On 01/04/2025 19:32, Matt wrote:
MAC running sequoia, and Iphone 15 ProMax.
Is there an APP to organize my photos like Adobe Bridge or Photo mechanics does?
Something like this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/202543217@N06
There are a number of options.
I understand you don't like the idea of the library being one continuous listing.
I get that, I don't really either. However, I've also learnt to work
with it. If you want seamless syncing with your other devices, then
Photos and iCloud is the easiest and most complete solution.
I use it myself, and there are ways to re-organise the library to suit
your preferences, so some extent. I created a 'Working' folder/album
structure for working with the photos in my own way. It follows a Collection/Year/Event folder structure, with albums inside the event
folders to break down even further (for me I have 'All', 'Colour Raw'
and 'B&W Raw'.
This works well, because of the way Photos works, and the different
albums contain only links to the original image in the main library - so
I basically ignore the main library.
If you really want to use an external folder structure, you can do this.
With Photos you simply turn off 'Copy items to the Photos library', and
use them as 'referenced' links to the folder instead (but it's not
recomended in Photos, it's not a reliable system). These will not be
synced to other devices in iCloud though.
If you want to go with alternative apps, there are a few.
Lightroom is probably the best option if you want to keep device syncing
(but be aware, it also uses a similar single library structure to Photos
in order to achive this).
To keep everything external in your own folders:
Have a look at Nitro (or Raw Power for the older version) by Gentlemen
Coders. It is a decent photo editor and organiser by the guy that headed
up the old Aperture team. I can either integrate with the Photos
library, or as a standalone setup (and the edts with very well cross-device.
Photomator (and has recently been purchased by Apple) also works in a
similar way, but it does create huge sidecar files for the edits. It has
lots of AI features, and otherwise an excellent option too
As mentioned XnView is open source, and free to use. There are also
DigiKam, darktable and RawTherapee.
It all depends on how important the cross device syncing is though,
which limits your options. Either choose a Photos library based
solution, with the app used as an extension, or try exporting JPGs and importing into Photos just for syncing and viewing.
Good Luck
--
Andy H
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