Alternative to Aperture & Adobe Photoshop??

Hi,
Im looking for the best photo editing program for mac, i have adobe already and it seems that aperture wont run on my ibook g4 at the moment. Basically im looking for a very good program for apple along the lines of those software..
any ideas/suggestions??

I agree with the other posters here. If you only have one program, it should be CS2. Along with Bridge you have the basics needed for managing your photo library (no where near what is offered by Aperture) and the best photo editing program on the planet. If, however, you want some of the functionality of CS2, but without the cost, I would suggest Adobe Elements. It's the little brother of CS2 at a fraction of the cost with many of CS2's key features, but without a lot of the bells and whistles.
If your photo editing needs run on the simpler side, Elements should do, and it doesn't require the horsepower of CS2.
Jeff Weinberg

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Adobe photoshop elements vs aperture 1.5

which among this would be a perfect alternative for the iPhoto? i need something that won't be too much of a RAM hog but with loads of photo editing capabilities.
adobe cs3 is way over my budget.
1. adobe photoshop elements
2. aperture 1.5
3. lightroom
thanks.

Well I'll just say go with Aperture cuz I love it and it runs pretty darn well on my MacBook and should run better on yours.
But for the real answer: This is though and the decision (between the same 3 programs) I made at the beginning of this year.
1st: None is perfect, it's scientifically impossible for a photo editing program to be perfect (does everything, easy to use and has low hardware requirements)
I think if you've outgrown iPhoto that Lightroom or Aperture will be best. Elements is good and is kind of like a mini CS3. Here's also the fact that (I'm pretty sure of this, please correct me otherwise) that Elements is not a universal app, mean it runs under Apples Rosetta technology and will be slower.
As far as Aperture vs Lightroom, well we could spend a decade on this one, but I'll help make it easier. LR (ligtroom) has somewhat better adjustment tools than Ap (Aperture). Ap has better organizational tools than LR. Ap also integrates tightly into you Mac life. Lr does run better on lower end hardware.
Both programs offer 30 trials and I suggest playing with those. Also I chose Ap because I felt constrained by Adobe's module system. I also felt it's overall interface was just too dark and not customizable enough. However I am kind of biased in this and it would be good to hear from others. It would be good for you to go over to O'Reilly's Inside Aperture and Inside Lightroom blogs. http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/ (click the links on the right)

Aperture 3 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 problems.

I have installed Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, which I have setup as plugin for Aperture 3. In Aperture preferences the photos are exported as 8 bit TIFF 300 DPI, no profile and automatically stack new versions selected in general.
I right click on selected image (version) in Aperture and select edit with Elements, this create another version of the same photo in Aperture but increasing size from say 5MB to around 40MB. The Elements programme opens in Elements editor but the selected image is not there, I can only drag it in from Aperture. I then edit the image, then click save, it open a box save as and to a wierd folder like Uwvo2vg etc. I click save, get message saying it will overwrite file of same name, click save using a unique name. When I go back to Aperture, the edited file is not there and when I search for the unique name, nothing comes up.

I had somewhat similar problems running Elements 10 as external editor, but under 10.6.8. The simplest fix is to send .psd's instead of .tiff. You can change that in preferences.
If you must use .tiff (I do, becaues PTLens doesn't like psd) you have to change the file extension to .tiff in the save dialog. Elements saves as .tif and Aperture saves as .tiff. Notice the number of 'f' at end of extension.
Here's what was happening to me, which is a little different:
• when you send to external editor, Aperture saves a .tiff and opens it in in Elements
• you do your work and close the file
• Elements saves as .tif, and so doesn't overwrite the Aperture tiff.
• Aperture doesn't know the .tif exists so it shows you the un-edited .tiff that if made at the beginning
I get around this at the save dialog in Elements. Basically Elements goes into a Save As kind of dialog, so if I add the extra 'f' at the end, Elements asks if I want to over-write the existing file, and when I say yes the changes show in Aperture.
If you open Elements and go to 'Recent Files' (or something like that), you can see the .tif and .tiff files together. If you delete the .tiff and add the extra 'f' to the Elements .tif, the changes will show in Aperture.
What you shouldn't be doing is changing the name of the file in Elements. For the edits to show in Aperture you need to save the file with the same name and change the extension to .tiff. The file that Elements saves must have exactly the same name as the one Aperture made, because that's the file that Aperture knows about.
If you do a library database repair, Aperture will find these .tifs and add them to the library, but they won't be where they should be. The show up in a recovered file folder at the bottom.
Note that Elements 8 didn't have this kind of trouble. And note that I'm not running Lion, so some of the behaviors I describe may be different that what Lion users see.

Having problems with aperture 3 on imac osx 10.7 and wish to install adobe photoshop elements 10, question will i loose all my liberary from aperture??

would i loose my fotos from the aperature library when i change to adobe photoshop elements 10. aperture keeps shutting my system down all available help has not done any good. gmadeline

You'd only loose your Aperture libraries if you deleted them or damage them in some other way. The simple act of installing another app will not do this.
Of course you do realize that PS will not have any access to the Aperture libraries. If your originals are referenced then PS can get to them as it would to any file. If your originals are managed you will need to export them in order for PS to use them.
This all assumes you are abandoning Aperture for PS. If you are looking to do something else post back,

Migrating photos from Adobe Photoshop Album to Aperture

A while ago I posted to see if anyone had done this but got no replies. I have now managed to migrate my photos and most importantly kept the tags.
The first issue was that Adobe Photoshop Album kept its tags in an inaccesible proprietary database. This was resolved by downloading a 30 day trial version of Photoshop Elements 5 (PC). It appears that Adobe have actually built Photoshop Album in to Photoshop Elements (without telling any of us paid up Album users!). It is all there in PE5. What PE5 adds is an entry in 'File' menu called 'Write Tag and Properties Info to Photos'.
This 'writing' puts the tag information into the keyword IPTC field within the picture file itself.
It was then a simple case of making a backup from the file menu and backing up the whole library on to DVD(s).
In aperture simply Import images from the file menu, select the DVD and all the images are imported - tags and all.
The only one gripe about this process is that PE5 randomly misses out adding tag information to the files. There doesn't appear to be any logic to which files had no keyword information added at all. However, this is a better option than having to re-keyword everything again.
I hope this help some of you.
Andrew
MacPro 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4.10) 9Gb RAM Dual Dell 24" QuickCam Fusion

Just to point out that this will not work for raw files, since Adobe for some reason decided against using XMP sidecar files for the organizer, the way they do for PE/mac, bridge, etc.

How do I import Adobe Photoshop Album Library in to Aperture?

I was wondering if any members out there have had experience trying to migrate an Adobe Photoshop Album library in to Aperture. Getting the images in won't be a problem it is keeping the tagging data I am concerned about.
Ideally I would like to keep the 1000's of tags I have set up over the past few years for re-use in Aperture. There is no way I could retrospectively retag all the images again.
I was thinking that it may be possible to somehow attach the tags to a metadata field in each image prior to export and that Aperture could then use these to build its own keyword tagging system. I don't know how I would do this!!
Any ideas?
Thanks, Andrew
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Upgrade to Photoshop Elements and in the File menu you can apply the tags to the images using ITPC. You can then import the images into Aperture with the tags in place.

In Aperture using the external photo editor Adobe photoshop elements 10 editor. My photo will not come back to aperture unless the photo is saved on the desktop and then imported back to Aperture. What am I doing wrong?

Using Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 Editor as external editor in Aperture. The issue is once i make the changes in Photoshop it request that I save (use tiff) and the photo is not update in Aperture. What am I doing wrong?

Marianne,
how do you save? Photoshop Elements can save either versions or overwrite the original file, afaik.
You need to set the save preferences, so that it will write to the original file and not write a version. Also the filename extension should be "tiff" and not the default "tif" (I think you did that already).
Regards
Léonie

Can Adobe Photoshop Elements be considered as an alternative to Creative Cloud?

I am a Photoshop user but i don't like to pay monthly for using Photoshop, when i searched the web for a solution i found articles saying that Adobe Photoshop Elements can be considered as a Photoshop Alternative.
Can anyone tell me if it is ok to buy Adobe Photoshop Elements instead of Adobe Creative Cloud ? I am not a experienced or professional Photoshop user , i just use it for my office purposes like removing background from images, using layers to create new images, creating brochure etc.

It seems like all you need to do is some basic image editing , you don't need adobe photoshop creative cloud to do basic image editing.
Adobe photoshop elements is more than enough for you, you can buy it with confidence. It seems that in the article about photoshop alternatives that you provided , there are free photoshop alternatives that you could use. If you don't trust free image editors or your business don't allow it , your best choice is to buy photoshop elements. Since you are a photoshop user , it will be easy for you to use photoshop elements than any other image editor.

Looking for input on how Aperture rates when compared to Adobe Photoshop

Hi i am kind of new to Mac and have not bought any good photo editing programs yet i am looking for someone that has used both aperture and photoshop to help me make my decision on which one to buy. any input would help. thanks in advance

as RB said before, *you can't compare photoshop and aperture*. not in functionality and not in price.
actually: *you really need both*. there is no way around photoshop. most of your image processing can be done with aperture (or lightroom), however there will always be some photos that require the extra ps power, layers, etc... for retouching, blending etc.
compare:
you should compare +apple aperture with adobe lightroom+ for your image management and raw conversion - and - +photoshop cs3 with photoshop elements+ for image editing.
most here prefer aperture, however this is a question of personal preference. i have both on my machine, and while i like the improvements in adobe lightroom 2, i personally stick with aperture (i prefer the workflow and user interface of aperture).

Adobe photoshop alternatives !

any body know any FREE software, lighter than and alternative to adobe photoshop ?

There is the freeware "The Gimp", but it was a little rough around the edges last time I looked at it. You get what you pay for.
There is Corel Paint Shop Pro, which is less expensive than Photoshop. I don't think I'd call it "light", though, and it is somewhat less functional than Photoshop.
-Noel

Aperture 2.1 and Adobe Photoshop CS2

Hey.
I'm using Aperture as my bread and butter. I don't have any issues.
In my previous posts I mentioned that I don't use Photoshop, but now I'm using Photoshop a lot more...for retouching and localized corrections.
All of my tonal corrections and things are done in Aperture and I just export 16bit PSDs to do retouching on and then bring them back into Aperture. Pretty smooth workflow and still rely on Aperture, not Photoshop.
Anyone else enjoying the strengths of Aperture and getting the benefit of PS like that? I haven't used the spot and patch much in Aperture, but I will try it soon so that I can minimize my PS work even more.
Anyway, Aperture is still working great for me. Hope it does for you, too.
Scott

Yes. Aperture cut my PS CS, CS2 and now CS3 workload down from 100% to around 5%. A huge time-saver, plus of course the image management side that CS2 or 3 doesn't do (and I include Bridge in this).
The new spot/patch brush is night and day compared to the original. It is fabulous (better than CS3 for many tasks) at identifying edges and adjacent textures. Highly recommended.

Aperture V. Adobe Photoshop

Right now I have the 30 day trial of Aperture, but am thinking of buying Photoshop.
Things I don't like about aperture are you can't crop two photos together (say I wanted to put one of my friends in front of the grand canyon or another place).
I also like a lot of presets when it comes to editing photos (i.e. make your friend look like a comic book character or make myself a drawing).
While aperture is good for editing photos and the color of them...I usually just use iPhoto for things like that.
Can photoshop do the things I want?
Any other reccommendations for the OS system?
Any help is appreciated!

I suggest you do a search for Aperture vs Photoshop in this forum; there have been many details provided in such posts.
In short, Aperture is a metadata editor and Photoshop is a pixel editor. Beyond that Aperture provides DAM capabilities which Photoshop does not.
The two programs are very different, with different goals, but there is some overlap between them. Many photographers use both; I've also read from many who do most of their work in Aperture (or Lightroom) and use Photoshop of about 5% of their work, to do the fine editing on specific areas of a photo. In your case, performing pixel copy and paste and other "tricks" is what Photoshop if built for. If you don't have Photoshop, you might look into Photoshop elements. Remember, Photoshop was built mainly for graphic artists, not necessarily for photographers (were there digital cameras back when PS was new?)?
- Pierre

PhotoshopNews: Adobe Photoshop CS3 at a glance!

http://photoshopnews.com/2006/12/14/adobe-photoshop-cs3-at-a-glance/
Even more content out there now on the home page of PhotoshopNews.com

I haven't been able to download CS3 yet, but the Martin Evening pdf (thanks for the link!) has what looks like a piece of great news buried in it:
"For example, before you first had to create an empty new document with the exact pixel dimensions before you could place an image (such as a raw file) as a Smart Object. With Photoshop CS3, you can now place a raw capture file as a Smart Object layer in a single step."
If I understand this right, it means that the functionality of the old Dr Brown Place-a-Matic script is now available from Aperture. We can -- or this makes me hope we can -- send a RAW from Aperture to PSCS3 for editing, and then Place the same image, perhaps twice, as a Smart Object, edit away, and when we Save get the whole edited image back in Aperture without going through the Finder.
I used to use this (from Bridge) all the time to double-expose RAW shots: adjust the sky to one exposure and the ground to another, masking to get both into the final image, all without messing with the pixels of the RAW image. I've missed it. Whoopee.

IPhoto with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 and Adobe Bridge

I have not used iPhoto before now as I have been downloading photos from my Canon and Nikon cameras using their software. I have now moved everything into iPhoto but cannot find iPhoto using Adobe Bridge so I am unable to do any editing using Elements 4. Previously I could find the Canon and Nikon photos using Adobe Bridge. With a simple click on the relevant photo it opened up in Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 and I was able to edit it. Now using Bridge I simply cannot find iPhoto thus I cannot use PSE4. Can someone help before I go crazy ? I havde called Apple support but they have been unable to help me and suggested using Discussions@Apple

Many thanks for your quick response although, as a new iMac user, the mere mention of the word "corrupt" scares me ! I previously used a PC with Windows XP and PSE3 and loved being able to sort all my photos into albums with PSE3. Unfortunately the PSE4 which I have installed on my iMac doesn't let users sort their photos into albums and the only alternative is Adobe Bridge. I only recently started to use iPhoto after a visit to an Apple Store and it's great being able to catalog my photos so easily. Unfortunately PSE is far and away superior to any editing software that iPhoto has to offer. Anyway, I'll cross my fingers and try your suggestion first thing tomorrow morning.

Installing Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 without Discs

I recently purchased Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 on amazon.com. The product was shipped to me with installl discs. The problem is that my Mac does not have a DVD drive. Is there a way to install the product online using the serial numbers on the packaging? Any suggetions would be greatly appreciated!

Try http://prodesigntools.com/photoshop-elements-10-direct-download-links-pse-premiere-pre.htm l
Follow the Very Important Instructions on that page closely otherwise the download links will not work.
Once you've successfully installed, backup the file. There's no guarantee it'll be there next time you need it.
Alternatively, you can always purchase a cheap external DVD drive and connect it via USB to install software. That's what I sometimes do with my MacBook Air.

Alternative to Aperture & Adobe Photoshop??

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