About Iphoto

Ok now why would I write about Iphoto alternatives on a website entirely devoted to Iphoto? Well….for one,  we always like to see who tries to compete with the “industry-standard” type of software. It gives you an idea of what new features others try to add to keep up. It’s always good to check out the competition so you can see whether the software you are deciding on is worth the price or if you’d be best served with the cheaper less-known software. For instance, before Adobe Photoshop Elements came out, the only cheaper alternatives to Adobe Photoshop were Corel’s Paint Shop and others. However, they could not come close to the features and robustness that Adobe Photoshop offers , which is why it is still the industry standard in Graphic Design and Photography today.

Whether or not these alternatives have an edge over Iphoto is up to the user of course. But if you are curious,  here they are:

Picasa

What’s great about Picasa? —-It’s FREE!! AND…..it’s Mac, Linux and PC compatible. Of all the applications out there, this one goes head-to-head with Iphoto. Some people (now don’t slap me–I’m just saying!) prefer Picassa over Iphoto. Well you be the judge of that. I downloaded Picassa 3.5  to see how it compares. I’m bad and haven’t upgraded yet to Iphoto ‘09  ( I still have Iphoto ‘08) so I’ll have to go at it stand-alone. A review for Picasa vs. Iphoto coming soon….nevertheless here are the general features of Picasa.

New with Picassa 3.5

• Add Name Tags —similiar to Iphoto ‘09 Faces
• Geotag with Google maps– similar to Iphoto ‘09 Places
• Import, upload, share all at once
• Tags–Bulk Tagging, quick tags and tag counts
• Basic Photo Editing —similar to Iphoto versions
• Organize photos in Web Albums  -like Events and Albums in Iphoto
• Print pictures, make albums, print to web — all similar to Iphoto

Check out Picasa

Cost: FREE

Photo Mechanic

Though not well known like Picasa, Photo Mechanic seems to have similar features to both Iphoto and Picasa. However, this seems more geared towards professional use regarding workflow.

The latest Photo Mechanic Version 4.6 includes:

• Live Ingest for importing photos from wireless or tethered shooting;
• The use of GPS in photos –similar to geotagging in Picasa and places in Iphoto
• New Upload templates: Secure FTP, Amazon S3, DF Studio, ExposureManager, Flickr, Gallery 2, SmugMug, and Zenfolio;
• You can convert RAW images
• New Exporter templates for Goggle Earth, Soundslides, and HTML or Flash slideshows;
• Tagging Features
• Much more.

Check out Photo Mechanic

COST:  $150.00

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