Drop, charge, and lose the cords
Entered CNET Catalog: 11/03/2005
SKU: MA154Z/A
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Manufacturer description
Designed from the ground up for professional photographers, Aperture provides everything you need for after the shoot, delivering the first all-in-one post-production tool for photographers. Featuring a RAW-focused workflow, Aperture makes RAW as easy as JPEG, letting you import, edit, catalog, organize, retouch, publish, and archive your images more effectively and efficiently than ever before. From capture to output, you work directly with your RAW files, never having to first convert them into another format before viewing, adjusting, organizing, or printing them. Whether you're a fashion, wedding, sports, portrait, fine art, commercial, or editorial photographer, Aperture's color-managed workflow and flexible design tools will help you easily create stunning prints, customized contact sheets, elegant books, and web pages as beautiful as the images you capture.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 03/15/2006
Aperture lives up to many of its promises and proves especially useful as a digital slide sorter--albeit an extremely pricey one--but there's room for improvement, especially when it comes to image adjustments as well as handling of raw files and metadata. For instance, we'd like to see curve editing in addition to levels. And though Aperture supports nondestructive raw editing, in order to open the files in Photoshop, you have to export them to the desktop or a folder first. If you create any Photoshop layers, Aperture will simply store the layered file in the Library and create a flattened version for itself. For that and other reasons, we think Adobe Camera Raw still has an edge over Aperture for working with raw files.
The Library secrets away all your images from view into an operating system package file, a file type usually reserved for installation programs. This likely renders your images slightly more vulnerable, in an all-eggs-in-one-basket kind of way. You can create a replica of the Library called a Vault for backup purposes. Maintaining a backup is one-click simple, however.
Aperture can be an incredibly fast and efficient application, given the right system. With few exceptions, the "right system" turned out to be a quad G5 with 2GB of RAM; importing and adjusting images on this system zipped along. Occasionally, drawing the Loupe tool across images in the thumbnail view required a couple of seconds' wait. On a 15-inch G4 PowerBook with 2GB of RAM, waiting a second or two to load a file while using the Loupe became more frequent, and stacking images was noticeably slower. Using Aperture on the 15-inch G4 PowerBook (the 12-inch model's graphics subsystem isn't powerful enough) is doable, but professionals will want to have a fast desktop system in the studio. Furthermore, Aperture is best viewed on at least one 30-inch Cinema Display: Aperture's icons and typeface can be very small and difficult to read.
Open the Aperture box and you'll find a Getting Started Guide, which will get you up and running, but it won't tell you about some of the application's finer points. The better option is to watch the video that's bundled with the software. Apple has posted a lot of information on its Web site, including tutorials and FAQs, but searching from within the program doesn't always result in a quick answer to your question. There aren't many live support options, other than Apple's typical free 90-day installation support for registered users. If you're a pro and want round-the-clock tech help availability, be prepared to shell out $2,800.
There are at least three potential roadblocks to adopting Apple Aperture: steep hardware requirements, rigid file handling, and dependence on the OS for raw support. But despite these limitations and imperfections, Aperture can certainly bring efficiency into the life of any photographer willing to accede to the program's demands.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
4/10
extremely serious scalability issues - not iPhoto replacement
Pros: nice organizational, image editing tools, etc.
Cons: Unbelievably slow on Dual 2.5Ghz 3Gb RAM powermac
Review:
The image editing tools are fine. The management tools are very good in theory, but in practice have scalability issues the likes of which I have never EVER seen before.
If you have a large iPhoto library you're looking to import (e.g., around 10k images) you will be sorely disappointed. Imagine, if you will, trying to edit the brightness of an image and having the application hang for minutes at a time before the first pixels changes color. There are plenty other situations where Aperture hung for HOURS at a time and I just had to Force Quit the application. These are the kinds of things that happens all the time in Aperture. More RAM or CPU will hardly help because it's more about how the application was structured and makes uses of its database than anything else. Believe me on this - I know what I am talking about.
Aperture 1.1 is supposed to address these issues but unless it's a 100x improvement we're in for a disappointment. iPhoto 6 is much faster than iPhoto 5, and while it's RAW image handling is bordering on stupid, it's still a pleasure to use in comparison to Aperture.
I use it on a per-shoot basis, do the RAW conversion, export the photos to a folder and then import those photos into iPhoto. Then I delete the aperture photo library and start again with the next roll. What I really wanted was my money back but now I am forced to hope they can fix the performance problems.
If you have a large iPhoto library you're looking to import (e.g., around 10k images) you will be sorely disappointed. Imagine, if you will, trying to edit the brightness of an image and having the application hang for minutes at a time before the first pixels changes color. There are plenty other situations where Aperture hung for HOURS at a time and I just had to Force Quit the application. These are the kinds of things that happens all the time in Aperture. More RAM or CPU will hardly help because it's more about how the application was structured and makes uses of its database than anything else. Believe me on this - I know what I am talking about.
Aperture 1.1 is supposed to address these issues but unless it's a 100x improvement we're in for a disappointment. iPhoto 6 is much faster than iPhoto 5, and while it's RAW image handling is bordering on stupid, it's still a pleasure to use in comparison to Aperture.
I use it on a per-shoot basis, do the RAW conversion, export the photos to a folder and then import those photos into iPhoto. Then I delete the aperture photo library and start again with the next roll. What I really wanted was my money back but now I am forced to hope they can fix the performance problems.
User Rating: 
3/10
Meh, Apple just stole the idea of Adobe Bridge.
Pros: Does simple, non destructive photo retouching.
Cons: Expensive and with out the capabilities of Bridge+Photoshop.
Review:
So here is a blatant example of how Apple stole an idea. Adobe introduced the Bridge with CS2, and a few months later, Apple came out with Aperture. Lame.
It does indeed work well. Just as good as Adobe Bridge, but when you but Aperture, it's all you get. For that money, you're better off sticking with Photoshop.
It does indeed work well. Just as good as Adobe Bridge, but when you but Aperture, it's all you get. For that money, you're better off sticking with Photoshop.
User Rating: 
10/10
Never thought I needed such a program until I used it.
Pros: Think iPhoto vs. life before iPhoto. But Pro.
Cons: Very hungry, but runs great on PowerMac G5s
Review:
I cant believe it. i never thought i would need to use everyday, until i fired it up - and now - WHALLA. I use this as much as iTunes.
think iPhoto and then life before iPhoto. BIG DIFFERENCE.
think iPhoto and then life before iPhoto. BIG DIFFERENCE.
User Rating: 
9/10
Great, But RAM Hungry
Pros: Intuitive UI, Simple RAW integration, decent documentation
Cons: RAM hungry, experiencing a lot of crashing, minimal editing capability
Review:
Although I am not a professional photographer, I do take a lot of photos, and use a Nikon D70. I've been looking for something a bit more robust than iPhoto -- mainly for better keywording, and the ability to handle several thousands of photos.
Aperture fits the bill, and is a great program. After I ran the Aperture checker, it informed me that I needeed to upgrade to at elast 1GB of RAM on my 17" powerbook.
After the RAM upgrade, the software installed . I usually run it with Photoshop CS2 open, along with several other apps, and it performs OK. Sometimes it's a bit buggy when I'm cropping images, or in full screen mode, but it must be due to the RAM.
So far I'm very happy. I like how it handles RAW images, and never edits the original. I've only been using it for about a month, so I haven't begun to experience all it offers, but so far the keywording, rating, sorting, and manipulation is very good. When I need to get into more advanced editing, I go right over to Photoshop.
Aperture fits the bill, and is a great program. After I ran the Aperture checker, it informed me that I needeed to upgrade to at elast 1GB of RAM on my 17" powerbook.
After the RAM upgrade, the software installed . I usually run it with Photoshop CS2 open, along with several other apps, and it performs OK. Sometimes it's a bit buggy when I'm cropping images, or in full screen mode, but it must be due to the RAM.
So far I'm very happy. I like how it handles RAW images, and never edits the original. I've only been using it for about a month, so I haven't begun to experience all it offers, but so far the keywording, rating, sorting, and manipulation is very good. When I need to get into more advanced editing, I go right over to Photoshop.
User Rating: 9/10
This is the only application that would make me move 100% to APPLE.
Pros: Amazingly intuitive towards photographers, clever workflow, stunning results.
Cons: Only available for APPLE.
Review:
I am always switching between MAC and PC in my work life, but have never felt motivated to switch completely to MAC (mostly because the PC can do almost everything as well, if not cheaper). That all changed with APERTURE.
This program is amazing, and knows exactly how I want to work as a photographer. Before the digital revolution, working with photos was an organic and tactile adventure, but the digital world pulled the images out of my hand and into the computer (and things were never quite the same), but all of that is changed.
The greatest element of this program is how it handles photos and edits. Instead of holding a different file for every variation (taking up a ton of space on high-res images), the program keeps the key strokes, and applies them to the original as you call them up. This makes moving, adjusting and managing many combinations of photos much faster and reliable (plus, you always have your original file untouched).
Another great feature is how the program will let you stack images for easy access. This is an excellent options when you are dealing with 100?s of very similar photos and you want them organized and indexed in a particular way. No more shuffling through endless folders of random pictures.
There are so many great features I can?t name them all here. But I will admit, this is the first program that APPLE has produced that made me sit up and look long and hard at APPLE as my main computer, just so I can use this program everyday.
This program is amazing, and knows exactly how I want to work as a photographer. Before the digital revolution, working with photos was an organic and tactile adventure, but the digital world pulled the images out of my hand and into the computer (and things were never quite the same), but all of that is changed.
The greatest element of this program is how it handles photos and edits. Instead of holding a different file for every variation (taking up a ton of space on high-res images), the program keeps the key strokes, and applies them to the original as you call them up. This makes moving, adjusting and managing many combinations of photos much faster and reliable (plus, you always have your original file untouched).
Another great feature is how the program will let you stack images for easy access. This is an excellent options when you are dealing with 100?s of very similar photos and you want them organized and indexed in a particular way. No more shuffling through endless folders of random pictures.
There are so many great features I can?t name them all here. But I will admit, this is the first program that APPLE has produced that made me sit up and look long and hard at APPLE as my main computer, just so I can use this program everyday.
User Rating: 
8/10
Great first version of hopefully upgradeable product though it could be improved
Pros: Awesome interface, easy quick options, whether editing, vieiwing, or rating.
Cons: could use more editing options such as color burn and dodge tools
Review:
For a photographer, i am a student myself, this product is great for organizing and editing photos. To seperate it from an improving iphoto i feel that apple should add more options as far as editing is concerned. If, for instance an area of the picture is just too dark, i dont want to remove all shadows to lighten it, i feel a simple dodge or burn tool would help with this. Hopefully it will be upgraded so i can do that soon.
