Apple announces Aperture software for pro photographers

Apple tries to woo pro photographers with Aperture

19 October 2005 18:26 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Apple also used today to introduce Aperture, what it is claiming is the the first all-in-one post production tool that provides everything photographers need after the shoot. Aimed to do the same for photographers as Final Cut Pro has done for movie makers, Aperture offers an advanced RAW workflow that makes working with a camera's RAW images as easy as JPEG.

Aperture features powerful compare and select tools, non-destructive image processing, colour-managed printing and custom web and book publishing.

Unique compare and select tools in Aperture allow photographers to easily sift through massive photo projects and quickly identify their final selections. Aperture is the first application that automatically groups sequences of photos into easy-to-manage Stacks based on the time interval between exposures.

In what Apple is claiming as an industry first, Aperture allows photographers to navigate through entire projects in a full-screen workspace that can be extended to span multiple displays, tiling multiple images side-by-side for a faster, easier compare and select. With Aperture's Loupe magnifying tool, portions of images can be examined in fine detail without having to zoom and pan across large files. In addition, a virtual Light Table provides the ideal canvas for building simple photo layouts, allowing them to be arranged, resized and piled together in a free-form space.

RAW images are maintained natively throughout Aperture without any intermediate conversion process, and can be retouched with stunning results using a suite of adjustment tools designed especially for photographers. Aperture's non-destructive image processing engine never alters a single pixel of original photos so photographers have the power and flexibility to modify or delete changes at any point in the workflow. As Aperture allows users to create multiple versions of a single image without duplicating files, photographers can experiment without risk of overwriting the master image or using up large amounts of hard drive space. Aperture images can also be launched directly into Adobe Photoshop for compositing and layer effects.

Aperture features a complete colour-managed pipeline with support for device specific ColorSync profiles and a set of high-quality output tools for photographers to showcase their work. Print options include customizable contact sheets, high-quality local printing and color-managed online prints. Aperture provides a deceptively simple layout environment where photographers can quickly create and order custom professional-caliber books and publish stunning web galleries. Aperture makes it easy to back up an entire library of images with a single click and streamline complex workflows with AppleScript(R) and Automator actions.

The software will cost £349 in the UK and $499 in the US.