Andy E

Q: Photos is poor replacement

I have a modest photo library of 22 thousand photos and find Photo to be a poor replacement for iPhoto. It doesn't have the features of iPhoto and the AppleScript support is very poor. It's essentially an iPad/iPhone app ported to OS X .

 

For example, I have a script to apply a keyword to the selected photo's. I select the photo's, run the script which presents a list of all the defined keywords, pick one and click on apply. Job done. You can't do any of this with Photos. There's no way to get a list of defined keywords. There's also no way of updating or adding GPS information. There's a long list of short comings for Photos as an OS X application.

 

Are there any other OS X alternatives? I need a photo manager program not an iPad app.

 

Andy

Posted on Apr 30, 2015 5:53 AM

Close

Q: Photos is poor replacement

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Page 1 Next
  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 30, 2015 5:55 AM in response to Andy E
    Level 9 (50,806 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 30, 2015 5:55 AM in response to Andy E

    There are dozens of them, look in the App store

  • by Andy E,

    Andy E Andy E Apr 30, 2015 6:25 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2015 6:25 AM in response to Csound1

    Thanks for taking the trouble to reply but there aren't dozen's of photo managers on the App store. There are dozens of various types of photo editing apps.

     

    A Photography search on the App store returned just 1 - Image Chest. It's cheap but a V1.0 product with no reviews.

     

    Andy

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 30, 2015 6:46 AM in response to Andy E
    Level 9 (50,806 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 30, 2015 6:46 AM in response to Andy E

    So you want an filing system rather than an editor.

     

    What did you use prior to Photos and why not continue to use it if it works for you?

  • by rayver,

    rayver rayver Apr 30, 2015 6:48 AM in response to Andy E
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 30, 2015 6:48 AM in response to Andy E

    I fee l the same.  No advice on alternatives, sorry.  I changed from photoshop elements to iPhoto about 2 years ago and had a frightful transition but in the end was happy after lots of work from me.  I feel like I am back at day one and the new program is not as user friendly as iPhoto.  Locations, faces, merging and moving folders are all problems I've encountered after a few days, the list grows each day....Sigh...

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Apr 30, 2015 6:57 AM in response to Andy E
    Level 10 (85,032 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 30, 2015 6:57 AM in response to Andy E

    For now continue using iphoto (or Aperture) they are in your applications folder and will work until some future OS upgrade breaks them

     

    this is a how to use Photos forum - not a general photo manager for - there is a Digital Asset Manager (DAM) forum that discusses all DAMs

     

    The most often mentioned one I see here is LightRoom although there are otheres

     

    LN

  • by Andy E,

    Andy E Andy E Apr 30, 2015 7:06 AM in response to rayver
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2015 7:06 AM in response to rayver

    My library was built with iPhoto using the faces, events and smart albums. I also developed various AppleScripts to make life easier for bulk editing and exporting albums. So, on reflection I was using iPhoto as a photo manager with occasional use of the very basic photo editing features (straightening and red eye removal).

     

    My point that iPhoto's replacement is just an iPad/iPhone app thats been ported to OS X still stands. It doesn't have the features of iPhoto and AppleScript support is very basic.

  • by notcloudy,

    notcloudy notcloudy Apr 30, 2015 7:18 AM in response to Andy E
    Level 4 (1,195 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 30, 2015 7:18 AM in response to Andy E

    Andy E wrote:

     

    I have a modest photo library of 22 thousand photos and find Photo to be a poor replacement for iPhoto. It doesn't have the features of iPhoto and the AppleScript support is very poor. It's essentially an iPad/iPhone app ported to OS X .

     

    Are there any other OS X alternatives? I need a photo manager program not an iPad app.

     

    Andy

     

    Adobe Photoshop and Corel may have a product that suits your need. 

     

    Unfortunately Apple did not create a PDF/IBOOK downloadable manual for PHOTOS so you have to go through the online support pages to find out how to use - and where any bells and whistles went.  

     

    It looks like PHOTOS is set up for touch screens and no keyboard with Function keys.

     

     

    photo getting started

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204655

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204410

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204414

  • by Richard Parkin,

    Richard Parkin Richard Parkin Apr 30, 2015 8:03 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2015 8:03 AM in response to Csound1

    "

    So you want an filing system rather than an editor."

     

     

    Photos replaces both Aperture and iPhoto. Aperture is a an asset management tool first and editor second. iPhoto may be limited in both asset management and editing but at least you could use an external editor which you cannot with Photos.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 30, 2015 9:35 AM in response to Richard Parkin
    Level 9 (50,806 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 30, 2015 9:35 AM in response to Richard Parkin

    Photos is not a replacement for Aperture.

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 30, 2015 10:15 AM in response to Andy E
    Level 10 (141,304 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2015 10:15 AM in response to Andy E
    For example, I have a script to apply a keyword to the selected photo's. I select the photo's, run the script which presents a list of all the defined keywords, pick one and click on apply. Job done. You can't do any of this with Photos. There's no way to get a list of defined keywords.

    That's not true.  Select the image you want to apply a keyword to and type Command+K to bring up the Keyword pane:

    Pkeywordpane.png

     

    If you want to assign multiple photos with the same or multiple keywords it's essentially the same:

    Pkeywordpane2.png

    OTsig.png

  • by Andy E,

    Andy E Andy E Apr 30, 2015 10:17 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2015 10:17 AM in response to Old Toad

    Thanks for the tip! This gets round one of my biggest gripes about Photos.

     

    Andy

  • by Richard Parkin,

    Richard Parkin Richard Parkin Apr 30, 2015 11:35 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2015 11:35 AM in response to Csound1

    IIt's just playing with words to say that Photos is not a replacement for Aperture. When Apple says they are not developing Aperture but you can migrate your Aperture library to Photos the.N it is implied that it is a replacement.

     

    "“With the introduction of the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, enabling you to safely store all of your photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere, there will be no new development of Aperture. When Photos for OS X ships next year, users will be able to migrate their existing Aperture libraries to Photos for OS X,” reads a statement Apple released to Macworld."

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Apr 30, 2015 2:17 PM in response to Richard Parkin
    Level 9 (50,806 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 30, 2015 2:17 PM in response to Richard Parkin

    And when they do that they will find that Photos is in no way a replacement for Aperture.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Apr 30, 2015 2:21 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 10 (85,032 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 30, 2015 2:21 PM in response to Csound1

    Csound1 wrote:

     

    And when they do that they will find that Photos is in no way a replacement for Aperture.

    In Spades it is not - unfortunately 

     

    It is not even a good replacement for iPhoto for large libraries and digital cameras - as far as I see so far it is really only good for iPhones

     

    LN

Page 1 Next