What’s New in Aperture 2?
Author of this post: Tara MacKay | About Blog Authors »Remember when designers had to choose between Illustrator and Freehand, or Dreamweaver and GoLive? That was before Adobe acquired Macromedia. Today, there are fewer options. But Apple is trying to change that, at least in one category.
Currently, there are currently two pro-level, post-production applications for digital photographers: Apple Aperture and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Aperture was first released in late 2005. Lightroom hit the shelves in 2007. From the start, both programs offered complete raw support, non-destructive image editing and high-end printing features, and both included a wide range of image adjustment tools that helped photographers produce top quality shots. Both programs also had image management capabilities that far surpassed anything found in iPhoto or Adobe Bridge. So, for the most part, it was all about which interface you preferred. (Unless, of course, you were a Windows user; Aperture is only available for the Mac.)
That is until now. Aperture 2, released last week, includes a wide range of innovations not found in Lightroom. By Apple’s count, there are “100+ new features” in the latest version of the app. You can view a full list of those capabilities here, but there are a few obvious standouts that I think are worth noting.
Integration. When you’re married to a specific brand of products, you hope and pray that they’ll work well with the other apps you use. Aperture has always supported native PSD files, which is about all you can ask for with regards to Adobe integration. But Aperture 2 also works seamlessly with iPhoto. I’ve never been totally comfortable managing my images with Adobe Bridge, so if you’re like me, you’ll appreciate this new built-in compatibility.
Speed. High-quality images can quickly bog down a system, and users have often complained about the sluggishness of both Aperture 1 and Lightroom. But Aperture 2 is supposed to be a lot faster, and features like Quick Preview, which generates and displays low-res image copies of your raw files, should save you time.
Interface. Lightroom will probably always have the edge here mostly because it resembles the other Adobe programs. Aperture 1’s interface was generally not well-received by users, though to be fair, a few people loved it. The Aperture 2 interface has been significantly revised in an effort to make it more intuitive. The screens I’ve seen look great (I’d say Bridge-like), but it still looks like there will be a learning curve.
Image Editing. Lightroom and Aperture 1 are both chock full of post-production digital editing tools, but Aperture 2 includes some snazzy new additions. There are retouching tools that can save you a trip into Photoshop and functions that can automatically create or remove vignetting. Users can also save adjustments made to one image and apply them using a “stamp” to others.
Management. The image management improvements in Aperture 2 are all about search. You can look for specific adjustments or keywords, and also limit your queries to individual stacks of groups of stacks.
Sharing. Because of the improved integration with other Mac products, it’s easy to share images using Aperture 2. The animated presentations and slideshows you can create are vastly superior to what you could produce in Lightroom, and it’s easy to turn your favorite photos into printed books. A vast array of printing options is also available in the new Print dialog.
Overall, Aperture 2 seems like a significant improvement. Many complaints about Lightroom and Aperture 1 have been addressed, and the program’s flawed interface has been improved. Even already strong attributes, like the image management and sharing capabilities, have been enhanced. All of this makes Aperture 2 a strong competitor, and especially since it’s $199, instead of $299, it’s definitely an option worth considering.
