It's all in the system
The Age
Thursday June 11, 2009
Terry Lane reports on how to best manage your digital photos. BEING insatiably curious and perpetually dissatisfied, we are suckers for beta versions of software. And there is no more tempting beta than a new version of Windows, and Windows 7 is a whopper. We had to have it.So how has it been? In a word, sweet.Now we have four computers - a Mac running OS-X 10.5.7 and three PCs running Vista, Windows 7 and Windows XP. So we should be able to give the definitive answer to the all-important question troubling our times: which computer system is best for processing digital photographs?There is much ballyhoo from the Mac pixies about how they are better looking, better dressed and have smarter haircuts than the overweight Windows drongoes who make up 96 per cent of computer owners. They also brag about how much easier and more intuitive their machines are than PCs.Well, a moment's thought will tell you that this can't be so when you are using Photoshop, because whether on a Mac or a PC, there is obviously not going to be any difference. Well, not much, and what difference there is favours Windows.So let's forget the big Photoshop stuff and imagine someone who is in the market for a new computer to edit, store, print and share photos through Flickr or Facebook. This customer wants to take the computer out of the box, plug it in and get going without having to buy any extra software. Which operating system is best?Windows Vista includes a useless mini-application called Photo Gallery. The free program Picasa, from Google, is far superior to Photo Gallery.Windows 7 comes with Windows Live Photo Gallery - they dream up snappy names at Microsoft - which is an improvement on the one that isn't Live. Let's call it LPG to save space. It can be downloaded free from Microsoft and in theory works with Vista and XP.We managed to get it going with XP but it stubbornly refuses to work with Vista and Microsoft doesn't want to know about it, in spite of the fact that people all over the world are having problems. If you can make it work, LPG is OK, but it will not handle RAW files. It displays them but will not allow editing without first converting to JPEG or TIFF.A new Mac comes with the latest version of iPhoto installed. It can also be bought as part of iLife 09 (including iMovie, iWeb and Garage Band) for $129, and works brilliantly with OS 10.5 and later. It loves RAW files, and for most people has all the editing functions you will ever need. It also has a nifty, if slightly unreliable, face recognition system that will scan your hard drive for photos of people and match their features to an identification tag - presumably a spin-off of the war on terror.The verdict: Windows 7 is looking good but is months from final release. Meanwhile, the Mac costs more but wins hands down.reviewKODAK ESP 7 all-in-one printer$299We bought it!THE lowdown: This printer/copier/scanner unit is an evolutionary upgrade of the ESP 5. The big difference between the units is that the ESP 7 has in-built wireless networking connectivity as well as USB and direct input from memory cards. There are now two paper trays rather than one, and this is an added convenience because A4 and postcard photo paper can both be loaded and ready. There are two ink cartridges - one black and one cyan/magenta/yellow plus an additional black. Inks are pigment and there is a final clear layer to eliminate "bronzing" - the colour shift effect that comes with pigment inks when held at a certain angle to the light. The scan and copy functions are useful but of ordinary speed and quality.Like: The ESP 7 uses the brilliant Kodak system of print adjustment based on barcodes printed on the backs of the different paper types and read by the printer. Output is consistently good to excellent, the variation in print quality being related to paper quality. Best results, which are outstanding, are achieved with Kodak's Ultra Premium High-Gloss paper. Prints from this unit have been rated highly for fade resistance by the Wilhelm research laboratories.Dislike: Paper handling is not always precise. We needed to tighten up the paper guides fairly often to stop the paper pulling through at an angle. And set-up is finicky - read the instructions carefully and do not deviate from them one iota.Verdict: The wireless networking capability makes this an ideal all-in-one unit for a home with a number of networked computers. We were able to set up the printer driver on a computer at the other end of the house and print at a distance. We like the whole system so much that we have bought one, and commendation does not come any higher.-- TERRY LANE
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