Many of the options available to PC-users work on Apple computers too, including Picasa, Bridge and Lightroom. However, there are several additional choices for Mac-users when selecting an organizational tool.
Folders
Best for digiscrappers who use one kit at a time and don’t need to find that “perfect†ribbon easily.
Price: Free
Platform: Mac only
Description: Use the Finder to create and navigate a file structure.
iPhoto
Best for digiscrappers who want easy tagging and integration with their photo library.
Price: Free with your Apple computer or $79 to upgrade
Platform: Mac only
Description:”iPhoto makes managing your photos as easy as taking them. It helps you organize your photos so you can find them fast. Edit them so they look their best. And share them with your friends and family.”
Shoebox
Best for digiscrappers who wish ACDSee was available for Mac.
Price: $30/$80
Platform: Mac only
Description: “Shoebox is the solution for organizing all of your photos by content.”
Any of these options will work, just select what is right for YOU! Some folks want everything, including photos, in one place. And others just want the best tool for the job. Play around, ask your digi-friends. Experiment, have fun and don’t forget to check for the PowerPC vs Intel compatibility.
you know, I always bookmark these kinds of posts, with the hope that one day, I might get a Mac. So if I ever do, I’ll be fully prepared.
I can dream.
BTW … I just realized you’re blog is created using the Thesis theme … I am really looking into this option as I want to do a blog makeover but am totally blog illiterate. I hear Thesis is supposed to be perfect for people like me!
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Thanks for the Mac stuff. I have a good friend that uses a Mac and is always complaining for new software. I will pass on the info to her.
Tammy’s last blog post..Puzzle Mania
I will definitely be back when I get my mac and I will probably have a ton of questions!
Creative Junkie –
Thesis is a fantastic theme. There are a lot of control panels that go right into WordPress to help you customize everything – number of columns and their width, font types and sizes, what pages you see at the top, etc. There is also a great plug-in called Thesis OpenHook that allows you to make customizations to the code, without having to download and re-upload the css or php files.
Even with the enormous amount of customization flexibility, I wouldn’t say its that much more friendly to “blog-illiterates” than a regular theme with some plugins, just because to make it do what you want, you still probably have to customize the code. Take my graphical header for example, there isn’t a dialog box or anything that says “upload header here”. I had to write some CSS to tell it to look here for the image, place it in the header area and take the original text and shove it off into space somewhere.
Christina –
Yes, please do come back when you get your new computer. Feel free to send me an email using the Contact Form and I’d be happy to give you my advice!
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I don’t have one but maybe sometimes…. a girl can dream 😉
just wanted to say a big thanks for all this information — I’m so glad I added you guys to my blog reader. I’ve gotten lots of great tips from you!
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ahhh…a mac! LOL! Another one dreaming here! I saw you have a post about using ACDSee on a PC. Off to read! I’ve had ACDSee for awhile and have to admit haven’t been using it to it’s potential! I’ve been loving viewing my huge collection of brushes with it though! Runs so much faster for me than any other brush viewer I’ve tried. Oh and I’m another one who likes the Thesis theme! 🙂
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Thanks for tips!!!
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Wow!!! Your blog has a wealth of information!!!! So glad that I stopped by! I just had to keep scrolling down and down and read more and more!!!! And thanks for stopping by my blog too! {{{{HUGS}}}}
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Great tips, and I’ve used them all at one time or another. I was using the iPhoto about 2 years ago, but lately I have been doing something a little different. I organize pretty much like you, by designer, etc.
But I’ve recently discovered how powerful spotlight is. So when I am looking for a ribbon, I ‘spotlight’ “ribbon” and do a “show all”. Then use the ‘+’ to add criteria, and under ‘kind’ choose ‘image’. This works great as long as designers use the word ribbon in the file name.
The other thing I’ve discovered is that you can make the ‘spotlight comment’ box in the ‘get info’ window searchable and add it as a criterion. So as of about 3 weeks ago, each time I’ve downloaded a new kit, I’ve taken the time to add ‘tags’ in the ‘spotlight comments’ box. This include colors, element type, and any themes, such as holidays. It won’t be terrible effective until I take the time to tag my old kits, too, but so far, I like what I’ve seen!
Another program: Adobe Bridge. If you have a copy of Photoshop Elements, at least 6.0, Bridge comes with it. I really, really like Bridge for my scrap stash.
The nice thing about Bridge: if you add keywords to your stuff, it adds the keywords *to the files themselves* so that any other program that can see keywords – your work is already done, you’ll never have to do that again.
Kim- Didn’t think of tagging in the Spotlight comments box– thank you!
Another way to organize on a Mac is to use the “smart folder” feature. While in Photoshop/PSE, go to open a file (command +O) , and enter a search term in the upper right spotlight box (“ribbon”, “green,” etc.) You can tell it to search only your digiscrapping folder this way, instead of the whole computer. When your search results come up, you can tell it to save the search (save button on the right of the window). It will ask you if you want the smart folder to show only when you have PS/PSE open. Click yes and label it “ribbon”, etc. All your searches will appear in folders on the very left of the “open” window (below “places”). Ypi can refine the results with additional search terms (+ button). I just make sure to re-title everything I download with a basic description if it didn’t come with one. Think the spotlight comments idea would work for this too…. better even. Because it’s a smart folder, each time you click on the saved search for “ribbon,” e.g., anything new you’ve added to your cache of supplies labeled “ribbon” will show up too. Ugh– hope that made sense. It’s been the easiest/best way I’ve found to organize and easily find things (for free).
This is a fantastic tip – thanks so much for sharing. I had no idea how to use Smart Folders!