Apple APERTURE User Manual

Aperture

User Manual

Apple Computer, Inc.

The owner or authorized user of a valid copy of Aperture software may reproduce this publication for the purpose of learning to use such software. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this publication or for providing paid for support services.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate. Apple is not responsible for printing or clerical errors. Because Apple frequently releases new versions and updates to its system software, applications, and Internet sites, images shown in this book may be slightly different from what you see on your screen.

The Apple logo is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Use of the “keyboard” Apple logo (Option-Shift-K) for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Apple may constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws.

Apple, the Apple logo, Apple Cinema Display, ColorSync, FireWire, iPhoto, iTunes, Mac, Macintosh, Mac OS, and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Aperture, Finder, and MacBook are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

.Mac is a service mark of Apple Computer, Inc.

Adobe, Adobe RGB, Photoshop, and PostScript are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies. Mention of third-party products is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the performance or use of these products.

Preface 11 Introducing Aperture

What’s Next?

Part I Interface and Acquisition

Chapter 1 15 An Overview of Aperture

A First Look at Aperture

Creating Projects and Importing Your Photos

Photo Editing with Aperture

Image Processing

Distribution

Backing Up Your Work

Chapter 2 39 The Aperture Interface

The Aperture Main Window

Projects Panel

Viewer and Browser

Control Bar

Toolbar

Adjustments Inspector

Metadata Inspector

Import Panel

Vaults Panel

Book Layout Editor

Webpage Editor

Light Table

Heads-Up Displays

Workspace Layouts

Customizing the Toolbar

Setting Aperture Preferences

Chapter 3 71 Working with Aperture Projects

Basic Components of Aperture

Working with Projects

Creating and Naming Projects

Opening and Closing Projects

Creating and Showing Favorite Projects

Deleting Images from Projects and Albums

Deleting Items from the Projects Panel

Working with Library Files

Quickly Accessing Commands

Chapter 4 87 Importing Images

An Overview of Importing Images

File Formats You Can Import into the Library

Planning Your Import Strategy

Importing from Your Digital Camera or Card Reader

Importing Image Files Stored on Your Computer

10 5

Automatically Naming Your Imported Images

10 8

Adding Metadata to Images During Import

10 9

Creating Stacks Automatically During Import

11 0

Adjusting the Image File’s Time When Importing

11 0

Dragging Files from the Finder to the Projects Panel

111

Importing Folders of Images from the Finder

112

Importing Your iPhoto Library

11 4

Transferring Projects from Another System

11 4

Making an Immediate Backup

11 5

Where Aperture Stores Your Managed Files in the Library

Part II Photo Editing

Chapter 5 119 Working with Images in the Browser

12 0

An Overview of the Browser

12 2

Navigating Through and Selecting Images

12 4

Working with a Selection of Images

12 5

Working with Images in Grid View

12 6

Working with Images in List View

12 7

Searching for Images in the Browser

12 8

Rearranging Images in the Browser

12 9

Sorting Images in Grid View

13 0

Rotating Images

13 0

Creating Versions of an Image

13 2

Deleting Images from the Browser

Contents

13 4

Dragging Images into Different Projects and Albums

13 5

Working with Referenced Images

141

Working with Two Projects Open

14 2

Displaying Specific Metadata with Your Images

Chapter 6 145 Displaying Images in the Viewer

14 6

An Overview of the Viewer

14 8

Showing or Hiding the Viewer

14 8

Changing the Viewer Background

14 9

Changing the Number of Images in the Viewer

15 0

Comparing Images

151

Viewing Stacks

151

Viewing Images with the Loupe

15 2

Using the Color Meter

15 4

Showing Hot Areas in Your Images

15 5

Viewing Images at Full Resolution

15 6

Viewing Master Images

15 6

Setting Up the Viewer for Onscreen Proofing

157

Viewing Images on Multiple Displays

15 8

Displaying Metadata Associated with Images

160

Selecting Image Preview Options

162

Quickly Accessing Commands

Chapter 7 163 Viewing Images in Full Screen Mode

164

An Overview of Full Screen Mode

165

Entering and Exiting Full Screen Mode

165

Working with the Filmstrip in Full Screen Mode

169

Working with the Toolbar in Full Screen Mode

171

Using HUDs in Full Screen Mode

17 3

Changing the Display of Metadata in Full Screen Mode

174

Using Keyboard Shortcuts in Full Screen Mode

174

Quickly Accessing Commands

Chapter 8 175 Stacking Images and Making Picks

17 5

An Overview of Stacking Images

17 7

Creating Stacks

18 0

Working with Stacks

18 6

Keyboard Shortcuts for Working with Stacks

Contents

Chapter 9 187 Rating Images

18 8

An Overview of the Aperture Rating System

19 0

Rating Images

19 2

Sorting Images by Rating

19 4

Including Image Rating in Your Workflow

19 5

Comparing and Rating Images

19 7

Keyboard Shortcuts for Displaying Images with Specific Ratings

Chapter 10 199 Applying Keywords to Images

200

An Overview of Keywords

202

Viewing Keywords Applied to Images

206

Applying Keywords Using the Keywords HUD

213

Applying Keywords Using Keyword Controls and Keyword Presets

218

Applying Keywords Using the Lift & Stamp HUD

222

Applying Keywords Using the Metadata Inspector

223

Applying Keywords to Images in the Light Table

223

Removing Keywords from an Image

224

Importing and Exporting Keyword Lists

Chapter 11 225 Working with Metadata

226

An Overview of Metadata, Metadata Views, and Metadata Presets

228 Displaying Metadata with Your Images 231 Turning the Display of Metadata On or Off 232 Viewing and Changing Metadata in the Metadata Inspector 235 Working with Metadata Views 238 Working with Metadata Presets 241 Batch Changing Metadata 242 More Information About IPTC Metadata 243 Understanding Badge Overlays

Chapter 12 247 Searching for and Displaying Images

248 An Overview of Searching 252 Controls in the Query HUD 253 Searching Across the Entire Library 253 Searching by Image Name, Caption, or Other Text 255 Searching by Keyword

Searching by Date

256 258 Searching by Rating 259 Searching by IPTC Information 260 Searching by EXIF Information 261 Searching by Import Session 262 Searching by File Status

Contents

263 Searching by Other Metadata 264 Searching by a Combination of Criteria 265 Saving Your Search Results

Chapter 13 267 Grouping Images with Smart Albums

268 An Overview of Smart Albums 270 Collecting Images in a New Smart Album 271 Searching Within a Smart Album 272 Revising the Contents of a Smart Album 272 Transferring Smart Album Images to Another Project or Album 273 Deleting a Smart Album

Part III Distribution and Backup

Chapter 14 277 Printing Your Images

277 An Overview of Printing 279 Controls in the Print Dialog 281 Printing a Single Image 282 Printing a Series of Images 282 Printing a Contact Sheet or Series of Contact Sheets 283 Printing a Book 284 Printing a Light Table Arrangement 284 Creating and Modifying Print Presets 286 Proofing Your Images Onscreen 287 Turning Off Color Management in Your Printer

Chapter 15 291 Exporting Your Images

292 An Overview of Exporting Images 293 Exporting Copies of Digital Master Files 296 Exporting Image Versions 306 Working with Export Presets

Chapter 16 311 Creating Slideshow Presentations

312 An Overview of Slideshows

314 Creating a Slideshow

315 Controlling a Slideshow 315 Arranging the Order of a Slideshow’s Images 315 Controls in the Slideshow Presets Dialog 317 Creating Slideshow Presets

318 Modifying Slideshow Presets

319 Creating a Growing Grid of Images 320 Playing Your Slideshow on Your Main Display Only 321 Displaying Your Images to Music

Contents 7

Chapter 17 323 Using the Light Table

324 An Overview of the Light Table 325 Creating a Light Table Album 326 Placing and Viewing Images in the Light Table 327 Moving and Resizing Images in the Light Table 328 Aligning and Arranging Images in the Light Table 330 Adjusting the Light Table View

331 Setting View Options for the Light Table

331 Transferring Images from the Light Table 332 Printing a Light Table Arrangement 332 Deleting a Light Table Album

Chapter 18 333 Creating Webpages

334 An Overview of Creating Webpages 336 Creating Web Galleries 339 Creating Web Journals 341 Viewing and Navigating Through Webpages 342 Choosing and Modifying Themes 345 Working with Web Gallery Pages 346 Working with Web Journal Pages 348 Exporting Webpages 351 Working with Web Export Presets

Chapter 19 357 Creating Books

358 An Overview of Creating Books 363 Planning Your Book 365 Creating a Book Album 366 Controls in the Book Layout Editor 369 Choosing a Theme 370 Viewing Pages 372 Placing Images in a Book 374 Adding and Removing Pages 379 Working with Pages 383 Working with Images 388 Working with Text 393 Working with Master Pages 396 Copying a Book Album 397 Printing Books

8 Contents

Chapter 20 399 Backing Up Your Images

400 An Overview of the Backup Workflow 401 Planning Your Backup System 402 Working with the Vaults Panel 404 Creating Vaults 405 Updating Vaults 406 Disconnecting a Vault’s Hard Drive from Your System Temporarily 406 Reconnecting a Vault’s Hard Drive to your System 407 Deleting a Vault Permanently 407 Backing Up Images from a Portable in the Field 409 Restoring Your Aperture System

Part IV Appendixes and Glossary

Appendix A 413 Setting Up an Aperture System

414 Setting Up a Basic System

415 Optional Equipment to Consider

417 Setting Up Your System with Two Displays

419 Configuring Mac OS X for Multiple Displays

Appendix B 423 Calibrating Your Aperture System

423 An Overview of Color Management 427 Calibrating Your Camera 428 Calibrating and Profiling Your Display 430 Calibrating and Profiling Your Printer

Appendix C 431 Credits

Glossary 433

Index 453

Contents 9

Introducing Aperture

Aperture is a powerful and easy-to-use digital image management system that can track thousands of digital images and provides the professional photographer with high-quality image management and adjustment tools.

Designed for the needs of professional photographers, Aperture is an all-in-one post-production tool that provides:

Â An advanced RAW workflow: From capture to output, you can work with your images

captured as RAW files, without having to first convert them to another format before viewing, adjusting, organizing, or printing them. Aperture supports RAW formats from leading digital camera manufacturers (including Canon and Nikon).

Â Flexible image management: A new, open Library structure lets you store photos

anywhere you want. You can have Aperture either store image files in the Library or simply link to image files in their current locations. You can also have Aperture link to your iPhoto Library without copying the images 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 images that are stored on multiple hard disks, including offline volumes, CDs, and DVDs.

Â Professional project management: Aperture allows you to manage thousands of

projects and provides flexible organizational tools, comprehensive metadata support, and powerful search tools that let you find files instantly.

Â Nondestructive image processing: Designed to protect your images from the moment

they’re imported, Aperture identifies your original images as digital “master files,” and it has built-in safeguards to help ensure that you don’t accidentally overwrite or modify them.

Â Versatile printing and publishing: Working directly with your RAW images, you can

create color-accurate prints, custom contact sheets, stunning websites, and unique bound books with tools that are intuitive and powerful.

Preface

With Aperture you can efficiently import digital images, perform a photo edit, adjust and retouch images, publish images for the web or print, and back up your entire image library for safekeeping. Aperture lets you work with high-quality JPEG, TIFF, and RAW image files directly from your camera or card reader and maintain that high quality throughout your workflow.

What’s Next?

This manual is only one of several types of documentation you can use as you work with Aperture.

Â For instructions for installing Aperture software, see Installing Your Software.

Â For an introduction to the basic concepts, procedures, and digital photography

workflow for using Aperture, see Aperture Getting Started.

Â For an overview of Aperture, an introduction to the Aperture interface, and

detailed instructions for using the many features and tools in Aperture, continue reading this manual.

Â For information about making image corrections and adjustments in Aperture, see

Performing Image Adjustments in the Aperture Help menu.

Â For a list of the keyboard shortcuts you can use to perform tasks in Aperture, see

Aperture Quick Reference.

Â For an introduction to the fundamentals of digital photography, see

Digital Photography Fundamentals in the Aperture Help menu.

Â For information about ordering printed books of your images, see

Ordering Books and Prints in the Aperture Help menu.

Â For the most recent technical and release information about Aperture, see

Late-Breaking News in the Aperture Help menu.

Â For information about new features in Aperture, see New Features in the Aperture

Help menu.

Â For the latest articles about technical issues and solutions, go to the Aperture

Support website, available from the Aperture Help menu.

12 Preface Introducing Aperture

Part I: Interface and Acquisition

This section provides introductory information about the application and its interface. It also explains how to set up your image management system and import images into it.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface

Chapter 3 Working with Aperture Projects

Chapter 4 Importing Images

1 An Overview of Aperture

Aperture is designed to be the center of your digital photography workflow, from capturing new images to the final delivery of professional-quality photographs.

This chapter provides an overview of how Aperture works and what you can do with it. If you’re new to Aperture, this chapter is for you. If you’re familiar with the Aperture features and interface, feel free to skip this chapter. The chapter doesn’t provide all the detailed information and instructions needed to perform work on your images. Once you’re familiar with Aperture, you’ll find in-depth explanations and instructions in later chapters.

This chapter covers:

Â A First Look at Aperture (p. 16)

Â Creating Projects and Importing Your Photos (p. 17)

Â Photo Editing with Aperture (p. 20)

Â Image Processing (p. 31)

Â Distribution (p. 32)

A First Look at Aperture

When you first open Aperture, you see the following areas:

To create a project to hold your imported images, click here.

Click here to open the

Import panel.

Your projects appear

here.

Toolbar

Viewer

Browser

Click here to open the Vaults panel. You select a hard disk to use for backing up images here.

Note: Because you can customize the toolbar, adding and deleting the buttons you want, your toolbar may appear different from the one pictured in this manual. For more information about changing the toolbar, see “Customizing the Toolbar” on page 65.

16 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Aperture imports the

images into a project.

Click the project to

see its images in

the Browser.

After you import images into a new project, your screen will look similar to this:

The Viewer shows the selected image.

Select a thumbnail

in the Browser.

Your project’s image thumbnails

About Aperture Sample Projects

The Aperture installation disc includes several sample projects containing high-resolution images. When you first open Aperture, a dialog appears asking if you’d like to install a sample project. Other sample projects are available in the Sample Projects folder on the Aperture installation disc. You can import these projects into Aperture from the Aperture installation disc at any time after installing the application.

Creating Projects and Importing Your Photos

To use Aperture, you first import your photos. You can import digital photos directly from your camera or a card reader and from hard disks or other storage devices where you’ve archived digital files. After a shoot, you can connect your card reader or digital camera to your computer and Aperture automatically detects it. You can then easily import your new images into Aperture.

Creating Projects

As you work with Aperture, you create projects to hold your images. A project is similar to a folder that can hold dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of images. For example, after completing a travel shoot to Antarctica, you might create a new project named Antarctica and import the photos into it.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 17

Your new project appears in a list in the Projects panel.

Examples of items in

Folders

Projects

the Projects panel

As your portfolio increases and you create more and more projects, you can organize your work into hierarchies of folders, projects, and albums.

You can create as many projects as you need and name them according to any naming scheme you prefer. It’s important to name projects so that they will be easy to identify and access. When you need to further subdivide and organize images in a project, you can create albums.

Over the long term you may be using Aperture to track years of projects, so you’ll want to develop a naming system that is easy to use and understand. For more information about organizing your images in projects and albums, see Chapter 3, “Working with

Aperture Projects,” on page 71.

18 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Select your camera, card

reader, or hard disk here.

Importing Images

When you connect a camera or card reader to your computer, the Import dialog appears. You can select your camera or card reader and see the images you’re about to import. You can select all the images on a memory card or select and import only those you want. You can also select image files on your hard disk for importing.

Specify import options here.

When you click Import All, your images are imported into the selected project or a new project.

You can then specify options for importing your images. For example, you can specify that your images be imported into the Aperture Library in your Pictures folder, or specify another location to store them. If you have images already stored on a hard disk, you can simply allow Aperture to access them without changing their current locations. You can choose how images are named and include other information that is recorded with each image to help identify it. For example, you can specify the event name, date, time, photographer, and location, as well as copyright information.

You can also specify other import options, such as whether you want Aperture to group related images together in stacks. For example, if you have bracketed images or images shot in quick succession, you can have Aperture import and stack these images together to make reviewing and working with them easier.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 19

Importing Files from Your Body of Work

You can easily import your collection of archived digital images into Aperture from any hard disk or storage device connected to your computer. When importing legacy images from your portfolio, you can move them into the main Aperture Library, or simply identify where the images are located, and Aperture adds them to its management system without changing the image locations. This means that with Aperture, you can still work with your images in their current organization and on multiple hard disks without relocating or reorganizing your current files. You can also move or copy images to new locations when needed.

Aperture can also import your iPhoto Library and files stored in a variety of common file types and formats, including:

Â GIF

Â JPEG

Â JPEG2000

Â PNG

Â PSD

Â RAW files from a variety of supported digital cameras

Â TIFF

Note: For a list of supported digital cameras, go to http://www.apple.com/aperture.

For more information about importing images, see Chapter 4, “Importing Images,” on page 87.

Photo Editing with Aperture

Aperture allows you to easily view and work with your images onscreen. It provides easy-to-use tools and controls, as well as efficient methods for rating images, searching for images, and comparing and adjusting them.

Viewing and Working with Images in the Browser and Viewer

To work with your images, you select a project in the Projects panel and Aperture displays that project’s images in the Browser. You use the Browser to review, organize, and select images.

20 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Select images here.

A selected image appears

with a white outline.

When you select a thumbnail image in the Browser, the image appears in the Viewer.

The Viewer displays the selected image.

The Browser can show your images as thumbnails arranged in a grid. You can click an individual image to select it, and a white border appears around the image. To quickly move to and select other images, press the arrow keys. You can drag images to rearrange them in the Browser, or drag them into different projects or albums. You can also display your images as a list of files.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 21

You can also view your images in Full Screen mode, where you can work with them in detail.

Toolbar available in Full Screen mode

The displayed image fills

the screen.

Filmstrip available

in Full Screen mode

To see images in Full Screen mode, you press F. Press F again to switch back to the Viewer.

In Full Screen mode, you can change the display of images to show single images, three images, or up to ten images at once. For more information about using Full Screen mode, see Chapter 7, “Viewing Images in Full Screen Mode,” on page 163.

22 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Displaying your images clearly and accurately is a pivotal function of Aperture. With Aperture you can take advantage of the latest display technology and view and work with your images in Full Screen mode and on dual displays.

Using Aperture with two displays is ideal for creating a large workspace. You can easily compare and adjust images, play slideshows, and present the best of your photos at optimal size during client reviews.

Working with Heads-Up Displays

To work efficiently in Aperture, you can use floating panels of controls called heads-up displays (HUDs) to change images. For example, when you view images in Aperture in

Full Screen mode, you can open an Adjustments HUD to adjust your images.

HUDs are available for use in Full Screen mode and can make adjusting images easier.

As you work on your images, you can position HUDs anywhere on the screen and use them to make changes. For example, Aperture provides a Keywords HUD that you can use to quickly assign keywords to your images. To assign a keyword, you simply drag it from the Keywords HUD to the image.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 23

Working with Inspectors

Aperture also provides an Adjustments Inspector for applying adjustments and a Metadata Inspector that allows you to review and assign metadata to your images. You can show or hide the Adjustments and Metadata Inspectors together or individually whenever you want. Showing the Inspectors panel is as easy as double-clicking an image in the Browser or pressing the I key.

Adjustments Inspector

Metadata Inspector

For more information about making adjustments and retouching your images, see Performing Image Adjustments in the Aperture Help menu.

24 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Five stars indicate the

highest rating (Select).

Rating Images with Aperture

You can rate images as you review them in the Viewer or the Browser, or in Full Screen mode. Rating controls appear below the Browser and in the filmstrip in Full Screen mode. By selecting an image and clicking a rating button, you can quickly rate images as rejected, or assign them from one to five stars (with five stars being the highest, or Select, rating). Image ratings appear as easy-to-read overlays on the image.

Stars indicate a positive rating.

An X indicates a negative rating (Reject).

Once images are rated, you can have Aperture display only images of a certain rating, so you can focus on a particular group of images. For more information about rating your images, see Chapter 9, “Rating Images,” on page 187.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 25

Finding and Displaying Images with the Query HUD

You can use the Query HUD to search for and display only certain photos in a project or album. Click the Query HUD button beside the search field in the Browser and the Query HUD appears. In the Query HUD, you can specify criteria for the photos you want to work with.

The Query HUD is set to show images rated five stars.

Click the Query HUD button to open the Query HUD.

You can enter any search criteria you want to display specific images. You can also display images based on rating, date when shot, keywords, or import group. After you specify the search criteria, Aperture displays only those images that match the criteria and hides the rest. For more information about searching for images, see “Searching for

and Displaying Images” on page 247.

26 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Comparing Photos

Aperture allows you to carefully compare images. You select an image and press Return to have Aperture display it for comparison against other images in a selection.

Select an image and

press Return to select it

as the “compare” image.

Select an image for comparison by pressing the arrow keys.

While comparing images, you can rate the selected images or make adjustments to them. For example, you might use the comparison method to make final selections of the best images in a series. Or, you might compare two versions of an image and make adjustments.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 27

The Stack button

indicates the number of

images in the stack.

Stacking Images

Photographers frequently work with large selections of images. To help you work efficiently with a series of shots, such as bracketed shots or shots taken in quick succession, Aperture can automatically stack related shots. You can also select and manually stack related shots yourself and review them for a “pick”, the image that you intend to use.

A stack with five images is shown expanded, or open.

Once photos are in a stack, you can work with them as if they were a single image instead of many individual photos. A stack appears as a series of linked photos in the Browser. The pick of the stack appears on the left with a Stack button. You can drag an image in the stack into the pick position. By clicking the Stack button, you can close the stack so that only the pick image appears. You can then work with the single pick image without the encumbrance of the other stacked photos. You can expand a stack to see all its images whenever you want.

Only the pick image

is shown when the

stack is closed.

Working with stacks can greatly increase the efficiency of reviewing large collections of photos. For more information about working with stacks of images, see Chapter 8, “Stacking Images and Making Picks,” on page 175.

28 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Assigning Keywords to Images

Carefully assigning keywords to images is critical for the photographer who needs a means to easily locate specific images among thousands. Applying keywords is also required if you plan to sell images to image libraries, such as Corbis or Getty Images.

You can use Aperture to assign keywords to images using standard IPTC fields (the standard metadata fields defined by the International Press Telecommunications Council). You can also select images and assign keywords that you define.

You can display images in the Viewer with their version names and any assigned keywords appearing on or below the image.

Keywords and

other metadata

The Keywords HUD lists all the keyword categories and keywords that you define. For example, if you shoot weddings, you might create a wedding category with specific keywords that include Candid, Ceremony, Guests, and so on.

You can apply a keyword directly to a selected image or group of images by dragging it from the Keywords HUD to the selection in the Viewer or Browser.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 29

You can also show keyword controls in the control bar at the bottom of the Aperture main window by choosing Window > Show Keyword Controls.

Using these simple controls, you can display different categories of keywords and easily apply those keywords with a quick click or keystroke.

Your Aperture keyword scheme can ensure comprehensive accessibility to your images, and even help with the management of your copyrights, sales, and usage rights. For more information about assigning keywords, see Chapter 10, “Applying Keywords to

Images,” on page 199.

Grouping Images with Smart Albums

Photographers often need an easy way of regrouping and presenting images based on the needs of a client or project. For example, a corporate client might call to request images of a general location or subject, such as airports or Asian temples, to be included with future collateral. Aperture allows you to easily make selections from across the entire library of images and group them in Smart Albums, which are albums that can be dynamically generated based on search criteria you specify.

Disclosure triangle

A Library Smart Album

has this icon.

Aperture comes with a selection of predefined Smart Albums set up in the Library for you. For example, there are Smart Albums that gather all your select images, all images taken in the last week, and all images taken in the last month. When you click the Library disclosure triangle, you see the list of Smart Albums created for you. Select a Smart Album to see its contents in the Browser

Although a Smart Album appears similar to the other projects or albums in the Projects panel, the contents of the album are specified by search criteria. You don’t import master files or versions into a Smart Album. You use the Query HUD to specify the image keywords or other criteria that identify the images you want, and image versions automatically appear in the album. By adjusting the search criteria, you change the contents of the Smart Album.

30 Part I Interface and Acquisition

For example, after creating an empty Smart Album in the Projects panel, you might specify that you want any image that is rated five stars.

Aperture searches across the Library and displays all the images rated five stars in the Smart Album. New images rated five stars are added to the Smart Album automatically.

In the Query HUD, specify the search criteria for images you want in the Smart Album.

You can work with the photos in the Smart Album just as you can with images in any other album.

You can make Smart Albums that gather images from across the entire Library or from within a specific project only. When you no longer need a Smart Album, you can delete it, and the contents of the Library remain the same (the Smart Album’s images are not deleted from the Library). For more information about using Smart Albums, see Chapter 13, “Grouping Images with Smart Albums,” on page 267.

Image Processing

You can use Aperture to crop, rotate, horizontally align, and remove red-eye from images, as well as adjust color and exposure, reduce noise, and so on.

Aperture provides controls for performing many types of image adjustments, including:

Â RAW image fine-tuning

Â Exposure adjustments

Â Color adjustments

Â White-balance adjustments

Â Red-eye correction

Â Spot and patch corrections

Â Straightening

Â Cropping

Â Highlights and shadows adjustments

Â Monochrome color mixing

Â Choosing monochrome colors

Â Applying sepia tones

Â Noise-reduction adjustments

Â Image sharpening

Â Edge-sharpening adjustments

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 31

For especially efficient image adjusting, you can save adjustment settings as presets (collections of saved adjustments) and apply the same adjustments to many images at once.

You can adjust your images using the controls in the Adjustments HUD.

Add Adjustments

pop-up menu

Adjustment Action pop-up menu

The controls in the Adjustments HUD are also available in the Adjustments Inspector. You can also easily export your images to a third-party application such as Adobe Photoshop, make adjustments, and then bring the adjusted image back into Aperture. For detailed information about making adjustments to your images, see Performing Image Adjustments in the Aperture Help menu.

Distribution

When it’s time to show your work to others, Aperture provides the following methods of distribution:

Â Creating slideshow presentations

Â Performing Light Table reviews

Â Creating web galleries and web journals

Â Ordering printed books

Â Printing and exporting images

32 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Presenting Your Images in Slideshows

You can use Aperture to make slideshow presentations to clients or viewers. Using one or two large-screen displays, you can set Aperture to present slideshow images in a variety of ways. For example, you can present images as a sequence of single images or as multiple images in columns and rows on your screen. You can also customize your slideshow by setting the display interval, choosing accompanying music, using transitional fades, changing the background, and more. You can control the slideshow using the arrow keys on your keyboard or have images appear automatically.

To create a slideshow, you select the images you want to show and choose File > Slideshow. For more information about creating slideshows, see Chapter 16, “Creating Slideshow Presentations,” on page 311.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 33

Reviewing Images in the Aperture Light Table

You can use the Aperture Light Table to freely arrange and organize a group of images visually to see how various combinations of images work together. Or, you can arrange a combination of images and print them in specific geometric arrangements. When viewing a selection of images in the Light Table, you can freely drag the images into any position or arrangement you want, and resize them to determine how they might look grouped on a page.

For more information about using the Light Table, see Chapter 17, “Using the Light

Table,” on page 323.

Publishing Your Images in Web Galleries and Web Journals

To provide clients or the public the convenience of an online review, you can use Aperture to create webpages and websites. With Aperture, you can easily post your webpages to your .Mac account, or you can post them to your own website server and then provide the Internet address to clients or other reviewers.

34 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Aperture provides ready-made themes and webpage layouts that you can quickly choose for the design of your pages.

To create webpages that present a gallery of your images, you create a web gallery album and use the Webpage Editor to design your pages. When you place images in the album, Aperture automatically populates your web gallery with your images.

The new album you

created appears in the

Projects panel.

The Webpage Editor shows with the selected images.

You can also create a web journal, which allows you to mix text and images on the webpage. For example, you might create a web journal that chronicles your latest trip and include your photos. You create web journal pages by creating a web journal album and using the Webpage Editor to design your pages. For more information about creating web galleries and web journals, see Chapter 18, “Creating Webpages,” on page 333.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 35

Printing Your Images in Books

You can lay out images and combine them with text to create books. Aperture provides a Book Layout Editor that allows you to easily combine your images with text on the page. Aperture also provides master templates that you can use to compose pages. You can easily create professional-looking pages for art books, wedding albums, picture books, and more.

You create a book by creating a book album and using the Book Layout Editor to design the book’s pages.

In the Book Layout Editor, you select a page’s thumbnail image to see an enlarged view of the page’s layout and contents. You can also change the page design, and the current page is automatically updated to the format you chose. To add an image, you drag it from the Browser into a photo box on the page. For more information about creating books, see Chapter 19, “Creating Books,” on page 357.

36 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Printing and Exporting Images

You can also easily print individual images in standard and custom print sizes and print collections of images on contact sheets. Aperture has many preset printing options to help facilitate printing. You can also customize print settings to get the optimum use of your printer and meet custom print requirements. For more information about print options, see Chapter 14, “Printing Your Images,” on page 277.

When you need to deliver digital files to clients, prepare files for posting on websites, or transfer files to other computers or users, you can export images in a variety of formats. You can export your original digital master files as well as versions that you’ve created. Aperture provides many preset options for exporting files in a variety of file sizes and formats, and you can add custom touches such as watermarks or copyright information. When you export images, you can assign custom filenames and export all or a selection of the metadata associated with an image. For example, you can send an editor a digital file complete with the IPTC information you’ve added. Aperture also enables you to quickly email images. For more information about exporting images, see Chapter 15, “Exporting Your Images,” on page 291.

Backing Up Your Work

After importing images from your camera and erasing memory cards in preparation for the next shoot, the only record of your images is stored on your hard disks. It’s vital that you back up your files on storage media separate from your computer and its hard disks. Backing up your photos and storing the backups in a safe place can save your work from catastrophes such as fire, theft, storm-related disruptions, or equipment failure.

Aperture backs up your managed images (images that are stored in the Aperture Library) and all information, such as versions, metadata, and previews, associated with them on vaults located on hard disk drives. Aperture doesn’t back up the digital master files of referenced images located outside the Aperture Library. You must maintain your own backup system of referenced image master files. Aperture does back up the versions, previews, and metadata information associated with referenced images, but does not back up the master images themselves.

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 37

You can view your vaults in the Vaults panel. There are several controls that you’ll use when you update vaults to back up your images.

Disclosure triangle

Vault Status button

Vault Action pop-up menu

Update All Vaults

button

Vaults Panel button

You can create multiple vaults to provide duplicate backups. Each vault holds a backup copy of the entire Aperture Library.

After you import new images into Aperture, you should immediately make a backup of the newly imported files. Once the images are backed up, you can depend on the reliable Aperture backup functions to track all the versions of your photos and the work you have done with them.

For an explanation of the Aperture backup and archiving features, see Chapter 20, “Backing Up Your Images,” on page 399.

38 Part I Interface and Acquisition

2 The Aperture Interface

The Aperture interface is modeled around acquiring, editing, processing, and distributing photos.

This chapter describes the names and functions of the Aperture interface elements. Use this chapter to orient yourself while learning Aperture. To find detailed information about the concepts described in this chapter, read the chapter about the topic. You can also search for terms associated with Aperture in the index and glossary.

This chapter covers:

Â The Aperture Main Window (p. 40)

Â Projects Panel (p. 41)

Â Viewer and Browser (p. 42)

Â Control Bar (p. 43)

Â Toolbar (p. 45)

Â Adjustments Inspector (p. 49)

Â Metadata Inspector (p. 50)

Â Import Panel (p. 52)

Â Vaults Panel (p. 53)

Â Book Layout Editor (p. 54)

Â Webpage Editor (p. 57)

Â Light Table (p. 60)

Â Heads-Up Displays (p. 61)

Â Workspace Layouts (p. 64)

Â Customizing the Toolbar (p. 65)

Â Setting Aperture Preferences (p. 67)

The Aperture Main Window

The Aperture main window contains the following areas.

Viewer

Toolbar

Projects panel

Browser

Adjustments Inspector

Metadata Inspector

Control bar

Note: The inspectors are not shown by default. You can show or hide the Inspectors panel by pressing I.

Arranging the Interface

Aperture provides three preconfigured workspace layouts: Basic, Maximize Browser, and Maximize Viewer. The areas in the Aperture interface are resizable, and you can customize any of these workspaces to suit your workflow.

To view the workspace layout shown above, choose Window > Layouts > Basic, then press I to show the Inspectors panel.

For more information about workspace layouts, see “Workspace Layouts” on page 64.

40 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Projects Panel

The Projects panel holds containers—projects, folders, and albums—with which you can organize your images. You can create Smart Albums that automatically find and store images based on search criteria you specify. You can also create webpages (photo galleries and online journals), Light Table arrangements, and books.

Choose to show all, your favorite, or recently selected projects by choosing an option from the pop-up menu.

Create new projects and albums, including web gallery, web journal, Light Table, and book albums, from this pop-up menu. You can automatically fill your albums with selected images or create empty albums. You can also create Smart Albums, which you fill by specifying search criteria such as filenames or dates.

Add and remove favorite items or export projects from this pop-up menu

Projects pop-up menu

Add to Library pop-up menu

Project Action pop-up menu

To learn more about using the Projects panel, see Chapter 3, “Working with Aperture

Projects,” on page 71.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 41

Viewer and Browser

The Viewer and Browser work together to display a project’s or album’s images. When you select a project or album in the Projects panel, images appear in the Browser. When you select one or several image thumbnails in the Browser, those images are displayed in the Viewer. You can use the Viewer to examine an image at its full size or compare multiple images side by side.

Browser The Browser displays the contents of any project or album selected

Grid View/List View

buttons

Sorting pop-up menu Sort your images by a variety of sort properties in this pop-up

Sort Direction button Use this button in conjunction with the Sorting pop-up menu to

Viewer The Viewer displays the images you’ve selected in the Browser.

Query HUD button

and search field

42 Part I Interface and Acquisition

in the Projects panel. By default, the Browser displays images in a project or album as a set of gridded image thumbnails. You can also view your images in list view.

Display the Browser contents in grid view (a grid of image thumbnails) or in list view (a list of sortable file data).

menu, or define your own custom sort criteria.

arrange the order of your images.

You can apply adjustments, keywords, and metadata to an image in the Viewer.

Search for images by entering a term in the search field or choosing an option from the search field pop-up menu (with a magnifying glass icon). To perform a more complex search for images using the Query HUD, click the Query HUD button (to the left of the search field).

Shuttle control Use the Shuttle control to quickly move through your

Scroll bar Use the scroll bar to scroll through your image thumbnails.

Thumbnail Resize slider Use the Thumbnail Resize slider to quickly change the size of your

To learn more about using the Browser and Viewer, see Chapter 5, “Working with

Images in the Browser,” on page 119 and Chapter 6, “Displaying Images in the Viewer,”

on page 145.

Control Bar

The control bar contains buttons and controls you can use to rotate, rate, and navigate through images, as well as apply keywords to them. It runs across the bottom of the Aperture main window. If you don’t need the control bar, you can hide it by choosing Window > Hide Control Bar (or press D).

Display Controls

image thumbnails.

Viewer Mode

pop-up menu

Zoom Viewer button Click this button to move between viewing an image at actual size

Show Master Image

button

Full Screen button Click this button to switch to Full Screen mode. For more

Primary Only button Click this button to temporarily change between making metadata

Choose how to view your images and arrange your displays from this pop-up menu. For more information, see Chapter 6, “Displaying

Images in the Viewer,” on page 145.

and fitting the image to the Viewer’s screen size.

Click this button to view the original digital master file without any applied adjustments. Click again to switch the view back to the current version.

information, see Chapter 7, “Viewing Images in Full Screen Mode,” on page 163.

changes to all selected images or the primary selection only.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 43

Rotate Buttons

Rating Buttons

Rotate Left Click this button to rotate the selected image to the left.

Rotate Right Click this button to rotate the selected image to the right.

Reject Click this button to give the selected image a Reject rating.

Decrease Rating Click this button to decrease the rating of the selected image.

Select Click this button to give the selected image a Select rating

(five stars).

Increase Rating Click this button to increase the rating of the selected image.

To learn more about rating your images, see Chapter 9, “Rating Images,” on page 187.

Navigation Buttons

Previous Image Click this button to go to the previous image.

Next Image Click this button to go to the next image.

44 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Keyword Controls

Individual keyword

buttons

Add Keyword field Enter a new keyword, then press Return. Aperture creates a new

Keyword Preset Group

pop-up menu

Click any of these buttons to apply a preset keyword to a selected image or group of images Hold down Shift and click the button to remove the keyword.

keyword and applies it to the selected image.

Choose a keyword preset group to display on the keyword buttons, or edit the buttons in an existing keyword preset group.

Note: If the Adjustments and Metadata Inspectors are shown, there may not be enough room to show the entire control bar. In that case, the keyword controls are not shown. You can hide the Inspectors panel by pressing I.

To learn more about applying keywords, see Chapter 10, “Applying Keywords to

Images,” on page 199.

Toolbar

The toolbar is a collection of buttons and tools located at the top of the Aperture main window. Its buttons and tools are grouped by function: there are buttons for creating projects, organizing images, and configuring the Aperture workspace, as well as tools for applying adjustments. The toolbar is shown by default, but you can hide it by choosing View > Hide Toolbar.

You can customize the toolbar. For more information, see “Customizing the Toolbar” on page 65.

Note: Because you can customize the toolbar, adding and deleting the buttons you want, your toolbar may appear different from the one pictured in this manual.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 45

Import and Project Buttons

Import Panel

New Project

New Album

New Smart Album

New Book Album

New Web Gallery Album

New Light Table Album

Click this button to show or hide the Import panel. When you select either the camera, a memory card, or a mounted drive, the Import dialog appears. For more information, see “Import Panel” on page 52.

Click this button to create a new project. You will have the option to create an empty project, a project with any images you’ve selected, or a project with all the images in the Browser.

Click this button to create a new album containing your current image selection.

Click this button to create a new Smart Album. For more information, see Chapter 13, “Grouping Images with Smart Albums,” on page 267.

Click this button to create a new book album. For more information, see Chapter 19, “Creating Books,” on page 357.

Click this button to create a new web gallery album. For more information, see Chapter 18, “Creating Webpages,” on page 333.

Click this button to create a new Light Table album. For more information, see Chapter 17, “Using the Light Table,” on page 323.

Email and Slideshow Buttons

46 Part I

Slideshow

Interface and Acquisition

Click this button to open your email program and attach selected images.

Click this button to initiate a slideshow of the selected images.

Version Buttons

Duplicate Version

New Version

From Master

Click this button to duplicate the selected image version, with all applied metadata and adjustments.

Click this button to create a new version from a selected image’s digital master file.

Stacking Buttons

For details about working with stacks, see Chapter 8, “Stacking Images

and Making Picks,” on page 175.

Stack

Stack Pick

Click this button to group the selected images in a stack.

Click this button to mark the selected image as the stack’s pick, or best image.

Adjustment Tools

A B

Selection

Rotate Left

Rotate Right

Straighten

Crop

Spot & Patch

Chapter 2

The Aperture Interface

Select projects, albums, and images with this tool.

Rotate an image to the left with this tool. You can use this tool to rotate an image displayed in the Viewer or Browser.

Rotate an image to the right with this tool. You can use this tool to rotate an image displayed in the Viewer or Browser.

Use the guides to help manually straighten (or level) the selected image.

Trim the selected image with this tool.

Remove imperfections in the image, such as sensor dust, with this tool. The tool either copies the pixels around the blemish (“spotting”) or copies pixels from another area of the image (“patching”).

Red Eye Reduce red-eye, occurring when the subject’s retinas reflect light

Lift Copy a set of metadata and adjustments, including cropping and

Stamp Stamp, or apply, a copied set of adjustments or metadata to one or

from your camera’s flash, with this tool.

straightening of images, from a selected image with this tool.

several images with this tool.

For more information about working with the adjustment tools, see Performing Image Adjustments in the Aperture Help menu.

Loupe and Keywords HUD Buttons

Loupe Click this button to open the Loupe tool, which zooms in on your

Keywords HUD Click this button to show or hide the Keywords HUD.

image by magnifying the area of the image it is placed over. You can adjust the diameter of the Loupe by choosing View > Increase Diameter or View > Decrease Diameter.

Adjustments and Metadata Inspector Buttons

Aperture provides three layout buttons that you can use to quickly change the workspace layout.

Adjustments Inspector Click this button to show or hide the Adjustments Inspector.

Metadata Inspector Click this button to show or hide Metadata Inspector.

For more information about workspace layouts, see “Workspace Layouts” on page 64.

48 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Adjustments Inspector

You can use controls in the Adjustments Inspector to apply, edit, and remove image adjustments. Controls in the Adjustments Inspector are grouped according to the type of image adjustment they perform. You can see the controls for an adjustment by clicking its disclosure triangle.

To show the Adjustments Inspector, do one of the following:

m Choose Window > Show Inspectors (or press I) to open the Inspectors panel.

m Double-click an image in the Browser to open the Inspectors panel.

m Choose Window > Show Adjustments (or press Control-A).

Adjustments Click the disclosure triangle for an adjustment to view its controls.

Add Adjustments

pop-up menu

Adjustment Action

pop-up menu

Reset button Click the Reset button for an adjustment to reset the controls to

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 49

Select the checkbox for an adjustment to apply changes using the adjustment controls.

Choose the types of adjustments you want to apply to an image from this pop-up menu. When you choose an adjustment, its controls appear in the Adjustments Inspector.

Choose a histogram view and remove selected or all adjustments made.

their default settings.

To remove an adjustment from an image, deselect the checkbox for the adjustment. For more information about using adjustment controls, see Performing Image Adjustments in the Aperture Help menu.

Although you can apply initial adjustments with the Adjustments Inspector, it’s often more convenient to use the Adjustments HUD in Full Screen mode. For more information, see Chapter 7, “Viewing Images in Full Screen Mode,” on page 163.

Metadata Inspector

The Metadata Inspector displays an image’s caption text, keywords, version number, filename, and file size. You can also view EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) and IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) data associated with your image. EXIF metadata is embedded with an image file by the digital camera and includes camera settings such as shutter speed, date and time, focal length, exposure, metering pattern, and flash information. IPTC information can be embedded in a digital image with most software programs used to edit photos, and can include a caption, the place and date a photo was taken, and copyright information.

To show the Metadata Inspector, do one of the following:

m Choose Window > Show Inspectors (or press I) to open the Inspectors panel.

m Double-click an image in the Browser to open the Inspectors panel.

50 Part I Interface and Acquisition

m Choose Window > Show Metadata (or press Control-D).

Metadata display

buttons

Metadata View

pop-up menu

Metadata Action

pop-up menu

Click a button to select the type of metadata to display.

Choose the metadata view being displayed from this pop-up menu.

Choose options for editing and arranging your metadata views and for creating metadata presets from this pop-up menu.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 51

Import Panel

The Import panel displays a list of connected cameras, card readers, and external hard disk drives, as well as local hard disks and mounted servers. To import images into Aperture, you select a device in the panel or connect a camera or card reader, and the Import dialog appears.

Import panel This list displays all locations from which you can currently import

Import Panel button Click this button to show or hide the Import panel.

images, including internal disks and connected drives.

For more information, see Chapter 4, “Importing Images,” on page 87.

52 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Vaults Panel

The Vaults panel lists your backup vaults and their locations. Vaults are usually located on external FireWire drives.

As you add images to the Library, Aperture automatically tracks which managed image files have been backed up to your vault. When your vault is up to date, the Vault Status button appears black. When a change to at least one version occurs, such as an adjustment, the Vault Status button appears yellow. When Aperture determines that even a single master file has not been backed up, the Vault Status button appears red. You can have Aperture update your vaults whenever you want.

Vault Status buttons Click the Vault Status button next to a vault to update the vault.

Vaults Panel button Click this button to show or hide the Vaults panel.

Vault Action

pop-up menu

Update All Vaults

button

The Vault Status button changes color to indicate the current update status of the vault. Black means the vault is up to date. Yellow means that changes have been made to images that have not been backed up. Red means that images have been added to the Library that have not been backed up.

Add, remove, and update vaults from this pop-up menu.

Click this button to update all your existing vaults.

For more information, see Chapter 20, “Backing Up Your Images,” on page 399.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 53

Select a page to edit in

the Pages panel.

Book Layout Editor

When you create a new book album, the Book Layout Editor appears. In it, you can create a variety of printed books to showcase your images.

Design each page in the Book Layout Editor.

Pages Panel Area

Add Pages pop-up menu

Pages panel Select an individual book page in the Pages panel to view, or

Choose to add one or several pages to your book from this pop-up menu.

rearrange your book pages.

54 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Theme button Click this button to choose a theme and layout for your book’s pages.

Edit Content button Click this button to change images or edit text on your pages.

Edit Layout button Click this button to change the page layout, moving and resizing

Book Action

pop-up menu

Set Master Page

pop-up menu

Delete Pages button Click this button to delete one or several selected pages from

Book Layout Controls

text, metadata, and photo boxes on pages.

Choose options to reflow the images in a book, add an index and page numbers, or add and change the look of text, metadata, and photo boxes from this pop-up menu.

Choose the master page you want to apply to a selected page from this pop-up menu.

your book.

Text Style

pop-up menu

Metadata Format

pop-up menu

Photo Filter

pop-up menu

Choose the style of text you want for a selected text box using this pop-up menu.

Choose the type of metadata you want to display with your images from this pop-up menu.

Choose a filter to change the look of images. For example, you might apply filters that change an image to black and white or sepia.

Text, Metadata, and Photo Box Buttons

Add Text Box Click this button to add a text box to the page.

Add Metadata Box Click this button to add a metadata box to the page.

Add Photo Box Click this button to add a photo box to the page.

Send Backward Click this button to move a selected box backward in the stacking

Bring Forward Click this button to move a selected box forward in the stacking

order of overlapping text or image boxes.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 55

Page Display Controls

Scale To Fit button Click this button to scale the display of your pages to fit the Book

Actual Size button Click this button to view the selected page at its actual size.

Display Size slider Drag this slider to increase or decrease the size of the page.

Layout Editor screen size.

Cover and Page Display Buttons

Large Hardcover Click this button to choose a large hardcover book format.

Large Softcover Click this button to choose a large softcover book format.

Show Full Spreads Click this button to display two facing pages.

Show Single Pages Click this button to display single pages.

Printing and Page Navigation Buttons

Print Click this button to print your book’s pages.

Buy Book Click this button to purchase a printed copy of your book from

Previous Page Click this button to go to the previous page of your book.

Next Page Click this button to go to the next page of your book.

To learn more about creating books, see Chapter 19, “Creating Books,” on page 357.

56 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Apple’s print vendor.

Webpage Editor

You can use the Webpage Editor to create professional-quality, gallery-style pages and web journal pages for displaying your images. After designing your pages, you can post them to your .Mac account or web server. The controls in the Webpage Editor differ slightly depending on whether you have selected a web gallery album or a web journal album.

Web Gallery Controls

To work with a web gallery in the Webpage Editor, select a web gallery album in the Projects panel and select a page to view from the thumbnail pages on the left side. When the selected page appears, you can add and arrange images and text.

E F

Detail Images panel Click the thumbnail image in this panel to see the enlarged version

Gallery Pages panel Click a page’s thumbnail to see the enlarged version.

Site Theme button Click this button to choose a theme, or layout, for your webpages.

Metadata View

pop-up menu

Columns value slider Specify the number of columns you want on a page.

Rows value slider Specify the number of rows you want on a page.

“Fit images within”

pop-up menu

Width value slider Specify the width of the images displayed on the page.

Height value slider Specify the height of the images displayed on the page.

of the selected image.

Choose a metadata view to use with the webpage images from this pop-up menu.

Choose how to display images on the webpage.

L M

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 57

Next Page button Click this button to go to the next web gallery page.

Previous Page button Click this button to go to the previous web gallery page.

Publish to .Mac button Click this button to publish your finalized webpages to your .Mac

Export Web Pages

button

account. For more information, see “Exporting to .Mac” on page 348.

Click this button to export your webpages. For more information, see “Exporting Webpages as HTML Files” on page 350.

Web Journal Controls

You can also create journal-style webpages, mixing paragraphs of text and images, to display on the web. When working with a web journal, you can manually arrange images and text on the page.

To work with a web journal in the Webpage Editor, select a web journal album in the Projects panel, and select a page to view from the thumbnail pages on the left side. When the selected page appears, you can add and arrange images and text.

Remove Page button Click this button to remove a selected page from your web journal.

Add Page button Click this button to add a page to your web journal.

Detail Images panel Click the thumbnail image in this panel to see the enlarged version

Journal Pages panel Select a page’s thumbnail in this panel to see the enlarged version.

Site Theme button Click this button to choose a theme, or layout, for your webpage.

Metadata View

pop-up menu

Add Text Box button Click this button to add a text box to the current webpage.

Columns value slider Specify the number of columns you want on a page.

of a selected image.

Choose a metadata view to use with the webpage images from this pop-up menu.

58 Part I Interface and Acquisition

“Fit images within”

pop-up menu

Width value slider Specify the width of the images displayed on the page.

Height value slider Specify the height of the images displayed on the page.

Next Page button Click this button to go to the next webpage.

Previous Page button Click this button to go to the previous webpage.

Publish to .Mac button Click this button to publish your finalized webpages to your .Mac

Export Web Pages

button

Page Action

pop-up menu

Page Template

pop-up menu

Choose how images appear on the webpage from this pop-up menu.

account. For more information, see “Exporting to .Mac” on page 348.

Click this button to export your webpages. For more information, see “Exporting Webpages as HTML Files” on page 350.

Rearrange the order of images and choose the conditions for automatically adding pages to your web journal from this pop-up menu.

Choose a page template, or layout, from this pop-up menu.

To learn more about creating webpages, see Chapter 18, “Creating Webpages,” on page 333.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 59

Light Table

The Light Table provides an open workspace where you can freely arrange images. You can use the Light Table to review and compare images, create mockups of webpages, compare color values in a selection of images before applying color corrections, or do anything else that involves viewing and comparing your images.

Put Back button Click this button to remove a selected image from the Light Table.

Uncover button Click this button to reveal images that are covered by other images

Light Table Zoom slider Drag the Light Table Zoom slider to change the Light Table’s size.

Scale to Fit All

Items button

Navigator button When the Light Table is larger than your screen, click this button to

Show All Images button Click this button to see the entire contents of the Light Table album

Show Unplaced

Images button

in the Light Table.

Click this button to fit the entire Light Table on your screen.

reposition your view on another area of the Light Table.

in the Browser.

Click this button to see only images in the Browser that are not yet placed in the Light Table.

To learn more about the Light Table, see Chapter 17, “Using the Light Table,” on page 323.

60 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Heads-Up Displays

Heads-up displays, or HUDs, are collections of related tools and controls contained in a floating panel. You can move a HUD as far as your display screen extends. You can use HUDs in regular and Full Screen mode.

Adjustments HUD

The Adjustments HUD contains controls for Aperture image adjustments, such as Exposure, Levels, and White Balance. The controls in the Adjustments HUD are the same as those in the Adjustments Inspector. You can use the HUD in the Viewer or in Full Screen mode. To show controls for an adjustment, click its disclosure triangle; to remove the adjustment applied to the image, deselect the adjustment’s checkbox.

To show the Adjustments HUD:

m Choose Window > Show Adjustments HUD (or press H).

L K

White Balance controls Adjust color temperature and tint using these controls.

Exposure controls Use these controls to adjust exposure, contrast, saturation, and

RAW Fine Tuning controls Use these controls to select the setting for treatment of RAW images.

Auto Exposure button Click this button to have Aperture automatically adjust the

Auto Exposure Reset button

Add Adjustments pop-up menu

Adjustment Action pop-up menu

brightness, or adjust the tint of the black, gray, and white color values in the selected image.

image’s exposure.

If you don’t like the Auto Exposure adjustments, click this Reset button to remove them.

Choose the type of adjustment you want to apply to an image from this pop-up menu. When you choose an adjustment, its controls appear in the Adjustments HUD.

Choose a histogram view and remove selected or all adjustments made.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 61

Auto Levels

Combined button

Auto Levels

Separate button

Auto Levels

Reset button

Levels controls Use these controls to adjust the shadows, midtones, and highlights

Highlights & Shadows

controls

Noise Reduction

controls

Click this button to have Aperture automatically adjust the levels in the selected image based on the combined luminance values of all three color channels.

Click this button to have Aperture automatically adjust the levels in the selected image by individual color channels.

If you don’t like the Auto Levels adjustments, click this Reset button to remove them.

in the image based on a histogram that can be set to show luminance; combined red, green, and blue channels (RGB); or individual red, green, and blue channels.

Use these controls to adjust the shadows and highlights in the image.

Use these controls to adjust the noise in the image.

For more information about using the Adjustments HUD and its controls, see Performing Image Adjustments in the Aperture Help menu.

Individual Adjustment Tool HUDs

Many of the Aperture adjustment tools, including Crop, Spot & Patch, Red Eye, Lift, and Stamp, work in conjunction with HUDs.

To view any of these HUDs:

m Select the adjustment tool in the toolbar.

To learn more about the adjustment tools, see Performing Image Adjustments in the Aperture Help menu.

62 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Keywords HUD

The Keywords HUD contains a library of keywords, allowing you to efficiently organize and apply keywords to your images.

To show the Keywords HUD:

m Choose Window > Show Keywords HUD (or press Shift-H).

Lock button Click this button to lock the Keywords HUD and prevent changes.

Add Keyword button Click this button to add a keyword to the keyword library of the

Disclosure triangle Click the disclosure triangle for a keyword group to view all

Close button Click this button to close the Keywords HUD.

Search field Enter text to search for keywords that match the text. Click the

Export button Click this button to export your Aperture keyword list.

Import button Click this button to import keywords into the Keywords HUD.

Remove Keyword

button

Add Subordinate

Keyword button

G F

Click it again to unlock the HUD.

Keywords HUD.

keywords in the group.

Reset button (with an X) to clear the field.

Click this button to remove one or more selected keywords.

Click this button to add a subordinate keyword, such as a keyword within a keyword group.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 63

Workspace Layouts

In addition to allowing you to show and hide areas of the interface, Aperture offers three preconfigured workspace layouts, created to accommodate different workflows.

Â Basic: Use the Basic workspace layout to review images, perform initial rating passes,

and create and work with stacks of images.

Â Maximize Browser: Use the Maximize Browser workspace layout to work with

multiple projects.

Â Maximize Viewer: Use the Maximize Viewer workspace layout to see an enlarged view

of images with the Browser and Viewer controls still available. This workspace layout is useful when working with the Light Table.

You can easily switch between workspace layouts by choosing commands or pressing keyboard shortcuts.

To choose a workspace layout, do one of the following:

m Choose Window > Layouts, then choose the layout you want from the submenu.

m Press Command-Option and the letter corresponding to the layout you want: S for

Basic, B for Maximize Browser, or V for Maximize Viewer.

64 Part I Interface and Acquisition

You can use keyboard shortcuts to quickly show or hide different areas of your workspace.

Keyboard shortcut Function

shift I

Show/Hide Import panel

shift R

shift

option W

shift W

shift T

Show/Hide Vaults panel

Show/Hide Projects panel

Show/Hide Viewer

Show/Hide keyword controls

Show/Hide Inspectors panel

Swap workspace

Rotate workspace

Show/Hide toolbar

Turn on/off Full Screen mode

Customizing the Toolbar

The toolbar can be customized to display exactly the tools you need. You can customize the toolbar by selecting the tools to include, rearranging them, and choosing whether both the tool’s icon and text appear.

Hiding and Showing the Toolbar

You can choose to hide the toolbar completely.

To hide the toolbar:

m Choose View > Hide Toolbar (or press Shift-T).

To show a toolbar that has been hidden:

m Choose View > Show Toolbar (or press Shift-T).

∏ Tip: You can also quickly hide or show the toolbar by clicking the Toolbar button (a

gray oblong button) in the top-right corner of the Aperture main window.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 65

Customizing the Toolbar Buttons

Aperture provides a simple drag-and-drop interface for adding, deleting, and rearranging the toolbar buttons.

To customize the toolbar:

1 Do one of the following:

Â Choose View > Customize Toolbar.

Â Control-click the toolbar, then choose Customize Toolbar from the shortcut menu.

A dialog appears, showing icons for toolbar buttons and tools.

2 Configure the toolbar by doing any of the following:

Â To add tools to the toolbar: Drag their icons from the dialog to the location where you

want them to appear in the toolbar.

Â To remove items from the toolbar: Drag them out of the toolbar, or Control-click the

item you want to remove and choose Remove Item from the shortcut menu.

Â To change the order of the items in the toolbar: Drag each item to its new position.

Â To control whether each tool’s icon and text appear in the toolbar: Choose Text Only,

Icon Only, or Icon & Text from the Show pop-up menu in the lower-left corner of the dialog, or Control-click the toolbar and choose Text Only, Icon Only, or Icon & Text from the shortcut menu.

3 Click Done when you have finished configuring the toolbar.

To reset the toolbar:

m To return the toolbar to its default state, drag the default toolbar up from the bottom

of the dialog and into the toolbar area.

66 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Setting Aperture Preferences

You can use the Preferences window to specify settings in Aperture. By taking time to specify your preference settings, you can speed up your workflow.

To open the Preferences window:

m Choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-comma (,).

The Preferences window appears.

Email Export Preset

pop-up menu

“Email images using”

pop-up menu

External Editor File

Format pop-up menu

External Image

Editor field

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 67

Choose an export preset to use when exporting images to your email client. If you want to create a custom export preset, click Edit and create a new preset in the Export Presets dialog.

If you want to export images to an email client, choose the email application from this pop-up menu.

Choose a file format in which to export an image to an external editor from this pop-up menu. You can also specify the dotper-inch (dpi) resolution of the image in the dpi field.

You can use an external editor to make adjustments to your images. To identify an external image editor, click Choose and select an application. To open an image in the external editor, select the image, then choose Images > Open With External Editor.

Image display

checkboxes

Grid View Background

Brightness slider

Viewer Background

Brightness slider

Hot Area Display

Threshold slider

Aperture options

checkboxes

“When a camera is

connected” pop-up menu

Library Location field Displays the default location of the Library. To specify a custom

Search Scope

pop-up menu

Select the “Show Loading indicator while full size images load” checkbox to have Aperture display an initial proxy image if there is any delay when loading a full-size image.

Select the “Show tooltips on controls” checkbox to have Aperture display the names of interface items when you place your pointer over them.

Select the “Use proportional spacing for images in Grid View” checkbox to change the spacing of images in the Browser.

Select the “Add gaps between Sort Groups” checkbox to add space between groups when sorting by a particular category. For example, when sorting images by rating, you can have Aperture add a gap between the last five-star image and the first four-star image.

Select the “Show number of versions for projects and albums” checkbox to have Aperture display the number of versions in a project or album in the Projects panel.

Select the “Badge referenced images” checkbox to display badges that identify referenced images.

Adjust the Browser background brightness using this slider.

Adjust the Viewer background brightness using this slider.

You can view an image’s hot areas (where exposure goes beyond the current screen or print gamut) by choosing View > Highlight Hot Areas. To adjust the threshold used to determine an image’s hot areas, drag the slider.

Select the “Create new versions when making adjustments” checkbox to have Aperture automatically create a new version when you adjust a selected image.

Select the “Show warning when deleting masters” checkbox to have Aperture display an alert message when you delete master image files.

Choose an application to open when a camera is connected to your computer.

location for the Aperture Library, click Choose and navigate to a location to store the Library. Reopen Aperture to complete the location change.

Use this pop-up menu to set your preferences for how Aperture searches. You can have Aperture search for your entered text throughout all the metadata associated with your images, or perform a limited text search that doesn’t search through your images’ EXIF information.

68 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Web Copyright field Enter copyright text for web galleries and web journals here.

Previews options To set Aperture to create previews for the images in all new

projects and new Libraries, select the “New projects automatically generate previews” checkbox. Deselect this option if you don’t want previews created for images in new projects.

To enable sharing of JPEG preview images with other applications, select the “Share previews with other applications” checkbox.

To change the image quality of the previews, drag the Preview Quality slider. The higher the quality you select, the more disk space the preview requires.

To set a maximum pixel size for your previews, choose a size from the “Limit preview size” pop-up menu.

Chapter 2 The Aperture Interface 69

3 Working with Aperture Projects

The basic components of Aperture, including projects, albums, and versions, provide the building blocks for working in a nondestructive environment.

This chapter explains basic elements in Aperture and describes how to set up and use projects to hold your images.

This chapter covers:

Â Basic Components of Aperture (p. 72)

Â Working with Projects (p. 78)

Â Creating and Naming Projects (p. 79)

Â Opening and Closing Projects (p. 80)

Â Creating and Showing Favorite Projects (p. 82)

Â Deleting Images from Projects and Albums (p. 82)

Â Deleting Items from the Projects Panel (p. 83)

Â Working with Library Files (p. 83)

Â Quickly Accessing Commands (p. 85)

Basic Components of Aperture

Aperture uses the following basic components in your image management system:

Â Digital master files: The original image files imported from your camera, memory

card, computer, or external storage media.

Â Versions: Files derived from the digital master files and used to display your images

with any changes you’ve made, including image adjustments or changes to metadata.

Â Projects: Containers that hold digital master files, versions, and albums. Projects

can hold up to 10,000 digital master files, although it’s recommended that for practical usage, you limit the number of files (both digital master files and versions) below 10,000.

Â Albums: Containers that hold versions. You can create albums to organize images

within projects or outside of them.

Â Folders: Containers used to organize projects and albums.

Â Library: The Aperture database that records and tracks your digital master files and

all corresponding versions. You can also create multiple Aperture Library files in different locations. The Library tracks all the information about projects and albums you create to organize your images.

Â Managed and referenced images: Master files stored in the Aperture Library are called

managed images because Aperture manages the location of the images in its database.

Managed images are physically located in the Aperture Library file in the Pictures folder. You can also import images into Aperture without storing the digital master files in the Library. Images that are not stored in the Library file are called referenced images. Aperture links to referenced images in their current locations on your hard disk, without placing them in the Aperture Library file.

Â Vaults: Containers that each hold a backup of the Library and all its images

and information.

The next sections explain details about each of these elements and how you work with them in Aperture.

What Are Digital Master Files?

A digital master file is the original RAW, JPEG, TIFF, or PNG file that was imported into Aperture from your camera, a memory card, a computer, or external storage media such as an external hard disk drive or CD. Aperture never changes the master file, so you always have originals to work from.

Important: Digital master files—especially RAW files—tend to be quite large. Projects

consisting of several thousand digital master files require high-capacity hard disks.

For information about importing your digital master files, see Chapter 4, “Importing

Images,” on page 87.

72 Part I Interface and Acquisition

What Are Versions?

Once you have digital master files on your hard disk, you can review and make adjustments to your images. For example, you can change the exposure, contrast, or saturation, or add information to an image, such as the photographer’s name, event, and location. To work with images, Aperture creates a “version” of each master file that includes your adjustments and embedded information, and leaves the master file unchanged. A version refers to the master file on your hard disk, but it is not the master file itself. Versions store only the thumbnail image, adjustments, and embedded information. A full image file is not created until you are ready to print or export, saving valuable storage space on your hard disk.

In many cases, your workflow may call for different renderings of the same image. For example, a client may request a color as well as a black-and-white version of the same head shot. You can create multiple versions of the same image in Aperture at any time.

Versions

Master

from Master 1

Versions

from Master 2

Versions from Master 3

Computer

Pictures

folder

Aperture

Library file

Master

When you create a version, several things occur:

Â Aperture reads the original master file on disk and displays it on the screen.

Â As you make adjustments or add information to the image, Aperture displays the

image with your changes to the version, but the original master file is never changed.

Chapter 3 Working with Aperture Projects 73

What Are Projects?

You organize your digital master files and versions using projects. A project is a container consisting of image versions and their corresponding master files. A project can hold up to 10,000 master files, and you can create as many projects as you wish up to the limitations of your disk space. For example, you can create a new project for each of your shoots. Or if you do several shoots of the same subject, you may want to create a project that encompasses all of the shoots. Projects are the most basic component of Aperture because they contain your digital master files and track all changes to versions.

You can easily transfer projects from one Aperture system to another. All links between versions and their master files are maintained when projects are transferred. This is particularly useful if you use a portable computer when on location or away from your studio, and a workstation at your studio. For more information, see “Transferring

Projects from Another System” on page 114.

Examples of items in the Projects panel

Projects

You can have multiple projects open at the same time, each represented by its own icon in the Projects panel and tab in the Browser.

What Are Albums?

An album is a container in the Aperture Library that holds only image versions (not the digital master files to which they refer). You use albums to organize images in the Library, making your selections of versions easier to manage. You can create albums at the Library level or within a project.

You use albums created at the Library level to organize versions from multiple projects. For example, you can create an album to consolidate your favorite images, or “selects,” from multiple projects. You can then publish this collection of selects on your website or export the album’s contents for review by a prospective client.

74 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Three albums created

within one project

You can also create albums within projects to help you organize your images into relevant groups. For example, images in your Antarctica project can be divided into three albums: Antarctica Selects, On Land, and Underwater.

You can also place versions from other projects into an album that resides within a project.

What Are Folders?

In Aperture, you use folders to organize projects and albums. For example, you can import images into projects and then place the projects in folders based on the year, such as 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. If you shoot multiple projects for the same client, you can create a folder that holds the client’s individual projects.

These folders organize

images based on what

year they were shot.

Folders contain only albums, projects, and other folders. They don’t contain master files or versions.

Chapter 3 Working with Aperture Projects 75

What Is the Library?

The Aperture Library tracks every project, album, master file, and version no matter whether the images are stored in the Aperture Library file or in other hard disk locations. Aperture automatically creates a Library file in your Pictures folder the first time you open Aperture. You can choose to import images into your Library or have Aperture access them from other locations on different hard disks. The Library tracks all your images and the information recorded about them, as well as information about where backup files are stored. You can access images in the Library by clicking Library at the top of the Projects panel.

You can change the location of the Library file to a different folder or a different disk. You can specify where the Library should be located using the Preferences window. For more information about working with multiple Library files in Aperture, see “Working

with Library Files” on page 83.

Projects that you transfer from other Aperture systems to your Aperture system are also added to the Library. And when you back up your digital master files to your vaults on external FireWire drives, those actions are tracked by the Aperture Library as well.

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 managed images. These master files are stored in the Library exactly as they were in previous versions of Aperture. Aperture manages master image files 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. Using referenced images in your Aperture system can provide 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. This allows you to keep master files for less-used images offline or to 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.

76 Part I Interface and Acquisition

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

Â Specify that master files be stored in the Aperture Library.

Â Import images as referenced images, so that their master files remain in their

current locations.

Â 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.

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, 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 them with a badge overlay that you can display or hide. When a referenced image’s master file is missing or offline, 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 offline. If you reconnect the hard disk or other storage device later, Aperture accesses the master files automatically and you can work with and change their versions again.

You can also relocate master files, moving them out of the Library or moving referenced master files to different hard disk locations. If needed, you can also move referenced master files into the Aperture Library by choosing the Consolidate command.

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 that have been moved to different volumes.

Chapter 3 Working with Aperture Projects 77

What Is a Vault?

To ensure you have backup copies of your images, you create a vault to hold the backup. A vault is a container that holds an exact copy of the Library. This includes your projects, digital master files, and any versions you’ve created. You can easily create and update a vault to back up the Library. It’s a good idea to create multiple vaults on multiple external hard drives to safeguard copies of the Library.

You can have as many vaults as you deem necessary. Creating more than one vault is useful if you work at different locations; you can always keep one vault on a FireWire drive onsite and another one offsite. All vaults and backup files are tracked by the Library so that even if you disconnect the external hard drive that contains your vault, Aperture can access it the next time you reconnect the drive and update your vault.

All the managed master file images, versions, and all metadata, previews, and adjustment information associated with your images are backed up. The versions, previews, and metadata associated with referenced images’ master files are also backed up in the vault. Referenced images’ master files are not backed up in the vault with the Library.

Important: Because the digital master files for referenced images are stored outside of

the Library, you must manage the backup and archiving of them yourself.

Working with Projects

How you use and organize your projects depends on the scope of your workflow as well as your particular organizational style. These factors also affect your decision to use one or more albums in your project.

Organizing Your Projects

Typically, you create a new project for each photographic project or job that you work on, regardless of its duration. For example, if you’re working on a documentary in Thailand, you would create a project for it. If you’re also shooting the temples in the interior of the country, that could be a second, separate project. Both projects could conceivably refer to some of the same images, but they are completely independent structures, each with its own versions, master files, and albums.

Very large photography projects, such as documentaries and sporting events, often consist of large numbers of captured images. You can always break one project into several should the need arise.

78 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Using More Than One Album in a Project

For some projects, it makes sense to use several albums within the project. You can use albums in several ways, including:

Â Albums as events: Break a project into a series of albums according to specific events.

For example, a wedding project can be divided into albums for each of the following events: Preparation, Ceremony, and Reception.

Â Albums as days: Break a project that spans multiple days into albums for individual

days. For example, a project consisting of a two-week trip to Japan can be divided into 14 individual albums corresponding to each day.

Â Albums for specific subjects: Break a project consisting of multiple photographed

subjects into individual albums dedicated to each subject. For example, a studio photographer may shoot three models for a single project. The photographer can create an album for each model. Or you might create albums to hold specific image types, such as candid shots, landscapes, or close-ups.

Creating and Naming Projects

There are several controls in the Projects panel that you’ll use when working with projects.

Projects pop-up menu

Disclosure triangle

Project Action pop-up menu

Add to Library

pop-up menu

Â Disclosure triangle: Click this to see all items within the Library, project, or folder.

Â Projects pop-up menu: Choose to display all projects, favorites, or recent projects.

Â Add to Library pop-up menu: Choose to add a new item, such as a project or Smart

Album, to the Library or selected project.

Â Project Action pop-up menu: Add the selected item to a list of favorites, or remove it

from the favorites list.

You can create projects at any time, although typically you create them when you import images. When you import images into the Aperture Library and no project is selected, a new project is created to contain those images. However, you can create a new empty project at any time. For more information about importing files and creating projects automatically, see Chapter 4, “Importing Images,” on page 87.

Chapter 3 Working with Aperture Projects 79

A new, untitled

project appears in the

Projects panel.

The project now has the

name you entered.

To create a new project:

1 Choose File > New Project (or press Command-N).

2 Enter the name you want for the project, then press Return.

For information about naming files, see “Automatically Naming Your Imported Images” on page 105.

Opening and Closing Projects

To work with your images in Aperture, you first select a project in the Projects panel to open it in the Browser and Viewer. You can open and work on more than one project at a time. When multiple projects are open, each project appears in the Browser with its own tab. You can click a project’s tab to bring it to the front. You can also open a project in its own pane to view two projects in the Browser side by side. When you finish working and quit Aperture, Aperture remembers which projects were open. The next time you open Aperture, all projects that were open at the end of your last session open automatically.

To open a project:

m Select the project in the Projects panel.

Select a project to view

its images in the Browser.

All images in the project

appear in the Browser.

80 Part I Interface and Acquisition

To open additional projects in the Browser:

m Command-click a project in the Projects panel.

The newly opened project appears in the Browser with its own tab, in front of any other open projects.

To open another project in its own pane:

m Option-click a project in the Projects panel.

The newly opened project appears in the Browser in its own pane.

To switch between several open projects:

m In the Browser, click a project’s tab.

Projects are identified by their tabs.

To close a project:

1 Click the project’s tab to bring it to the front.

2 Do one of the following:

Â Choose File > Close Tab (or press Command-W).

Â Click the tab’s close button.

Close button in a tab

Chapter 3 Working with Aperture Projects 81

Creating and Showing Favorite Projects

If you have certain projects that you work on most often or projects that you work on together, you can make them favorites to quickly view them all at the same time.

To make a project or folder a favorite:

m In the Projects panel, select a project, then choose Add to Favorites from the Project

Action pop-up menu.

To view favorite projects or folders:

m In the Projects panel, choose Show Favorites from the Projects pop-up menu at the

top-left corner.

To remove a project or folder as a favorite:

m In the Projects panel, select a project, then choose Remove From Favorites from the

Project Action pop-up menu.

Deleting Images from Projects and Albums

Aperture allows you to delete versions separately from their digital master files. You can also delete a master file and all its versions in a project. If you delete a version in an album, its master file and related versions are not deleted.

To delete a master file and all its versions from a project:

1 Select the image, then choose File > Delete Master Image and All Versions.

A dialog appears asking if you want to continue.

2 Click the Move to Trash button.

The digital master file and all versions are deleted.

Warning: This action cannot be undone. Once you click the Move to Trash button, the

master file is moved to the Trash. All versions and their adjustments and metadata are permanently deleted. To permanently remove the master file from your hard disk, empty the Trash.

To delete only a version from an album:

m Select the image, then choose Images > Remove From Album (or press Delete).

The version is deleted. The digital master file and its other versions are not deleted.

82 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Deleting Items from the Projects Panel

You can also delete items from the Projects panel. When you delete an item from the Projects panel, the contents of the item are deleted with it.

Note: If you delete a project or a project within a folder, the digital master files contained in the project are also deleted.

To delete projects and folders:

1 Select the item, then do one of the following:

Â To delete a project: Choose File > Delete Project (or press Command-Delete).

Â To delete a folder: Choose File > Delete Folder (or press Command-Delete).

A dialog appears asking if you want to continue.

2 Click the Delete button.

The selected item is deleted along with its contents.

Warning: This action cannot be undone. Once you click the Delete button, the master

files are moved to the Trash. All versions and their adjustments and metadata are permanently deleted. To permanently remove the master files from your hard disk, empty the Trash.

To delete an album, a Light Table album, a web gallery album, a web journal album, or a book album:

m Select the album, then choose File > Delete [Item].

The selected item is deleted along with its contents.

Working with Library Files

When the Library file becomes large and requires more disk space than is available in its current location, you can move it to a hard disk with more storage capacity. Aperture is preset to create the Library in the Pictures folder on your internal hard disk. You can specify that the Library be located in a different folder or on a different disk. Each time you open Aperture, the application opens the Library in the location you specified. To change the location of the Library, you move it to a new location and then use the Aperture Preferences window to specify the new location.

∏ Tip: To maximize performance, place the Library file on an internal hard disk.

Chapter 3 Working with Aperture Projects 83

To change the location of a Library file:

1 Quit Aperture.

2 Locate the Aperture Library file in the Pictures folder on your hard disk and move it to

the new location in a different folder or on a different hard disk.

3 Open Aperture and choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-comma (,).

4 Click Choose under the Library Location option.

5 Navigate to the new location of the Library, select it, and click Select.

6 Quit Aperture and then reopen it.

When you reopen Aperture, it accesses the Library in the new location.

If the Aperture Library becomes large, you can create additional separate Library files to hold more images. For example, you might create different Library files in different locations on your internal hard disk, or on different hard disks. You then specify in the Aperture Preferences window which Library the application should access when it opens. Creating a new empty Library file is as easy as specifying a different folder for the Library in the Preferences window and then quitting and reopening Aperture. You can also rename Library files as needed. Thus, you might have multiple Library files with different names in the same location and set Aperture to access the Library file you want.

To create a new, empty Library file in a new location:

1 Choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-comma (,).

2 Click Choose under the Library Location option.

3 Navigate to and select the folder where you want to place the new Library, then click Select.

4 Quit Aperture and then reopen it.

By default, Aperture creates a new Library file named Aperture Library. It’s recommended that you rename Library files to avoid any mix-ups or the possibility of overwriting one Library file with another accidentally. After renaming a Library file, make sure to open Aperture and select the renamed Library file.

When you have multiple Library files and you want to switch between them, you use the Preferences window to select the Library you want. You then quit and reopen the application to complete the switch.

To access a different Aperture Library:

1 Choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-comma (,).

2 Click Choose under the Library Location option.

3 Navigate to and select the Library you want, then click Select.

4 Quit Aperture and then reopen it.

84 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Adding Times and Dates to Aperture Album Names

It is common to differentiate albums in a project by adding the dates to the album names. If you add dates to an album name, avoid using special characters like the slash (/), since that may be interpreted by Mac OS X as a file separator.

Quickly Accessing Commands

You can access commands via a shortcut menu, as an alternative to using the menu bar at the top of the screen or pop-up menus within a window.

To view the shortcut menu:

m Position the pointer over the Projects panel, then Control-click.

Note: Although accessing commands from shortcut menus can help you work more quickly, keep in mind that not all commands are available in shortcut menus.

Chapter 3 Working with Aperture Projects 85

4 Importing Images

Aperture provides tools and workflow options that make it easy to import your images.

This chapter describes a variety of methods for importing images into Aperture. You can import images directly from your camera or card reader, import images stored on your computer hard disk or other storage devices, import your iPhoto Library, and more.

This chapter covers:

Â An Overview of Importing Images (p. 88)

Â File Formats You Can Import into the Library (p. 89)

Â Planning Your Import Strategy (p. 90)

Â Importing from Your Digital Camera or Card Reader (p. 91)

Â Importing Image Files Stored on Your Computer (p. 97)

Â Automatically Naming Your Imported Images (p. 105)

Â Adding Metadata to Images During Import (p. 108)

Â Creating Stacks Automatically During Import (p. 109)

Â Adjusting the Image File’s Time When Importing (p. 110)

Â Dragging Files from the Finder to the Projects Panel (p. 110)

Â Importing Folders of Images from the Finder (p. 111)

Â Importing Your iPhoto Library (p. 112)

Â Transferring Projects from Another System (p. 114)

Â Making an Immediate Backup (p. 114)

Â Where Aperture Stores Your Managed Files in the Library (p. 115)

An Overview of Importing Images

When you import from a camera or card reader, Aperture places the images in a project. If you don’t select an existing project, a new one is created automatically.

As Aperture imports images, it generates a version file and an image thumbnail corresponding to each digital master file.

Import

RAW

& JPEG

Aperture Library

(system disk)

Project

Versions

Digital master files

Importing

to Aperture

Camera

You can import digital master images directly from a camera or card reader and from your hard disk drives.

When you import images, you can choose whether to have the digital master files stored in the Aperture Library or store them on your hard disk outside of the Library where they can be accessed as referenced images. For more information about referenced images, see “What Are Managed Images and Referenced Images?” on page 76.

Vault

(FireWire drive)

Back up

88 Part I Interface and Acquisition

As you import images, you can have Aperture automatically name and record information about them. Aperture can assign filenames using custom naming conventions, as well as record metadata such as captions, keywords, dates, copyright and credit information, and IPTC information. You can even set Aperture to stack related images together, keeping bracketed shots or a series of shots taken in quick succession in groups that you can easily select and work with. For more information about stacks, see Chapter 8, “Stacking Images and Making Picks,” on page 175.

Does Aperture Support Tethered Shooting?

You can use an Automator workflow to set up tethered shooting between your camera and your computer to automatically import images into Aperture. Aperture works with Automator to automate common tasks. For information about using an Automator workflow for tethered shooting, go to http://automator.us/aperture.

File Formats You Can Import into the Library

Aperture is a QuickTime-compatible application, so it supports standard QuickTime-compatible still-image file formats, as well as some other file formats and file types. The following file types and formats can be imported:

Â GIF

Â JPEG

Â JPEG2000

Â PNG

Â PSD (8 and 16 bit)

Â RAW files from a variety of supported digital cameras

Â TIFF (8 and 16 bit)

Note: For a list of supported digital cameras, go to http://www.apple.com/aperture.

Chapter 4 Importing Images 89

Planning Your Import Strategy

Before you import images into Aperture, it’s a good idea to plan the organization of your images. Eventually your image library may contain many thousands of images that you’ll want organized in a flexible and easy-to-manage system. It’s important to take a long-term view of what makes for an effective and efficient organization of your projects based on your specific type of photography.

You may already have a large digital portfolio that you eventually want to import into the Aperture Library. As an import strategy, it’s best to try out importing images in a series of steps:

Â Open and use the sample project as you explore Aperture features.

Â If you have an iPhoto Library, you can import it so that you can use your images in

Aperture. For more information about importing your iPhoto Library, see “Importing

Your iPhoto Library” on page 112.

Â Make trial imports of a small group of images directly from your digital camera or

card reader. Learn about the filenaming and automatic metadata features of Aperture. For information about importing from your digital camera or card reader, see “Importing from Your Digital Camera or Card Reader,” next.

Â Plan how you want to import your legacy digital images. Because you may have many

thousands of images previously stored on disk, you need to decide whether you’ll store newly imported images in the Aperture Library, or store them as referenced images, leaving them in their current hard disk locations. You can also copy or move images to a different hard disk location when importing them. Also, plan the project organization you’ll need to hold the images. For more information about importing files, see “Importing Image Files Stored on Your Computer” on page 97.

Â Try out the different methods for importing individual files into your system. You can

import individual files, import files stored in folders, and drag files or folders from the Finder into Aperture. For more information, see “Dragging Files from the Finder to

the Projects Panel” on page 110 and “Importing Folders of Images from the Finder”

on page 111.

Once you’re familiar with Aperture, you can begin to create and organize your professional image management system.

90 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Importing from Your Digital Camera or Card Reader

You can import images from a camera or card reader into Aperture using the Import dialog in two ways:

Â Import all images on the camera or card reader at once.

Â Import a selection of images from the camera or card reader.

You can also:

Â Choose to store imported images in the Aperture Library or select a different location

on your hard disk and import them as referenced images.

Â Have Aperture automatically reformat your memory card after the images are imported.

Â Have Aperture automatically create stacks of bracketed images or images shot in

quick succession.

Â Apply a naming convention to standardize the names of the image files in the Library.

Â Apply metadata to the image files, such as keywords, captions, copyright

information, and the photographer’s name. You can also apply or replace existing metadata associated with an image when you import the image.

Â Adjust the shoot time of images that were shot in a different time zone.

When connecting your camera directly to the computer, make sure that you turn the camera on and set it to the mode for transferring images (PC, PTP, Normal, or another mode, depending on the type of camera). Some cameras automatically select the correct transfer mode when connected to a computer. See your camera’s manual for specific instructions.

Chapter 4 Importing Images 91

Importing All Images from a Camera or Card Reader

You can import all the image files located on your camera or card reader into Aperture at once.

To import all the images from a camera or card reader into Aperture:

1 Connect your camera or card reader to your computer.

The Import panel and Import dialog appear, showing the images on the camera or card.

Note: If iPhoto opens when you connect your camera or card reader, quit iPhoto and then, in Aperture, choose Aperture > Preferences. Choose Aperture from the “When a camera is connected” pop-up menu. Disconnect and reconnect your camera to have Aperture open the Import dialog.

Import panel

Import arrow

Import dialog

92 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Import button

Select the project

into which you want to

import images.

2 Do one of the following:

Â If you want to import into a new, empty project: Choose File > New Project (or press

Command-N) to create a new project.

Note: You can also click the Library icon in the Projects panel, if necessary, to select it. When you select the Library (not a project), a new, untitled project is automatically created when images are imported.

Make sure the Import arrow is pointing to the Library to import the images into a new project.

Â If you want to import the images into an existing project: Select the project. The Import

arrow points at the currently selected project, indicating the destination for the import.

The top-left portion of the Import dialog updates, displaying where the images are being placed.

3 Choose a location for the imported images by doing one of the following:

Â To store imported master image files in the Aperture Library: Choose In the Aperture

Library from the Store Files pop-up menu.

Â To store imported master image files as referenced images in the Pictures folder on your

hard disk: Choose Pictures from the Store Files pop-up menu.

Â To store imported master image files as referenced images in a location other than the

Pictures folder: Choose “Choose” from the Store Files pop-up menu and select the

folder you want. Choose “No folder” from the Subfolders pop-up menu to specify that the files be stored as separate individual files in the selected folder. You can also specify that Aperture create and store your files in a hierarchy of subfolders with specific folder names. For more information about specifying folders to hold your imported images, see “Importing Master Files for Referenced Images into Folders” on page 103. Choose whether you want the image files moved or copied to a new location by clicking the “Move files” or “Copy files” button. For more information about moving and copying files, see “Changing the Location of Images When You

Import Them” on page 100.

Chapter 4 Importing Images 93

4 Choose a naming convention from the Version Name pop-up menu to specify how you

want the images named.

For example, choose Master Filename from the Version Name pop-up menu to have your files stored using the current master filenames from your camera or card. Choose a name format from the Version Name pop-up menu to have your images stored using a specified name. If you choose a custom name format, enter the name you want in the Name Text field. You can also apply the name format to the master file as well. Choose Edit from the Version Name pop-up menu to define a new naming scheme. For more information about naming files, see “Automatically Naming Your

Imported Images” on page 105.

5 To add metadata to your images as they’re imported, choose a metadata preset from

the Add Metadata From pop-up menu. For more information about setting up and using metadata presets, see “Working with Metadata Views” on page 235.

6 With no images selected in the dialog, click the Import arrow or the Import button in

the lower-right corner of the dialog.

If you select images, only the selected images are imported. To reset the image selection so that no images are selected, click in the background beside a thumbnail.

When you’re ready to import, click the Import arrow.

The import process begins and an indicator appears next to the project’s name, showing the progress of the import. When images are imported, a dialog appears.

7 Click Eject Card, Erase and Eject Card, or Done.

As the images appear in the Browser, you can begin working with them. Images may temporarily appear as gray boxes until the loading is complete.

94 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Importing a Selection of Images

You can also import a selection of images from your camera or card reader.

To import a selection of images:

1 Connect your camera or card reader to your computer.

The Import panel and Import dialog appear, showing the images on the camera or card.

2 In the Projects panel, do one of the following:

Â Choose File > New Project (or press Command-N) to create a new project.

Â Select an existing project to hold your images. (The Import arrow points at the

selected project.)

The top-left portion of the Import dialog updates, displaying where the images are being placed.

3 Select the images you want to import by Shift-clicking to select a range of adjacent

images, Command-clicking to select nonadjacent images, or dragging a selection rectangle around the images you want.

The current number of images selected for import is displayed on the Import button in the lower-right corner of the dialog.

Import button showing the number of images selected for import

To reset the image selection so that no images are selected, click in the background beside a thumbnail.

If necessary, adjust the size of the thumbnails by dragging the Thumbnail Resize slider at the bottom of the dialog.

Chapter 4 Importing Images 95

4 Choose a location for the imported images by doing one of the following:

Â To store imported master image files in the Aperture Library: Choose In the Aperture

Library from the Store Files pop-up menu.

Â To store imported master image files as referenced images in the Pictures folder on your

hard disk: Choose Pictures from the Store Files pop-up menu.

Â To store imported master image files as referenced images in a location other than the

Pictures folder: Choose “Choose” from the Store Files pop-up menu and select the

Import Them” on page 100.

5 Choose a naming convention from the Version Name pop-up menu to specify how you

want the images named.

For example, choose Master Filename from the Version Name pop-up menu to have your files stored using the current master filenames from your camera or card. Choose a name format from the Version Name pop-up menu to have your images stored using a specified name. If you choose a custom name format, enter the name you want in the Name Text field. You can also apply the name format to the master image as well. Choose Edit from the Version Name pop-up menu to define a new naming scheme. For more information about naming files, see “Automatically Naming Your Imported

Images” on page 105.

6 To add metadata to your images as they’re imported, choose a metadata preset from

the Add Metadata From pop-up menu. For more information about setting up and using metadata presets, see “Working with Metadata Views” on page 235.

7 When you are satisfied with your image selection, click the Import arrow or the Import

button in the lower-right corner of the dialog.

The import process begins and an indicator appears next to the project’s name, showing the progress of the import. When images are imported, a dialog appears.

8 Click Eject Card, Erase and Eject Card, or Done.

As the images appear in the Browser, you can begin working with them. Images may temporarily appear as gray boxes until the loading is complete.

96 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Importing Image Files Stored on Your Computer

You can import image files stored on your computer and other storage devices. You have a choice of storing imported images in the Aperture Library, importing images as referenced images and leaving them in their current locations, or importing images as referenced images and moving or copying them to a different location.

Note: If you have folders of images to import, you can import them using the Import Folders as Projects command. For more information, see “Importing Folders of Images

from the Finder” on page 111.

You can import image files in many common image formats, including images scanned from nondigital sources such as film and photographic prints. Adding these image files to your Aperture database is as simple as navigating to the folder where they reside on your hard disk using the Import dialog.

When you import images from a folder on your computer system, you have the choice of importing the images into a new project or an existing one.

To import image files stored on your computer’s hard disk or other storage device:

1 If the Import panel is hidden, click the Import Panel button in the toolbar to show it (or

press Shift-I).

2 Select the disk that holds the image files you want to import.

Import Panel button

Select the disk where the

images you want to

import are located.

The Import dialog appears with the file browser at the top.

Chapter 4 Importing Images 97

3 In the file browser, navigate to the folder containing the image files you want to import.

Select the folder of images you want to import.

When you have selected the folder containing the image files you want to import, image thumbnails appear in the Import dialog.

4 In the Projects panel, do one of the following:

Â Select Library to create a new, untitled project or choose File > New Project (or press

Command-N). (The Import arrow points at the Library.)

Â Select an existing project to hold your images. (The Import arrow points at the

selected project.)

The top-left portion of the Import dialog updates, displaying where the images are being placed.

5 Select the images you want to import by Shift-clicking to select a range of adjacent

images, Command-clicking to select nonadjacent images, or dragging a selection rectangle around the images you want.

98 Part I Interface and Acquisition

6 Choose a location for the imported images by doing one of the following:

Â To store imported master image files in the Aperture Library: Choose In the Aperture

Library from the Store Files pop-up menu.

Â To import the files as referenced images stored in their current locations on your hard

disk: Choose “In their current location” from the Store Files pop-up menu.

Â To store imported master image files as referenced images in the Pictures folder on your

hard disk: Choose Pictures from the Store Files pop-up menu.

Â To store imported master image files as referenced images in a location other than the

Pictures folder: Choose “Choose” from the Store Files pop-up menu and select the

Import Them” on page 100.

7 Choose a naming convention from the Version Name pop-up menu to specify how you

want the images named.

For example, choose Master Filename from the Version Name pop-up menu to have your files stored using the current master filenames from your camera or card. Choose a name format from the Version Name pop-up menu to have your images stored using a specified name. If you choose a custom name format, enter the name you want in the Name Text field. You can also apply the name format to the master image as well. Choose Edit from the Version Name pop-up menu to define a new naming scheme. For more information about naming files, see “Automatically Naming Your Imported

Images” on page 105.

8 To add metadata to your images as they’re imported, choose a metadata preset from

the Add Metadata From pop-up menu. For more information about setting up and using metadata presets, see “Working with Metadata Views” on page 235.

9 When you are satisfied with your image selection, click the Import arrow or the Import

button in the lower-right corner of the dialog.

As the images appear in the Browser, you can begin working with them.

Note: If the folder contains subfolders of images and you want those imported too, choose File > Import > Folders as Projects as described in “Importing Folders of Images

from the Finder” on page 111.

Chapter 4 Importing Images 99

Changing the Location of Images When You Import Them

When you import images stored on a hard disk, you can copy or move those images to a new location. You specify a new location for the moved or copied files by choosing a destination folder from the Store Files pop-up menu in the Import dialog.

Choose a folder destination for the files you are moving or copying using this pop-up menu.

You specify filenames used within Aperture by choosing a name format from the Version Name pop-up menu. You can also have Aperture change the Finder filename of images to the selected name format by selecting the “Apply to Master filenames” checkbox. Then an image will have the same filename in the Finder and in Aperture.

When you move or copy image files to a different location, you can have Aperture place them as individual files in the destination folder, or place them in subfolders within the destination folder. For example, a group of images might be copied into a destination folder with each image placed in a subfolder identified by a date. Or, each image might be placed in a hierarchy of subfolders organized by year, month, and day.

You choose the subfolder organization you want from the Subfolders pop-up menu. You can also specify your own custom folder organizations by choosing the Edit command.

Subfolders pop-up menu

100 Part I Interface and Acquisition

Apple APERTURE User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Introducing Aperture

What’s Next?

Part I: Interface and Acquisition

1 An Overview of Aperture

A First Look at Aperture

About Aperture Sample Projects

Creating Projects and Importing Your Photos

Creating Projects

Importing Images

Importing Files from Your Body of Work

Photo Editing with Aperture

Viewing and Working with Images in the Browser and Viewer

Working with Heads-Up Displays

Working with Inspectors

Rating Images with Aperture

Finding and Displaying Images with the Query HUD

Comparing Photos

Stacking Images

Assigning Keywords to Images

Grouping Images with Smart Albums

Image Processing

Distribution

Presenting Your Images in Slideshows

Reviewing Images in the Aperture Light Table

Publishing Your Images in Web Galleries and Web Journals

Printing Your Images in Books

Printing and Exporting Images

Backing Up Your Work

2 The Aperture Interface

The Aperture Main Window

Arranging the Interface

Projects Panel

Viewer and Browser

Control Bar

Toolbar

Adjustments Inspector

Metadata Inspector

Import Panel

Vaults Panel

Book Layout Editor

Webpage Editor

Web Gallery Controls

Web Journal Controls

Light Table

Heads-Up Displays

Adjustments HUD

Individual Adjustment Tool HUDs

Keywords HUD

Workspace Layouts

Customizing the Toolbar

Hiding and Showing the Toolbar

Customizing the Toolbar Buttons

Setting Aperture Preferences

3 Working with Aperture Projects

Basic Components of Aperture

What Are Digital Master Files?

What Are Versions?

What Are Projects?

What Are Albums?

What Are Folders?

What Is the Library?

What Are Managed Images and Referenced Images?

What Is a Vault?

Working with Projects

Organizing Your Projects

Using More Than One Album in a Project

Creating and Naming Projects

Opening and Closing Projects

Creating and Showing Favorite Projects

Deleting Images from Projects and Albums

Deleting Items from the Projects Panel

Working with Library Files

Adding Times and Dates to Aperture Album Names

Quickly Accessing Commands

4 Importing Images