One of the benefits of a high priced DSLR is the ability to shoot RAW files. That can also be one of its biggest disadvantages – the time needed to load and work on your files in the computer. Certainly RAW files are bigger than JPEG’s, but the added flexibility of the file is why most all professional photographers shoot them.
So how can you speed up the process? With Photo Mechanic Version 5. Photo Mechanic has always been known to be the fastest when it comes to grabbing your files from your memory card and version 5 just made things better yet again. Now you can set up Auto Ingest to do the import process completely automatically.
Even if you shoot JPEG exclusively, you’ll also notice the speed increase with this version. Camera Bits claims it’s over twice as fast as version 4. RAW shooters, make sure you have preview mode set to use the embedded JPEG instead of rendering the RAW, to notice the speed increase.
The IPTC Stationery Pad enables you to store unlimited data about the shoot and the subject.
Photo Mechanic led the field when it came to assigning IPTC data to individual or batched groups of photos. Now they’ve even expanded the number of IPTC fields, making all major fields accessible and customizable. You can control the order, label and the number of lines visible in preferences panel.
IPTC data is assigned in the IPTC Stationery Pad. Now, while filling this out you can also assign color class, ratings and tag values. For example, after selecting all you best shots, you might want to append a comment “Available on my Zenfolio gallery” and assign a Blue label. In Photo Mechanic, that can be done in about 4 seconds and all those photos are permanently updated.
Photo Mechanic thumbnails display lightning fast in this newest version
If you have two monitors, you’ll appreciate the opportunity to have a full-sized preview window open on one while you work on the contact sheet in the other. Once you experience a two-monitor setup, you’ll never want to go back.
There’s a lot to like in this newest version of Photo Mechanic 5. Check out their free trial version at http://www.camerabits.com/