Aperture (photography software)

Infobox Software
name = Aperture



caption = Aperture, demonstrating the loupe tool.
developer = Apple Inc.
latest_release_version = 2.1.1
latest_release_date = July 28 2008
operating_system = Mac OS X
genre = Photo Post-Production
license = Proprietary
website = [http://www.apple.com/aperture/ www.apple.com/aperture]

Aperture is a software program for Mac OS X announced by Apple Inc. at a New York media event on October 19, 2005, designed to assist professional photographers in post-production work. It became available in November 2005.

Features

*Complete RAW support from camera to output
*Master image files (RAW or otherwise) may be kept in place on import or migrated into the Aperture library
*RAW Fine Tune, allowing version of RAW decode to be managed over time and conversion parameters adjusted
*Many image adjustment tools including specific color retouching, a luminance based edge sharpener, and spot repair
*Project management, with extensive metadata and searching support
*Autostacking, a way to group photos based on the time between shutter clicks
*Stacks (for grouping photos) and Versions (for making multiple working copies of the same image)
*Multiple display spanning
*Loupe, allowing viewing of images at zooms from 50% to 1600%
*Light Table, a type of freeform workspace
*Native support of the Adobe Photoshop PSD format
*Nondestructive image editing
*Customizable printing and publishing
*Supports importing from Compact Flash I, II and Microdrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, SmartMedia, and xD Picture cards
*Ability to simultaneously zoom and pan multiple images
*Reading and input of IPTC metadata

Aperture 2.0

Aperture 2.0 was released on February 12, 2008 with a reduced US price of $199 [ [http://www.apple.com/aperture Apple's site] ] . This can be compared with the $499 price tag of version 1.0 [ [http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/aperture.ars Review at Ars Technica] ] . Apple claims more than 100 new features are included in version 2.0 and cites the main enhancements [ [http://www.apple.com/aperture/features Apple's feature list] ] as follows.

*Streamlined interface.
*Enhanced performance due to database optimizations and interface improvements.
*Enhanced image processing with updated RAW support.
*Improved integration with Mac OS X, MobileMe and various software packages including iLife '08 and iWork '08.
*Support for editing plug-ins, including Apple's own dodging and burning tool (Aperture 2.1)

Version history

* Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.0, released 20 March 2008.

ee also

*Adobe Bridge
*Adobe Lightroom
*BlueMarine
*Bibble
*Photo Mechanic

References

External links

* [http://www.apple.com/aperture/ Apple - Aperture]