Section 14.5. Beyond iPhoto

14.5. Beyond iPhoto

Depending on how massive your collection of digital photos grows and how you use it, you may find yourself wanting more file-management power than iPhoto can offer. Maybe you wish you could organize 500,000 photos in a single catalog, without having to swap photo libraries or load archive CDs. Maybe you have a small network, and you'd like a system that lets a whole workgroup share a library of photos simultaneously .

To enjoy such features, you'll have to move beyond iPhoto into the world of digital asset management , which means spending a little money. Programs like Extensis Portfolio ($200, www.extensis.com), Canto Cumulus ($100, www.canto.com), iView MediaPro ($200, www.iview-multimedia.com), and Apple' own Aperture ($500) are terrific programs for someone who wants to take the next step up, as shown in Figure 14-7. (Most of these companies offer free trial versions on their Web sites.) Here are a few of the stunts these more advanced programs can do that iPhoto can't:

• Create custom fields to store any other kind of information you want about your filesdates, prices, Web addresses, and so on.

• Track graphics files stored in any location on a network, not just in a specific folder.

• Catalog not just photos, but other file types, too: PDF files, QuarkXPress and In-Design documents, QuickTime movies, sound files, PowerPoint slides, and more flavors of RAW files than iPhoto understands.

• Share a catalog of images with dozens of other people over a network.

• Customize the fonts, colors, and borders of the thumbnail view.

• Create catalogs that can be read on both Mac and Windows.

• Display previews of "offline" photo files that aren't actually on the Mac at the moment (they're on CDs or DVDs on your shelf, for example).

Some of the features in this list were obviously developed with professional users in mind, like graphic designers and studio photographers. But this kind of program is worth considering if your photo collectionand your passion for digital photographyone day outgrows iPhoto.

Figure 14-7. Aperture is one of several programs that do what iPhoto doesand a lot more besides.
Here, for example, is Aperture's version of the full-screen editing mode. One key difference: when you make changes, Aperture doesn't duplicate the photo file (and use up disk space), as iPhoto does. It just remembers which changes you've applied, and can undo them in any sequence.
Bottom: iView Media can "watch" certain folders on your Mac, so that when new graphics arrive , iView catalogs them automatically.