If you organise your photos by folders and find this perfectly satisfactory, then you can use any number of different programs to keep your images organised. Adobe Bridge is a good starting point as an image browser if you already have Photoshop, and ON1 Photo RAW and Alien Skin Exposure are two examples of all-in-one programs that have image browser tools built in. But … [Read more...] about Best image browser and cataloguing software
Apple
There's not much you can say about US computer giant Apple, except that IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE DISCONTINUED APERTURE, which was faster, better thought-out and much nicer to use than Lightroom. Apple also publishes Apple Photos, which is OK as a simple consumer photo-editing tool, but no substitute for the long-lamented Aperture.
How to duplicate pictures in Apple Photos
Apple Photos is central to both the Mac OS and iOS devices. It's a great way to keep all your photos to handy on all your devices, and it practically looks after itself – you add a photo on one device, and very soon it's on all of them. It's also a pretty good image-editing hub for all your photo editing, at least on mobile devices like iPads and iPhones – except for one … [Read more...] about How to duplicate pictures in Apple Photos
Learn better black and white photography – with your phone
The way that certain cameras feel and work and operate lends them to a certain kind of photography. And for me, the iPhone is perfect for high-contrast, graphic black and white images. True, the image quality is some way short of what you'd get from a 'proper' camera, but when I'm using it I see the world differently and I see compositions in a way that I don't when I'm looking … [Read more...] about Learn better black and white photography – with your phone
How to create a mask in MacPhun’s free Filters for Photos
Last week MacPhun announced a free extension for Apple Photos. Filters for Photos has 30 different effects, and while the controls might appear pretty basic, you can use the built-in masking tools to apply these filters much more subtly than you might expect. Here's how it works. 01 Choose your filter So here I've chosen the Color Sunlight Spot filter. It's not subtle, … [Read more...] about How to create a mask in MacPhun’s free Filters for Photos
How to make sense of the Apple Photos interface
We already asked, can Apple Photos replace Aperture?, and no, it can't, but it's still a very good tool for managing your family photo collection, where the ability to capture, find and share pictures simply is the key. To anyone used to a full-on image-cataloguing tool, though, or even the old iPhoto, it feels like being dropped into a very strange place. Apple Photos … [Read more...] about How to make sense of the Apple Photos interface
Can Apple Photos replace Aperture?
When Apple announced it was going to discontinue its professional image-cataloguing application Aperture, but that a brand new Photos app was on its way, many (including me) obviously hoped that Photos would go some way towards replacing our favourite application. These hopes were raised by early screenshots showing some powerful-looking editing tools. Well the dust has … [Read more...] about Can Apple Photos replace Aperture?
How Apple Photos Extensions work
Apple Photos has some useful editing tools already, but with the launch of the El Capitan operating system, Apple has gone a step further with Apple Photos Extensions. These are equivalent to the the image-editing plug-ins used with Photoshop and Lightroom. Software publishers have been keen to make use of this, and already there are a number of Apple Photos Extensions on … [Read more...] about How Apple Photos Extensions work
How to make sense of the Aperture Loupe options!
The Aperture Loupe tool is one of its many excellent features, but it's easy to get confused by the zoom and loupe size options. The keyboard shortcuts look so similar it's hard to remember which does what, and if you're anything like me, you end up going round in circles. So I thought I'd better study these Aperture Loupe options properly just to get them straight in my own … [Read more...] about How to make sense of the Aperture Loupe options!
How to batch process special effects with the Google Nik Collection
If you're anything like me, you spend a lot of time dabbling with one special effect, moving on to another image, trying another effect and keep on experimenting without a specific aim in mind. Wouldn't it be better to put the effects you like already to some constructive use, rather than continually roaming your effects library for others? That's where the batch … [Read more...] about How to batch process special effects with the Google Nik Collection
Aperture users: 3 ways Lightroom could drive you mad!
Aperture users are bound to take a sneaky peek over the garden fence from time to time at its chief rival, Lightroom. Lightroom has some great editing tools and every release brings more. If only Aperture had automatic lens corrections, a Graduated Filter tool, Radial Filter, the perspective-correcting Upright tool and all the rest! By comparison, Aperture can feel like it's … [Read more...] about Aperture users: 3 ways Lightroom could drive you mad!
