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Holy Moses! I'm a new MAC girl!

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Leah

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Holy Moses! I'm a new MAC girl!

DH bought me a new Macbook Pro last night. :yesss
I've been dropping subtle hints for a while now - total WANT, not need. lol We went and looked at them last night and brought a new baby home! (with the expectation that I have to work it off...haha...by helping him do the books for our (his) business).

Now girls...I need your help. I'm in the process of transferring the files from my PC and I've sent in to Adobe for a cross grade activation to switch platforms. I'm copying music and apps (do iPad/Pod apps work on the laptops too?).

What do I need to know? Are there apps specifically for macbook that are a must-have? Photo-related, games, cool stuff, etc.??

I am LOVING it so far!
 
p.s - the color is so much more vibrant on this baby! Anyone find that it's closer to true-color or way off?
 
Yay!! How fun!!! Woot! HUGE kudos for your DH!!!

I quite literally was *just* about to post a thread about this very thing.

Only I need hand holding. LOL! I have had my MAC for quite a long time now and only just have finally decided to cut the cord from my PC. I was so at "home" with my PC and have avoided making the switch mostly because it means dealing with my HUGE number of fonts and PS tools and scrap supplies and photos. And I'm feeling overwhelmed with organizing it all. So ya. I need this. I need to know what is the best way to organize everything..any tips and tricks. etc. #holdme
 
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scarletsierra said:
Yay!! How fun!!! Woot!

I quite literally was *just* about to post a thread about this very thing.

Only I need hand holding. LOL! I have had my MAC for quite a long time now and only just have finally decided to cut the cord from my PC. I was so at "home" with my PC and have avoided making the switch mostly because it means dealing with my HUGE number of fonts and PS tools and scrap supplies and photos. And I'm feeling overwhelmed with organizing it all. So ya. I need this. I need to know what is the best way to organize everything..any tips and tricks. etc. #holdme
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You're so cute! We can hold hands and do this together. We CAN do this. I'm literally sitting kiddy corner to my PC though. Just in case it decides to sprout little green legs and stomp out on me.

I WAS going to try the migration assistant, but then read online that it takes 4EVER and doesn't necessarily work. So I'm backing up on an external hd and I will transfer that way. I'm assuming I can keep my folders somewhat the same???
 
Leah said:
p.s - the color is so much more vibrant on this baby! Anyone find that it's closer to true-color or way off?
Click to expand...

Yes! Mac's are just about (95% ish) color calibrated and the screens are very vivd. I know alot of photographers who don't calibrate their macs (I calibrate mine because of the swatches here). I am just about to leave to pick my kids up from the airport but I will be back later and can give you some organizing tips! We are an all apple house here (with the exception of Ds's Netbook), it took me awhile to get the hang of everything buy you know what they say..once you go Mac you never go back :giggle
 
Leah said:
You're so cute! We can hold hands and do this together. We CAN do this. I'm literally sitting kiddy corner to my PC though. Just in case it decides to sprout little green legs and stomp out on me.

I WAS going to try the migration assistant, but then read online that it takes 4EVER and doesn't necessarily work. So I'm backing up on an external hd and I will transfer that way. I'm assuming I can keep my folders somewhat the same???
Click to expand...

I'm transferring via my EHD too and I honestly don't know? I feel like a dingus but I don't even know where to put all the folders, kwim? Where to save everything? And do I need to put all my photos in iPhoto? Meh. I'm not totally a fan of it. So I'm thinking of organizing all my photos and scrap supplies in LR. So far I'm just leaving my EHD plugged in and pulling what I need from it while I work. And I know that can't be the best way.

The only thing I've managed to transfer totally so far is my music. LOL!! That was easy peasy with iTunes. And I have messenger set up on there. And Skype. Because until now that's all I have really done on my MAC. Chat/keep in touch with people.
 
Aww yay! Thanks for any info Kelly!

Have fun picking up at the airport!! xoxoxo

I do know that once I do it I will be soooooo happy about it. I just kinda dread the start process. LOL!
 
Ooh you probably already have checked this out if you've looked into the migration assistant but going to post here just in case others may find it useful. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2518

I will say I do love how adaptable MACs are and how Apple has a wealth of information for former PC people. :)
 
scarletsierra said:
I'm transferring via my EHD too and I honestly don't know? I feel like a dingus but I don't even know where to put all the folders, kwim? Where to save everything? And do I need to put all my photos in iPhoto? Meh. I'm not totally a fan of it. So I'm thinking of organizing all my photos and scrap supplies in LR. So far I'm just leaving my EHD plugged in and pulling what I need from it while I work. And I know that can't be the best way.
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first , yay for new Macs!!!

and second, if you are already using Lightroom, I would just go with organizing stuff in there. I don't use iPhoto at all, only Lightroom for my photos. As for scrap stuff, I just use a folder system that probably works the same as on a PC, so if someone has a better way of doing that, I would love to hear about it.
 
Oooh! Very nice hubbie! I don't know anything about them, but just wanted to pop in say congrats, Leah!!
 
YAY for you! That is SO awesome!

What I see on my screen and what prints is incredibly accurate!

I made the switch 5 years ago and have never looked back. I actually cringe when I am forced to use a PC, lol!

One thing to consider with making the switch to the dark side (yay, it's so nice to have you!) is if you need Microsoft office or not.
We have a family business and we continually get Excel and Word files sent to us all the time. I'm pretty sure the Mac programs (Pages & Numbers) will open these, but we had to just get the MicroSoft Office to make it easier. You can buy it at www.academicsuperstore.com for a very good price.

imovie is a great program that will have just come on your computer, and I use it all the time and love it! Great movie making program!

There is a thing called "Stickies" in your Applications folder (same thing as Programs Folder on a PC) and I use it ALL the time. It's so awesome.

Anytime you want to hide a program that you have a million things open and want to get the program out of site, but not close it, you can click the apple in the top left corner and click "hide photoshop" or whatever program you have open. I do this ALL the time.

Also, the apple in the left hand corner, click in your System Preferences to set your screensaver, desktop, security for kidlets, etc.

iChat is pretty cool as well. You can share screens with it or video chat or just IM. It's just fun!

Garage Band is cool to play with and your kids will LOVE Photobooth if you ever let them touch your new baby. lol ;)

I hope these tidbits help a little!

You are going to LOVE this new computer! I'm so excited for you!!!!!
 
I might be able to help a little. :) I just sent some info to Sara so it's a simple c&p on my end. :lol

You can see my desktop here:

456973_10151489221450627_755690626_23754631_1162580958_o.jpg


I don't use iPhoto. Never have. Opened it the first day and decided it wasn't for me. I use Lightroom. If I have photos to play with and save, I import them all into Lightroom first. Then I view and select the best ones and edit in Photoshop. After they are edited and ready for saving, they are saved into a folder: PHOTOS -> SAVE FOR DISC MARCH 2012, SAVE FOR DISC APRIL 2012, etc Every few months they are burned to disc. I also have a SmugMug acct that I love (I use it for my client galleries too!) AND everything is burned to EHD. That's 3 backups!

I don't trust the EHD completely. *knock on wood* I've been lucky but I've heard too many stories of them failing. So I back up there but I also feel safe because my photos are on discs and in SmugMug too. I would never completely trust an EHD and I'd never not back up at all! Have a few options in place that will work for you.

I organize my scrap supplies the same way I did on my PC because I was very pro-folder (not sure if you remember or ever caught that but people used to make me screenshot my supplies all the time :lol2) So I have one main SCRAP folder and then in there things are broken into sub-folders like ALPHAS, KITS, TEMPLATES, etc.

Lastly, you'll want to know how to paste a preview image on your folders so you can see what's in there. :)

1. open the image you want to use in Preview
2. chose Edit > select all (cmd + a)
3. chose Edit > copy (cmd + c)
4. now open up the "Get Info" tab on the Folder you are pasting to
5. select the Folder icon at the top left (it's blue) and and press cmd + v

Here's a sample of how it looks:

Screenshot2012-04-22at85359PM.png


Questions? Let me know.

ETA: Sorry the images are a little on the wide side. Too tired to edit them now. ;)


Oh and:

I know alot of photographers who don't calibrate their macs
Click to expand...

I have never once calibrated. :) I LOVE the images I get back from my lab. Completely true to color. Yay MAC! :D
 
Oh THANK YOU all for your help! I am so excited! I just love the feel of this computer. I thought I would miss the 17" screen, but you know what I don't miss? The bulkiness of the PC laptop and the heat it would give off on my legs. lol

I'm so excited to play!

So...what about LR? I have LR on my PC...is it still good for the Mac? Or do I have to get a new version?

Also...apps...what do I need?

Oh another question - what about backups? I have Backblaze on the PC's, but I could disable one computer and put it on this one if need be. Do I need an online back-up system for Mac or does the time machine thing do that, or what about iCloud?
 
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ooooooh sooo jealous. I have been begging for a macbook pro since my macbook died a few months back. i have been learning to use a pc....yes i am that stupid!! haha. But i so want a new macbook pro!! They are the best!

Once you go mac, you never go back!!! Have fun!!
 
Gina said:
I might be able to help a little. :) I just sent some info to Sara so it's a simple c&p on my end. :lol

You can see my desktop here:

456973_10151489221450627_755690626_23754631_1162580958_o.jpg
Click to expand...

LOVE the looks of your desk top....I miss my mac

ps..LOVE that you have a big bang theory bin!
 
Oooh ok. So this is probably a dumb question but how did you get your desktop to look like that? LOL I love it so much!
 
I'm bumping this...still some unanswered questions. lol

Does anyone know how I can get my PS to full screen (so I don't have my dock visible?)

Also, I remember seeing somewhere how to full size a window...how do I do this?
 
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