Why Upgrade to iPhoto 6?

Question

Earlier this year I briefly used iPhoto 3 (or what ever came with Panther) and was disappointed in its editing capabilities compared to even the basic CAMEDIA Master. Now I have Tiger and iPhoto 4. iPhoto 4 is an improvement over its predessor, but still is weak in editing. I'm comparing it along with PhotoImpressions 5 and CAMEDIA Master 4. I also use GraphicConverter, but it is in a different league than the others and I use it for special projects and to deal with opening and saving in a variety of formats.
Anyway, while CAMEDIA Master is the best for quick editing of that bunch, it is clunky to use compared to iPhoto. So, I like the iPhoto interface, but Version 4 just doesn't do the job. Would iPhoto 6 be substantially better than iPhoto 4?
Please provide commentary regarding the value of upgrading to iPhoto 6 from iPhoto 4, particularly with regard to editing.
I've noticed that most photo applications have become obsessed with organizing and burning, save Graphic Converter, and seem to have missed the important first step of editing photos for final presentation.
Thanks in advance.
Carl B.

Answer 1

Carl
I've noticed that most photo applications have become obsessed with organizing and burning, save Graphic Converter, and seem to have missed the important first step of editing photos for final presentation.
iPhoto is 'obesessed with organizing' because it's a photo organiser. First and foremost iPhoto is a database, with version control and no more than lightweight editing. It's not intended as a competitor for GC or Photoshop, but as a complement to them. In fact if you look at the iPhoto product page
http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/
You'll notice that they are not especially trying to sell it on editing, but on organisation and sharing.
Remember, you can use GC as an external editor - just set it up in the preferences. Then when you go to edit a pic, it will be passed to GC, make your changes and your save will be saved into iPhoto.
So, don't buy v6 for the editing, yes it's a step up on v4, it does things better, but if you buy v6 buy it for the organisation and the speed.
It's been a long time since I used v4, and I'm not exactly sure of what features came in with what version, but here goes:
v6 is significantly faster than earlier versions, plus the library now holds up to 250,000 images. The limited editing tools are based on presets rather than user control - but there is some measure of control possible - and editing in fullscreen is very easy on the eye. So if you're cropping, fixing red-eye iPhoto is very easy to use. There's the enhance tool which can sharpen things quite a bit - or too much. And there are preset effects like Sepia. The good thing is that these are easy to apply and undo if you don't like them.
But like I say, don't buy it for editing, especially if you are used to using GC or PS or PS Elements. But it for the organisation and sharing features.
My .2 cents
Regards
TD