge effects just simple stuff).
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  • What resolution & order of work to scan slides for Photoshop editing

    When editing all done I would propose to save at 300 dpi. If the photo/slide requires no editing, I would also scan in and save at 300 dpi.
    My slides, however, need a lot of work. They have deteriorated over the years and need - colour correction, removal of colour casts, brighten up shadows, brighten up colours etc. etc.
    I have read many books and tips but they all seem to think I want to  produce prize winning images with amazing time consuming enhancements! I  just want, as I have seen from other threads, to get into a simple routine and crack on through the pile of slides to produce acceptable digital images!
    My simple mind suggests give Photoshop as much to work with as possible!
    I have:
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    - Photoshop 6.0.1 and Elements 2.0 - not very up to date I am afraid!
    Three questions:
    1) The maximum Scanner resolution is 2840 - I would have thought scanning at this best to get the most information of the image into Photoshop. Would this seem right - I can resample down to 300 dpi at the end?
    2) How much editing should I do in the Scanner - to give Photoshop the best information to work with - e.g. should I use Levels/Curves in the scanner to brighten up the shadows for Photoshop etc?
    3) Once in Photoshop for final editing, what is the best order of work and which tools best to use, bearing in mind for, say colour cast, you can use Curves, Levels, Colour Balance, Variations etc, etc.- it seems colour balance is best for this from what I have read. My suggested routine is:
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    - Curves/levels to bring out detail from the shadows
    - Scan
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    Photoshop
    - Crop
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    - Final Overall Colour casts - Colour Balance?
    - Adjust specific tonal adjustments etc. for selected areas - Dodge, Burn etc?
    - Other adjustments - Clone out blemishes etc.
    - Unsharpen
    - Resample to 300 dpi and save as JPG or TIFF etc. for required purpose - usually JPEG
    Does this sound right - any suggestion for variation etc. will be most welcome?
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    Tony

    Dear Marian,
    Thanks for the prompt reply - it sounds like it is just what I want  to hear!
    Just to  double check my understanding! Do you agree, then, that it is a good  idea to scan slides (and negatives for that matter) at the maximum  resolution for the purpose of further  editing in Photoshop?
    As you say, Photoshop will reduce  the ppi automatically for larger images than the slide. Most of my final printed  output will be 6x4" but it still gives me scope for a half decent print  at 8x11" if I want.
    As I understand it, Slides and Negatives are pretty dense  and can accept high resolution scanning whereas to scan a magazine  page, for example, there would be no need to scan at more than 300 dpi -  in fact to do so may even produce funny results!
    I know  people can get carried away with resolution. I do get amused when people  get excited about their super megapixel cameras when they ever only  display the results on a screen or a small print!
    Thanks  again for your comments - if you can confirm the above, that will be one big issue solved for me.
    Tony

  • Which iMac for Video Editing?

    Hi Folks,
    After about 7 years with my Dell 4550 I am close to making a purchase of a new Mac and leaving the Windows world - Yeah!!! My decision is now coming down to how much I should spend on the video card. Basically it is a 300-500 premium to upgrade to the discrete video cards compared to the integrated graphics in the 2.66 model (granted you do get a ~10% faster processor at 2.93 as well).
    What I am wondering is that for video editing (using iMovie) is there a significant difference in performance of the machine based on the video card? I do not play video games on the computer much as I have a Wii and XBOX already to have that area covered. Primarily I will use it for iTunes, iPhoto and HD Video (have a new baby we need to record!)
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    iMac, 24-inch, 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
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    4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
    1.0TB Serial ATA Drive
    ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
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    I wouldn't stress it much. I recently bought a new iMac, but for years I have been editing my home movies with iMovie on my old G4 eMac. Granted these are standard def movies, not HD, but the point is, a lot of video editing doesn't require a lot of video horsepower. Most of your time will be spent scanning through thumbnails, picking parts to cut out, etc. None of it requires fantastic video displays and most of the time you are not paying attention to the quality of the playback (as long as it isn't stuttering) and are more concentrating on the content to figure out what you want to keep, trim, edit, etc. 90+% of the time you are not actually watching a lot of video simply playing.
    So get what you can reasonably afford. If you can afford the best model, then go ahead and get it. But if money is a little tight and you have to make some tradeoffs, with digital video you will want to put money towards storage. Hard drive space gets used up FAST. So get the 1TB upgrade and invest some cash toward one or two large external hard drives (one dedicated just to storing your video and then the other for back ups, extra misc. storage, time machine, etc.). Fortunately external hard drives these days are about $100 give or take per Terabyte. For the drive you will want to use for your video work, I suggest spending the extra cash and getting a model with Firewire 800 connection, not just USB.
    Have fun,
    Patrick

  • Use my iMac for as macbook screen?

    I recently purchased a hendge dock for my macbook (early 2010) in order to save desk space, but I would like to use my iMac 27" as a screen in certain instance.  What are my options in order to make this a reality? Thank you.

    If the iMac is a 2009 or 2010 model yes you can do this otherwise, nope! The feature is called Target Display Mode, Apple explains it in Target Display Mode 2009 & 2010 iMacs

  • How can I set the default save format for photoshop edited photos?

    I just spotted that some of my photos that I've edited in Photoshop from Lightroom are a whopping 450MB. Looking deeper I found that they are saved as uncompressed TIFF files, this despite the default save format for Photoshop in Lightroom's preferences being set to ZIP compressed TIFF files. So why doesn't this setting work and how can I make Photoshop save things compressed?

    Sounds funny but first tell us what version of PS you have, what version of Lr and which OS. Thanks.

  • How many RAM do I need to use 3D rendering for Photoshop CC?

    Hello;
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    thank in advance.

    This might help you:
    In addition, all subsequent Photoshop feature updates specifically for Creative Cloud members will also require 512 MB of vRAM in order to use the 3D features found in Photoshop CS6 Extended.
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