what can iPhoto do compare to Photoshop?

iPhoto isn't really a photo editing piece of software; it's a photo management app, with some photo editing abilities built in.

You can:
Rotate, fix redeye, straighten, crop, retouch (magic removal tool / content-aware) images.
Lighten / darken, add / remove contrast, make image warmer / cooler, edit saturation, add effects like - B&W, Sepia, Vignette, Matte, Edge Blur etc.
Levels adjustment & exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpen, highlights, shadows, de-noise, temperature and tint control.

Might want to try Pixelmator for $15 from the app store, does a lot of what Photoshop does for a small fraction of the price.

bluebird3 said:

I've been using Photoshop from CS3 version and I mostly do the basic task such as resizing the image, changing level, contrast, brightness, crop, brush, removing object, etc ..,

but when I buy my new compute, I will no longer have the CS software... I have never used iPhoto before and I was wondering what it can do?

Click to expand...

Think of iPhoto as iTunes for photos. Its kind of a management app with a few simple tools like resizing, contrast settings, colour adjustments etc.

It will come free with your new Mac so theres no harm in giving it a go and finding out for yourself.

bluebird3 said:

I've been using Photoshop from CS3 version and I mostly do the basic task such as resizing the image, changing level, contrast, brightness, crop, brush, removing object, etc ..,

but when I buy my new compute, I will no longer have the CS software... I have never used iPhoto before and I was wondering what it can do?

Click to expand...

Run the "Elements" versions of Photoshop (but, from what I've been told, stay away from version 10). They'll do everything you've ever wanted to do (assuming you really got into CS3) in other versions. Barbara Brundage's posts @ barbarabrundage.com (she's the author of a number of the "PhotoShop Elements-The Missing Manual" series of books) gives you a pretty good overview/review of the various versions and their capabilities. For anyone wanting to do "basic tasks" (changing levels really isn't one of these but rather an intermediate/advanced one) you won't go far from wrong with a version of Elements.

Two different.....

beasts....Photoshop is an editor and iPhoto have editing capabilities, but shines as an assets management app. The correspondent app in Adobe world would be Lightroom, that can invoke the Photoshop to edit....

If you are looking to do photo editing, you might also look at Aperture. It's only $80 in the app store, and it is like iPhoto with detailed photo editing. Its file management format is compatible with iPhoto also, so you can start with iPhoto for photo management and then upgrade to Aperture for the editing capabilities..

As others have said Photoshop Elements is also a cheap way to get most of the photo editing features from Photoshop for a fraction of the price...

bluebird3 said:

Been reading reviews in Amazon on those software that were mentioned...... not very good reviews on them...

Click to expand...

Pixelmator has a free trial... Aperture used to...

bluebird3 said:

thank you will look at it. Too bad Photoshop has always been so expensive... not everyone who simply want to work on personal photos for hobby can afford what professional uses..

Click to expand...

That's why I suggested one of the versions of PhotoShop Elements. Elements isn't just a "dumbed down" version of PhotoShop - it's a full-fledged image processing piece of software in it's own right. I still use a couple versions of it when I want to do some things. Heck, I've even got a copy of it installed in an antique Apple running OS 9 that does some things that later versions still don't do.

[This is going to sound like an out-and-out testimonial for Elements but it's not meant that way - it's a simple statement of the program's capabilities.]

For MOST people, the versions of PhotoShop are simply too involved and esoteric in photo manipulation for them to use effectively. For the bulk of the populace who want to be able to crop, resize, color adjust, color balance, correct red eye, export to other applications, import images from various sources (digital cameras, scanners, the Web), stretch, pull, distort, the list goes on and on - for the everyday person - some version of PhotoShop Elements is THE program to go to. MOST of Elements actions are based on it's "big brother's'" actions only not to that great a depth found in PhotoShop.

PLEASE, if you really want to work with photos, go read Barbara Brundage's blogs at barbarabrundage.com. Even she agrees, there are certain "versions" of Elements that aren't the greatest but buy-and-large, it's a great option for the average person who wants to play around with photos.

And you don't get stuck with a big bill for it.

And BTW ... don't take all the reviews of Elements (or anything else) on Amazon.com for granted. There are many people out there who grumble at anything and see posting a "review" anywhere on the web as their god-given right to run anything into the ground.