I now have a Mac running OS X Lion and, unfortunately, it cannot run my old copy of Photoshop CS.
Buying Photoshop CS5 is awfully expensive. Even the student and teacher edition is more than $300, while the Creative Suite is more than $500.
Aperture is only $80 from the App Store. What’s more, I would be allowed to install it on any Mac I own.
From what I have read, it definitely has better native RAW support than Photoshop CS (I don’t know about CS5).
It would mean learning some new software and probably losing some capabilities, given the degree to which Photoshop is a more comprehensive and sophisticated piece of software. Still, it might be worth trying in the interim. If it turns out to be unacceptable, I can start saving my pennies and waiting for Photoshop CS6 to be released.
Aperture is more akin to Adobe Lightroom, of which LR3 is fantastic…
Its more of a workflow automation, batch RAW processor and file management tool with basic editing capabilities than an intricate image manipulation program… and is significantly cheaper than PS.
In general I found LR to be better for editing, and Aperture was better at file management (and had tighter integration with OSX). OTOH LR had better integration with PS, though it will invoke any image editor.
I also use a Windows desktop so my choice was easy, though I don’t think you can go wrong with either. Neither are a replacement for PS though. LR3 allows the use of a copy on a “workstation” and a portable. I actually installed the Win x64 version on my desktop, and OSX version on my MBP and activated both with no issues as its allowed in the EULA.
If you need image manipulation software, there is always the free Gimp. It should work on Lion (Im still on SL on my MBP so I can’t vouch that it does) and the editing concepts are all the same (layers, masks, clone stamping, etc…)
BuddyRich,
Thanks for the detailed suggestions. Right now, I don’t even have software to do basic editing like cropping on my Lion Mac.
It’s good to know that (like Aperture), LightRoom can legitimately be installed on both a workstation and a laptop.
I tried the free Adobe Photoshop CS6 beta, and I really don’t see anything about the program that is better than Photoshop CS. In fact, because they have pointlessly changed the layout so much, CS6 is far more difficult to use, for people already familiar with Photoshop at least.