Question for Mac users without Aperture

So far I have been loading my photos on to iPhoto, but while downloading the raw file, it also creates both a thumbnail AND a full size jpeg. I feel this is a waste of hard drive space.


Does anyone use Image Browser from the canon software to load their photos, and does it just save the raw file? or does it do the same type of thing that iPhoto does?


I use DPP to process most of my pictures, sometimes I open photoshop, but I try to avoid that. Also, I don't really use iPhoto except to view photos (which it is really good at doing).

I use Aperture but I don't allow it to download my images.


Your mac by default is probably set to open iPhoto when a camera or Card Reader is detected. You can turn that off in iPhoto preferences. Then you can just copy files from the CF card to desktop. Then you can view them in Preview with out any duplication or rendering. You can just chose what ever app to open and process them.

The thumbnail doesn't take much space, compared to the full-size JPEG. iPhoto isn't set up to work directly with RAW files--that's why it creates the full-size JPEG.


I use iPhoto, Image Browser, DPP, and Photoshop Elements for various functions. iPhoto is for storing & cataloging images plus some editing e.g., cropping and some adjustments, always done to a COPY of the image. (Yes, I know that iPhoto stores the original if I choose to, but, by duplicating the image before processing, I can make several versions (e.g., for 4x6 prints and 4:3 aspect ratio for slideshows). Image Browser is faster to use to look at a few images AND it shows ALL the EXIF data, which iPhoto does not. It also allows me to copy images or move them from one folder to another. Also, Image Browser can view the images in any folder on any mounted volume (including the card); iPhoto must import the images, first.


DPP is the best for working with RAW files (white balance, etc) and can do "batch processing," which Photoshop Elements 4 does not. Photoshop Elements is good for using layers and more sophisticated editing than iPhoto can do. It also allows me to use noise reduction (e.g., Noise Ninja) and color correction (e.g., PictoColor) plug-ins that work on JPEG images.


I used Image Capture to set the overall preferences so that NO application opens when I insert a card. (If iPhoto, Photoshop Elements, Graphic Converter or Image Browser are
running when I insert a card, they will usually "offer" to download the
images. I decline the offer.) In reading the steps below, realize that it takes less time to DO than to describe.


I use a card reader (SanDisk MicroMate for SDHC cards, SanDisk Extreme FireWire reader for CF cards) and download by drag-and-drop from the card to a folder on a 1 TB external HD. That way, I have a backup without doing anything more. All the new images go into one temporary folder. I then use the Finder's "Find" function to find any RAW files in that folder by searching that folder for ".CR2" and move those to another folder, "mm-dd-yy RAW." (I shoot either JPEG only or RAW + JPEG, never RAW alone.) There are two ways to do this in the Finder:


1. Press command-F to get the "Find" dialog. Select "Specific Places" and click on the "Add" button, then find the folder where you put the images. Search on ".CR2" and a window will come up with all those files. You can highlight and move them from the search results folder.


2. Open the temporary folder in the Finder and use the "Find" box in the title bar to search on ".CR2," then move them to another folder.


I then sort the images into folders by subject (names "mm-dd-yy Subject"--that way, they'll be in chronological order within a year) before importing into iPhoto. That makes for a more useful archive/backup and saves a step in iPhoto. It also allows me to remove any that I don't want to import into iPhoto.The sorting is fairly easy for me--I usually use the created date/time as a guide, opening the first and/or last in a series in Graphic Converter (one could use Preview) to verify what it is. I can use Image Browser (or the slideshow or browser function in Graphic Converter) to check that I've done it as I wish. Then, I open iPhoto and import the images by selecting the folder(s)--that way, iPhoto picks up the folder name as the "roll" name.