Best photo processing and editing software for an amateur

Aperture is a good application for amateur to professional use. It is reasonably priced. Apple used to offer a 30 day trial to let you get your feet yet. Since you already have a copy you might as well use it. You could also get support from the Apple Communities. Aperture offers ways to organize your photos (Places and Faces). It also offers quick adjustments to the files so you can adjust with one click.

SF jpg+RAW.

Check, if your camera is supported by MacOS X and Aperture:

Apple - Aperture - Technical Specifications - RAW Support

Not all cameras are supported.

Aperture and Pixelmator serve different needs. Together they are a great combination.

Aperture will help you to develop your RAW photos to perfection and to adjust them, and also organize a growing library of photos. Tag them with metadata like captions, ratings, keywords, location information, share them, create books. Pixelmator as an external editor will add the ability to add graphics or compose several photos into one.

When starting out with mac - I tried a free restricted version of photoshop 6 that came with my Printer -- and then purchased 7 as it was easy to use during minor editing and allowed advanced editing. Now running Photoshop CS3 - and from this site CS3 still will run with Yosemite while IPHOTO and APERTURE have to be updated and on on there way out.

I also had a restricted license copy of COREL PAINT on my old mac (license allowed for a trial run of work before you had to purchase it - also liked that as it had additional functions on the artistic side for modifying pictures.

As both are expensive - & was worried about backward compatibility during a software update - went with Photoshop.

Also, apparently IPHOTO and APERTURE are being replaced by another piece of software (think its pictures) with either you may be on the update train.

Also, apparently IPHOTO and APERTURE are being replaced by another piece of software (think its pictures) with either you may be on the update train.

Aperture and iPhoto will be supported during the Life Cycle of Yosemite. Only, there will be no new major versions of these apps. The new "Photos" app will be Apple's new photo library application. And it will be possible to migrate Aperture libraries and iPhoto libraries to "Photos".

If you are interested in taking classes - before purchasing anything check with local colleges as to what they offer in Photography and editing and what software is required - bet its PHOTOSHOP.

PHOTOSHOP also has various online tutorials/training.

Don't know about now, but when I purchased CS3 I also bought the printed manual - as I really don't like on-line help.

As a semi pro I find Apeture and Pixelmator will do everything I need, and see no reason to spend large amounts of money with Adobe.

Both are capable apps that should serve an amature or pro well, at very low prices, and with good online support forums.

You may also want to check photography magazine website forums and user forums for specific software - where you can get comparisons of same.

If you are thinking of it as a career - check job requirements on-line.

Avoid crazy-expensive Photoshop, and especially avoid the new CC subscriptions from Adobe. Even many folks who have used PS for decades like I have are no longer upgrading since Adobe forces CC on us.

Pixelmator and Aperture are great choices and you already even own them. Jump in.

Enjoy!

-Allen

Just FYI - Did some research on creative cloud

You can download a copy of photoshop and use it free for a month - if you don't like it don't subscribe.

The software resides on your computer so you can work off-line.

The monthly subscription includes updates so you do not have to keep purchasing lump sum updates and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Once a month the software will get updated subscription status from Adobe allowing you to continue to use the software.

I found the frequently asked questions through ask.com as adobes site like apples has a lot of stuff and nonsense when all you really want is to find the information on it.

See http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud/faq.edu.html

Crazy expensive Photoshop? For $120/yr you get that and Lightroom and some other miscellaneous stuff. That's trivial compared to what we used to pay for licenses. It's true that some find that expensive, since perhaps they don't need it, or if they economized by skipping versions, etc. But many of us are getting a great deal with their stuff. They have much better educational discounts than Apple by orders of magnitude as well, and extend those benefits to a wide range of academic situations. So check that out if you take the suggestion of going to a class on PS.

Photoshop may be too difficult for some, and too hard to learn for some amateurs, but it is the standard in photo image editing. Period. The stand alone perpetual licenses used to run hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but Adobe has really discounted it with the subscription. There are more plugins, presets, and other add-ons for LR/PS than any other software. Ditto for tutorials, etc. If you take classes at schools in photography, that's what you'll be using. You really can't go wrong with it. But it's sorta like Word; some just hate the thought of using it and never will. I find that these days LR plugins do a lot of what I used to do in PS, especially MacPhun's products, which do layers! They are the bomb, and their products work with Aperture, LR, PS, and some others.

I presume Apple's whatever new Photos thing will be free, but maybe not. It might meet your needs. Meanwhile, Adobe, Phase One, Corel and every other maker of photo software provides demos, so try a bunch and see what you like.

I also use micro 4/3 and it took Apple roughly half a year longer to come out with RAW processing for my camera. Everyone else, e.g. Adobe, is MUCH faster. Perhaps that won't matter, but I would prefer going with developers who are more committed to photography than Apple.

With creative cloud, monthly license fee adobe is able to have a steady level income stream rather than a big bump in profits when a new release comes out. It also allows them push out updates without waiting for a new release.

Just wish they would have a place on there website that just gives you the info with out all the stuff and nonsense.

I appreciate your frustration with the site. They actually have a lot of good info there, but for some reason (marketing) it's rather hidden.

I'd suggest you do what I do when I really want info about a product; I go straight for their support page, not the product info page. And I especially hunt down any user forums. So I'd straightaway go here if I were researching Aperture. Similarly, check out https://forums.adobe.com/community/creative_cloud for info about Creative Cloud (and criticism) and the forums on LR and PS as well. There are other non-Adobe sites that sponsor forums on these products as well. Unlike Apple's discussions, people are authorized by Adobe to answer questions there. So it's not just Adobe fanboys, but semi sponsored fanboys, which means they perhaps do have the right answer and/or have accountability of some sort to Adobe. There are probably more Aperture to Lightroom switchers than the reverse, especially these days, so you'd get a different perspective over there.

Hi Sean,

I'm slightly puzzled why you'd want to move to using Aperture, given it will no longer develop? I'm just looking on here for advice on how to migrate from Aperture (probably to Lightroom). Do you have a particular reason for wanting to use Aperture?

Ian

Sean - Since you already have a copy of Aperture I would go with Aperture for now. This will enable you to get familiar with photo editing software and also offers good integration with iPhoto and your Apple devices. No one really seems to know what Photos will offer so I am going to wait until it comes out and see if it meets my needs....my suspicion is it will, since for me the integration is a big plus if there is adequate organizing and editing capabilities. If not, the other software options will still be available and maybe even upgraded from a version you would buy today.