Apple's Aperture

[SuzanneR]

Anyone have recent experience with Aperture? I have been thinking about getting a new mac, and was playing around with a demo at an Apple store, and it actually looks like a great tool for organizing scans/ and digital image captures.

Would just like to hear others' thoughts. I know it's similar to Lightroom, so in anyone can compare the two, I'm all ears.

TIA

 

[Ray Heath]

g'day Suzanne
what is an Apple Aperture?

 

[jd callow]

g'day Suzanne
what is an Apple Aperture?

Ray try Google:
Dead Link Removed

 

[Ray Heath]

Ray try Google:
Dead Link Removed

it was raised on this site, why not explain it on this site

 

[livemoa]

...probably because it's easier to go to the source, so to speak. The apple aperture website certainly gives a good background to the package.

 

[Ray Heath]

...probably because it's easier to go to the source, so to speak. The apple aperture website certainly gives a good background to the package.

a package of what?

 

[livemoa]

a package of what?

of software....
things made by apple usually are, unless they are a computer

Looks useful to me, would invest in it should/when I go the mac/digital route. Good to see it also has use for film based people like me.

 

[Ray Heath]

of software....
things made by apple usually are, unless they are a computer

Looks useful to me, would invest in it should/when I go the mac/digital route. Good to see it also has use for film based people like me.

software that does what?

 

[livemoa]

mate, look at the link which does a better/more complete/ accurate job of explaining what it does than I can.

 

[Ray Heath]

thanx pal
i justed wanted a more concise and self explanatory post

actually the link would have to be better than your efforts, you've added nothing so far

mayhap i don't want to waste my time chasing some crap on a link that i'm not interested in

 

[livemoa]

So, I should go over the site and give you a run down on it?

OK, happy to, commercial research is actually what I do to make money to allow me pursue my art work. It's what I am doing today.

My charge out rate is US$125 per hour, 4 hour minimum, for my corporate and commercial research work. Three commercial referee's are required from you before I send you my standard terms of business.

 

[Ray Heath]

yeh, good luck with that

 

[livemoa]

Thank you, but I don't need luck.

I supply a good, timely and, you might be surprised to know, very cost effective service to my clients. I often have more than I can cope with and actually have to turn down work.

 

[Ray Heath]

that surprises me if you don't know the value of a good introduction, something that this initial post is lacking

anyway, i addressed my first post to Suzanne, who the hell are you? why are you putting shit on me?

 

[jd callow]

i don't want to waste my time chasing some crap on a link that i'm not interested in

and

why are you putting shit on me?

Ray,
By some of your posts one wonders if that isn't what you are doing to others. I had no issue with Suzanne's intro.

Her post wasn't directed at you, but people who know about the subject. Had you given the thread achance your question would have been answered as well as hers.

 

[Ray Heath]

excuse me John, my original post wasn't addressed to you or livemoa but to Suzanne asking innocently for more information

how could i have known the subject from such a poorly worded question

is it too much to expect posts to begin with a reasonably meaningful and understandable introduction

as put the original post could have refered to several topics from the publishers of fine monographs to some strange still life prop

livemoa's posts did nothing to add to the discussion i assumed i would be having with Suzanne initially and others later

 

[catem]

Aperture and Lightroom are both basically ways of organising, filing and storing and accessing a large number of digital files on your computer. Like a library.

Suzanne,

I think both Aperture and Lightroom are both very good if you have a very large digital workflow - you can download a trial of aperture for a month I think and lightroom was (is?) free...

I haven't thought about them partly because my digital files aren't the number of lots of 'digital capture' photogs., (who seem to work with truly huge numbers), also if you have photoshop CS2 (which is very useful, I wouldn't be without it) it generally comes packaged with Adobe Bridge which is a simpler method of organising - simple enough for me anyway...

May be worth the trials/free downloads though, as I understand it people have different preferences, sorry I don't know the specifics.

Funny, I decided yesterday to upgrade my mac - I wonder what you're going for.

 

[gr82bart]

Hey Suzanne,

Take a look at this. Too funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEAGmBRC1dc

Regards, Art.

 

[catem]

Hey Suzanne,

Take a look at this. Too funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEAGmBRC1dc

Regards, Art.

Ha ha! (sob)

Nah - that's just slanderous, it's not really like that....Funny though, and a grain of truth (but I LOVE the click and drag thing on macs)

Does remind me to say that an external hardrive for backup is v.useful - and another ingredient to consider in the storage/filing system

 

[SuzanneR]

Sorry to take so long to respond... I figured the more computer savvy members here than me, would know that I was interested in their thoughts on the image organizing (photo library) software that Apple is now offering. I had the opportunity to play around with a demo at a local Apple store, and was impressed.

It has a "light table" and a loupe tool, that I think would be handy to be able to show side by side comparisons to clients. Although, you can do that (minus the loupe) in iphoto. You can also design layouts for books, and some minor image editing.

As a film shooter, however, it may be more powerful than I need, as I'm not one to shoot thousands of images in a month, but I must say my current computer has scans in folders all over the place!! And the version of iphoto I have is a little outdated. Iphoto, btw, is a photo organizing program that comes with the mac, and is great for organizing and sharing snapshots. I think the more recent versions than the one I have are way more powerful, and it may well be enough for my needs.

I've read some not very good reviews, but since this latest version came out, I've read more favorable reviews.

My goal here, is to do in person proofing of portrait jobs on the computer, and I like the versatility of this program for clients to view more than just a slideshow.

So... if anyone has any thoughts or has used this most recent version, I'd love to hear them, and how it compares to Lightroom (another organizing/photo library) software program that is currently being developed by Adobe. I have not had a chance to take a look at it.

Thank you.

 

[SuzanneR]

Hey Suzanne,

Take a look at this. Too funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEAGmBRC1dc

Regards, Art.

Very funny, Art!

BTW, Cate.. I started to look at the Macbook Pros, but at close to US$3000, the imac with their serious screens is looking like a way better deal. All the preloaded software looks great, but the Aperture would be extra, but I can get it at a discount at the same time.

 

[livemoa]

Well, just ran into a working pro I know at an exhibition opening here, (work was terribile, food great). Took the oppurtunity to ask him if he knew about Aperture. As it turns out, yes he does, in a round about way. His assistant does all the computer stuff when shooting remotely (uses a mac laptop) and in the studio.

From what he said his assistant has tried Aperture and prefers to work with Photoshop (CS2 he thinks) and Adobe Bridge. This is a guy who hates the technical side of photography so gets other people to do it for him. When asked what sort of camera he used once he is rumored to have rung his assistant to ask..... He did say that the comment he got was that his assistant thought that Aperture was good, but that as she knows Photoshop back to front she will stick with it.

 

[SuzanneR]

Thank you, David. I think I get what that assistant was saying. I don't know photoshop, and I don't print digitally. If that were my aim, I'd be looking at getting it. And perhaps, down the road I will. For now, I think either the aperture or lightroom will be great ways to show off photographs to clients!

And, maybe, I can have a more oganised digital database of my negs and contact sheets.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Suzanne, just as a side note, Aperture (and probably Lightroom as well) was originally designed to be a RAW workflow software, allowing you to "develop" your RAW files non-destructively. It's not a full-blown Photoshop replacement, more of a proofing + filing system for your primary files. PS is then used to make fine adjustments and final printing, but there's a lot that can be done in Aperture already.

OK, and for those who feel like asking, a RAW file is a digital camera file. This format contains more information than a JPEG.

 

[livemoa]

What MHV is saying is a good point. The non destructive modification of the original files is a major selling point. Saves people make two files, an "archive copy" and a working copy of the original file then doing modification on the working copy. I learnt to do that with scanning, after finding I was rescanning stuff that I didn't like when I printed it after working on it and couldn't get back to the original scan. I can see the advantages of it for seeing what the RAW files might look like in various iterations.

Don't know much about working in RAW (don't shot digital, yet) but I can understand that it can be an "art". Hopefully someone who uses Aperture will chime in with comments.

Oh yes, scanning is taking an image (negative, transparency, print) and converting it into a series of 1 and 0's (called binary code) that can be then read by a computer (a complicated device that has changed the face of the modern world) and manipulated in image editing software to produce another image.