drk64 Loc: Washington State

I lost my hard drive on my PC so out of frustration I bought a MAC. Now I have the daunting task of migrating all my pics from the old PC to my new MAC. The geeks were able to salvage my pics, but now I have to learn a new system. I know there are MAC experts out there and was wondering if there is any friendly advice/help? Thanks for any help.

Dave R. Loc: PNW

It did take me awhile when I made the change but well worth the initial frustration. There is so much (not unlike pC platform) that for anyone to give you all you need to know is very difficult. I suggest taking a class at an apple store. They are well worth the time and will jump start you into a better place. Good luck. I am so glad I made the change. Microsoft stuff is a thing of the past for me unless forced into using because I only have a PC at my disposal.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Plenty of mac users here and always willing to help. You do need to make a few decisions.

1. Where do you want your photos to reside? If you take a lot of photos, shoot in raw, or have a high megapixel camera, your photos can add up to a lot of disk space, and you may want to start out with them on a fast external disk attached to your mac. If you are a "light" photographer, you may be fine with keeping them on your hard disk.
2. What software will you use to keep up with your photos? To edit your photos? Your mac came with iPhoto which is OK for basics but if you like to post process significantly, you may want another program or two, and this might affect how you set it up. iPhoto doesn't play well (or at least easily) with some third party programs.
3. What kind of backup system do you want to create to protect your photos and other data? Your mac includes a program for doing this called Time Machine that is very easy to use, but requires its own external disk to do the backup. But you'll never again be caught in a jam on your data/photos if a hard drive dies.

If there is an Apple store near you, sign up for the free classes that teach you this system. My husband is a non-tech person, and he gained a lot of confidence by taking a few of those to learn the basics he was interested in. Macs are much easier to learn than pc's but they do have some quirks that can stump even us old-timers, especially after system upgrades that tinker with the way things get done.

Earworms Loc: Sacramento, California

Regardless of which platform you choose to use, always and I mean always make backups, even multiple backups of critical files. Once you've lost it, really lost it, it is gone forever!
Backup, backup, backup!

drk64 Loc: Washington State

Thanks to all for your replies. I do shoot in RAW but do not do a lot of PP. I have Lr & Ps CC that I just signed up for. ($10 month which creates another learning curve). I also bought a 2 TB external hard drive for backup. My problem is the closest Apple store is 2.5 hours from my house. I've gone on line but there are so many videos its hard to choose the right one.

wmclark43 Loc: Fruitland, Utah

DKR64
When you find out a good way to learn a Mac system , please let me know. I am at the spot you were at before you purchased the Mac. My concern with a Mac is that it will not run my GIS software and Trimble doesn't offer a solution. Strange because the screen on the Mac is far superior to what I can get with a PC.
BC

seroposi

For the basics, open Finder, click on Help and then Mac Help and Get to Know your Mac.

Do buy an external hard drive and run Time Machine.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

My advice to you if you plan to use CC is to NOT allow the computer to put your photos (both your old ones and your new ones as you acquire and download them) in iPhoto as it will most definitely try to do. You must go into BOTH iPhoto and Image Capture to stop this automatic behavior in their preferences. Macs attempt to use iPhoto as its default download/catalogue program.

I keep all my photos on an external disk, and I use Image Capture (already on your mac) to download them from the camera or card to a folder structure by date. I prepare the target folder(s) before downloading/adding photos. I then import them (without recopying, leaving the photos where they are) into Lightroom which is my main cataloguing/editing program and ALL my photos are in there. I have LR/Photoshop set up to allow me to export selected photos from LR directly to PS for extra editing, and the final result (TIFF or PSD) comes back to LR to sit right beside its original. That way I can find everything quickly and sequentially. I do not keep jpegs unless I for some reason shot in that format but I shoot in raw 90% of the time. I just generate a jpeg for a particular use right out of LR, then delete it when I'm done with it. That way I don't accrue any unnecessary clutter.

I use Time Machine to back up both the computer and the external photo drive, onto a second external disk. It does this quietly in the background and doesn't bother me with it.

If you can't take a class, get you an array of reference books: how to use a mac, how to use Lightroom, how to use Photoshop, and study/practice/watch videos. Ask here if you need recommendations. I like Victoria Bamptons' Lightroom Queen books and the free tech support, and Adobe CC Classroom in a book, but there's lots of other good options. As for learning a mac, not sure, I've been using them at home since 1990. I was forced to use Windows at work for 20 years, but would never pay money for a machine that ran that system, I never took to it, even after all that time.

Gibar

http://pcclassesonline.com Is a free site that has a lot of videos on Macs as well as some on pc. Well worth checking out. Lots of how too videos as well. Hope this helps.

Earworms Loc: Sacramento, California

One of the easiest ways to learn how to use a Mac, is to go to your nearest book store and peruse the computer magazine section of the store. MacLife, Macworld, plus whatever else you may find. Then go look through the book section, Mac for Dummies etc.

drk64 Loc: Washington State

I have noticed the resolution on the monitor is far superior to what I had previously. I will be looking later today for some tutorials on the MAC but it won't be until this afternoon. If I find something I'll let you know. As for the software I'm not familiar with either of the ones you mentioned.

Dave R. Loc: PNW

2.5 hours is a chunk but I bet a phone call gets you there quicker. Give the Apple Store a call and explain where you are at and ask for suggestions from them. There have got to be many in your situation that the folks at Apple have figured out how to help. That's another plus with MAC, they have such superior help than Microsoft it's laughable.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

This is a good book - "Switching to the Mac," by David Pogue.

http://www.amazon.com/Switching-Mac-Missing-Manual-Yosemite/dp/1491947187/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422986483&sr=8-1&keywords=switching+to+the+mac

drk64 Loc: Washington State

My fear is I'll have to start with MAC for IDIOTS then graduate to MAC for dummies.

drk64 Loc: Washington State

WOW, YOU GUYS (AND GALS) ARE GREAT. Thats my favorite part of UHH all the help and recommendations, thanks so much to all. We do have a book store in town so I'll be going there today.