It’s a standard OS X Package - you can open it in the Finder by control-clicking on it and choosing Show Package Contents. However, the Aperture library does not re-encode your images in any way. In the current atmosphere of fretting over proprietary raw formats, many users have expressed concern about having their images locked up in some Apple-owned construct. The Aperture library is a package that, by default, sits in your Pictures folder, though you can easily define any location for the library through the program’s Preferences dialog box. Also like iPhoto, Aperture insists on copying all of your media to its own internal library. Like iPhoto or Image Capture, you can set Aperture to automatically activate when you plug in a camera or media reader. Aperture provides tools for every step of your workflow, from importing images from your camera to final output. In Apple’s ideal scenario, you never need to leave Aperture for any post-production. It presents a self-contained work environment that hides the rest of the OS, yet doesn’t upstage your images while you’re working. But in general, the Aperture interface is good. Some commands are in one location only, usually hidden away in a HUD, and many users have complained about the tiny type size used for the program’s interface elements.
With the release of Tiger, the term “dashboard” has a new meaning in the Mac lexicon, so Apple has christened Aperture’s floating control palettes “heads-up displays,” or HUDs.Īpple has violated some of its core interface guidelines in creating Aperture. Many controls and tools are housed in semi-transparent, floating palettes similar to the Dashboards in Apple’s Motion software. All of this is designed to make Aperture feel like a real light table or desktop, with images you can slide around and shuffle, and it makes the program great fun to use. As you work with multiple images, they automatically arrange themselves on screen in gracefully choreographed motions. Palettes don’t just appear and disappear, they fade in and out, while image thumbnails animate about the screen as you change their ratings. This non-document-centered approach is a real strength of Aperture, particularly when it comes to comparing and sorting images.Īperture’s interface includes a lot of eye candy. You don’t need to open and close separate windows, and you can freely move from one document to another, making edits here and there. Like iPhoto, Aperture lets you quickly switch between images by clicking on them in the Browser. Click on the image above for a larger view. Aperture’s interface is a single window divided into Projects, Browser, and Viewer panes. In it, you define Projects, which are high-level containers that can hold images, albums, Web pages, books, and folders.įigure 1. The Projects pane is roughly analogous to the Library pane in Apple’s iPhoto and iTunes. In the following review, I’ve broken down my findings into 11 sections:Īperture’s interface consists of a single window broken into three main panes: Project, Browser, and Viewer (Figure 1).
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To ensure that your video card gets image data in a timely manner, you’ll also want a fast computer and a lot of RAM.īecause the program is so picky about its hardware requirements, Apple offers a free compatibility checker that examines your machine to determine if it’s Aperture-ready. And, because not all video cards are created equal, Aperture will perform better with some cards than with others. As such, Aperture will work only with certain video cards. Core Image makes heavy use of your computer’s video card to accelerate image processing operations.
Aperture is built around Apple’s Core Image technology, a term for image-processing routines that are built-in to OS X 10.4 (Tiger). Ironically, you may find that trying to work around these issues requires a workflow more complicated than what you already have.īefore you worry too much about whether Aperture is right for you, you need to consider whether your computer is right for Aperture. The program provides exceptional, unique tools for comparing and sorting images, but it’s hampered by a number of weaknesses.
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Aperture 1.0, Apple’s entry into the professional digital image-editing marketplace, aims to solve the photographer’s workflow dilemma by providing a single application that performs sorting and cataloging, raw conversion, basic image editing, Web page generation, printing, and archiving. While today’s image-editing programs provide phenomenal tools for correcting and adjusting images, the digital image-editing workflow still confounds many photographers - especially those who shoot raw.
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