I have an old iMac 2010 27" which I have installed a 1TB SSD and 16G RAM, but still find Photo which comes along with OSX to be laggy and find it cumbersome to use. I have around 500G of photos and am looking for a simple software to manage them. Ideally it should be a one time payment / install rather than subscription based. I am just a hobbyist so looking for something simple and user friendly.
Appreciate any advice, thank you
Photo Management Software for Old iMac
LRiz01 on 08/05/2022 - 11:40
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Agree, still a fantastic 27" 2560X1440 display which I am trying to extend the life
Which processor does it use, and what version of OS X does it run?
These two will determine your potential options.It's i3 running High Sierra
Picasa can still be downloaded and sounds like it would suit you.
Thanks, let me do some research
Check to see if you have iPhoto (different from Photos). It is excellent for image management and we still use it for our business every day. Photos is a pile of junk.
I believe you can still download it from Apple too, but it's hidden away.
One thing to be aware of, iPhoto will only work up to Mojave, there are however workarounds to get it to work with newer OSes also.
Did some digging around but couldn't find a full installation of iPhotos. Shall continue my pursuit… :)
My thoughts:
In the past I used Picasa until it got consumed by Google, and now I do use Photo but just for my iPhone photos.
My problem with both these apps is that they create their own libraries and file structures, which makes me feel that they are out of my control.
So I much prefer software that respects and uses the original folder and file structure, accessible through Finder in MacOS.
At some point you will hopefully be in a position to update your hardware and run more powerful software, and at that point I think you will find life much simpler if you have your whole collection organised in folders and files. This is easy enough to do, just moving things around in Finder, using Column or Filmstrip view (if that's available in your generation of OS.)
I realise this only answers your need to 'manage' the collection, not edit your shots.
I currently use ON1, and have also looked at Luminar. Both of these just use your natural file structure, but are unlikely to run well on an older machine. You can get free trials to check that out though. I find ON1 a little laggy on my 2014 iMac (16gb and an SSD) when editing a big batch, but pretty smooth for browsing, culling and organising. I've just been sorting out a big collection myself, from a trip we did years ago.
Good luck and have fun.Thanks for taking the time to respond to my query.
Agree with the way Photo organises the images by putting them all into one file, which is growing in size and super worrying that if something happens to that file, you loose every single photo. Had a look at Luminar and it looks promising and the prices seems to be reasonable. I will spend some time this weekend exploring.
Thanks again and much appreciated.
Another thought:
Does that model of iMac have 'Target Display Mode'? I think the older ones do, while they discontinued it just before my model came out. Really annoying.
That might allow you to continue using your 27" screen as an external monitor for a modern Mac mini or MacBook with the oomph you need to run newer apps.First time hearing about the Target display mode, it's a brilliant idea, shall look for some compatible cables and give it a try.
Thank you!
Isn’t really any alternative.
Just be appreciative that a 12 year old desktop computer is still a functioning piece of technology.