Any good programs like Picasa for Mac?

yes, it's like a much better thought out version of iPhoto, a complete consumer photo library system from camera through to organisation and to print, and doesn't rely on it's fragile folder system being intact. also, i like the feature that it asks you to name the folder when you plug in a camera. very smart.
 
Hello,

This is my first post on this forum.

I have recently purchased a MacBook Pro 15" Core 2 duo and so far so good. I had a skinny Mac in the early 80's but due to the corporate world went to Windows. I am glad to be back and thought that anything to do with graphics would be wonderful on the Mac and that's not quite what I am reading here.

I am surprised that few people have mentioned PS Elements. I have version 4 for Windows and am very happy with it. As well as being a very good editor, one thing it does that others don't seem to do well is to show video clips as part of a slide show. I can select a series of images including AVI files, hit F11 and it goes into a slide show mode and shows still and videos without opening any other programs.

I intend installing both Boot Camp and Parallels on my Mac and will try running PS Elements 4 on the Windows side. Would it be possible to store my pictures in a "Shared" folder and access them from both the Mac and Windows side?

Thanks
 
bsirons, welcome to MacOSX.com!

You'd probably be happier running the Mac version of Photoshop Elements 4. That's not to say that you could use the Windows version. Parallels has definitely made that possible. Maybe there's a "crossgrade" or whatever that would allow you to get the Mac version for less $. You're right, Photoshop Elements is excellent. I'm still at version 2.

As far as sharing your photos, I believe Parallels allows you to access your data from both "sides", Mac and Windows. I don't have an Intel Mac, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.

I'd suggest giving iPhoto a fair try before you dismiss it. It works fine for me. Of course, I "only" have ~1500 photos in iPhoto. Check out the photo books. They're fantastic. And I believe it is possible to set iPhoto 06 to allow you to manually manage your photos, storing them wherever you want.

From what I've read, people are really enthusiastic about Parallels' capabilities. But I think you'll ultimately be better off when you are more comfortable with OS X and run mostly or exclusively Mac apps. Just my humble opinion.

Good luck and have fun!

Doug
 
Hi dktrickey

Thank you for the welcome and the response.

I agree that I probably would be happier running the Mac version and quite frankly, running everything Mac. However that is not MY reality. There is a Mac Version of Photoshop Elements available but after having read User Reviews it is a poor port over to MacIntosh. Apparently the Windows version is much better. Not unlike what I read about Quicken, another program I use a lot and likewise will probably stay with the Windows version.

I have just installed Boot Camp and Windows XP Pro and it installed without a hitch. I have subsequently installed several Windows programs and all went well. I tried passing one file between the two systems and it was successful. Whether I will be able to store an entire photo collection and share it, I am not sure.

I did purchase Parallels with my computer but haven't installed it yet. To have Parallels and Boot Camp both installed meant installing Windows twice until just recently when Parallels announced that their most recent Beta software would recognize the Boot Camp version of Windows. Once it becomes stable, I will definately install it.

I will certainly give IPhoto, and all other Mac apps a fair try though. After all I have spent a few dollars on my new Mac and definately want to be a Mac user. It is really a great thing having an Intel based Mac that you can have the best of both worlds.

Bob
 
I'm sure using a combination of XP and OS X apps is probably ideal, but as far as PS Elements goes, Macworld gave it 4.5 mice out of 5. They said it was excellent. In a quick review I skimmed, the reviewer indicated the he really liked it, though he said it was still a little too "Windowsy" for him.

There's this prevalent myth that there's a paucity of software for the Mac and that they tend to be inferior. That's not generally true. There are, however, a few high-profile turkeys like Quicken and anything Symantec / Norton.

Some excellent apps, some of whose quality is unrivaled in their price ranges(*):

iDVD (*)
iMovie (*)
VLC
Keynote (*)
Garageband (*)
iDefrag
Diskwarrior
iTunes (*)
iChat
Toast 7
Mail (for basic email use)
Omnigraffle (flowcharts/business gfx/education gfx - AMAZING interface) (*)
(. . . weird name too)
etc.

Have fun!

Doug
 
Unfortunately, I'm still at version 2 so I can't share any first-hand experience. I'm looking to upgrade to 5 when it arrives for the Mac.

I've been very happy with version 2. I use it frequently, though not usually for anything complex. Just photo tweaks, picture packages, panoramas sometimes, hi-res to web conversion, etc.

I would just say about the non-prof. reviews that for every helpful comment there tend to be dozens or even hundreds of garbage comments in general. I usually trust Macworld reviews. I trust MacAddict (now Mac|Life) reviews even more. I believe they recommend version 4. So, that's my 2 cents worth.

Doug
 
I've recently switched to mac (MacBook 2.0ghz) after being raised purely on PC my whole life. I was prepared to love mac and in most instances I do.

However, I have to agree with the posters who have said that iPhoto does not compare to Picasa. I have the new iLife and the new iPhoto installed.
I was using Picasa for about 3 years on Windows and I just loved that it worked so well. I've played with iPhoto and I think it's a bit clunkier to work with and I haven't even uploaded all of my pictures on the mac yet. Picasa has one-touch solutions which makes it very very easy to edit pictures. iPhoto has its features but I'm a Picasa hardcore fan, I guess.

I wish google would hurry up and make Picasa for mac.

For those who haven't tried Picasa, please go ahead and try it before you say iPhoto is the same. You'll see the difference.
 
I bought a Macbook in December after 10 years of Windows machines. One reason was because I was jealous of Mac folks who seemed to be able to do all things vision + sound. I guess I should have done more research because iPhoto is a pain.

Here's all I want to do: Take 100 pictures of my new baby girl. Upload them to the computer. Pick out 8 of them and send them through Gmail, slightly reduced in size. Picasa2 does this very well.

I tried the equivalent in iPhoto with MacMail (or whatever it's called). The attached photos came in an email with piles of digital crap for Windows users. Like two screens of random characters.

I'll give you that I haven't RTFM but I basically have to drag or export to an outside folder and attach directly to gmail. I'm essentially not using any of iPhoto's "features."

Wish I could load boot camp but I don't have a non-upgrade XP installation disk and, frankly, have never met anyone who has.
 
Thanks to all who responded to my first inquiry! I still use Picasa on my Windows laptop and iPhoto on my G4 Powermac. I like Picasa better but iPhoto is not too bad so I will stick with it until Google gives us Mac users a Picasa to work with. Again, thanks to all!
 
After using both Picasa and iPhoto extensively, I have to agree that Picasa is superior in almost every way.
 
This is my first post. I have an iMac that is 3 years old. The first time I heard Google had a Photo software program I believe it was only available for PC'S. But recently a friend out east told me his wife was working with Picasa on her new laptop and I knew she had recently retired and bought a new Macbook. That led me to Google "Picasa for MAC" and eventually find this site. I love to do more than just warehouse photos in albums and I have been storing many of them on the Shutterfly website. I find myself wanting to do more creative things with some of these photos. Does Picasa offer more options in this area than iPhoto. Would I be better off investing in Photoshop? Also this website (MacosX.com) looks like it could be helpful for me now that my warranty has expired and Mac tech advice is no longer free. :(
JJ:)
 
I came here because I've just wasted the past 2 hours doing in iPhoto what would have taken me about 15 minutes in Picasa. I was looking for an alternative to iPhoto that was as clever as Picasa - instead I found piles of folks just like me.

I'm a born and bred macuser who was stuck with a wintel laptop when my imac died. I couldn't afford a mac and needed a pc. Over time I've come to appreciate a great deal of the things being in windows allows, but hate the fragility of the system.

I was happy to be going back to mac...
...but not so much anymore.

It's like moving to tidy, regimented Singapore after having caroused around dirty, sprawling but free Houston. The confines drive me nuts. You MUST resize your window from THIS CORNER ONLY. etc. etc. etc.

iPhoto is clunky and requires too many nonintuitive steps to complete what comes easily and immediately to one using Picasa.


Bleh. I'm downloading aperture now, but I don't have much hope.
 
Hi Entropos,

I too have just gotten back to Mac after many years in Windows. I thought Mac graphics were just "a given".

I also found that iPhoto didn't do what I wanted it to do as I had been used to Photoshop Elements 4 and really liked the organizational tools as well as the ability to adjust the pictures. The outstanding part of Elements is that it handles and displays video clips from within the program without having to launch a separate viewer.

I have just recently purchased Elements 5 and it has a few more features than elements 4. I know there is an equivalent version for Mac but I am running mine in Windows XP through Parallels Desktop (what a great program).

When Adobe finally come out with a version that runs natively in Mac, then I will buy it but in the meantime I will stick with the Windows version.

I really don't know much about Picasa except that it gets a lot of good press. It was a dealbreaker for me that it wouldn't run my video clips.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Entropos & bsirons, OK first I will get rid of my initial reaction when I read the log name bsirons. As a former golfer I was prepared to have a little fun with you and use some creative liberty of expression interpreting that user name...but then thought better of it. Since I last posted I talked to a friend and he highly recommended the Photoshop Elements program for Mac, The latest Mac version is 4. He has a PC and works with Elements 5. bsirons, you mentioned Parallels Desktop. I don't recognize that term... Please tell me more. Thanks.
JJ
 
bsirons, I agree that opening another application to view video files was a dealbreaker for me to.

Picasa will play video files within the program, so that's another point in its favor.
 
I have used both Picassa and iPhoto, as well as other PC Apps and Graphic Converter for Both Classic and Mac OS X.

Personally my preference is still Picasa for the following reasons.
* It doesn't move my photos around - it works with the structure
* The workflow is great - which I don't see in iPhoto.
* Many More

The disadvantages
* Lack of Panoramic support.
* No Bonjour Sharing which iPhoto supports.

I looked at iPhoto for a while on a G4 mac - and its ok - but not great.
With nothing else to compare it to - it excels, but once you get into free competition - Picassa wins out.

I hope they do port it over, and also enable Bonjour Sharing between both Picassa and iPhoto.

Graphic Converter last I looked - still had its roots in the classic environment despite being a Universal download, many dialog boxes were exactly the same as when I used it extensively about 8 years ago under the classic environment.

I do like the integration iPhoto and iWeb have but I found that Site@Home was a better web design product for novices then iWeb but its no longer under production.

I have got people who use Picassa to understand how to do simple tasks, such as bulk resizing, a lot easier then those under iPhoto.

Picassa 3 for Mac - when it comes out - will be installed.
If it integrates as well as iPhoto does - so much the better.
 
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