Simple photo editor, not organizer, for mac
July 12, 2019 11:41 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for a simple, well-designed piece of software for mac os that will allow you to open photos and do very basic editing, but does not try to organize your photos for you.
My parents have a ton of photos on their computer. The photos are pretty well organized into folders, and my parents browse through them just using Finder. I've advised them not to use the Photos app, because it will vacuum up their photos and get rid of their organizational system, and try to date them by metadata, which will be a disaster, since a lot of them are scans from pre-digital-age photos with irrelevant creation dates.
They're ok with sticking with Finder for organization and browsing. The thing that's missing is a photo editor, mostly for cropping and rotating and maybe some simple lighting adjustment.
Is there a piece of software for mac that I could specify as the default opener for photos that has a well-designed, simple interface for doing very basic image editing, but does not try to organize your photos for you? It doesn't have to be free.
Thanks!
PS: If you think this is an XY question, feel free to say so and answer the question you think I should be asking.
My parents have a ton of photos on their computer. The photos are pretty well organized into folders, and my parents browse through them just using Finder. I've advised them not to use the Photos app, because it will vacuum up their photos and get rid of their organizational system, and try to date them by metadata, which will be a disaster, since a lot of them are scans from pre-digital-age photos with irrelevant creation dates.
They're ok with sticking with Finder for organization and browsing. The thing that's missing is a photo editor, mostly for cropping and rotating and maybe some simple lighting adjustment.
Is there a piece of software for mac that I could specify as the default opener for photos that has a well-designed, simple interface for doing very basic image editing, but does not try to organize your photos for you? It doesn't have to be free.
Thanks!
PS: If you think this is an XY question, feel free to say so and answer the question you think I should be asking.
Graphic Converter, by Thorsten Lemke, will do this. It's shareware, so you can give it a try for a while. It will do a lot more than basic editing if they feel like getting ambitious, and it offers a slide show mode.
posted by brianogilvie at 11:58 AM on July 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by brianogilvie at 11:58 AM on July 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
Acorn by Flying meat, it actually has a SAVE AS option. Why is that so difficult for Apple software? it seems like every Apple software package hides it under a different name: share, export, convert..., just give me a Save As. For more advanced users I would recommend Pixelmator.
posted by Lanark at 12:21 PM on July 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Lanark at 12:21 PM on July 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Exactly what Lanark said. Acorn for easy, Pixelmator for advanced.
posted by terrapin at 12:24 PM on July 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by terrapin at 12:24 PM on July 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Just to be clear, I don't think you do things like exposure adjustment in Acorn.
posted by uberchet at 12:38 PM on July 12, 2019
posted by uberchet at 12:38 PM on July 12, 2019
+1 for Graphic Converter. And it's worth the minor amount of money to purchase it.
posted by slkinsey at 12:51 PM on July 12, 2019
posted by slkinsey at 12:51 PM on July 12, 2019
I haven't used Acorn, but it has to be better than Pixelmator, which I have and use and despise. Graphic Converter is powerful and good and has been around for many many years. I think I'm gonna go download Acorn right now!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:28 PM on July 12, 2019
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:28 PM on July 12, 2019
Just to be clear, I don't think you do things like exposure adjustment in Acorn.
Unless I’m misunderstanding, you can do exposure adjustment (and many other adjustments) in Acorn, in the Filters menu. It works fine.
Acorn is a general image creation/editing application, like a simpler/older Photoshop, so it has lots of things that aren’t specifically “photo editing” like drawing tools, type tools, etc. Which isn’t a big deal unless your parents are likely to get confused by lots of icons and options they won’t need for “photo editing” (not to cast aspersions on your parents; lots of people are understandably confused by software that does more than they need).
posted by fabius at 5:42 AM on July 13, 2019
Unless I’m misunderstanding, you can do exposure adjustment (and many other adjustments) in Acorn, in the Filters menu. It works fine.
Acorn is a general image creation/editing application, like a simpler/older Photoshop, so it has lots of things that aren’t specifically “photo editing” like drawing tools, type tools, etc. Which isn’t a big deal unless your parents are likely to get confused by lots of icons and options they won’t need for “photo editing” (not to cast aspersions on your parents; lots of people are understandably confused by software that does more than they need).
posted by fabius at 5:42 AM on July 13, 2019
I use an app called Lyn as a very very basic Finder - Folder based photo browser. It can do cropping and editing like exposure, color, etc. It looks visually old fashioned for a Mac app but it has been continuously updated, and I like how explicit all of the interface items look.
Navigation is done by a sidebar that shows Finder folders - so it is easy to use with Finder as well.
http://www.lynapp.com
posted by sol at 5:51 AM on July 13, 2019
Navigation is done by a sidebar that shows Finder folders - so it is easy to use with Finder as well.
http://www.lynapp.com
posted by sol at 5:51 AM on July 13, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 11:55 AM on July 12, 2019