Need to replace iPhoto

[metadog]

Hi! I have been using iPhoto 2.0 for a long time and have over 3500 pix in there. If you know about the earlier versions of iPhoto, it simply can't handle that many pix efficiently. I need a new application to manage my pix. Any suggestions? I was thinking about getting iLife, but I have an older Mac and don't have a DVD drive (apparently iLife comes on a DVD). I would prefer FREE, but am willing to fork out a couple of bucks for an application that will last me for a while. But I would still like to be in the "cheap" category. Any suggestions?

THanks!
-M

 

[dpaanlka]

Actually, iPhoto handles pics excellently. It's usually the third party software that is slow, clunky, and buggy. It's most likely your system is just too old to handle all that at a speed you find acceptable.

Anyway, if you're using 10.4 Tiger or above (maybe Panther does this too?) you can just use the Finder to browse images easily, by using column view. Whenever you highlight a picture, it will display a preview of it in the right hand side, like this:



That generally works much faster than iPhoto, but you don't get any automated management with it.

 

[igucl]

Have you looked into Google's free Picasso program?

 

[nickster9224]

I dont think picasso is mac yet

 

[balamw]

Have you looked into Google's free Picasso program?

That's Picasa. And it isn't available for Mac. http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=12569

B

 

[igucl]

That's Picasa. And it isn't available for Mac. http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=12569

B

Ah, sorry! Thanks for the correction.

 

[MacsomJRR]

iPhoto really does suck on the older machines I've noticed the same problem with my mum's older iBook (she has 5,000 + photos). Don't know what you could do about your problem because iPhoto is probably your best current option although they're may be something else out there. My Macbook Pro handles my iPhoto with 2262 photos really well (not sure if you are looking to upgrade anytime soon).

 

[clevin]

i tried several free apps, the best freeware to preview and organize pics (simple operations, like "delete") is "phoenix slides".

http://blyt.net/phxslides/

 

[failsafe1]

I use iPhoto in addition to some other programs. One I really enjoy is called shoebox. It handles about 20K photos in two albums and the pro version handles even more. What I really like about the program is it does not copy photos into a library. So I can plug a drive or DVD of photos into my machine and browse and catalog these images. With iPhoto all my images would be imported into a library and fill up my hard drive. It is only $29.95 I think and well worth the price.

 

[ickystay]

I don't know about iLife 06, but iLife 05 came with a CD and a DVD. The CD part has iPhoto 5 and the other apps (except GarageBand and iDVD). You'd think 05 would be better than 02. iLife 05 CD's can usually be had for very cheap.

 

[EGT]

Hmmm, the latest version of iPhoto really is much better than pervious versions, miles ahead of 2.0. It has fairly fast loading times and it doesn't flake out as much as it did before 6.0. I've got a library of nearly 15,000 pics, on a 1.25GHz G4 Powerbook with 1 gig of RAM and it's going strong. OK, not amazing but still satisfactory.

I'm looking forward to improvements on the management side of iPhoto with iLife 07 (fingers crossed). I'm trying to get my albums all in order but selecting and dragging photos that are scattered across a library of nearly 15,000 is driving me batty.

iLife 05 definitely came with a CD, yes. You could try hunting one down because it'll be an improvement over 2.0. Shoebox looks interesting also but I have no experience with it. Gonna try it out.