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Aperture - Confused, what applications to use...

L

LERsince1991

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 24, 2008
1,245
37
UK
Ok, I know theres always going to be more than 1 application for the same sort of task but I'm a bit lost now :(

Theres all these different packages. iLife vs CS4 vs other misc apps.

In particular for photography

So I have CS4 and I use photoshop for editing.
I organize the folders myself in my pictures folder with different folders for events etc... then I use iPhoto to import and organize my photos into events. Then from iPhoto I add some photos to albums which sync to flickr and facebook and organize them there too.

But where does aperture 2 come in? On first look it looks to be like a hybrid iPhoto and photoshop. I will be getting a DSLR (canon 1000d probably) within 2 weeks and want to do some tethering to aperture 2.

I'm just trying to work out my workflow and organize everything

I have InDesign and Illustrator for design with PS.
I have chosen to use CS4 for web of course.
Soundbooth over garageband

I guess to summarize I use CS4 over iLife but where does aperture fit in?

Thanks for any help to clear this up
Luke
 
LERsince1991 said:
Ah, the sticky was there all along! :p

But is Aperture pretty much a more powerful iPhoto?

Cheers Dale
Click to expand...


I don't own aperture, but I have looked into some of it's features and tested it out... It's more powerful than iPhoto but it's a different concept... to a Point. Aperture is for making more in-depth edits, but also for acting as a Photo library i.e folders structures... you can still buy the Photo books like in iPhoto too !

I use Adobe Lightroom (2) and I prefer it much more than aperture. The interface is better laid out for they way I work as you have modules ( Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web. Each modules serves a different purpose...

It's all down to personal preference, I didn't like the interface of Aperture so I went with Lightroom... Some people say that Lightroom has slightly different affects to Aperture, but that is to be expected. Get the trials !
 
cheers Nathan,

I'll try out LR but I'm not bothered about the editing really. I use photoshop and probably always will. I guess I just like the folder structure of aperture more than iPhoto but I dont think aperture can manage online albums (i.e. facebook and flickr)

The only 2 advantages of using aperture over iphoto is the organization of the folders (big point) and tethering a canon camera but the downside is I cant do online albums like in iPhoto.
 
Aperture has plug-ins for web galleries (like flickr) and various other things.

One of the really awesome things about Aperture is that it's a non-destructive editor, unlike Photoshop. So shooting RAW, it's a great feature to be able to go back.

Also, if I remember correctly, you can do different versions of a picture say a sharp b/w and a softened color pic and Aperture doesn't save 2 separate files, it saves a list of the edits (which saves space). And being non-destructive, you can always go back and undo/change a previous action.

And as nit-picking, splitting hairs as it is, Aperture and Lightroom are designed specifically to be photo-editing programs, while Photoshop is a general purpose image editor that deals with pixel-level edits. Still that's not to say that Photoshop doesn't have it's place in an photographer's workflow.
 
LERsince1991 said:
cheers Nathan,

I'll try out LR but I'm not bothered about the editing really. I use photoshop and probably always will. I guess I just like the folder structure of aperture more than iPhoto but I dont think aperture can manage online albums (i.e. facebook and flickr)

The only 2 advantages of using aperture over iphoto is the organization of the folders (big point) and tethering a canon camera but the downside is I cant do online albums like in iPhoto.
Click to expand...

Yeah, well try them both ( I think you can get LR free trial :rolleyes: )...

Lightroom has very similar, if not the same controls of Photoshop ( cs4 ), in terms of non-destructive editing ( obviously layers aren't an option in LR )
 
LERsince1991 said:
I guess to summarize I use CS4 over iLife but where does aperture fit in?
Click to expand...
Aperture or LightRoom fits in, your workflow for images. If you want an application that manages your library of images, provides non-destrutive editing and easy keywording/organization then Aperture or LR are your best options.

PS and Bridge work well but the editing is destructive, that is, once you alter the white balance on the image and save it, its permanent, not so with Aperture and LR.

Download both (since both aperture and LR offer trials) and see who they fit your needs. btw, both really excel when you shoot in RAW, if you still use JPG then you're not really leveraging the apps to their fullest potential.
 
Well I got them both and apertures looking the best at the moment.
Will play around with them just to confirm then make the transition (to probably aperture) from iPhoto, then if all is good I will delete my iPhoto library.

Cheers
 
LERsince1991 said:
Well I got them both and apertures looking the best at the moment.
Will play around with them just to confirm then make the transition (to probably aperture) from iPhoto, then if all is good I will delete backup my iPhoto library.

Cheers
Click to expand...

fixinated

Its better to back it up then just blow it away ;)
 
Integration within OS X, the deal-breaker?

I've been struggling with the same issues. I've been using iPhoto since the beginning and love Places and Faces. Great for travel photog.

But I've been reading more about DAM for work and am amazed at the benefits of RAW (and am getting sold on .DNG). I also just managed to get Lightroom on my work PC. I really like it a lot (Scott Kelby's book is fantastic), but can't decide if I want it on my Mac, or if I want Aperture, which has one thing that trumps Lightroom: integration.

Aperture can see iPhoto pics naturally, and vice versa. Aperture pics automatically fit in to the Mac OS from MobileMe galleries to iPhone syncing. That seems pretty key if you're on a Mac, and I really wish Lightroom worked the same way. Any ideas?
 
OK I've gone for Aperture (I like the UI and integration better) but I've just realized the reason I organize my folders and photos myself is because I sync my pictures album to my iPod classic and my document folder using chronosync. This means I have all my documents and images on me whenever I might need them (everything on my macbook basically) also acts as a bit of a backup. I don't use iTunes because I'm not bothered about viewing my photos on my iPod really.

If I opt for aperture then I would want it to organize and manage the pics in the app. This would mean I can't sync the pictures folder to my iPod because it's not going to be easy to open the aperture library on a PC or another mac (less likely) to access my pictures whenever I need them...

I'm not sure what would be best for me.
Anyone care to comment or suggest things on this please?

Cheers,
Luke.

Edit: It also means that I can't just copy a folder of photos to someone's memory stick if they want them. Aperture organizes them in folders and this would be a right pain! I'd like to better manage my photos but this just seems to be a big inconvenience to everything...
 
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