Apple Aperture 2.1.1
by Apple
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Software Reviews of Apple Aperture 2.1.1
Customer Review: Aperture 2 is twice as good as version 1.5
Summary: 5 Stars
Apple Aperture 2.1.1
I was wondering if I should give Apple more of my money after being disappointed with Aperture 1.5 and after looking at the alternative, Adobe Lightroom, I decided to download the trial version of Aperture 2 from Apple and give it one last chance before I bought something else and I am glad I did.
Aperture has streamlined some of the more frequently used features to make it easier to do minor edits without spending a lot of time messing about in different menus. More importantly, they made Aperture FAST.
I have two Macintosh computers: a late 2008 iMac with 2.4 Ghz C2D, 1 TB HDD, 4 GB of ram, and an early C2D 1.83 Macbook with 250 GB HDD and 2 GB of ram.
The iMac is flawless as you would expect and even the Macbook is pretty swift with this setup.
I bought it here on Amazon and saved $60 over getting it direct from Apple.
If you do RAW image editing, and you are more than a casual photographer, I heartily recommend Aperture 2.
( Otherwise use iPhoto )
Customer Review: Good but not great
Summary: 3 Stars
I have been using Adobe Lightroom for about 2 years and recently switched from a PC to a Mac. When I made the switch I debated changing from lightroom to Aperture and decided on going with Aperture partly because of how well Apple integrated it in with all their other programs.
After using it for a month now I've come to really appreciate a few of its features, but all in all I'd stick with Lightroom. If you need to design photo albums Aperture has a great feature for doing that, it is pretty easy to learn and being able to use photoshop plug-ins is really a time saver. On the down side I really hate the file handling and not being able to nest folders in other folders.
I ended up switching back to Lightroom for everything but designing albums. While their editing capabilities are very similar I've found you have a little more control in LIghtroom and it is easier to use for importing (and putting files where you want them to be).
At the end of the day, unless you like to design photo books I would stick to Lightroom.
Customer Review: powerful, but don't get in a hurry
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a powerful program. There are so many ways to adjust pictures and bring out all the detail of RAW shots. The ones I have edited in Aperture are definitely better than in iPhoto. Before you go hog wild and download all your photos into Aperture from iphoto, take some time to read the instructions online and think about how you want your photos organized. If you are coming over from iPhoto this isn't a slam dunk. You will have to learn how the projects, folders and albums all work with each other. The built in keywords were annoying to me because they didn't fit my photography or my organization scheme. Working with sets of keywords getting a little used to. Some of the features seem like they should be obvious, but are not. The LOOP feature isn't as friendly as the old slider to magnify shots. Some of the little icons are almost impossible to see and figure out what they do. I think it will be awesome once I get used to it and learn all about it. If you like using keystroke shortcuts, you'll have lots to play with here. I didn't have a steep learning curve with iPhoto. It came quick and easy. It's going to take longer with Aperture for sure.
Oh yeah, I upgraded the RAM on my 20" late 2007 iMac to 3 GB from 1. It helped the program run faster. I recommend doing this.
Customer Review: LOVE LOVE LOVE Aperture
Summary: 5 Stars
I use a Canon XSi, and Aperture converts RAW images so easily. I use Aperture 2 on a PowerBook G4, 1.67Ghz, 2 GB RAM; it's slow at times esp. with exports; but it works great. I can do other things in Aperture while is exports. I've never used Lightroom, but I have no need for it. I only have Photoshop CS2 (this computer does not run CS3 well at all); so I must convert RAW to DNG before I can use Photoshop. Aperture does that for me. Look into some plug-ins for exporting to Flickr/facebook etc, as that will speed up the process; and even for DNG conversion if you want/need to use Photoshop and Camera Raw doesn't support your camera. But Aperture supports more than Camera Raw anyway. I love the Vault feature, and I have my Aperture Library backed up on a few drives - it's easy and thoughtless with Aperture. I'm not a pro, just a serious hobbyist.Customer Review: Slow, stalls out, not PhotoShop
Summary: 1 Stars
After a long time using Photo Shop on my MacBook Pro, I was persuaded to buy and try Aperture 2. After a week of using this product, I have encountered numerous problems, including: It stalls out for no apparent reason when cloning; It is incredibly slow. Also, it has locked up several times to the point that I had to restart my computer to clear the problem.
Stick with Photo Shop. Aperture 2 does not measure up.