The Bottom Line
Photo Mechanic's tagline is "The Essence of Editing." That really doesn't describe what Photo Mechanic really does. Think of Photoshop as the paint and body shop. They get out the scratches, the dents, and touch up the colors. Photo Mechanic is the mechanic. Photo Mechanic works under the hood with tagging data and organization to make your workflow run more smoothly. After all, you can't sell a photo if you can't find it.
Pros
- Fast Preview Loads - Loads JPEG and RAW Extremely Quickly
- Powerful IPTC Entering/Application with Detail and Speed
- Several Output Options (ex. Slideshows)
- Powerful Import Features
Cons
- Price - At a Suggested $150 This is a Not a "Toy" Program to be Purchased on a Whim
- Menu Options are not Always Intuitive
Description
- Import - Ability to import from multiple locations at the same time including renames and IPTC data in one function
- Contact Sheet - Large preview images that load extremely quickly
- GPS - Ability to add and edit GPS data for your images
- IPTC - IPTC data can be added in batches or individually
- Output - Works with a variety of uploads such as FTP and SFTP
- HTML - Includes several HTML templates for quick web-based slideshows
Guide Review - Photo Mechanic - Review of Photo Mechanic 4.6
Photo Mechanic is not a photo editing program. Photo Mechanic is a workflow program. While other programs often try to do everything (often missing the mark), Photo Mechanic targeted a specific set of tasks and refined them. Photo Mechanic is designed to let a photographer quickly sort through a group of images, tag them with appropriate IPTC data, rate them, and get them out the door.
While this is a very limited set of tools, it is a powerful set. Photo Mechanic is uniquely useful to photographers needed to show images to clients or the public quickly. Taking photos at a sporting event and allowing proof viewing on-site, photojournalists sorting through a thousand shots on a deadline, stock shooters who need to get product out quickly, there are a lot of applications for Photo Mechanic.
Overall, Photo Mechanic is a targeted tool set that focuses on one aspect of photography and does that one aspect extremely well.
While this is a very limited set of tools, it is a powerful set. Photo Mechanic is uniquely useful to photographers needed to show images to clients or the public quickly. Taking photos at a sporting event and allowing proof viewing on-site, photojournalists sorting through a thousand shots on a deadline, stock shooters who need to get product out quickly, there are a lot of applications for Photo Mechanic.
Overall, Photo Mechanic is a targeted tool set that focuses on one aspect of photography and does that one aspect extremely well.
Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
