The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Mac Stuff - for the bookshelf Major Keary |
iPhoto 4: The Missing Manual
The digital camera tide has brought with it a necessity for computer tools to process the output. Mac users have a smooth, fast package that comes bundled with OS X: iPhoto. Version 4 has improved considerably over earlier releases, and this title in the Missing Manual series catches up with the new features.
The authors do not confine themselves to the bare bones of the software, but discuss photographic techniques, buying a digital camera, and other practical matters. About a quarter of the text is given to composition and techniques for sports, underwater, wedding, ... (the list is long) photography and digital movies. The next section of the book discusses the interface between camera and Mac (editing, effects, slide shows, cataloguing, albums, and so on).
Bringing your photos out of the digital darkroom and showing them to the world (or just the family) requires the kind of facilities built into iPhoto, which include using QuickTime, making DVD slide shows, publishing, and web publishing. An essential resource for iPhoto users. Comprehensive, and information is easy to find.
| David Pogue & Derrick Story:
iPhoto 4: The Missing Manual ISBN 0-596-00692-6 Published by Pogue Press/O'Reilly, 361 pp., RRP $49.95 incl. GST |
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iMove 4 & iDVD
Also watch out for iPhoto 4 & iDVD: The Missing Manual; just released at the
time of writing it should be on the shelves some time in November and will cost
$49.95
Mac OS X Panther in a Nutshell
The Nutshell books are not for learning, but are designed for those who know
their subject and need a concise, but comprehensive reference that is compact
enough to keep close at hand. This one is for the Panther version of Mac OS X,
and I doubt that there is anything that it does not cover; a substantial part of
the book deals with the Unix operating system on which OS X is built. Indeed,
this would be the most thorough coverage of Unix commands for OS X that one will
find.
The back cover says, "Everything you need to know about Mac OS X has been
systematically documented in this book". Systematic documentation is its
outstanding feature: the
content is grouped in clearly defined sections, and information is easy to find
by way of a detailed table of contents and an excellent 146-page index.
The ultimate reference for users who need a resource that covers every aspect of
OS X. Very good value.
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Toporek, Stone, & McIntosh: Mac OS X Panther in a Nutshell ISBN 0-596-00606-3 Published by O'Reilly, 1025 pp., RRP $79.95 incl. GST |
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Reprinted from the October 2005 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
