Aperture, My Review.
I downloaded the Aperture free trial over 30 days ego, I finish playing with it and throw it in my computer’s Trash. I’m submitting my review now to make sure you understand that I didn’t get rid of it because it was bad, but because I have no need for it. The software went from a price tag of $299 (USD) to $199, but even with this price drop I feel that this program is not for the aficionado.
The process of getting a trial license was easy and fast, after a couple of minutes I was up and running. Getting it set up was easy too, the first menu you see allows you to choose among a set of options that gives you tutorials, imports, etc. I have a folder with photos that I manage using Bridge from Adobe, so I import those images into Aperture for the test.
The import was fast, you could tell it was doing some cache processing in the background and when it finish it created a proprietary file in my Pictures folder. I wasn’t able to test every single feature, but a couple of the ones I did test impressed me very much.
Lets talk Aperture, the user interface (UI) is great, I was able to click through most of the selections without needing to read the manual. I should mention that I tested Aperture on an Intel Mac mini (1.83GHz with 1GB of RAM) and that was not a problem, I would assume that newer MacBooks and iMacs have no problem dealing with all the features of the software.
The first feature that impressed me was the Loupe tool, I selected high-resolution photos and the Loupe tool took me to the details with in without any problems. I test it with a couple of 3 mega pixels photo that I have on my library and after 200% magnification you can tell is a poor image by its pixilation.
The next feature that wows me was the full screen editing option, I have a 22-inch monitor and my raw images looked amazing. You can all sorts of options to manipulate the images, of course, not ala Photoshop but when manipulating colors, contrast, and brightness is the best you can ask for. The menus hide when in full screen, and just by doing a mouse over the corners of the screen you can activate the menus you need to work on your photos.
Finally, the way you manage your media, so easy that even the most inexperienced user can take advantage of all the features this software has. You have an exceptional organizer on the left side of the screen, you can import directly from your camera, the web or any folder on your computer. You can also export to Flickr, to the web, or create an album, you can import/export from iPhoto and ultimately you can print your own images at home with any of the professional printers available out there.
Of course, what is Aperture with out the community, every Mac owner is proud of belonging to a great family, a family of users that help each other no matter what. For all the help you may need you have Aperture tutorials at www.apple.com/aperture, you also have the Apple discussion forums at http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=184.
You can find user groups as well, there’s an Aperture Foundation that while is not affiliated to Apple Inc is a great resource to any photographer. Find groups at Flickr, as well as a plug-in for Aperture, find about anything just by doing a search in Google for Aperture. If you have knowledge of great places to get Aperture help, tips and tricks, or anything else related to Aperture, feel free to leave a comment including your tip.
