dealmac forum archive

Daughter Sarah, an avid photographer, who just bought a new 14" iBook, asks me to post the following. She and husband James have been using his stock PC laptop for all their photo management, and so far she finds OS X less useful:

Quote:

I have just bought a new iBook and am using OS X for the first time. So
far I only have one complaint but it's a big one:

In Windows, you can keep your picture files in a folder just like
regular files, and when you click on one picture it opens it up in a
bigger format with buttons to zoom, rotate, delete, etc. You can scroll
through all the pictures in the folder that way, just by clicking the
arrow buttons or using the arrow keys.

I have found nothing comparable in OS X. If I click on a picture file,
it opens THAT picture in Preview, and there is no way to scroll to
other pictures in the folder. It is possible to select all the pictures
and open them simultaneously in Preview, but that takes forever to open
when you have a big folder. Plus, it seems ridiculous to open all those
huge pictures at once when I'm only looking at them one at a time.
There are arrow buttons in the Preview window but they don't allow you
to scroll through the FOLDER of stuff, only the things that are open in
Preview. Besides, Preview Help says that if you open several files
simultaneously all but one of them go into the drawer, and then you
should be able to scroll through. When I do it each file opens in its
own Preview window with its own empty drawer. But even if I can solve
this problem it is still not the system I'm looking for.

So I tried iPhoto, but it is not what I am looking for either.
Importing a large folder of pictures into iPhoto takes forever. How
does that work, anyway? Are my photos now in two places, taking up
twice as much space? I don't want to keep all my photos in an iPhoto
format; I want to be able to back them up as regular jpg files that
anybody can read, not as a single "library" file. Also, in iPhoto the
picture loads at low res and then comes into focus after a few second
pause. It is VERY annoying. Our Windows machine displays the photo in
full form right off the bat. Also, there is too much "menu" in the
iPhoto window-- stuff on the left of the picture, stuff below... not
enough space to display the picture properly. All I need is the stuff
Preview offers... rotate, zoom, delete. iPhoto has way too many "nifty
features" that I don't use and don't care about.

I just want a simple way to view my pictures directly from the folder
in which they are stored. Is this too much to ask from the Mac? I hope
someone can help me find a good solution to this problem or I'll have
to admit to my husband that in this important regard Windows has Mac OS
beat--- and he was just starting to admit my new iBook is "kind of
spiffy" !!

/Mr Lynn

Replete with rue

=> For Mac vs. PC ammo: [www.macvspc.info]

I think she would like Graphic Converter an inexpensive shareware program that is freely downloadable and fully functional before paying the fee. There is a small delay upon opening the program before it is licensed.

Available here:

[www.lemkesoft.de]

If your daughter has Photoshop or GraphicConverter, she can use those programs to browse through any folder with photos in it. If she's an avid photographer, she really should have Photoshop already. Or at least Photoshop Elements.


Not sure what to do about the problem of importing pictures into iPhoto though. Yes, it is a cumbersome process. If her photos are downloaded into her machine, from her camera or through a memory card reader, she probably already has them on iPhoto.


" Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician."

The 'default' program that is opening pictures on her PC is Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. It is fine for viewing pictures, etc...hardly anything good for editing. Now Microsoft's Photo Editor (if she has it) is quite good for quickly viewing and editing quick things.

There are comparable and/or better apps on the Mac...and definitely better third-party ones for her Windows machine. I'm sure many people will have some suggestions.

The PC can handle virii just fine, I bet.

She could view a folder full of JPEGs in column view, and each one will have a preview when it's selected.

It's not that Windows 'handles' photos better, it's just that her expectations are that the Mac behave exactly as Windows does, and failing that, she is disappointed.

If that's all she needs a computer for, and that's what she's comfortable with, why didn't she just stick with Windows?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Get back to work.

To answer your question, Mr. Lynn, no. The PC does handle photos better in that regard under XP. I, too, like the way you can view lots of photos in folders with different views easily accessible.

We'll just have to get used to XP doing something better than X. (I hear the sound of footsteps....)

try iView Multimedia.

[www.iview-multimedia.com]

ViewIt 2.7 works very much like AcdSee on the PC

Unlimited trial use download is here: [www.macupdate.com]

--
Aloha, Ken



“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Theodore Giesel

After I reread the email from your daughter it seemed to me that her bigest complaint ws not being able to easily view lots of folders full of files.

A very fast and straight forward image viewer that uses a finderlike tree pane to view folders full of files is PhotoGridX. It's $15 shareware but if you have lots of photos to view is very fast and simple.

[www.nattaworks.com]


From the manual

"You've uploaded a folder full of new images from your camera into your Mac. You want to see them displayed all at once, and you want to be able to select one and enlarge it so that you can see the details. Your friends and family want to see them too, and you'd like to make a slide show of them.
Not all the pictures are good; you want to omit some from the display. Some are in vertical format, so you'll need to rotate them for your show. Some will need to be cropped or tweaked later in an image-editing application. And afterwards, you'll want to sort the pictures out into various folders.
PhotoGrid does all this. And that's just the beginning. Read on!"

Did I mention that it's really fast???!




--
Aloha, Ken



“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Theodore Giesel

I'm in the camp that has digital photographers using Photoshop.
In that scenario the Mac wins hands down for the huge Finder icons versus XP
that takes forever to build thumbs. The slide show in XP won't do PSD files. So the difference is tiny generic icons vs big thumbs.
I routinely have to reboot to change file names or move them into a different folder. Yes, reboot.
I still can't get XP/Photoshop to open anything other than PSD files by double clicking, it launches PS but won't open the file.
Don't even get me started on multi-tasking.

GC is a great program for 40 bucks, only on Mac.

As has been already stated here, and the above posts give resolve to the gentleman's daughter's complaints, there are *many* 3rd party software programs for the Mac that do everything a Windows viewer can do, and then some.

If only the Windows operating system were immune from viruses and trojan horses would we speak more directly to her complaints. There's the Mac, and then there's the PC, and my goodness are they different!

Thank God for my Mac and God Save the PC. At least the gentleman's daughter has a great little tool to work Mac magic on, now that she's been shown some alternatives to iPhoto and Preview! That iBook will work wonderfully with her, and she will be blessed, and crowned a princess of the Mac, for it is ordained.

As for "viewing and showing" her pictures, after she decides what she really wants to do with them, would she be so kind as to get a copy of Photoshop Elements, install it, and begin to do some magic to her photos? Some *substantive* magic.

And so it goes...

__________

What's the difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make some sense.

Well, at least your daughter is persistent, MrLynn:

[forums.dealmac.com]

Anyway:

"I just want a simple way to view my pictures directly from the folder
in which they are stored. Is this too much to ask from the Mac? I hope
someone can help me find a good solution to this problem"

Perhaps this will help:

[www.sticksoftware.com]

I agree that there are things that could be easier as far as managing photos in osx. The thing that drives me nuts is the way iPhoto buries the pictures in layers of folders. I would rather all the photos be in just one folder. There's a program called toyviewer that's pretty useful, and opens really quickly. It sounds like she has a problem with the speed of iPhoto compared to pc's, which I've also noticed. Don't know what to do about that. kj.

I'm hoping it's as simple as an OS update soon but I too have been looking for similar ways for OSX to handle image files at the Finder level versus having to use a third party app. I love the way WinXP has the folder thumbnail view and the simple Windows image viewer rocks. It's instantaneous when you open an image and automatically resizes the image (non-destructively) to fit that window size. Somehow I have a feeling (more like hope) Apple will integrate a similiar feature into their OS. That would be make OSX so much better IMHO.

I agree with several of the previous messages:
For a solution to her problems that go far beyond the capabilities of Windows XP, she shoud try Graphic Converter (shareware, but a Masterpiece of a photo tool), or Photoshop Elements (less than $100?). I work on both platforms, and I have found that what appears to be great in Windows is actually often superficial and lacking the depth of performance that is needed in managing digital images.

Kodak's photo viewing software is supposed to be quite good and can be DL'd for free from their web site. Canon's is also supposed to be pretty good, but I'm not sure if it is available from their site.

Seacrest nailed it for simplicity. Since she's not using iPhoto to import her pictures, column view works well...as long as the preview arrow in the last column is pointed down. She can use the up/down arrow keys to scroll through the photos in a folder. When she finds the one she wants, a quick double-click will open it in Preview. As an added bonus, she gets file info while scrolling...type, size, date created, date modified.

The Thumbnail view in XP is as simple and useful for viewing and cataloging files as there is, and fast as well. I have searched for a similar OSX option. There isn't one that's close for pure utility.

___________________________________________________________
If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never slept in a room with a mosquito.

AstroScooter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Seacrest nailed it for simplicity. Since she's
> not using iPhoto to import her pictures, column
> view works well...as long as the preview arrow in
> the last column is pointed down. She can use the
> up/down arrow keys to scroll through the photos in
> a folder. When she finds the one she wants, a
> quick double-click will open it in Preview. As an
> added bonus, she gets file info while
> scrolling...type, size, date created, date
> modified.

Seacrest is wrong. XP's file view is so much better and much easier to use. Column View is still very slow and uses preview which is awful for viewing photos. It smooths them and has jaggies all at the same time.

I take my Albook to work but use XP file view exclusively for viewing and catloging photos. Prior to XP, I used exifViewer from FujiFilm only available on OS9. Occasionally I will provide a slide show on the albook but use ExifViewer only.

The way XP handles photos better be included in the next update of OSX.

___________________________________________________________
If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never slept in a room with a mosquito.

Thanks, Don Andrachuk for your post and the prior post. I found hints there regarding iPhoto that I didn't know. I love the ability to select individual photos and then click the "play" key ) and by utilizing the space bar, pause and manually advance or return each photo.

H Linamen

I still miss using the free EXIFVIEWER software that came with my Fuji FinePix camera that I used in OS9.

Worked the same way the XP thing does. You click on a folder and it instantly displays all the images in that folder and you can rotate them or make a slide show. And it was free.

I recently was put in the awkward position of having to use my iBook to display a slideshow of images on a CD that someone brought. I had wait until iPhoto had imported the entire CD before I could do the slideshow.

"oh, it doesn't just do slideshow?"

"nope, sorry"

Iview media pro is EXCELLENT!, but not cheap. Image buddy was very cool last I checked, and not too expensive.

iPhoto is great for 2-3MP cameras, but painfully slow for files any larger - it's really too bad, because it has so many wonderfully easy features...

JT

J-J- Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still miss using the free EXIFVIEWER software
> that came with my Fuji FinePix camera that I used
> in OS9.
>
ExifViewer works fine on OS9 Classic, just allocate lots of memory to it. Put it on the dock an you can drop the photo folder onto it.

If I may summarize so far, it sounds as though

(1) Mac OS X/iPhoto is inferior to Windows XP at simply displaying and manipulating folders of photos (this surprises me, as generally the Mac OS is more flexible than Windows, which often forces you down paths you don't want to go);

(2) There are a number of third party utilities/applications that easily equal or exceed the capabilities of XP.

Yes, Don, she did complain before about iPhoto. The difference is that now she owns it. The issue was whether to get a PC to work with James's (which has problems of its own), or a Mac, which can read her old Classic OS files; she decided on the new iBook.

I just took a look at a folder of photos using Graphic Converter 4.5.1 (OS 9), and it looks as though that will do everything that XP does, including managing folder contents and customizable slide shows, and a good deal more (e.g. changing file formats easily). It would be helpful to hear comparisons among GC and the other third-party apps.

Sarah is incommunicado for a few days, but I'll point her to this thread when she gets back. Thanks for the input; feel free to add more. ;-D

/Mr Lynn

On the PC there's IrfanView, ACDC, XnView, Picassa, etc.
Still like GC. If you find a 3rd party Mac app, let's hear about it.

>
> (2) There are a number of third party
> utilities/applications that easily equal or exceed
> the capabilities of XP.

> /Mr Lynn
>

I wish this were true, it isn't. Lots of mac programs will do things XP won't, but the basic user ease viewer ability of XP no mac program is close, and I have been looking.

I think that you should really look at the app suggested by Don Andrachuk earlier in this thread; the one that shows as "sticksoftware.com".

It's just incredible for "reviewing" photos; very fast and straightforward. I bet that it will surpass the Windows XP way of viewing pics, although it is for viewing only and not modding.

I use iPhoto, PS, PSE, GraphicConverter and a couple of other viewing apps and am pleased with the "discovery" of the app suggested by Andrachuk. For its purpose, it is probably the best.

Try it, you'll like it.

"I recently was put in the awkward position of having to use my iBook to display a slideshow of images on a CD that someone brought. I had wait until iPhoto had imported the entire CD before I could do the slideshow. "

J-J-, there are quite a few excellent freeware slideshow apps for Mac OS X that provide 'instant gratification.' I like the following (in order of preference):

[www.versiontracker.com] (Slides!)
[www.versiontracker.com] (JPEGDeux)
[www.versiontracker.com] (FastPic)
[www.versiontracker.com] (SlideShow for Erik)

Slides! is great--drag-and-drop one or more folders, folder aliases, (or a CD!) of images or image files themselves on its icon, press return, and you've got an instant slideshow. It also provides a pop-up control that allows on-the-fly image rotation, flipping, and trashing of the image file.

No need to suffer in silence, J-J- ;-)

Looks like the general concensus is that the Mac cannot handle photos efficiently without 3rd party addons while most are generally happy with WinXP's built in handling. What is happening to this world!

"Looks like the general concensus is that the Mac cannot handle photos efficiently without 3rd party addons"

Oh, but it can and does. It just doesn't act the some want it to act. The solution to MyLynn's daughter's dilemma costs nothing, and is a tiny 233 kB download:

[www.versiontracker.com]

MrLynn, Sarah's requirements can be fully satisfied by putting Slides! in the Dock and dragging-and-dropping to it to her heart's content.

Not so tough, really...