Apple computers are known for their sleek designs, easy-use-use interfaces and overall innovation. Apple’s newest version of its photo editor, Apple iPhoto ’11, falls into the sleek and easy-to-use categories, but it lacks in the innovation department. With that being said, the new edition has been improved upon in comparison to its predecessors and, as a complete package, is thorough in scope and satisfactory in features and function.
The anthology of iPhoto software has always had one goal in mind: Allow everyday users to edit and export their photos with relative ease. To that end, Apple has succeeded as usual. New features include a larger working screen space, a photo e-mailing system, and a seamless process of merging with Facebook. The following paragraphs detail the interface, the organization and the editing and sharing capabilities.
- Interface: A new three-panel display is the most visible interface alteration from previous versions other than the ability to view full screen images. To the left is a toolbar, the middle panel is for viewing photos, and to the right is information about the photo as well as an adjustment bar. The library operations are smoother, and the search capacities have been reworked for the better.
- Organizing and Importing: The new iPhoto imports quickly, allowing the user to organize them almost immediately. The “Faces” organize option sorts your photos by whether or not people are in the photo and allows you to tag each person.
- Editing: Like most amateur editing programs, iPhoto has an auto-edit feature. It works fairly well, but its manual adjustments are better calibrated. Red-eye correction is nearly flawless on the new version, and there are the usual available photo effects all editing software provides.
- Sharing: The unique photo e-mailing system allows the user to choose up to 10 different formats to share photos in this manner. There are also countless other options for exporting the images. Users can create wallpapers, calendars, photo prints, books, online galleries — you name it. The Facebook merging ability is phenomenal. Uploading images to Facebook albums is a snap and very convenient.