Apple Aperture 3 : Learning the Interface

Apple’s Aperture 3 is the latest release of the software designed to help photographer’s manage, and edit their images. It’s direct competitor is Adobe’s Lightroom 3. Adobe’s Lightroom 3 runs on both PC and Mac platforms while Aperture is just made for Mac. If you have a Mac I would try both Lightroom and Aperture so that you can decide which works best for you.

As photographers we spend a lot of time importing, tagging, storing, editing, and exporting images. Through this series of videos I want to be able to give you tips that should help reduce the time spent through the workflow process. Before we can run with Aperture we must learn the basics.

This post will feature an educational video, and also key terms to help you remember what you learned in the video.

Aperture 3 – Interface Video

Key Terms

• Inspector – This is the left navigation panel in Aperture 3. It contains the Library, Metadata, and Adjustments tabs.
• Library – This tab found in the inspector allows you to organize your photos into folders and projects.
• Metadata – This tab found in the inspector allows you to view EXIF information for selected photos. You can also add more metadata to your photos for easier searching.
• Adjustments – This tab found in the inspector allows you to make adjustments to your photos. You can make adjustments by using the sliders provided, or by using the included presets.
• Sharing Photos – Aperture has built in integration with Flickr, Facebook and MobileMe. This allows you to sign into your various accounts, and upload photos. When you click on the email button it will resize your image and place it in an email.
• Loupe – This button provides you with a 100% crop circle that you can hover around your photo. This allows you to check the focus and sharpness of your images.