Let me start by saying that since I got my PowerBook a few months ago I’ve been gradually switching from the Windows software I use for a given task to the OS X equivilent. I’m currently switching over to iPhoto for my digital photo management/ editing tasks.
iPhoto as a photo management tool is pretty good. I really like how easy it is to start a slideshow. With the birth of Zachary we’ve had a ton of people come over and Katie wants to show all of them our photos of Zach. I simply open my PowerBook, Cmd-Tab to iPhoto, and hit the slideshow button. Couldn’t be any easier. I also like how easy it is to see/ find a photo.
iPhoto as a photo editing tool is not cutting it for me,though. I’m not an advanced user. Actually, I’m very much a novice. All I really want is an easy way to resize a photo. On my Windows box I use Paint Shop Pro. Resizing a photo is a sinch. All you do is open the pic, click on Image, then Resize. From the resize window you can resize in both pixels and % of picture. I’ve looked for a similiar feature in iPhoto and I can’t find it. I’m not saying it’s not there in iPhoto, but I haven’t found it.
Trying to fix my “learning curve” problem I picked up a copy of “iLife ’04: The Missing Manual” a couple of days ago. My local Frys had it bundled with “iPod and iTunes Hacks” and the two were free with rebate. A real kick-ass deal if you are the type that actually sends in your rebates. I hope this gets me moving in the right direction. I really didn’t want to have to buy any software for photo editing. Yes, I used Paint Shop Pro which isn’t free, but I was under the impression that the iLife suite would be enough for me.