Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

decent iPhoto alternative

V

viizi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 2, 2010
224
68
I have been using iPhoto for a couple of years as my image storage solution. I have seen it have to constantly rebuild its database and it just feels like apple are half a$$ing it. I am sure there are other developers out there that focus on their alternative to it. I only need it for image library, I don't need to edit in it.

Any suggestions?
 
You seem to be doing a managed library when you should be doing a referenced library. iPhoto support for a reference is not as good as in Aperture. With Aperture you can do either managed or referenced library. Lightroom only does a referenced library.

Personally I do a single referenced library that can be accessed by both Aperture and Lightroom. I do some basic edits in Aperture or LR; however, for serious edits I use plugins such as Nik Collection, Perfect Photo Suite, and Helicon Focus. For my pixel editor I use Pixelmator.

In what programs are you doing editing?
 
mtngoatjoe said:
That thread suggested
  • Aperture
  • Lightroom
  • Adobe Revel
  • Picaso
  • Flicker
None of those was a viable solution? What exactly are you trying to do?
Click to expand...

Aperture - overkill
Lightroom - overkill
Adobe Revel - online only
Picaso - Google+ integrated
Flicker - online only


I just need an image library browser lol

----------
MCAsan said:
You seem to be doing a managed library when you should be doing a referenced library. iPhoto support for a reference is not as good as in Aperture. With Aperture you can do either managed or referenced library. Lightroom only does a referenced library.

Personally I do a single referenced library that can be accessed by both Aperture and Lightroom. I do some basic edits in Aperture or LR; however, for serious edits I use plugins such as Nik Collection, Perfect Photo Suite, and Helicon Focus. For my pixel editor I use Pixelmator.

In what programs are you doing editing?
Click to expand...

I use Photoshop for editing.

I end up just using Finder for Library browser. It does the job.
 
viizi said:
Aperture - overkill
Lightroom - overkill
Adobe Revel - online only
Picaso - Google+ integrated
Flicker - online only


I just need an image library browser lol

----------



I use Photoshop for editing.

I end up just using Finder for Library browser. It does the job.
Click to expand...
If you just want it for browsing the Google+ integration won't matter if you used Picasa, just don't sign in to your google account.
The fact that you are calling any problem with any extra features other than looking at your photos in a basic folder structure overkill I think you will be better of just sticking with using Finder to browse them, like you say it does the job and it doesn't sound like you want anything more than to click into a folder called "March 2014" and select a photo.
If you ever decide you want to be able to filter your photos by who is in them, where they were taken, keywords etc then maybe look at moving back to iPhoto or investing in Aperture (useful as will open your iPhoto library so less work getting set up.)
 
viizi said:
I just need an image library browser lol
Click to expand...

Take a look at Xee. It is more of a photo browser than a library management solution like iPhoto or some of the others mentioned. Might be all you need. There is a free trial at the devs web site.
 
I end up just using Finder for Library browser. It does the job.
Click to expand...


Yes indeed you can browse your folders with Finder's Cover Flow option if that is all you need.


Cover flow is the newest Finder view. It first made an appearance in OS X 10.5 (Leopard). Cover flow view is based on a feature found in iTunes, and like the iTunes feature, it allows you to see the contents of a file as a thumbnail icon. Cover flow view arranges the thumbnail icons in a folder like a collection of music albums you can quickly flip through. Cover flow view also splits the Finder window, and shows a list-style view just below the cover flow section.

Selecting Cover Flow View

You can display your files and folders in cover flow view by clicking the ‘Cover Flow View’ button (the right-most button in the group of four view buttons) at the top of a Finder window, or selecting ‘View, as Cover Flow’ from the Finder menu.

Cover Flow View Advantages

Cover flow view is a great way to search through music, image, and even text or PDF files because it displays an album cover, a photo, or the first page of a document as a thumbnail icon whenever it can. Because you can adjust the size of a cover flow icon, you can make it large enough to view the actual text on the first page of a document or get a closer look at a photo, album cover, or other image.

Cover Flow View Disadvantages

Displaying those thumbnail previews can hog resources, although most new Macs shouldn’t have any problems.

Once you make cover flow view images large enough for practical use, you tend to limit the number of files that can be shown at any one time.

Best Use of Cover Flow View

Cover flow view is best for flipping though folders that contain a lot of images, checking out music files with associated cover art, or previewing text and PDF documents that can have their first page rendered as a cover flow image.

Cover flow view isn’t very useful for folders filled with mixed documents and files, which may be rendered with generic icons.
 
Adobe Bridge does what you want it too, though it only comes with photoshop.

IF you just want a browser, look to Finder or a Finder replacement like Path Finder.
 
I'll give Xee, Bridge and Graphicconverter a try.

Thanks for the replies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back