Is Aperture only for serious photographers

[petalutha]

Hi,

I have an imac, still running OSX 10.4 (I have the leopard update but haven't installed it yet).

I have been using iphoto since I purchased my mac, and while there is a lot I like, I am having a hard time getting organized since I take a lot of photos.

I currently have 12,000 photos in iphoto, but I also have tons more on an external drive from before I got my mac. I do not wish to import these into iphoto as I will lose the sub folder organization.

I have read about Aperture, but I am not a professional and do not shoot in RAW, so I don't know if that application is just going to be overkill for what I need.

Could anyone recommend an application that might suit my needs? I mainly just need to be able to organize into sub levels, especially when I bring in the older photos.

I don't mind to spend the money on Aperture if it will do the trick, but every post I've read mentions RAW, and since I don't use RAW, I wasn't sure if there were other options out there.

Thank you in advance.

 

[66217]

Aperture is primarily focused on editing RAW images. But it also is a VERY good organizational software. In my own opinion, once you get to understand it and select the way you want to organize your photos, it is much more better than iPhoto.

And you also get to keep iLife integration, so it is a big plus.

I've never had problems finding photos in my library. Basically the use of Smart Albums and Keywords make the trick. So if I ever want to search, for example, a photo of my dad with my sister in a certain place, it would easily find them.

I hope this helps,