Aperture 3.0

Aperture 2.0 was only released this year. There are no rumors of a major (paid for update) Aperture release at Photokina 2008. If you look at the amount of time between Aperture 1.0 and 2.0 there is no real chance of a paid-for update until mid 2009.

 

Here's the email I sent to the Aperture team at Apple....

1) The ability to merge projects! This works great in iPhoto (merging, splitting events)

2) The overall UI (non full-screen mode) seems very 'un-Apple' (and un-iLife App). I know this is a pro app but the UI in non full-screen mode looks like it was an afterthought. All the buttons (like close -x-) are extremely small. The font on most menu items is small. The colors are drab (I understand the reasoning for gray so it doesn't distract from the photo but how about making it appear a little shinier - like iPhoto or even -gasp- Lightroom?)

3) Projects vs. Albums. I hate the fact that I imported my iPhoto library as individual projects...should have done them as Albums. I want one project labeled Christmas (with subordinate folders) - not 10! I know I can reconfigure to use one main project and 10 albums underneath but that will be a huge overhaul for all projects.

4) Batch operations: I know you can lift/stamp metadata but how about a separate menu/button for assigning metadata via a batch operation? If flickr/iPhoto can do it- why can't Aperture?

5) New iPhoto features! I'm sure you've been asked this a 1000x now but how about the face recognition feature for Aperture?

6) How about a script that can find duplicate photos?

7) How about an option to just delete a photo when clicking delete- not command + delete. There's already a popup that warns you!

8) Why can't Aperture be closed by clicking a red x at the top left window? That just doesn't seem consistent with the OS.

9) How about a photo count next to the project folder?

10) How about an option to set a picture as the desktop? I know that can be done in system preferences but would still be nice.

11) How about a feature to create/export a composite? Like an extension to the light table? I know this can be done in photoshop but would like to do it in-house.

I realize that Aperture is a pro app and is probably designed/coded by a different team than the iLife/iPhoto team but some consistency across platforms would be nice. I'm guessing as a lot of amateurs take the plunge and by a dslr (like myself) they'll want a beefier program to use to edit/manage photos (other than iPhoto). Why not make the switch a little more compelling? Some more familiarity would be nice.

 

Apple only releases products at their own events.