iPhoto
For Mac users who are not running Aperture, iPhoto is the obvious alternative. It provides browsing facilities for a database of up to 250,000 photos, can open RAW files (including those from Leica and Leaf), and makes it easy to publish on the web or to obtain custom cards.
iPhoto's full-screen editing means that you can display images at full resolution, with a minimum of panning and scrolling needed to view them. Menus, palettes, and toolbars are well implemented, being made to appear when you want them and disappear when you have finished with them. It is all part of the Apple design philosophy which pays as much attention to the look of the tool as it does to its use.
Comment
The upgrade from iPhoto 5 to 6 earned Apple four-and-a-half mice in Macworld, but came in for some criticism about its ability to organize images. To some extent this has now been addressed.
Among the most recently added features is Faces, which allows you to organize your photos based on who's in them. Another one called Places uses data from GPS-enabled cameras (including the iPhone camera) to categorize photos by location and convert GPS location tags to common, user-friendly names.
With Travel Maps and Themed Slideshows, iPhoto is a powerful image viewer, likely to appeal to many photo enthusiasts as well as consumers.
Tech info
- OS: Mac OS X
- Price level: (complete iLife suite) approx. $80
Apple
Apple is one the world's largest computer and digital media corporations, having pioneered the personal computer in the 1970s with the Apple II, then reinventing it with the Mac in the 1980s, and exploring new platforms with iPod and iPhone.
From the same vendor:
- Aperture
- iWork
- MobileMe
- Final Cut Studio
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