Aperture (software)
| Aperture | |
|---|---|
| File:Apple Aperture.png Aperture, demonstrating the loupe tool. | |
| Developer(s) | Apple Inc. |
| Stable release | |
| Operating system | Mac OS X |
| Type | Photo Post-Production |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www.apple.com/aperture |
Aperture is a software program for Mac OS X announced by Apple Inc at a New York media event on October 19, 2005, designed to assist professional photographers in post-production work. It became available in November 2005.
Features
- Complete RAW support from camera to output
- Master image files (RAW or otherwise) may be kept in place on import or migrated into the Aperture library
- RAW Fine Tune, allowing version of RAW decode to be managed over time and conversion parameters adjusted
- Many image adjustment tools including specific color retouching, a luminance based edge sharpener, and spot repair
- Project management, with extensive metadata and searching support
- Autostacking, a way to group photos based on the time between shutter clicks
- Stacks (for grouping photos) and Versions (for making multiple working copies of the same image)
- Multiple display spanning
- Loupe, allowing viewing of images at zooms from 100% to 1600%
- Light Table, a type of freeform workspace
- Native Adobe Photoshop support
- Nondestructive image editing
- Customizable printing and publishing
- Supports importing from Compact Flash I, II and Microdrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, SmartMedia, and xD Picture cards
- Ability to simultaneously zoom and pan multiple images
- Reading and input of IPTC metadata
Criticisms
- A number of reviewers have commented that the performance of Aperture v1.5.x is markedly worse than that of Adobe Lightroom v1.0.x. [1][2]
Version history
| Version number | Release date | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | November 30 2005 | Initial release. |
| 1.0.1 | December 21 2005 | Fixed bugs with shadow blocking in 8-bit images, EXIF export issues, and improved performance in keyword searches. |
| 1.1 | April 13, 2006 | A significant update that includes new features such as universal support, improved RAW image quality, RAW fine tuning, auto noise compensation, a new color meter, enhanced export controls and other more minor improvements and bug fixes. |
| 1.1.1 | May 4, 2006 | Addresses several issues related to performance, stability, color correction, and display compatibility. |
| 1.1.2 | June 21, 2006 | Addresses issues related to overall reliability and performance. |
| 1.5 | September 29, 2006 | A significant update with many new features, including Flexible Library Management (master images can be kept outside the library and offline as well), iLife '06 and iWork '06 integration, Automatic Metadata Exportion, Edge Sharpen and iPod photo syncing. Also now officially supports all Intel-based Macs with at least 1 GB of RAM. |
| 1.5.1 | November 2, 2006 | Improves overall reliability and performance in many areas of the application, including keywords, the Loupe, cropping, previews, metadata presets, file renaming, iPhoto library importing and watermarks. |
| 1.5.2 | December 11, 2006 | Addresses issues related to overall reliability and performance in a number of areas, including: Contact sheet printing, Smart Albums, watermarks, lift and stamp, image export, versions created using an external editor. |
| 1.5.3 | April 19, 2007 | Aperture 1.5.3 addresses issues related to overall reliability and performance in a number of areas, including: Generation of thumbnails for adjusted images, entering and exiting Full Screen mode, working with large sets of keywords in the Keywords HUD, restoring from a vault. |
See also
References
External links
Trial
- Apple Aperture Trial Version - Free download of 30-day time-limited Aperture trial.
Support
- Apple Aperture Support Forum - Questions and discussions about Aperture.
- Aperture Tricks - Blog with tips for Aperture.
- Bagelturf - Aperture Articles about each aspect of Aperture.
- InsideAperture - Aperture guides and other resources.
- O'Reilly Media's Inside Aperture Blog - Blogs, Articles and Podcast.
- PhotoshopSupport.com - Tutorials and other information.
Philosophy
- Zen and Art of Aperture - by Ben Long for CreativePro (March 6, 2006)
- What the Critics Don't get about Aperture - by Scott Bourne for O'Reilly (January 25, 2006)
Reviews
- Aperture/Lightroom Comparison - OReilly links to comparisons of Lightroom 1.0 and Aperture 1.5.2 by two separate photographers (February 19, 2007)
- Aperture 1.5.2 Speed Test - By Allen Rockwell (December 15, 2006)
- Aperture 1.5 beta preview - by Rob Galbraith for RobGalbraith.com (September 25, 2006)
- Aperture 1.5 beta preview - by Ben Long for Creative Pro (September 25, 2006)
- Aperture 1.1.1 review - by Dave Girard for Ars Technica (May 9, 2006)
- Aperture 1.1 review - by Ben Long for Creative Pro (April 17, 2006)
- Aperture 1.0.1 review - by Colin Smith for Photoshop Cafe (February 2006)
- Aperture "non-review" - by Michael Reichmann, The Luminous Landscape (January 2006)
- Aperture 1.0 review - by Jim Heid for Macworld (December 26, 2005)
- Aperture 1.0 review - by Charles Bandes (December 21, 2005)
- Aperture 1.0 review - by Ben Long for Creative Pro (December 19, 2005)
- Aperture 1.0 review - by Mike Evangelist, former director of video product marketing at Apple (December 15, 2005)
- Aperture 1.0 review - by Juergen Gulbins for Outback Photo (December 12, 2005)
- Aperture 1.0 review - by Dave Girard for Ars Technica (December 4, 2005)
- Aperture 1.0 review - by Rebecca Freed, special to PC World (December 2005)
- Aperture 1.0 review - by Rob Galbraith and Eamon Hickey for RobGalbraith.com (October 30, 2005)
