HANDS-ON: Apple Aperture 3 | Features | Techie.com.ph
7:18 PM | Wednesday | 08 September 2010

When you're done mucking around in iPhoto with the other kids, it's time to get serious about photography and get a program like Aperture 3. In this version, Apple has created an intriguing mishmash of photo software. Aperture 3 has the photo-management powers of iPhoto, the RAW developing abilities of previous versions of Aperture, and some of the photo-editing prowess of Adobe's Photoshop. The result is a program that tries to be many things all at the same time. Mostly, Aperture 3 succeeds, but it's not without shortcomings.

There's a lot of impressive tech here, not least of which is 64-bit processing and optimization for Core 2 Duo-based Mac systems, which makes it perfect for Mac heads who want to squeeze every last bit out of their systems. Their main competitor has yet to release 64-bit processing, so first blood goes to Apple.

Managing your photos

Fire up Aperture 3 from your dock, and you'll be greeted by an interface that is strangely familiar. It's no wonder, too, as photo management is largely lifted from Apple's other photo software, iPhoto. Aperture 3 goes far deeper, of course, making iPhoto look like the kiddie version of Aperture.

Using iPhoto's photo management is a double-edged sword. For those who like the iTunes style of database management and the Apple aesthetic, Aperture 3's photo management will undoubtedly be a welcome addition. For others, it will be constricting just as iTunes has been both loved and hated. It really depends what kind of person you are.

iPhoto's Faces feature makes an appearance, and if you've tried it there, it's really not much different in Aperture 3. Faces recognizes the people in your photos and helps you to organize them by individual. In our experience, Faces actually works most of the time, though you'll have to train it to recognize your friends and family first. Other times, it never seems to get things right. My nephew Kevin, for example, is recommended for practically everyone in my photos. Could it just be that he looks like everyone?

Places allows you to organize your photos according to location. Many mobile phones and very few digital cameras have the ability to "geotag" photos according to GPS coordinates. It's a nifty little trick for your iPhone, but chances are, your digital SLR doesn't geotag your photos, so Places ceases to be of interest exactly when it's important. Oh well.

Page 2: Developing your RAW photos, editing your images, and conclusion