Apple APERTURE New Features

New Features in Aperture 1.5

Aperture 1.5 provides performance, reliability, and compatibility enhancements.

This document covers the following:

Working with the Aperture 1.5 Library (p. 2)

Working with Image Previews (p. 4)

Drag-and-Drop JPEG Export (p. 4)

Exporting Digital Master Files with Metadata (p. 4)

Exporting Metadata Listed in a Separate File (p. 4)

Exporting Using Plug-ins (p. 5)

Enhanced Loupe Options (p. 5)

Working with Adjustment Presets (p. 5)

Saving RAW Fine Tuning Presets (p. 5)

Working with the Color Controls (p. 6)

Working with the Edge Sharpen Controls (p. 6)

Working with the Adjustments and Metadata Inspectors (p. 6)

Automatic Updating of the Keywords HUD (p. 6)

Improved Searching by IPTC Information (p. 7)

Using the Lift & Stamp HUD (p. 7)

Working with the AutoFill List Editor (p. 7)

Working with Metadata Views and Metadata Presets (p. 7)

Enhanced Resolution Controls in the Print Dialog (p. 8)

Enhanced AppleScript Support (p. 8)

About Backing Up Your Images (p. 8)

Updated Keyboard Shortcuts (p. 9)

Support for Additional RAW File Formats (p. 9)

Enhanced Support for Macintosh Computers (p. 9)

Previous Release Information About Aperture 1.1 (p. 9)

Working with the Aperture 1.5 Library

Aperture 1.5 has a new, open Library structure that lets you store photos wherever you choose. You can now copy image files into the Aperture Library in order to work with them, or you can choose to have Aperture simply link to image files in their current locations. You can also have Aperture link to your iPhoto Library, without copying the image files into the Aperture Library. Aperture can work with photos stored on any number of hard disk drives and other storage media. You can catalog and search for image files that are stored on multiple volumes, including offline hard disks, CDs, and DVDs.

What Are Managed Images and Referenced Images?

Aperture lets you choose how you organize your photos on disk. You can store your photos in the Aperture Library, or you can import images by simply linking to the image files in their current locations, without placing them in the Library.

Images whose digital master files are stored in the Aperture Library are called

images

. These master files are stored in the Library exactly as they were in previous versions of Aperture. Aperture manages master files stored in the Library, keeping them always accessible, and provides benefits such as one-click backup of digital master files to vaults.

Imported images whose digital master files haven’t been placed in the Library are called

referenced images

a number of substantial benefits to your photography workflow. You can incorporate your existing portfolio of images into Aperture without changing the current location of the files. Importing images by reference does not result in a duplication of your image files in the Aperture Library, thus saving hard disk space. You can also connect and disconnect hard disks holding your referenced images’ master files as you need them, allowing you to keep master files for less-used images offline, or make specific types of images available for editing or adjustments as needed. Using referenced images in your Aperture system provides a means of building a flexible image management system customized to your work style.

You specify that an image will be a managed image or a referenced image when you import it. When importing images, you can:

Specify that master files be stored in the Aperture Library.

Import images as referenced images, so that their master files remain in their current locations.

Move or copy image files to a new location. For example, you might decide that a certain group of referenced image files, such as wedding photos, will always be placed in one hard disk location, while other groups, such as sports photos, will reside in a different hard disk location.

. Using referenced images in your Aperture system can provide

managed

You can work with referenced images—creating versions, making adjustments, cropping, and adding metadata—just as you can with images whose master files are stored in the Library. Versions that you create from a referenced image are stored in the Library. In order for you to make adjustments to a version from a referenced image, the referenced image’s master file must be available on your hard disk or other storage device. For example, if you delete a referenced image’s master file in the Finder, permanently removing it from your computer system, Aperture no longer has access to the master file and so no longer allows you to change your versions or create new ones.

To help you identify referenced images, Aperture marks referenced images with a badge overlay that you can display or hide. When a referenced image’s master file is not found, its badge changes to show that the image is not accessible. For example, if you disconnect a hard disk that holds master files for many referenced images, Aperture automatically marks the referenced images in the Browser and Viewer as reconnect the hard disk later, Aperture accesses the master files automatically, bringing them

online,

and you can work with and change their versions again.

You can search for images based on whether they are managed images, referenced images, or online or offline images. Aperture also provides robust file-management tools that let you quickly determine which images are offline and easily reconnect images whose master files have been moved to different volumes.

offline

. If you

The Advantages of Using Managed and Referenced Images

The advantages of using managed and referenced images are as follows:

Managed images:

system because Aperture stores and maintains the managed images’ master files in the Aperture Library. Managed images are always available and never offline. You can back up your managed images’ master files to vaults whenever the volumes containing the vaults are mounted.

Referenced images:

anywhere on your computer or connected volumes. Even when you unmount a volume where a referenced master file is located, Aperture remembers its location. When you mount the volume again, Aperture automatically reconnects the master file. Although you cannot back up referenced master files to a vault, all metadata, versions, and previews associated with the master files are stored in the Aperture Library and are therefore backed up to the vault. Provided you’ve chosen to work with image previews, you can still view a high-resolution preview of the image in Aperture, even when a referenced image’s master file is offline. For more information about working with previews, see “Working with Image Previews” on page 4.

Using managed images provides a simple file-management

Using referenced images gives you the flexibility to store files

Working with Image Previews

Aperture can now create high-resolution preview images that appear when you select an image in the Browser. These preview images allow you to quickly see and work with your images when you select them, even if images are offline referenced images. The previews allow you to display full-size, detailed views of images in quick succession in the Viewer and when playing slideshows. You can also specify preview options in the Preferences window to control the creation, quality, and size of the previews.

You can have Aperture create full-size previews of your images automatically, or you can control the creation of previews manually. You can also have Aperture create previews for all your projects or for only specific projects. For example, you can select a project and specify that Aperture create previews for its images. You can control the creation of previews on a project-by-project basis. Aperture creates previews for projects as a background task that you can monitor with the Task list.

You can also control the creation of previews manually. You can select versions and have Aperture create previews for them whenever you wish. Thus, when Aperture is not set to create previews for a project automatically, you can still create previews for specific versions as needed.

You can also change the quality of preview images to match your working preferences. For example, if you don’t require high-resolution previews, and prefer to work with smaller image files, you can reduce the size and quality of preview images. This is particularly useful when working on a MacBook or MacBook Pro computer.

Drag-and-Drop JPEG Export

You can now easily drag high-resolution JPEG previews of images from Aperture 1.5 into other applications. Without a lengthy export process, you can drag Aperture images into Keynote presentations, iWeb pages, iDVD projects, the Finder, and more. The images’ size and quality will match settings for preview creation. For other resolutions, sizes, and formats, choose File > Export > Export Versions.

Exporting Digital Master Files with Metadata

Using Aperture 1.5, you can now export digital master files with IPTC data stored in XMP sidecar files that can be used in other applications, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Exporting Metadata Listed in a Separate File

Using Aperture 1.5, you can select images and export the metadata assigned to them in a tab-delimited Unicode text file. The text file lists the version name, ratings, keywords, and other metadata assigned to the image.

Exporting Using Plug-ins

Third-party applications or photography services can now supply plug-ins that allow Aperture to export files with the format and settings the application or service requires. For example, a stock photography service or print lab may require that images be transferred to them at a specific size, a specific file format, or with particular types of metadata. Such a service can create its own plug-in that automatically sets up Aperture to export files with precisely the characteristics the service needs.

To use an export plug-in, you must first obtain the plug-in software from the service or application vendor and install it. Third-party plug-ins for Aperture are stored in one of the following locations:

/Library/Application Support/Aperture/Plug-Ins/Export/

/Users/

username

/Library/Application Support/Aperture/Plug-Ins/Export/

Enhanced Loupe Options

Aperture 1.5 provides enhancements to the Loupe. For more information, see the

Late-Breaking News

document, available from the Aperture Help menu.

Working with Adjustment Presets

If you frequently use the same adjustment parameter settings, you can now take advantage of the ability of Aperture 1.5 to save these settings as adjustment presets. You can create new adjustment presets, rename and rearrange adjustment presets, and delete adjustment presets you no longer use. When you delete an adjustment preset, adjustments already applied to your images are unaffected. Each individual adjustment has its own set of presets accessible via its Preset Action pop-up menu. (Adjustment presets do not appear in the Preset Action pop-up menu until you create them.)

Saving RAW Fine Tuning Presets

In Aperture 1.5, you can now save RAW Fine Tuning parameter settings in the same manner as adjustment presets. This means you can now specify settings for multiple cameras. As in Aperture 1.1, you can still save a single group of settings for each camera model as the Camera Default. For more information about using adjustment presets, see “Working with Adjustment Presets” on page 5. For more information about using the RAW Fine Tuning controls, see “Previous Release Information About

Aperture 1.1” on page 9.

Working with the Color Controls

In Aperture 1.5, you can now selectively adjust the red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow colors in an image using the Color controls in the Adjustments Inspector or Adjustments HUD. Each color has individual hue, saturation, and luminance controls. In addition, Aperture provides a Range control used to set the extent of color affected by the hue, saturation, and luminance adjustments, also known as use the Range control to fine-tune your color adjustments.

chromatic spread.

You

Working with the Edge Sharpen Controls

Aperture 1.5 provides a new Edge Sharpen adjustment that gives you greater control over the sharpening of images. The Edge Sharpen controls adjust the luminance values in the image, increasing the contrast between light and dark pixels that touch, creating an “edge.” Increasing the contrast between these neighboring light and dark pixels gives the image a crisper, or sharper, appearance. Images shot with digital image sensors are often a bit soft in focus because of the demosaic filter applied by the camera’s processor. You also use the Edge Sharpen controls when you make noisereduction adjustments, so that the image retains detail and crisp edges that might otherwise be obscured by the effect of the noise-reduction adjustment.

Working with the Adjustments and Metadata Inspectors

In Aperture 1.5, you can now work with the Adjustments and Metadata Inspectors one at a time in the Inspectors panel. For example, when applying adjustments to images, you can keep the Metadata Inspector hidden and use the entire Inspectors panel to view and work with the adjustment controls. You can also continue to split the Inspectors panel, viewing both the Adjustments and Metadata Inspectors at the same time.

Automatic Updating of the Keywords HUD

The Keywords HUD provides a versatile way to apply keywords to images. The Keywords HUD is now updated automatically with any keywords you add. For example, when you enter a new keyword in the Metadata Inspector, that keyword also appears in the Keywords HUD. When you change a keyword, for example, by changing its spelling or capitalization, the keyword is updated on all images that have that keyword assigned. In addition, the Keywords HUD can be locked to prevent unintended changes.

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