Aperture 3.
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Contents 17 17 18 20 23 23 24 24 25 26 27 27 27 29 29 29 Chapter 1: Aperture Basics 31 31 31 33 33 34 36 36 37 37 38 39 39 39 40 41 43 43 43 43 44 44 44 44 45 Chapter 2: Working with the Aperture Library What Is Aperture? Aperture Workflow Overview Aperture Interface Overview Basic Components of Aperture An Overview of the Basic Components of Aperture What Are Originals? What Are Versions? What Are Projects? What Are Albums? What Are Folders? What Is the Library? What Are Managed Images and Reference
5 47 Organizing Projects in Projects View Working with the Info HUD in Projects View 49 49 50 50 52 55 59 59 59 59 60 61 62 63 63 64 65 65 66 67 67 67 68 69 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 Chapter 3: Importing Photos 76 76 78 78 78 79 81 81 82 83 85 86 86 86 87 87 Chapter 4: Working with Photos in the Browser An Overview of Importing Photos File Formats You Can Import into the Library Planning Your Import Strategy Importing from Your Digital Camera or Card Reader Importing Files Stored on Your Computer or Con
88 89 90 91 92 93 94 94 95 96 96 96 97 97 98 98 99 100 100 101 102 Changing the Size and Magnification of the Loupe Displaying a Pixel Grid and Color Values Using the Alternate Loupe Searching for Photos in the Browser Rearranging and Sorting Photos in the Browser Rotating Photos Creating Versions of a Photo Deleting Photos from the Browser Dragging Photos into Different Projects and Albums Renaming Original Image Files Working with Referenced Images An Overview of Referenced Images Identifying Referenced
122 122 124 124 127 128 128 131 Chapter 6: Viewing Photos in Full Screen View An Overview of Full Screen View Entering and Exiting Full Screen View Working in Viewer Mode in Full Screen View Working in Browser Mode in Full Screen View Working in Projects Mode in Full Screen View Using HUDs in Full Screen View Changing the Display of Metadata in Full Screen View 132 Chapter 7: Stacking Photos and Making Picks 132 An Overview of Stacking Photos 133 Creating Stacks 135 Working with Stacks 135 Opening and C
165 Removing Keywords from a Photo 166 Exporting and Importing Keyword Lists 167 167 169 171 171 173 174 178 181 182 182 183 184 185 186 186 187 187 188 189 191 191 192 193 Chapter 10: Working with Metadata 194 194 196 198 200 201 Chapter 11: Organizing Photos with Faces 203 203 205 211 212 214 215 216 217 218 220 Chapter 12: Locating and Organizing Photos with Places An Overview of Working with Metadata Showing the Info Inspector Displaying Metadata with Your Photos An Overview of Metadata Overlay
228 229 230 231 Automatically Transferring Photos Between Aperture and Photo Stream Manually Transferring Photos Between Aperture and Photo Stream About Enabling Photo Stream on More Than One Mac About Uploading RAW files to Photo Stream 232 232 232 234 238 238 239 240 241 243 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 255 Chapter 14: Searching for and Displaying Photos 257 257 258 260 260 261 261 262 Chapter 15: Grouping Photos with Smart Albums 263 263 265 265 269 269 270 270 271 272
274 275 275 275 276 277 278 279 281 281 282 282 282 283 283 283 284 285 286 288 289 289 290 291 293 294 295 295 296 297 297 297 298 299 Applying the Same Adjustment to an Image Multiple Times Working with Effects An Overview of Effects Creating Effects Applying Effects Removing Adjustments from an Effect Renaming Effects Organizing Effects Deleting Effects Sharing Effects Restoring the Default Effects Working with Adjustments Applied in iOS Devices Removing Adjustments Using Modifier Keys to Identify Color
311 312 313 315 317 317 318 319 319 319 320 320 320 321 322 322 322 324 325 326 327 329 330 330 330 332 334 334 335 335 336 337 338 338 338 339 340 341 342 343 343 347 348 348 349 350 351 355 358 359 360 An Overview of the Spot & Patch Adjustment Spotting Your Images Patching Your Images Adjusting the Size of Spot & Patch Target Overlays Adjusting the Softness Within Spot & Patch Target Overlays Adjusting the Opacity Within Spot & Patch Target Overlays Adjusting the Detail Within Spot & Patch Target Overla
360 361 361 361 363 363 364 364 365 366 366 368 370 370 371 371 372 372 373 373 373 374 377 378 379 380 381 381 381 383 383 384 Adjusting the Tonal Curve of the Blue Color Channel Working with the Highlights & Shadows Controls An Overview of the Highlights & Shadows Adjustment Adjusting Highlights, Shadows, and Midtone Contrast Upgrading Images Previously Adjusted with Highlights & Shadows Adjustment Controls Working with the Original Highlights & Shadows Adjustment Controls Working with the Levels Control
413 414 415 416 417 Working with the Vibrancy Quick Brush Controls Working with the Blur Quick Brush Controls Working with the Sharpen Quick Brush Controls Working with the Halo Reduction Quick Brush Controls Working with the Noise Reduction Quick Brush Controls 419 419 420 422 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 429 430 Chapter 19: Printing Your Photos 431 431 432 433 434 435 436 436 436 437 437 438 440 442 442 443 445 448 448 449 450 Chapter 20: Exporting Your Photos An Overview of Printing Working wi
456 457 457 458 459 461 462 463 463 463 463 463 464 465 465 466 466 467 468 468 468 469 469 470 471 472 472 473 474 475 475 476 479 480 481 482 483 483 Creating Slideshow Presets Modifying Slideshow Presets Using Slideshow Presets to Play Slideshows with Music Workflow for Creating a Multimedia Slideshow Presentation Creating Slideshow Albums Changing a Slideshow’s Theme About Editing Slideshow Transitions and Applying Effects Modifying Settings Applied to the Entire Slideshow An Overview of Modifying the
491 Working with Web Journal Pages 491 Adding, Arranging, and Deleting Web Journal Photos and Text 492 Adding Web Journal Pages 492 Choosing a Header Style for a Web Journal Page 492 Deleting Pages from a Web Journal 493 Reordering Pages in a Web Journal 493 Exporting Webpages as HTML Files 494 Working with Web Export Presets 494 Viewing the Settings for a Web Export Preset 494 Creating Web Export Presets 495 Modifying Web Export Presets 496 Deleting Web Export Presets 496 Adding Watermarks to Webpage Photo
522 522 522 523 523 524 524 525 525 526 526 530 530 530 531 532 532 532 532 532 533 533 534 534 535 535 536 536 537 537 538 Rebuilding a Book Working with Photos Adding Photo Boxes to a Book Page Changing How a Photo Fills a Photo Box Changing the Aspect Ratio of a Photo Box Arranging Photos on the Page Copying, Pasting, Cutting, and Removing Photos from Photo Boxes Stacking Photo Boxes in a Specific Order Removing Photo Boxes Changing the Look of Photos with Filters Adding Map Boxes to a Book Page Working
555 555 556 556 Reconnecting a Vault’s Hard Disk Drive to Your System Deleting a Vault Permanently Restoring Your Aperture System Repairing and Rebuilding Your Aperture Library 558 558 560 560 561 561 562 563 564 565 565 566 566 567 568 568 568 569 570 570 571 572 572 573 574 574 575 Chapter 27: Customizing the Aperture Workspace 577 Glossary Changing Main Window Layouts Setting Aperture Preferences An Overview of Aperture Preferences Opening Aperture Preferences General Preferences Appearance Prefer
Aperture Basics 1 What Is Aperture? Aperture is a powerful, easy-to-use digital photo management system for organizing, adjusting, archiving, and presenting high-quality photographic images. In Aperture, you can: •• Work directly with your iPhoto library without having to import your iPhoto photos. •• Import digital photos, audio files, and HD video files from cameras, card readers, and hard disk drives in high-quality formats such as JPEG, TIFF, and RAW.
•• Automatically back up copies of your image files to designated storage areas, called vaults, located on external hard disks. •• Print or publish your photos and albums in any of numerous formats and to multiple locations. Working directly with RAW photos, you can create color-accurate prints, custom contact sheets, and unique bound books. •• Share your photos electronically, publishing them to Facebook, Flickr, and iCloud Photo Stream.
Adjusting Your Images You can enhance your photos using a set of powerful, nondestructive adjustments such as Crop, Straighten, Exposure, White Balance, Levels, Curves, Highlights & Shadows, Vignette, and more. In addition, you can use brushes to apply or remove adjustments selectively, affecting only certain parts of an image.
Aperture Interface Overview Here are the main areas of the Aperture window: Toolbar: Perform common tasks and select a workspace view. Inspectors: Access the library, view photo information, and adjust photos. Chapter 1 Aperture Basics Browser: View thumbnails of photos in the item selected in the Library inspector. Viewer: View the photo or photos selected in the Browser.
Organizing Photos Using the Library Inspector All your imported photos are available in the Library inspector, one of three inspectors in the Inspector pane on the left side of the Aperture main window. The Library inspector holds containers—projects, folders, and albums—you can use to organize your photos. Projects Folders Albums The Library inspector also provides a number of ways to view items in the library.
The Browser layout displays a grid of thumbnail images. Layout buttons: Click a button to select a main window layout. Browser layout: The Browser fills the workspace and displays a grid of thumbnail images. When you double-click a thumbnail image in the Browser (or click the Viewer button in the toolbar), Aperture switches to the Viewer layout, displaying the selected photo in a larger format. You can use the Viewer to examine a photo at full size or compare multiple photos side by side.
To display the Viewer and Browser at the same time, click the Split View button at the right side of the toolbar. Split View layout: The Viewer and Browser appear together. Displaying Photos in Full Screen View You can also view your photos in Full Screen view, dramatically projecting them onto a solid background for detailed adjustments and comparisons. Full Screen view offers different display layouts that let you view large-format versions of selected photos, view thumbnails, or view photos by project.
•• Versions: Files derived from the originals and used to display your photos with any changes you’ve made, including image adjustments or changes to metadata. •• Projects: The basic containers used in Aperture to organize photos. Projects can hold versions, folders, and albums. •• Albums: Containers that hold versions. You can create albums to organize photos within projects or outside of them. •• Folders: Containers used to organize projects and albums.
In many cases, your workflow may call for different renderings of the same photo. 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 photo in Aperture.
You can have multiple projects open at the same time, each represented by its own icon in the Library inspector and tab in the Browser. For more information, see Working with Two or More Browsers Open on page 86. What Are Albums? An album is a container in the Aperture library used to group photo versions. You use albums to organize photos in the library, making your selections of versions easier to manage. You can create albums at the library level or within a project.
What Are Folders? In Aperture, you use folders to organize projects and albums. For example, you can import photos into projects and then place the projects in folders based on photo type or location. If you shoot multiple projects for the same client, you can create a folder that holds the client’s projects. These folders organize projects based on type. Folders contain only albums, projects, and other folders. They don’t contain originals or versions.
Images whose originals are stored in the Aperture library are called managed images. Managed images are always accessible and are easily backed up to vaults, to name just two benefits. Imported photos whose originals haven’t been placed in the library are called referenced images. Using referenced images provides a number of substantial benefits to your photography workflow. For example, you can incorporate your existing portfolio of photos into Aperture without changing the current location of the files.
What Is the Aperture Trash? All items deleted in Aperture, including projects, albums, folders, versions, and originals, are placed in the Aperture Trash in the Library inspector. You can retrieve any item from the Aperture Trash until you empty it. For more information, see Working with the Aperture Trash on page 38. What Is a Vault? To ensure that you have backup copies of your photos, you create a vault to hold the backup files. A vault is a container that holds an exact copy of the library.
To open Aperture for the first time 1 In the Applications folder in the Finder, double-click the Aperture icon. The Welcome to Aperture screen appears. 2 Do one of the following: •• To update your iPhoto library and begin working with it in Aperture: Click the Update iPhoto button. After iPhoto is updated to version 9.3, open your iPhoto library so that it is upgraded to version 9.3 as well. When the upgrade is complete, close iPhoto and open Aperture.
Working with the Aperture Library 2 Organizing Items in the Library Inspector An Overview of the Library Inspector The Library inspector provides access to items tracked by the Aperture library, such as projects and albums, and different views of the contents of the library. For example, you can select Faces in the Library inspector to view your photos grouped by the people in them, or Places to view your photos grouped by where they were taken.
You can select items at the top of the Library inspector to view the contents of your library organized in different ways. •• Projects: Select this item to have all the projects in the library appear in Projects view in place of the Browser and Viewer. Each project is represented by a single thumbnail. You can position the pointer over a project thumbnail and drag to quickly skim the photos in the project.
•• Flagged: Select this item to see all the photos, video clips, and audio clips in the library that have been flagged. The thumbnails for all flagged media appear in the Browser. Select a thumbnail in the Browser to view it or listen to it in the Viewer. •• Photo Stream: Select this item to see all the photos that have been uploaded to Photo Stream from your iOS 5 devices and your Aperture library. The thumbnails for all Photo Stream images appear in the Browser.
•• Choose Project from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar. Choose Project from the New pop-up menu. 2 In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the project in the Project Name field. 3 Do either of the following: •• To move the photo selection into a new project: Select the “Move selected items to new project” checkbox. •• To create a new, empty project: Do not select the “Move selected items to new project” checkbox. 4 Click OK. The new project appears in the Library inspector.
To open an item in the Library inspector mm Select the item in the Library inspector. Select a project to view its photos in the Browser. All photos in the project appear in the Browser. To open additional items in the Browser, each with its own tab mm Command-Option-click an item in the Library inspector. The newly opened item appears in the Browser with its own tab, in front of any other open items. To open another item in its own pane mm Option-click an item in the Library inspector.
2 Click the tab’s close button. Close button in a tab Arranging Items in the Library Inspector Typically, you create a new Aperture project for each photography 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.
To make a project, a folder, or an album a favorite mm In the Library inspector, select a project, folder, or album, then choose Add to Favorites from the Library Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). To view a favorite project, folder, or album mm In the Library inspector, choose Favorite Items from the search field pop-up menu at the top-left corner. Only the items in the library that have been chosen as favorites are shown. All other items in the Library inspector are removed from view.
To merge projects 1 In the Library inspector, select the projects you want to merge by Shift-clicking adjacent projects or Command-clicking nonadjacent projects. 2 Choose File > Merge Projects. A dialog appears, indicating which project the selected projects will be merged into. 3 Click Merge. The content in the selected projects is merged into the topmost selected project in the Library inspector.
•• Choose Aperture > Empty Aperture Trash (or press Command-Shift-Delete). •• Control-click the Aperture Trash, then choose Empty Aperture Trash from the shortcut menu. A dialog appears, warning you that the items will be removed from the Aperture Trash permanently. 2 Click Delete. WARNING: This action cannot be undone, but you can retrieve the originals from the Finder Trash until you empty it.
2 In the dialog that appears, click Create New. 3 In the next dialog, enter a name for the library in the Save As field, choose a location, then click Create. Aperture creates the new library in the location you chose. To open the new library, see Viewing Other Libraries on page 40. Viewing Other Libraries When you have multiple Aperture and iPhoto library files accessible to your Aperture system, you can switch between them and view their contents.
To choose which library to use while opening Aperture 1 Hold down the Option key while opening Aperture. A dialog appears, with options for selecting an existing library or creating a new one. 2 Do one of the following: •• To open an Aperture library file shown in the dialog: Select the library file, then click Choose. •• To open an Aperture library file not shown in the dialog: Click the Other Library button, locate the library file in the dialog that appears, then click Select.
Aperture consolidates the selected items into a library, and the library file is exported to the location you chose. 5 Connect or network the two computers together, and copy the exported library file to the second computer. For more information, see the documentation that came with the computers. 6 Open Aperture on the second computer, then choose File > Switch to Library > [library filename]. You can now work with the exported library from the first computer on the second computer.
Working in Projects View Switching to Projects View Projects view provides a convenient space for organizing and quickly viewing your projects. To switch to Projects view mm In the Library inspector, select Projects. Previewing the Photos in a Project in Projects View If you’re looking for a specific group of photos, you can quickly skim the photos within a project. To quickly preview the photos in a project Do one of the following: mm Slowly drag the pointer horizontally across the project’s thumbnail.
The selected project is moved to the Aperture Trash. For more information about the Aperture Trash, see Working with the Aperture Trash on page 38. Importing Files into a Project in Projects View You can import files into a project selected in Projects view. To import files into a project Do one of the following: mm Select a project’s thumbnail, then choose File > Import > Files (or press Command-I). mm Control-click a project, then choose Import > Files from the shortcut menu.
Playing a Slideshow of a Project’s Photos You can select a project and play a slideshow to review the photos within it. To play a slideshow of a project’s photos 1 Do one of the following: •• Select a project’s thumbnail, then choose File > Play Slideshow (or press Shift-S). •• Control-click a project, then choose Play Slideshow from the shortcut menu. 2 In the Play Slideshow dialog, choose a preset from the Slideshow Preset pop-up menu, then click Start.
To set Projects view to show a single year or a single folder of projects When projects are grouped by year or by folder, you can set Projects view to show the projects for a single year or folder only. 1 In Projects view, group the projects by year or by folder. For example, if you group projects by year, the number of projects and photos created in that year are displayed in the top-right corner of that year’s row.
To merge projects in Projects view 1 In Projects view, select the project or group of projects that you want to merge with another project. 2 Drag the selected project or projects into the project that you want to contain the other project or projects. Working with the Info HUD in Projects View In Projects view, you use the Info HUD to navigate through the projects in the library, set the key photo for a project, and assign location information to photos within a project.
2 In the Info HUD, slowly skim through the photos in the project by dragging the pointer over the project’s thumbnail image. 3 When you locate the photo you’re looking for, click the “Click to make key photo” button at the bottom of the thumbnail. Click to set this photo as the key photo. The selected photo is set as the key photo to represent the project. To enter descriptive information about a project 1 Select the project for which you want to add or change descriptive information.
3 Importing Photos An Overview of Importing Photos Aperture provides tools and workflow options that make it easy to import your photos. You can import photos directly from your digital camera or card reader, and import photos stored on your computer hard disk or other storage devices. You can also import audio and video files. You no longer have to import photos individually from your iPhoto library into Aperture.
As you import photos, you can set Aperture to automatically name and record information about them. Aperture can assign filenames using custom naming conventions; record metadata such as captions, keywords, dates, copyright and credit information, and IPTC information; and adjust the time when the photo was shot to the correct time zone. If the photo has an XMP sidecar file, Aperture imports it as well and adds the metadata to the image version.
•• Make trial imports of a small group of photos directly from your digital camera or card reader. Learn about import features, such as automatic filenaming and the application of metadata presets. For information about importing from your digital camera or card reader, see Importing from Your Digital Camera or Card Reader on page 52. •• Plan how you want to import your legacy digital photos.
When you import photos, Aperture automatically checks to see if any of the photos are duplicates of previously imported photos. Aperture checks the filename of the original to determine if a photo is a duplicate of one in the library. Select the “Do not import duplicates” checkbox to prevent Aperture from importing duplicates. If this checkbox is unselected, Aperture imports all photos, even if they are duplicates, and creates a new original with a different name for each duplicate.
Note: If iPhoto opens when you connect your camera or card reader, quit iPhoto. Then, in Aperture, choose Aperture > Preferences and click Import. Choose Aperture from the “When a camera is connected, open” pop-up menu. Disconnect and reconnect your camera to have Aperture open the Import browser.
•• If you want to import the photos into an existing project: Select the project in the Library inspector. The project selected in the Library inspector appears here. Selected project in the Library inspector The selected project appears in the Destination pop-up menu. 3 Choose a location to store the original image files by doing one of the following: •• To store imported originals in the Aperture library: Choose “In the Aperture Library” from the Store Files pop-up menu.
5 Do one of the following: Check All button Uncheck All button •• To import all photos from the camera or card reader: Click the Check All button. The checkboxes for all the photos in the Import browser are selected. •• To import a subset of photos from the camera or card reader: Click the Uncheck All button to clear the checkboxes for all photos, then select the checkboxes for the photos you want to import.
Note: If you have folders of photos to import, you can import them using the Import Folders as Projects command in the File menu. For more information, see Importing Folders of Files from the Finder on page 68. You can import image files in many common image formats, including images scanned from nondigital sources such as film and photographic prints. You can also import any QuickTimecompatible audio or video file.
•• If you want to import the files into a new, empty project: Choose New Project from the Destination pop-up menu to create a new project, then enter a name for the project in the Project Name field. Project Name field •• If you want to import files into an existing project: Select the project in the Library inspector. The project selected in the Library inspector appears here. Selected project in the Library inspector The selected project appears in the Destination pop-up menu.
•• To import a subset of files from the selected folder: Click the Uncheck All button to clear the checkboxes for all photos, then select the checkboxes for the photos you want to import. Note: You can double-click a thumbnail image to see a larger version of the photo if you want to verify its contents before importing it.
Adding Import Options An Overview of Import Options In the Import browser, you can add additional import options to refine how files are brought into Aperture. You add controls for additional import settings by choosing an option from the Import Settings pop-up menu. After you modify the import settings, you can remove them from view by deselecting the option in the Import Settings pop-up menu.
When you import originals as referenced images, you can’t rename the originals if you leave them in their original locations. However, when you import originals as referenced images and move them to a new hard disk location, you can rename them at that time. Note: If you back up your files on import, the copied files are also renamed. For more information about backing up your files on import, see Automatically Backing Up Your Imported Files on page 62.
The most conservative filenaming conventions provide the most cross-platform compatibility. This means that your filenames will work in different operating systems, such as OS X and other UNIX-based operating systems, and Windows. You also need to consider filenaming when you transfer files over the Internet, where you can never be certain what computer platform your files may be stored on, even if temporarily.
To create a custom name format 1 In the Import browser, choose Rename Files from the Import Settings pop-up menu, then choose Edit from the Version Name pop-up menu. The File Naming dialog appears. 2 Click the Add (+) button to create a new name format, or select the preset name format you want to change. 3 Drag the name elements you want into the Format field in the order you want them. You can also add valid characters or spaces between the name elements.
To back up your original files during import 1 In the Import browser, choose Backup Location from the Import Settings pop-up menu. The Backup Location controls appear in the Import browser. 2 Do one of the following: •• To back up your files to the Documents folder: Choose Documents from the Backup To pop-up menu. •• To back up your files to a new location: Choose “Choose” from the Backup To pop-up menu, then select a location from the dialog that appears.
The Metadata Presets controls appear in the Import browser. 2 Do one of the following: •• To show the metadata fields for a metadata preset: Choose a metadata preset from the Metadata pop-up menu. •• If you don’t want to modify the metadata of the files during import: Choose None from the Metadata pop-up menu. •• To create a new metadata preset: Choose Edit from the Metadata pop-up menu, then create a new metadata preset using the Metadata dialog.
Filtering Files by Type During Import Some digital cameras allow you to add audio attachments to your photos. For example, some cameras allow you to record audio annotations for a photo after you shoot it. The camera attaches the audio file to the image file so that you can review the audio when you download the photo. When you connect a digital camera or card reader or point to a folder with photos on your computer, Aperture recognizes any photo that has an audio attachment.
The RAW + JPEG Pairs controls appear in the Import browser. 2 Choose an option from the Import pop-up menu: •• To import both the RAW and the JPEG image files and set the JPEG file in each pair as the original: Choose “Both (JPEG as Original).” •• To import both the RAW and the JPEG image files and set the RAW file in each pair as the original: Choose “Both (RAW as Original).” •• To import the RAW and JPEG image files as separate originals: Choose “Both (Separate Originals).
Resetting Your Import Settings The import settings you set in the Import browser remain in effect from import session to import session, regardless of whether or not they are shown. However, you can quickly reset the import settings to their defaults. To reset the import settings to their defaults mm In the Import browser, choose Reset to Defaults from the Import Settings pop-up menu.
Note: For a list of cameras that Aperture supports for tethered shooting, go to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4176. See your camera’s manual for information about setting up your camera for tethered shooting. To use tethered shooting, you first connect your camera to the computer using a USB or FireWire cable. You then select a project for the photos to be stored in.
•• To store imported originals as referenced images in the Pictures folder on your hard disk: Choose Pictures from the Store Files pop-up menu, then choose whether you want the files moved or copied to the Pictures folder by clicking the “Move files” or “Copy files” button. •• To store imported originals as referenced images in a location other than the Pictures folder: Choose “Choose” from the Store Files pop-up menu and select a folder.
•• Image Year •• Image Month •• Image Day •• Image Date •• Image Time •• Index Number (1, 2, 3, and so on) •• Custom Name •• Counter (001, 002, 003, and so on) •• Current Date •• Current Time •• Current Year •• Current Month •• Current Day •• Folder Name •• Project Name You can also create a hierarchy of folders within folders.
Your new folder name format now appears in the Subfolders pop-up menu. To reset the starting number of a counter in a folder name format When using a counter in your folder name format, you can specify the starting number and the number of digits, from one to six, that appear in the counter. When you use a folder name format with a counter, reset the initial starting number.
You can preview the selected audio file by clicking the Play button. Audio file Attach button Play button The audio attachment is added to the photo, and the audio file’s thumbnail disappears from the Browser. A badge appears on the lower-right portion of the photo, indicating that an audio file is attached. For more information about playing audio attachments, see Viewing and Changing Metadata in the Info Inspector and Inspector HUD on page 178.
To maintain the image integrity of the existing photos in your Aperture library, Aperture allows you to retain the original processing of your photos from previous versions, selectively process images using the new Aperture image processing, or create duplicate versions of each original image file with Aperture image processing applied. However, some adjustments and brushed adjustments are not available unless the selected photo uses Aperture 3 image processing.
3 In the dialog that appears, select the appropriate reprocessing criteria, then click the Reprocess Photos button. All photos in the selected project or album are reprocessed using Aperture 3 image processing. To reprocess every photo in the library If you like, you can reprocess all the photos in the library at once. However, this process may take a long time for large libraries. 1 In the Library inspector, select the Photos item. Photos item 2 Choose Photos > Reprocess Originals.
2 In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose RAW Fine Tuning from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu. 3 In the RAW Fine Tuning controls, click the Reprocess button. Note: If the Reprocess button does not appear in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, the photo has already been reprocessed using Aperture 3 image processing. The photo is reprocessed using Aperture 3 image processing.
Working with Photos in the Browser 4 An Overview of the Browser After a shoot, you may need to sort through hundreds or even thousands of photos in a project. Aperture provides efficient methods for increasing your productivity when working with large numbers of photos. The Browser provides the principal environment for viewing, selecting, and working with photos.
When you select filmstrip view, the Browser changes to a single row of photos that you can select and navigate through, and selected photos appear in the Viewer. Viewer Browser in filmstrip view Grid view organizes thumbnails of your photos in a grid pattern. Use grid view when it’s easiest to identify your photos by sight and work with thumbnails as you organize, stack, or assign keywords to photos. List view displays a list of your photos with associated file information.
If you make a mistake while editing, in most cases you can choose the Undo command to immediately cancel your last action. In fact, you can choose the Undo command multiple times to undo your last series of actions. Aperture places deleted originals in the Aperture Trash. If you discover a deletion you did not intend to make, and the Undo command cannot recover the deletion, you can still recover the original from the Aperture Trash until the Trash is emptied.
You can select photos in the following ways. Task Action Select a single photo •• •• Select a range of photos •• •• •• •• •• Click the photo. Press the arrow keys to navigate to the photo. Select the first photo, then choose Edit > Select to End (or press Shift-End) to extend the selection to the last photo in the Browser. Select the last photo in a range, then choose Edit > Select to Beginning (or press Shift-Home) to extend the selection to the first photo in the Browser.
Likewise, when you select a photo in the Viewer, Aperture first displays a preview photo as it reads the larger original on disk. It then displays the full original once the image is decoded. This process of displaying the previews and then the originals can be nearly instantaneous, or, depending on the size of your originals, there can be a short delay in the final display. For more information about creating and working with previews, see An Overview of Preview Images on page 115.
Working with Browser Views Working with Photos in Filmstrip View Filmstrip view is the default view for the Browser. You can use filmstrip view in combination with the Viewer to quickly scroll from photo to photo, making changes and comparing photos. For example, you can select several photos in a row, group them in a stack, apply ratings, and compare them side by side in the Viewer.
Working with Photos in Grid View Grid view displays the photos in your selection in the Library inspector as a grid of thumbnails in the Browser. You can use grid view when you want to review large thumbnail photos quickly. Setting the Aperture main window to show the Browser by itself provides the maximum amount of space to dedicate to viewing thumbnails. You may want to adjust the size of the thumbnails to a size convenient for selecting and working with them.
To lighten or darken the background of the Browser Depending on your work preferences, you may want to lighten or darken the background that your thumbnails appear against in the Browser. The darker the background, the less it interferes with the colors in your photo. It’s a good idea to set the background to a dark color when performing color adjustments to your photo. You can darken the background from shades of gray all the way to black, or lighten it from gray to white.
5 If necessary, rearrange the order in which the metadata columns are displayed by dragging the metadata items up or down in the Display Order column. The order of metadata selections in the Display Order column from top to bottom corresponds to the order of columns in the Browser in list view from left to right. Moving an item up in the Display Order column moves the metadata column to the left in list view. “Badges” is moved and will appear after “Keywords.
mm Click the category column heading in the Browser. Photos in list view sorted by date To enlarge the thumbnail icons in list view When you work in list view, it may sometimes be difficult to determine the content of a photo based on the file information. You can enlarge the thumbnail icons that appear in list view to give you a better look at the photos. mm Drag the Thumbnail Resize slider to increase or decrease the size of the icons.
To swap the position of the Browser and the Viewer mm Choose View > Browser > Swap Position (or press Option-W). Working with Two or More Browsers Open You can work with two items in the Library inspector open at once, splitting the Browser into a separate pane for each item. Project tab When you select an item in the Library inspector and then Option-click a second item, Aperture splits the Browser into two panes and shows thumbnails for both items.
The Loupe appears. Loupe Loupe pop-up menu To hide the Loupe Do one of the following: mm Choose View > Hide Loupe, or press the Grave Accent (`) key. mm Click the Loupe button in the toolbar. Moving the Loupe You can move the Loupe by dragging it to different locations over a photo. To move the Loupe Do one of the following: mm Drag the Loupe’s handle. mm Drag within the Loupe. A circle appears that targets the area to be magnified.
To use the pointer to magnify parts of a photo mm Choose Focus on Cursor from the Loupe pop-up menu. Choose Focus on Cursor from the pop-up menu. To turn off this feature, choose Focus on Loupe from the Loupe pop-up menu. Changing the Size and Magnification of the Loupe You can change the size of the Loupe and increase or decrease its magnification level. To increase the size of the Loupe Do one of the following: mm Choose View > Loupe Options > Increase Diameter, or press Shift–Option–Plus Sign (+).
Displaying a Pixel Grid and Color Values You can have the Loupe display a photo as a grid that shows the actual pixel composition of the photo, allowing you to see the individual pixel values at high magnification (400 percent or higher). You can also set the Loupe to display readings of the color values of the photo, showing the RGB (%), RGB (8-bit), Lab, CMYK, HSB, or HSL values chosen for the Color meter.
Using the Alternate Loupe You can also use an alternate Loupe to examine parts of a photo. You position the small ring of the alternate Loupe over the portion of the photo you want to see, and the large ring shows a magnified view. Depending on the details in the photo, you can change the size of the alternate Loupe and increase or decrease its magnification level. It’s useful for making quick checks for dust specks, flaws, fingerprints, or other issues.
Searching for Photos in the Browser When you have more photos than the Browser can display at one time, you can use the search field to locate photos. Enter the search criteria in the search field, and Aperture finds the photo or photos for you, removing all others from view. Filter HUD button Search field When you search for photos in the Browser, the search is confined to the selection in the Library inspector.
To set the Browser to show all photos 1 In the Library inspector, select an item. 2 In the Browser, choose Show All from the search field pop-up menu. All photos, including rejects, appear in the Browser, and Showing All appears in the Browser’s search field. To set the Browser to show rejected photos only 1 In the Library inspector, select an item. 2 In the Browser, choose Rejected from the search field pop-up menu.
You can also change the order of photos in the Browser based on photo properties such as filename, file size, date, color label, rating, and more. For example, when displaying photos by filename, Aperture places the photos in alphabetical order. You might also order the photos by date or time. You choose the sort property from the Sorting pop-up menu in grid view, list view, and filmstrip view. Choose the sort property and direction from the Sorting pop-up menu.
To rotate a group of selected photos Do one of the following: mm Select a group of photos, then choose Photos > Rotate Counterclockwise (or press Command-[), or choose Photos > Rotate Clockwise (or press Command-]). mm Select a group of photos, then click the Rotate tool in the tool strip. Tip: To rotate the photos clockwise, hold down the Option key while clicking photos with the Rotate tool. Creating Versions of a Photo Occasionally, you may want to make a second version of a photo.
The deleted version is moved to the Aperture Trash. For more information, see Working with the Aperture Trash on page 38. To delete an original When a photo is represented in the Browser by a single version, you can select the version and delete it, and the corresponding original is deleted as well. 1 Select a version. 2 Choose File > Delete Version (or press Command-Delete). The original and its version are moved to the Aperture Trash. For more information, see Working with the Aperture Trash on page 38.
To move a photo into a different project mm Drag the photo into another project in the Library inspector. To copy a photo into a different project mm Option-drag the photo into another project in the Library inspector. You can also drag photos out of Smart Albums. If you drag a photo from a Smart Album into another album, the version is copied to the new location. If you drag a photo into a project different from the project that contains the Smart Album, Aperture moves the photo to the destination project.
When you move a referenced image between projects on your Aperture system, the referenced original remains in its original location on your hard disk. When you delete a referenced original from Aperture, you can specify whether the photo’s version is placed in the Aperture Trash. When you empty the Aperture Trash, the link to the original image file is deleted, and the original image file remains in its current location in the Finder.
The Referenced Files In Selection dialog appears. This column shows the names of hard disks where referenced originals are located. This column identifies the hard disk location of the referenced originals. The specific photo and metadata to help you identify the file are displayed here. These columns identify how many originals for referenced images are on the hard disk, and how many are not found.
If a photo is offline or modified in some way that makes it unrecognizable as the original referenced image, you can still select it and Aperture can reconnect the original for the specific photo. To reconnect an offline referenced image 1 Reconnect the hard disk holding the referenced image’s original, or otherwise locate or make the file available to Aperture for reconnecting. 2 Select the project that contains the offline photo you want to reconnect, or select the offline photo in the Browser.
To move originals for referenced images to a new location 1 In the Browser, select the referenced images whose originals you want to move. 2 Choose File > Relocate Originals. 3 Choose a folder location in the dialog that appears. 4 Choose None 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 a hierarchy of subfolders with specific folder names to store your files.
4 Deselect any checkboxes that aren’t part of your query, and choose the search criteria from the “File status” pop-up menu. Select the “File status” checkbox and choose the file status you want to search for. 5 Choose Any from the Any/All pop-up menu, if it’s not already chosen. The photos that match the search criteria are displayed in the Browser. Working with Stacks in the Browser The primary place you work with stacks is in the Browser. A stack appears in the Browser as a group of photos.
Displaying Specific Metadata with Your Photos To help identify photos as you work, you can set Aperture to display the metadata associated with photos. You do this by specifying metadata settings in the Browser & Viewer Metadata dialog. For example, you can set Aperture to display keywords, IPTC information, or EXIF information with photos in grid view. You can also configure two views of information to be displayed with photos and quickly switch between views.
mm Choose View > Metadata Display, then choose Show Metadata from the Browser section of the submenu (or press U). mm Choose Show Metadata from the Browser section of the Browser & Viewer Metadata Overlays pop-up menu in the tool strip. To switch between views of metadata information in the Browser Do one of the following: mm Choose View > Metadata Display, > then choose Switch to [view name] from the Browser section of the submenu (or press Shift-U).
Displaying Photos in the Viewer 5 An Overview of the Viewer The Viewer displays a detailed view of the photo or photos selected in the Browser. You can view one photo in incredible detail or view several photos at a time. You use the Viewer to make adjustments, closely compare similar photos, and inspect photos at full resolution. If you use a dual-display system, you can set the Viewer to show your photos on both screens to provide stunning, full-detail views.
When rating or adjusting photos, you can set the Viewer to compare two photos at once. You select a photo to compare against and then display other similar or related photos next to it for inspection. You might use the Aperture comparison feature to select photos from a series or compare versions of adjusted images to see which is best. You can use the Viewer to compare two photos. Depending on the size of your display and Viewer, photos may be displayed at a reduced size to fit in the Viewer.
You can also set metadata options that determine the amount of information that appears with each photo. For example, you can display photos in the Viewer with their keywords and other information, such as IPTC or EXIF metadata. Customizing the Viewer Display You can hide the Browser when necessary and work only in the Viewer. You can also quickly hide the Viewer to provide more room for the Browser, and show the Viewer again when needed.
Comparing Photos You can select a photo against which to compare other photos in your project or in the library. The selected photo remains on the screen as you select and display other photos to compare against it. The comparison feature is useful for making final selections of the best photos in a series or comparing two versions of a photo for correct exposure or highlights. When comparing photos, you can apply ratings and keywords and make adjustments to selected photos.
Viewing Stacks To work efficiently with photos in stacks, you can set the Viewer to automatically open a selected stack and set up the stacked photos for comparison. The pick of the stack is set as the compare photo. This stack-viewing feature also works in Full Screen view. To set the Viewer to automatically open and compare the photos in stacks mm Choose View > Main Viewer > Stack (or press Option-T). For more information about using stacks, see An Overview of Stacking Photos on page 132.
mm Drag the white rectangle that appears on the photo. mm Hold down the Space bar and drag the photo. To incrementally zoom in to and out of a photo Do one of the following: mm Click the left and right arrows in the Zoom value slider below the white rectangle to zoom in to and out of the photo by single percentage increments. mm Drag in the Zoom value slider below the white rectangle to quickly zoom in to and out of the photo.
2 In the Browser, select either an audio or a video clip. This icon indicates a video clip. 3 In the Viewer, do one of the following: •• If you selected an audio clip: Audio controls with the audio clip’s filename appear in the Viewer. Click the Play button to listen to the audio clip, and use the playhead to navigate forward and backward. Play button Trim button Playhead •• If you selected a video clip: The video clip appears in the Viewer.
4 Drag the Start point to the beginning of the audio you plan to use, and drag the End point to the position where you want the audio to end. Drag the Start and End points to trim the audio. The Trim button turns yellow, indicating that the length of the audio clip has changed. 5 When you are satisfied with the length of the audio clip, click the Trim button. The audio clip is trimmed.
Tip: If you want to use more than one part of the video clip, choose Photos > New Version from Original (or press Option-G) for each additional part of the clip you plan to use, and repeat the steps above. To set the poster frame for the video clip’s thumbnail in the Browser 1 Select the video clip in the Browser. 2 Move the pointer over the lower portion of the video in the Viewer to show the video controls, then drag the playhead to the frame of video you want to set as the poster frame.
Viewing Photos on Multiple Displays Using the additional screen space of a second display provides an excellent platform for viewing and performing image adjustments, playing slideshows, and presenting your full-color, full-size photos to clients. When your system uses two displays, Aperture provides two Viewers in which you can view multiple photos. These Viewers are called the Main Viewer and the Secondary Viewer.
To change the clipping overlays display color You can choose to view the hot and cold overlays in color or monochrome. 1 Choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-Comma (,). 2 In the Preferences window, click Advanced. 3 Choose either Color or Monochrome from the “Clipping overlay” pop-up menu. To adjust the hot area display threshold You can adjust the threshold or sensitivity of the hot area overlays. By default, the threshold is set to 100%.
Working with Preview Images An Overview of Preview Images Aperture allows you to create and use JPEG previews of versions in the library. Preview images improve the display of photos in Aperture and allow you to easily use your photos in other applications. These preview images are used to speed up the display of photos in the Viewer, in the Browser, and in Full Screen view. Previews are JPEG images generated by Aperture that represent the original photo with any applied adjustments.
The Previews pane appears. For more information about the Previews pane, see Previews Preferences on page 565. Controlling Previews with the Library Action Pop-Up Menu You turn automatic preview maintenance on or off on a project-by-project basis. To have Aperture automatically update previews in a single project only 1 In the Library inspector, select the projects whose photos you want to maintain previews for. 2 Choose Maintain Previews For Project from the Library Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon).
To delete JPEG previews for a photo selection In the Browser, you can select one or more photos and either delete or update the JPEG previews. 1 In the Browser, select a photo or group of photos whose JPEG previews you want to delete. 2 Choose Photos > Delete Previews. To update JPEG previews for a photo selection 1 In the Browser, select a photo or group of photos whose JPEG previews you want to update. 2 Choose Photos > Update Previews from the shortcut menu.
If you encounter performance issues, you can check the Activity window to see if Aperture is doing work in the background (choose Window > Show Activity). If you think that preview processing may be degrading performance, you can turn off automatic preview maintenance for that project and cancel the preview processing task underway. You can then generate the previews at a more convenient time. Determining Which Versions Have Previews There isn’t a badge indicating if a version has a preview.
Note: If you have canceled a preview maintenance operation, the previews are not updated until another change is made to the photo. To force Aperture to update the preview for a photo, see Controlling Previews with Shortcut Menus on page 116. The next time you open Aperture, automatic preview maintenance resumes. While Aperture is open it renders preview images in the background; however, there may be times when you want to stop this operation.
Sample Workflows for Using Previews Effectively There are several methods for using preview images efficiently and effectively: •• Generate previews for projects you intend to keep offline: A JPEG preview is displayed when a referenced image’s original is offline or cannot be found. This makes previews a great way of maintaining high picture quality while conserving the disk space that originals (especially RAW files) require.
When the previews are built, you can open any of the iLife and iWork applications and use your Aperture photos. To generate previews for Smart Albums 1 Create a Smart Album and specify criteria for it using the Smart Album’s Smart Settings HUD. 2 Click in the Browser, then press Command-A to select all the photos. 3 Choose Photos > Update Previews. Note: Previews for Smart Albums are not automatically maintained—automatic preview maintenance is a project-level setting only.
Viewing Photos in Full Screen View 6 An Overview of Full Screen View Full Screen view shows your photos against a black background for detailed viewing using every inch of the display. Using a dual-display system in Full Screen view gives you an enlarged space in which to compare and adjust images. You can view, compare, and stack your photos in Full Screen view. You can also apply adjustments and keywords.
For more information about Viewer mode, see Working in Viewer Mode in Full Screen View on page 124. •• Browser mode is similar to the working layout you see when the Browser is set to grid view in the Aperture main window. The search field and Filter HUD are accessible for filtering photos, and the Library Path Navigator pop-up menus provide access to all the items in the Library inspector. For more information about Browser mode, see Working in Browser Mode in Full Screen View on page 127.
Entering and Exiting Full Screen View You can quickly switch between Full Screen view and your workspace layout in the Aperture main window. To enter Full Screen view mm Click the Full Screen button at the top-right corner of the Aperture main window (or press F). The Aperture main window disappears, and your photos appear in Full Screen view. To exit Full Screen view Do one of the following: mm Click the Exit Full Screen button in the Full Screen view toolbar (or press F). mm Press Esc (Escape).
To show and move the filmstrip The filmstrip includes a control that lets you define when the filmstrip appears. You can choose to always show the filmstrip, so that Aperture automatically fits the photos and filmstrip on your screen without overlapping, or you can hide it, so that it appears only when you place the pointer over the area where it is docked. You can also move the filmstrip to the left, bottom, or right side of your main display.
To set the filmstrip to filter photos By default, the filmstrip is set to show photos that are unrated or better. Any photos that have been assigned the Reject rating are automatically removed from view. To view rejected photos, you must set the filmstrip to show all photos. You can also filter the photos shown in the filmstrip by criteria other than ratings. For example, you can filter photos by whether they’ve been flagged or assigned a color label.
Working in Browser Mode in Full Screen View You can set Full Screen view to switch between Viewer mode and Browser mode. Browser mode displays thumbnail images in a grid over a black background with minimal color interference. As in the Browser in the main Aperture workspace, the search field and Filter HUD are accessible for filtering photos. When Full Screen view is set to Browser mode, the toolbar remains accessible at the top of the screen but the filmstrip disappears.
Working in Projects Mode in Full Screen View When you want to view your projects using as much screen space as possible and with a minimum of color interference, you can set Full Screen view to Projects mode. To set Full Screen view to Projects mode 1 If Aperture is not already in Full Screen view, enter it by pressing F. 2 Press V to set Full Screen view to Browser mode. 3 Click the Projects button in the top-left corner of the screen. Full Screen view switches from Browser mode to Projects mode.
•• Tool HUDS: Use any of the adjustment tools that work in conjunction with HUDs. HUDs are available for use in Full Screen view and can make adjusting photos easier. To show or hide the Keywords HUD Do one of the following: mm Click the Keywords HUD button in the toolbar. Use the Keywords HUD in Full Screen view to quickly add keywords to your photos. mm Press Shift-H. For more information about using the Keywords HUD, see An Overview of Keywords on page 148.
mm Click the Inspector HUD button in the toolbar. Use the Inspector HUD in Full Screen view to open the Library pane, Info pane, or Adjustments pane when working with photos. mm Press H. To temporarily hide the Inspector HUD while making an adjustment You can temporarily hide the Inspector HUD while performing an image adjustment, so that you have an unobstructed view of your photo. mm Hold down the Shift key while dragging a slider in the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD.
Changing the Display of Metadata in Full Screen View The metadata display settings you choose for the Viewer and Browser also apply to photos displayed in Full Screen view and in its filmstrip. The settings for the Viewer control the display of metadata for full-screen photos, and the settings for the Browser control the display of metadata for thumbnails in the filmstrip. For more information about setting the display of metadata, see An Overview of Working with Metadata on page 167.
Stacking Photos and Making Picks 7 An Overview of Stacking Photos To capture a specific moment in time, such as a bride and groom kissing or a student soccer player kicking the winning goal, a photographer may shoot multiple photos, using both bracketing and continuous shooting, to increase the odds of capturing a usable photo. After shooting the series, the photographer reviews the images and picks the best photo of the group.
After creating a stack and selecting the pick, you can close the stack by clicking the Stack button on the pick photo. When a stack is closed, only the stack’s pick photo appears in the Browser. Clicking the Stack button again expands the stack. Only the pick photo is shown when the stack is closed. By closing stacks, you quickly reduce the number of photos you have to visually sort through when selecting photos in the final photo edit. After creating stacks, you can organize and change them as needed.
•• Version stacks: You can also have Aperture automatically group new versions of the same photo as you create them. To automatically stack photos 1 In the Library inspector, select a project or an album that contains the photos you want to stack. 2 Choose Stacks > Auto-Stack (or press Command-Option-A). 3 In the Auto-Stack Images HUD, drag the slider to specify the maximum interval for successive shots in a stack. Move the slider to indicate the maximum interval for successive shots.
The selected photos are now stacked and appear linked in gray. The Stack button appears as an overlay on the top-left portion of the current pick photo in the Browser. You can change the pick photo and rearrange the order of the photos in the stack as you wish. To unstack a selection of photos mm After creating a stack, choose Edit > Undo, or select a photo in the stack and choose Stacks > Unstack (or press Command-Shift-K).
mm Drag the photo you want into the pick (or leftmost) position in the stack. When you see a green bar appear, release the mouse button. Designating an Album Pick for a Stack The same stack may appear in several albums. Depending on the purpose of the album, you may want a different pick photo for each album. For example, a stack in a webpage album may have one pick photo, and the same stack in a book album may have a different pick photo adjusted for printing.
To remove a photo from a stack Do one of the following: mm Select the photo, then choose Stacks > Extract Item (or press Shift-Option-K). mm Drag the photo out of an expanded stack. Splitting Stacks You can split a stack into multiple stacks to refine the organization of your photos. All photos remain stacked, but they are now part of new stacks. The photo selected as the splitting point becomes the pick for the new stack.
Comparing Photos in Stacks To help with the photo editing process, you can set the Viewer and Browser to automatically open a selected stack and set up the stacked photos for comparison. The pick of the stack is set as the “compare” photo. This stack-viewing feature also works in Full Screen view. To set the Viewer to automatically open and compare the photos in stacks mm Choose View > Main Viewer > Stack (or press Option-T).
Working with Stacks in List View If you prefer, you can create and work with stacks in list view. You can select photos to stack, select a pick, add and remove photos, and split stacks, just as you can in filmstrip view and grid view. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the pick photo to view the photos within the stack. In list view, a stack is identified by a disclosure triangle beside the name of the pick photo.
8 Rating Photos An Overview of the Aperture Rating System Rating photos is a quick and easy way to narrow down the number of photos you intend to work with. It can also help you locate your best photos later. After finishing a shoot, photographers typically review their photos and determine which ones are worth working with.
The process of rating a photo can be as easy as selecting a photo and clicking a rating button in the Info inspector. Click a rating button to assign and change photo ratings. You can also use keyboard shortcuts to quickly assign or change ratings. You can select and rate multiple photos at once. You can review and rate photos in the Viewer, Browser, and Light Table, as well as in Full Screen view. When you’ve finished rating photos, Aperture allows you to sort photos according to their ratings.
To rate an individual photo using the rating buttons in the Info inspector 1 Select a photo. 2 In the Info inspector or the Info pane of the Inspector HUD, click a rating button. Click a rating button to assign and change photo ratings. Note: As long as the photo is selected, you can change its rating. To rate an individual photo using the rating buttons in the control bar 1 Select a photo. 2 To show the control bar, choose Window > Show Control Bar (or press D).
2 Click a rating button in the control bar, or press the keyboard shortcut for a rating. The rating you assign is displayed on all the selected photos. Sorting Photos by Rating After you’ve rated your photos, you can sort photos according to a specific rating. For example, after an initial rating pass, you can choose to show only those photos rated Select, with five stars. You can then closely inspect and further refine your selection or begin making image adjustments.
2 Select the Rating checkbox. Make sure this checkbox is selected, then choose an option from the pop-up menu. Set the slider to a rating. 3 Choose an option from the Rating pop-up menu. •• To show photos with a specific rating only: Choose “is.” •• To show photos with a specific rating or better: Choose “is greater than or equal to.” •• To show photos with a specific rating or worse: Choose “is less than or equal to.” 4 Drag the Rating slider to specify a rating.
3 To hide all unrated photos, show the Filter HUD and specify a rating that is greater than or equal to one star as search criteria. Only photos with a rating of one star or better remain visible in the Browser. 4 In the next rating pass, assign a rating of two stars to any photos that are better than one star. 5 Change the search criteria in the Filter HUD to show only those photos that are rated two stars or better.
Comparing and Rating Photos For those really tough decisions, Aperture allows you to compare and rate a Select photo against close alternates. This is particularly useful when you are trying to choose a photo from a small group of similarly composed photos. For example, choosing the best photo from a series of head shots can be difficult. Even in head shots captured within a short time span, the facial expressions of the subject can change ever so slightly.
5 Rate the alternate photo by doing one of the following: •• To assign the Select rating: Press Backslash (\). •• To increase the photo’s rating: Press Equal Sign (=). •• To decrease the photo’s rating: Press Hyphen (-). •• To assign the Reject rating: Press 9. The rating appears as an overlay on the alternate photo. 6 Navigate to the next alternate by pressing the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key or by clicking the Move Selection Left or Move Selection Right button in the control bar.
Applying Keywords to Photos 9 An Overview of Keywords Keywords are descriptive words assigned to photo versions and saved as metadata. For example, a family portrait may include such keywords as Portrait, Family, Father, Mother, Daughter, Husband, Wife, Park, Client, Select, Purchased, and more. Adding keywords to your photos helps you organize your photos and quickly locate specific photos.
If you sell your photos to image libraries, you can export the keywords assigned to your photos as IPTC data. During export, Aperture embeds your keywords individually in the image file as IPTC-compliant keyword fields. The more keywords you apply to your photos, the more likely it is that your photos will be located by potential customers. For more information, see An Overview of Exporting Photos on page 431.
•• Using the Info inspector Metadata View pop-up menu Add keywords here. Displaying Keywords in the Viewer and Browser You can turn on the display of photo keywords in the Viewer and Browser using metadata overlay views. Your keywords are displayed in overlays that appear across the bottom of the photo or below the photo. However, you must choose a metadata view that includes keywords, such as General or Caption & Keywords.
To view a photo’s keywords using the Info inspector 1 Show the Info inspector by doing one of the following: •• Choose Window > Show Inspector (or press I), then click the Info tab. •• Click the Inspector button in the toolbar, then click the Info tab. 2 Choose a metadata view that includes keywords, such as General or Caption & Keywords, from the Metadata View pop-up menu. 3 In the Browser, select a photo to see its keywords.
Viewing Keywords in the Browser in List View When the Browser is set to list view, Aperture can display a column that shows the keywords assigned to photos. To view keywords in the Keywords column of the Browser 1 To set the Browser to list view, click the List View button (or press Control-L). The Browser switches to list view. 2 Choose View > Metadata Display > Customize (or press Command-J). The Browser & Viewer Metadata dialog appears. 3 Select a list view option from the View pop-up menu.
•• Choose Window > Show Keywords HUD (or press Shift-H). •• Click the Keywords button in the toolbar. The Keywords HUD appears. 2 Do one of the following: •• If the Browser is in filmstrip view or grid view: Drag a keyword from the Keywords HUD to a photo or selected photos in the Viewer or Browser. Drag a keyword from the Keywords HUD... •• ...to a photo. If the Browser is in list view: Drag a keyword from the Keywords HUD to a photo selection in the Browser list.
To locate a keyword using the Keywords HUD 1 To show the Keywords HUD, do one of the following: •• Choose Window > Show Keywords HUD (or press Shift-H). •• Click the Keywords button in the toolbar. The Keywords HUD appears. 2 Do one of the following: •• To browse for a keyword: Scroll up and down to review the keywords, and click the disclosure triangles to reveal the keywords in each keyword group. Click the disclosure triangle next to a keyword group to display all the keywords in it.
A new, untitled keyword appears in the keyword list. A new, untitled keyword appears in the keyword list. Click the Add Keyword button to add a new keyword. 3 Type a name for the new keyword, then press Return. The new keyword is added to the keyword library. The new keyword is added to the keyword library and is sorted alphabetically. To add keywords to a keyword group 1 In the Keywords HUD, select the keyword group to which you want to add a keyword.
To create a new keyword group with keywords in it 1 In the Keywords HUD, click the Add Keyword button, then type a name for the new keyword group. 2 With the new keyword group name selected, click the Add Subordinate Keyword button, type a keyword, then press Return. The keyword you just added becomes the first keyword in the new group. 3 To add another keyword to the new group, click the Add Subordinate Keyword button, type a keyword, then press Return.
Modifying Existing Keywords in the Keywords HUD When entering a large group of keywords in the Keywords HUD, it’s not uncommon to make spelling mistakes. It’s easy to modify existing keywords to fix the mistakes. To modify an existing keyword in the Keywords HUD 1 In the Keywords HUD, double-click the keyword you want to change. The selected keyword is highlighted, and you can edit it. 2 Enter the correction, then press Return.
•• Add Keyword field: Type a new keyword in this field and press Return to add it to a selected photo. If the keyword has been used before, Aperture automatically completes the word as you type it. If the Keywords HUD is locked, you are asked whether you want to unlock the Keywords HUD and add the keyword to the keyword library, or not add the keyword to the photo. To remove a keyword you’ve just applied, type the keyword again and press ShiftReturn.
•• Press Option and a number key from 1 to 8 to assign one of the first eight keywords. •• Click a keyword button in the control bar. To remove a preset keyword from a photo 1 Select the photo with the preset keyword you want to remove. 2 In the control bar, select a keyword preset group from the Keyword Preset Group pop-up menu. 3 Do one of the following: •• Choose Metadata > Remove Keyword, then choose the keyword you want to remove from the submenu.
The Edit Button Sets dialog appears. The Name column on the left lists the keyword preset groups that already exist. When you select a keyword preset group in this column, the keywords included in the group appear in the center Contents column. You add or remove keywords by adding them to or removing them from the Contents column. The Keywords Library column provides a list of the existing keywords in your keyword library. You can drag keywords from this list into the Contents column.
4 Drag keywords from the Keywords Library column to the Contents column. Add Keyword button If you wish, you can select multiple keywords and drag them to the Contents column at the same time. Hold down the Shift key while pressing the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key to select several keywords, Shift-click to select adjacent keywords, or Command-click to select nonadjacent keywords.
To lift all the keywords from a photo and stamp them onto another photo or group of photos 1 Select a photo. 2 Select the Lift tool (or press O). Lift tool in the tool strip Stamp tool in the tool strip The Lift & Stamp HUD appears. All information for the selected image appears here. All the photo’s metadata, such as applied adjustments, rating, and keywords, appears in the Lift & Stamp HUD. 3 Deselect all checkboxes except for Keywords, or select items in the HUD and press Delete to remove them.
1 Select a photo. 2 Select the Lift tool (or press O). Lift tool in the tool strip Stamp tool in the tool strip The Lift & Stamp HUD appears. 3 In the Lift & Stamp HUD, deselect all image information checkboxes except for Keywords. 4 Click the Keywords disclosure triangle to reveal the keywords from the selected photo. 5 Remove any keywords you don’t want to stamp onto a photo or group of photos by selecting each unwanted keyword in the list and pressing the Delete key.
You can also lift RAW Fine Tuning parameter values from one RAW image and stamp them onto another. RAW Fine Tuning adjustments are included in lift and stamp operations by default. If you don’t want to lift and stamp RAW Fine Tuning adjustments, you must deselect them in the Lift & Stamp HUD. For more information about lifting and stamping adjustments, see Applying Adjustments to a Group of Images on page 272.
All keywords assigned to the photo appear in the Keywords field. Metadata View pop-up menu 4 To add a keyword, type a keyword in the Keywords field. Note: All keywords must be separated by commas (,). Applying Keywords to Photos in the Light Table You can use the Light Table to arrange your photo selection in a freeform manner. After arranging your photos into groups, you can apply keywords to a group of photos at once.
3 In the Keywords field, select and delete any keywords you want removed from the photo. To remove an individual keyword from a group of photos using keyword controls in the control bar 1 Select the group of photos. 2 Do one of the following: •• In the control bar, type the keyword you want to remove in the Add Keyword field, then press Shift-Return. •• If the keyword is a keyword preset, Shift-click the keyword button in the control bar. The keyword is removed from the selected photos.
Working with Metadata 10 An Overview of Working with Metadata Information about your photos, including the types of adjustments applied, information recorded by the camera, and descriptive information about the photos, is called metadata. In Aperture, you work with three types of metadata. The first type of metadata is called Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) data.
You can display different combinations of metadata with your photos in the Viewer and the Browser, as well as in Full Screen view. Aperture provides metadata overlay views, which represent specific combinations of information that you can display as overlays on or just below each photo. For example, you can choose a basic view that shows a photo’s version name and caption.
When you position the pointer over a photo, Aperture can display information about it in a text box called a metadata tooltip. You can turn the display of metadata tooltips on or off using the Metadata Overlays pop-up menu in the tool strip. You can choose a metadata view to specify the combination of metadata that appears in metadata tooltips using the Browser & Viewer Metadata dialog.
mm Click the Inspector button in the toolbar, then click the Info tab. Choose a metadata view from the Metadata View pop-up menu. Apply and edit metadata presets, manage custom fields, and attach audio files to images using the Metadata Action pop-up menu.
To show the Info pane of the Inspector HUD mm Choose Window > Show Inspector HUD (or press H), then click Info. Choose a metadata view from the Metadata View pop-up menu. Apply and edit metadata presets, manage custom fields, and attach audio files to images using the Metadata Action pop-up menu.
You use the Browser & Viewer Metadata dialog to specify the metadata fields to display in the basic and expanded metadata overlay views for both the Viewer and Browser, as well as the metadata that appears in metadata tooltips. You can choose to display a wide variety of EXIF and IPTC metadata fields. In addition, you can add Aperture-specific metadata fields, such as rating and version name, as well as photo usage information, such as whether a photo has been emailed or ordered via Apple’s print service.
Turning the Display of Metadata On or Off You can turn the display of metadata on and off and switch between metadata overlay views in the Viewer and Browser independently using menu commands or the Metadata Overlays pop-up menu in the tool strip. Metadata Overlays pop-up menu To hide or show metadata in the Viewer Do one of the following: mm Choose View > Metadata Display, then choose Show Metadata from the Viewer section of the submenu (or press Y).
Note: Switching to the expanded view increases the number of columns displayed in list view. To switch to the basic metadata overlay view in the Browser in filmstrip view, grid view, and list view Do one of the following: mm Choose View > Metadata Display, then choose Switch to Basic View from the Browser section of the submenu (or press Shift-U). mm In the tool strip, choose Switch to Basic View from the Browser section of the Metadata Overlays pop-up menu.
•• Choose View > Metadata Display > Customize (or press Command-J). •• In the tool strip, choose Edit from the Metadata Overlays pop-up menu. The Browser & Viewer Metadata dialog appears. 2 Choose the metadata overlay view you want to modify from the View pop-up menu.
2 Choose Metadata Tooltips from the View pop-up menu. Choose Metadata Tooltips from the View pop-up menu. 3 In the Metadata Fields column, do any of the following: •• To add EXIF information, such as exposure and aperture settings: Click the EXIF disclosure triangle, then select the checkboxes next to the metadata fields you want to add to the metadata tooltip.
mm To display the metadata overlay directly beneath the photo: In the area below the Display Order column of the Browser & Viewer Metadata dialog, select the “Show metadata below image” checkbox. To turn the display of metadata labels on or off You can use the Browser & Viewer Metadata dialog to specify that a metadata overlay view show metadata with labels. Labels provide the names of the metadata fields and help identify the types of metadata being displayed.
Viewing and Changing Metadata in the Info Inspector and Inspector HUD You can view or change the metadata for a selected photo in the Info inspector and the Info pane of the Inspector HUD. The selected photo’s metadata appears in text fields. You can change the metadata fields shown in the Info inspector and the Info pane of the Inspector HUD by choosing a different metadata view from the Metadata View pop-up menu.
The top portion of the Info inspector and the Info pane of the Inspector HUD displays basic camera information about a photo, if it’s available. This area is called the Camera Info pane. If a video clip is selected, the Camera Info pane displays the length of the video clip, frame size, and number of frames per second. If an audio clip is selected, the Camera Info pane displays the length of the audio clip, the bit rate, and the type of audio file.
3 To change the metadata in a text field that can be edited, click in the text field to make it active, then enter the text you want. To change the metadata for a photo 1 Select a photo. 2 In the Metadata View pop-up menu, choose a metadata view that contains the metadata fields you want to change. 3 Click in a text field to make it active, then enter the text you want. Note: Not all metadata fields can be edited. Most EXIF metadata fields cannot be changed.
To view the sharing status of a photo If you’ve shared photos with your Flickr and Facebook accounts, you can view the status of a photo using the Info inspector. If you downloaded the photo from one of your Flickr or Facebook accounts, the Info inspector displays which account the photo was downloaded from. If you published the photo from Aperture to one of your accounts online, the Info inspector displays the specific Facebook album or Flickr set the photo was published to and when it was published.
To set up autofill entries in the AutoFill Editor 1 Choose Metadata > Edit AutoFill List. Remove button Add button 2 To edit the list, do one of the following: •• To add an entry: Select the metadata type you want to add, click the Add (+) button, and enter the text you want. •• To change an entry: Click the disclosure triangle for a metadata type to display its entries, then double-click the entry you want to change and type the new text.
Metadata view Information displayed Caption & Keywords Version name, caption, and keywords Caption & Credits Version name, creator, provider, caption, and copyright notice Contact Sheet Version name, caption, label, ISO, focal length, exposure bias, aperture, and shutter speed File Info Version name, filename, file size, pixel size, color model, date, and badges Photo Info Version name, date, camera model, lens, ISO, focal length, focal length (35mm), exposure bias, aperture, shutter speed, flash
3 In the Metadata Views dialog, choose New View from the Metadata Views Action pop-up menu. Metadata Views Action pop-up menu A new, untitled metadata view appears in the Metadata Views column of the Metadata Views dialog. 4 Enter a name for the new metadata view, then press Return.
•• To add IPTC information, such as copyright information and keywords: Click the IPTC disclosure triangle, then select the checkboxes next to the metadata fields you want to add to the metadata view. •• To add Aperture information, such as version name and color label: Click the Aperture disclosure triangle, then select the checkboxes next to the metadata fields you want to add to the metadata view.
Working with Metadata Presets Creating Metadata Presets You can create your own preset combinations of metadata that you can save and then apply to your photos as needed. You create a preset by selecting a version that has metadata applied to it and saving the metadata as a preset. You can also select a version with no metadata applied to it, add the metadata you want to apply to the version, and then save the information as a metadata preset.
The changes to the metadata preset are saved. If you want, you can rearrange the order of metadata presets in the Append with Preset and Replace with Preset submenus of the Metadata Action pop-up menu. You can also rename and delete metadata presets. For more information, see Managing Metadata Presets on page 187.
To export a metadata preset 1 In the Info inspector or the Info pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Manage Presets from the Metadata Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). 2 In the Metadata dialog, select the metadata preset that you want to export, then choose Export from the Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon) in the bottom-left corner of the dialog. 3 Choose a location to store the metadata preset information, then click Export.
2 In the Batch Change dialog, choose the metadata preset you want from the Add Metadata From pop-up menu. Choose the metadata preset you want from this pop-up menu. Click Append or Replace. 3 Click Append to add the preset’s metadata to the photos, maintaining any currently associated metadata, or click Replace to add the preset’s metadata to the photos and remove any other associated metadata. 4 Enter any additional metadata you want applied in the metadata fields.
Here are some examples of common character limits for IPTC fields. IPTC field and character limit Description and example Caption (2000 characters) A long-form description of the subject and related information in a natural-language caption Example: Mayor Alvarado addresses a crowd at the first soccer match of the season.
Understanding Badge Overlays Working with Badge Overlays When you apply adjustments, keywords, or other changes to a photo, Aperture marks the photo with a badge overlay. Badges can appear on photos in the Viewer, the Browser, and the Light Table, in book pages and webpages, and in Full Screen view. Keywords have been applied to this photo. The following table shows badges that appear on photos in Aperture. Badge Definition or One or more adjustments have been applied to the photo.
Badge Definition The referenced image’s original is offline. The referenced image’s original has not been found. The photo was downloaded from Photo Stream or imported from a Facebook album or Flickr set online. A location has been assigned to the photo. The photo has an audio file attached. The thumbnail image represents a video clip. The photo is part of a RAW + JPEG image pair, and this photo’s original is the RAW file.
3 In the Metadata Fields column, click the Aperture disclosure triangle to reveal the metadata fields below it, then select the Badges checkbox. 4 Click OK. 5 Make sure both Show Metadata and the metadata overlay view you just modified are selected for the Browser in the Metadata Overlays pop-up menu in the tool strip. Badge overlays are now visible in the Browser. You can turn off the display of badge overlays in the Viewer or in the Browser by turning off the display of metadata.
Organizing Photos with Faces 11 An Overview of Faces As image libraries grow, it can be difficult to locate every photo with a specific person in it. Rather than painstakingly comb through your entire image library, adding keywords to each photo in order to identify all the people in it, you can use the Aperture face detection and face recognition technology, called Faces, to help automate this process. When you upgraded to Aperture 3, Aperture identified all the photos in your library containing faces.
Now that you’ve identified a person in one of your photos, Aperture presents any photo in your entire image library or within the item selected in the Library inspector that might contain the person you named. You view matching photos by selecting Faces in the Library inspector or by clicking the Faces button in the toolbar. The Aperture main window switches to Faces view, with the snapshot of the person you named appearing at the top.
You can click a suggested photo to accept it or reject it as a match. When you have named all the people in your photos, you can create Smart Albums based on specific people. Whenever you confirm a face that matches the person the Smart Album was created for, the photo is automatically added to the Smart Album. You can also assign Facebook IDs and have Aperture automatically publish the identified photos to your Facebook account.
2 Click the Name button in the toolbar. Face labels appear below the faces of the people in the photo in the Viewer. 3 Click the face label below a person’s face and enter the person’s name in the text field. As you enter the person’s name, names that have already been assigned to faces, as well as names in your Contacts, are suggested in the face label. Note: If you want to limit the suggestions to faces you’ve already named in the project, select the “Limit suggestions to project” checkbox.
3 Select the face label for the person whose name you want to change, and enter a new name in the text field. To delete a face label 1 Select a photo containing a face label you want to remove. 2 Click the Name button in the toolbar. 3 Position the pointer over the person’s face, then click the Remove button at the top-left corner of the positioning box. The positioning box and face label are removed.
To view all the photos of a specific person Do one of the following: mm In Faces view, double-click the person’s snapshot. mm Click the Name button in the toolbar, then click the Show Faces View button in the face label below the person’s face in the Viewer. Show Faces View button The Faces browser appears, showing all the confirmed photos of the person.
“Not [name of face]” appears below the photo. 4 When you have finished confirming photos, click Done. Confirmed photos move to the top of the Faces browser. Note: As you confirm or reject the face of the person appearing in each photo, you can have Aperture suggest additional photos by pressing the Option key and clicking the Update button. When you press the Option key, the Done button changes to the Update button.
2 In Faces view, enter the name of the person you are looking for in the search field. Faces view search field Aperture displays the snapshot of the person whose name you entered in the search field, removing all others from view. To show all faces again mm In Faces view, click the Reset button (with an X) on the right side of the search field. Snapshots for all the people identified in the library reappear in Faces view.
5 Select the Face checkbox, choose “includes” from the Face pop-up menu, then enter the name of the person you want to include in the Smart Album in the text field to the right of the pop-up menu. Add Rule pop-up menu Face checkbox Face text field 6 Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each additional person you want added to the Smart Album. 7 When you have finished, close the Smart Settings HUD.
Locating and Organizing Photos with Places 12 An Overview of Places In Aperture, you can organize and explore your photos by location using the Places feature. If you have a GPS-enabled camera or iOS device, Aperture categorizes your photos by location and converts the GPS location tags to place names such as Vancouver, Canada. Aperture can also convert photo location information from GPS trackers (including those generated by iPhone apps) and from iPhoto photos.
If you don’t have a GPS-enabled camera or iOS device, you can still make the most of Places.
•• Entering the name of a place or an address in the Location field in the Map pane of the Info inspector Show/Hide Map button Aperture saves every location that has been assigned to a photo. When you want to quickly find photos you shot in New York City or the Grand Canyon, just choose the location from the My Places list in the search field pop-up menu in Places view. Important: To use Places, you must be connected to the Internet.
•• To view the photo locations for photos throughout the library: In the Library inspector, select Places. •• To view the photo locations for photos in an item selected in the Library inspector: Select an item in the Library inspector containing photos that already have location information assigned to them, then click the Places button in the toolbar. The Aperture main window switches to Places view. Red location pins mark the locations where photos or groups of photos were shot.
•• In the Library inspector, select Places. •• Select an item in the Library inspector containing photos that already have location information assigned to them, then click the Places button in the toolbar. The Aperture main window switches to Places view. Red location pins mark the locations where photos or groups of photos were shot. 2 Select a red pin. The selected pin turns orange, and the photo or photos associated with the location marked by the orange pin are selected in the Browser.
mm In Places view, click the location arrow on the location label. Click the location arrow to view the precise locations of photos represented by this pin. Places view zooms in to the location of the photo group, marking the location of each photo with a pin. Some photos may remain grouped together in a single location pin if shot in close proximity. Click the location arrow on the location label to zoom in further.
The map zooms in to the area indicated by the selection rectangle. Command-drag a rectangle over the map to zoom in to that area. To reposition the map in Places view As you zoom in to the map, you may need to reposition it. Do one of the following: mm Move the map by dragging it. mm Drag the box in the Overview Map pane, which appears in the bottom-right corner of Places view. Drag the red box to reposition the map. To open and close the Overview Map pane mm Click the Overview Map Pane button.
Places view appears, with red pins representing photos that have location assignments. 2 Zoom in to a specific location by doing one of the following: •• Choose a location from one of the Places Path Navigator pop-up menus at the top of Places view. Aperture repositions the map to display the selected location. •• In Places view, use the Zoom slider and buttons to zoom in to the location of a photo group.
•• Position the pointer over a pin that represents the location of a group of photos, then use the scroll gesture to zoom in to the map. Scroll gesture zoom box As you zoom in to the map, photo locations grouped together in a single pin begin to be marked by their own pins. As you zoom out of the map, photo locations marked by individual pins are consolidated into fewer pins as they get closer together.
Adding Locations to Photos You don’t need a GPS-enabled camera or iOS device to use Places. Adding location information in Places view is as simple as dragging photos from the Browser to the area on the Places view map where they were shot. Another option is to enter a specific location in the search field in Places view, select a location from the Google Results list that appears below the search field, and then click the Assign Location button.
5 Click Done. The purple pin turns red, indicating that the location you specified has been assigned to the selected photos, and a location badge (a red pin) appears over the thumbnail images in the Browser. Location badge To search for a location and assign it to a photo selection 1 Select an item in the Library inspector containing photos to which you want to assign location information. 2 If the main window is not in Places view, click the Places button in the toolbar.
8 Drag the resize handles on the right side of the purple circle to change the area assigned to the location. Resize handles Purple circle indicating the area assigned to the location 9 When you are satisfied with the area assigned to the location, click the Assign button. A red pin appears on the map in Places view, with a location label indicating the name of the location and the number of photos it’s assigned to. A purple circle indicates the area the location covers.
•• To change the location assignment for a subset of photos associated with a location: You can reassign the location for the photo subset using the Assign Location dialog. •• To change the location assignment for a single photo: You can reassign the location for the photo using the Map pane of the Info inspector. For more information, see Working with Location Information Using the Info Inspector on page 220.
Locations you’ve assigned whose names match the text entered in the search field appear at the top of the search results list. Additional results located by Google appear in the Google Results section at the bottom of the list. 3 Select the correct location in the list that appears below the search field. The location pin for the location you selected appears in Places view. Note: You can also remove location information from photos using the Map pane of the Info inspector.
Importing and Working with GPS Track File Data To begin working with a GPS track file in Places view, you must first import the GPS track file into Aperture. GPS track points are digital bread crumbs that are used to define a path or route (“track”) using precise coordinates saved by a GPS device or GPS tracking iPhone app.
To delete a GPS track file You can delete a GPS track file at any time. For example, if you have several GPS track files on your computer and you aren’t sure which locations they track, you can import the files individually to see if the track data corresponds to locations in your project. If a GPS track file contains track data that doesn’t match locations in your project, you can delete it. mm In Places view, choose Delete Selected Track from the GPS pop-up menu.
3 In the Info HUD, click Assign Location. Assign Location button 4 In the dialog that appears, enter a specific address or the name of a place, a city or town, or a significant geographical location such as a national park in the search field. Google searches for the location you entered in the search field and displays a list of search results. Place names that match the text you entered are displayed at the top of the search results list, and Google search matches are displayed under Google Results.
Working with Location Information Using the Info Inspector In addition to working with location information in Places view and Projects view, you can also work with location information in the Map pane of the Info inspector. The Map pane of the Info inspector provides a convenient means of modifying a photo’s location information without having to switch to Places view.
The controls for zooming in to and out of the map are similar to the zoom controls in Places view. Zoom button Double-click the location pin to zoom in to the map. To zoom in to and out of the map in the Map pane of the Info inspector Do one of the following: mm In the Map pane of the Info inspector, use the Zoom buttons to zoom in to or out of the location where the photo was captured. mm Use the scroll gesture to zoom in and out. mm In the Map pane of the Info inspector, double-click the location pin.
3 Enter the name of the location you want to assign to the photo in the Location field, then select the location in the search results list that appears. The map view changes to show the new location, with a purple location pin and a location label at its center. 4 Click the Assign Location button in the location label. Assign Location button Cancel button The location information is assigned to the photo.
3 Choose Move Pin from the Map Pane Action pop-up menu. Map Pane Action pop-up menu The red pin turns purple. 4 Enter the name of a new location to assign to the photo in the Location field, then select the location in the search results list that appears. The map view changes to show the new location. 5 Do one of the following: •• To assign the location to the photo: Click the Assign Location button in the location label. •• To cancel the location change: Click the Cancel button in the location label.
3 Choose Remove Location from the Map Pane Action pop-up menu. Map Pane Action pop-up menu The location information is removed from the photo.
13 Using Photo Stream An Overview of Photo Stream Photo Stream is the iCloud service that uploads and stores the last 30 days of your photos and automatically pushes them to your iOS devices and computers. Photo Stream lets you view all your recent photos on your devices without having to sync—all you have to do is turn it on. Note: You must have an iCloud account to use Photo Stream. iCloud requires OS X v10.7.2 or later.
iCloud stores your new photos for 30 days so your devices have plenty of time to connect and download the photos. Your iOS devices keep a rolling collection of your last 1000 photos, and you can save your favorite shots to your Camera Roll or any other album to keep them on your device permanently. Because your computers have more storage, they can keep all your Photo Stream photos.
•• Click the Create Apple ID button, then follow the onscreen instructions. Note: For more instructions on setting up an iCloud account, see Help Center. You can now return to Aperture to begin working with Photo Stream. Turning On Photo Stream for an Aperture Library Photo Stream is designed to work with one Aperture or iPhoto library at a time. However, it’s easy to switch the library Photo Stream uses to upload and download photos.
To switch Photo Stream to another Aperture library 1 Open the Aperture library you want to use with Photo Stream. Note: For instructions for switching Aperture libraries, see Viewing Other Libraries on page 40. 2 In the Library inspector, select Photo Stream. 3 Click the Turn On Photo Stream button, then click Switch in the dialog that appears. Photo Stream is turned on for the Aperture library you switched to and is turned off for the library you switched from.
•• To set Aperture to automatically download photos from Photo Stream: Select the Automatic Import checkbox. Note: If you recently switched libraries or have had the Automatic Import feature turned off, only new photos added to Photo Stream are automatically downloaded to your Aperture library. If you want to import the existing photos in Photo Stream, you must manually download them. For more information, see Manually Transferring Photos Between Aperture and Photo Stream on page 229.
About Enabling Photo Stream on More Than One Mac You can enable Photo Stream for the same iCloud account on more than one Mac. When you have Photo Stream enabled on more than one Mac and you upload a photo to Photo Stream, Photo Stream includes the event information from iPhoto or the project information and hierarchy from Aperture.
About Uploading RAW files to Photo Stream RAW files imported into Aperture can be uploaded to Photo Stream and viewed on your iOS devices. The way the RAW file’s image is uploaded to Photo Stream depends on how the RAW file was imported into Aperture and whether any adjustments have been applied. RAW image state How the RAW image is uploaded to Photo Stream RAW image with no adjustments applied The RAW file is uploaded to Photo Stream.
Searching for and Displaying Photos 14 An Overview of Searching Aperture allows you to easily search for and gather photos in a variety of locations. In Aperture, you can search for photos in multiple ways. You can use the search field and pop-up menu in the Browser to quickly locate photos by name or display photos by rating, flag status, and color label.
To show photos based on a text string or numerical value, such as a keyword or pixel size mm In the Browser, enter the search string in the search field, then press Return. To show only photos that have been assigned a specific rating or better Do one of the following: mm In the Browser, choose Unrated or Better from the search field pop-up menu to show photos that are unrated or better, or press Control–Grave Accent (`). Note: This is the default view.
mm In the Browser, choose Gray from the search field pop-up menu to show only photos that have the gray color label assigned to them (or press Command-Control-7). To reset the search field pop-up menu back to the default setting of Unrated or Better mm Click the Reset button on the right side of the search field. Reset button About the Filter HUD The Filter HUD is an easy-to-use window with options for specifying search criteria.
The most common reason to perform a search is to display a selection of photos within a project. By selecting a project and using the Filter HUD, you can quickly display specific photos, hiding the rest from view. For example, you might isolate and display only those photos of a certain subject, pose, rating, or location. Your search doesn’t change the contents of the project; it only temporarily changes the photos you view in the Browser.
The search criteria that you use can be simple or complex. The following illustration shows some of the search criteria you can specify using the Filter HUD. Specify your search criteria. Select the checkboxes for the items you want to search by. To search using a particular type of search criteria, you select the checkbox to turn on the search option and then specify the criteria that Aperture should look for.
The following search options are available in the Filter HUD and Smart Settings HUD. Rule Function Adjustments Search for photos based on the type of adjustment that has been applied to them in Aperture, as well as which RAW decoding version was used to render the image. Aperture Metadata Search for photos with Aperture-specific metadata applied to them, such as version name and project name. Attachment Search for photos based on whether they have audio attachments.
To show the Smart Settings HUD mm In the Library inspector, click the Smart Settings HUD button to the right of the Smart Album whose search criteria you want to modify. For more information about working with Smart Albums, see An Overview of Smart Albums on page 257. Searching by Rating You can use the Filter HUD to see all photos with a certain rating. For example, you can search for all the photos in a project that have a rating of five stars.
3 In the Filter HUD, select the Flagged checkbox. Select the Flagged checkbox. 4 Choose an option from the Flagged pop-up menu: •• To locate flagged photos: Choose Yes. •• To located photos without flags: Choose No. 5 Choose Any from the Any/All pop-up menu in the top-left corner of the Filter HUD, if it’s not already chosen. The photos that match the search criteria are displayed in the Browser. To save your search results, see Saving Your Search Results on page 255.
6 Choose Any from the Any/All pop-up menu in the top-left corner of the Filter HUD, if it’s not already chosen. The photos that match the search criteria are immediately displayed in the Browser. To save your search results, see Saving Your Search Results on page 255. Searching by Photo Name, Caption, or Other Text You can search for photos using any text that you’ve associated with a photo.
2 Click the Filter HUD button (with a magnifying glass icon) beside the search field in the Browser (or press Command-F). 3 In the Filter HUD, add as many text fields as you need by choosing Text from the Add Rule pop-up menu multiple times. Choose Text from the Add Rule pop-up menu. 4 Select the Text checkboxes and enter text in each field to locate the photos you want. Select the Text checkboxes and enter text in each text field you added.
To search for photos by keyword 1 In the Library inspector, select the item you want to search. 2 Click the Filter HUD button (with a magnifying glass icon) beside the search field in the Browser (or press Command-F). 3 In the Filter HUD, select the Keywords checkbox. Note: The Keywords checkbox is dimmed if no keywords have been applied to the photos in the selected item in the Library inspector. Choose an option from the Keywords pop-up menu. Select the Keywords checkbox.
Searching by Adjustments You can search for and identify photos based on the type of adjustment that has been applied to them, as well as which RAW decoding version was used to render the image. To search for photos based on a specific adjustment, you use the Adjustments search options. You can also search for photos that do not have a specific type of adjustment applied to them. To search for photos by adjustment type 1 In the Library inspector, select the item you want to search.
•• Original pixel size •• Orientation •• Pixel size •• Version name To search for photos by metadata other than IPTC or EXIF information 1 In the Library inspector, select the item you want to search. 2 Click the Filter HUD button (with a magnifying glass icon) beside the search field in the Browser (or press Command-F). 3 In the Filter HUD, choose Aperture Metadata from the Add Rule pop-up menu.
3 In the Filter HUD, choose Attachment from the Add Rule pop-up menu, then select the Attachment checkbox. Select the Attachment checkbox. 4 Do one of the following: •• To search for photos with attachments: Choose “has audio attachment” from the Attachment pop-up menu. •• To search for photos with no attachments: Choose “does not have audio attachment” from the Attachment pop-up menu. 5 Choose Any from the Any/All pop-up menu in the top-left corner of the Filter HUD, if it’s not already chosen.
3 In the Filter HUD, choose Calendar from the Add Rule pop-up menu, then select the Calendar checkbox. Select the Calendar checkbox. Select the dates you want to search by. 4 Choose an option from the Calendar pop-up menu: •• To display photos shot on the selected dates: Choose “is.” •• To display photos not shot on the selected dates: Choose “is not empty and is not.” 5 Select the date or dates you want to search by. Use the Calendar navigation buttons to navigate through the monthly calendars.
6 In the text field, enter the date you want the search based upon. Choose how you want to qualify your search from this pop-up menu. Enter a date here. Select the Date checkbox. Choose a date option from the Date pop-up menu. If needed, you can add multiple Date options to specify the capture year, capture month, capture day, and so on. 7 Choose Any from the Any/All pop-up menu in the top-left corner of the Filter HUD, if it’s not already chosen.
The photos that match the search criteria are immediately displayed in the Browser. To save your search results, see Saving Your Search Results on page 255. Searching by Face You can search for and locate photos based on the faces that have been assigned names. You can search for photos that only contain a single named face, as well as photos that have multiple people in them, including the face you’re looking for. For more information about working with Faces, see An Overview of Faces on page 194.
Searching by File Status You can search for photos based on whether they are managed images, referenced images, or online or offline images. In addition, you can use the File Status search category to show the photos whose originals Aperture considers missing. For more information about locating and reconnecting missing image files, see Reconnecting Missing or Offline Referenced Images on page 98. To search for photos by file status 1 In the Library inspector, select the item you want to search.
3 In the Filter HUD, choose File Type from the Add Rule pop-up menu, then select the File Type checkbox. Select the File Type checkbox. 4 Choose an option from the File Type pop-up menu: •• To display files of a specific file type: Choose “is,” then choose a file type from the pop-up menu to the right. •• To display files that are not of a specific file type: Choose “is not,” then choose a file type from the pop-up menu to the right.
3 In the Filter HUD, choose Import Session from the Add Rule pop-up menu, then select the Import Session checkbox. Choose “includes” or “does not include” to search for photos that are or are not part of the selected import sessions. Select the Import Session checkbox. Select an import group. 4 Select the checkbox for the import group you want to search by. 5 Choose an option from the Import Session pop-up menu: •• To display photos imported during the selected import sessions: Choose “includes.
4 Select the IPTC checkbox, then choose the IPTC field you want to search by from the IPTC pop-up menu. Choose how you want to qualify your search from this pop-up menu. Enter an IPTC value here. Select the IPTC checkbox. Choose an IPTC field to search by. 5 Choose an option from the middle pop-up menu to qualify your search. •• To specify characters that the IPTC field should contain somewhere within the field: Choose “includes.
4 Select the Photo Usage checkbox, then choose an option from the Photo Usage pop-up menu. Select the Photo Usage checkbox. •• To specify that Aperture display photos that have been used in the chosen operation: Choose “has been.” •• To specify that Aperture display photos that have not been used in the chosen operation: Choose “has not been.” 5 Choose an operation option from the rightmost pop-up menu to qualify your search.
•• To specify the exact characters that the place name should not contain: Choose “is not.” •• To specify the characters that the place name should begin with: Choose “starts with.” •• To specify the characters that the place name should end with: Choose “ends with.” •• To specify that the place name should hold no entry: Choose “is empty.” •• To specify that the place name can be any entry as long as the field is not empty: Choose “is not empty.
The photos that match the search criteria are immediately displayed in the Browser. To save your search results, see Saving Your Search Results on page 255. Searching Across the Entire Library At times, you may want to search for photos that reside in many different projects. For example, you might want to locate all your select photos for an entire year or for a particular month. To search for photos across the library, you use Photos view.
•• To create a new book album, Light Table album, slideshow album, Flickr album, Facebook album, Smart Web Page Album, webpage album, or web journal album: Choose the appropriate item from the Filter HUD Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon), enter a name for the album, then press Return. Filter HUD Action pop-up menu All photos that match the search criteria are placed in the new album you created.
Grouping Photos with Smart Albums 15 An Overview of Smart Albums When you need to group certain types of photos, either temporarily or permanently, you can use a Smart Album to gather the photos. Aperture comes with a number of preset Smart Albums. You can also create your own Smart Album and specify search criteria that identify the photos you want to be included; Aperture automatically searches for and displays the photos in the new album.
For example, you might create Smart Albums that: •• Collect photos of certain poses or subjects, such as head shots, photos of particular models, or photos of sports scenes •• Collect photos suitable for a specific purpose, such as distribution on the web or submission to stock photography houses •• Gather the best photos of your collection into a portfolio of poster photos that you use to present or introduce your work •• Automatically gather a project’s select photos •• Automatically gather speci
3 Rename the Smart Album by entering a new name. Enter a new name for the Smart Album. Smart Settings HUD button 4 In the Smart Settings HUD that appears, specify search criteria. Close button Specify the search criteria for photos you want in the Smart Album. The controls in the Smart Settings HUD are nearly identical to those in the Filter HUD. For more information about using the Filter HUD and specifying search criteria, see An Overview of Searching on page 232.
5 Click the Smart Settings HUD’s close button. Aperture finds the photos in the library that match the specified search criteria and displays them in the Browser. You can now work with these versions of your photos in the same way you work with photos in any project or album. Searching Within a Smart Album After creating a Smart Album, you can search for specific photos within the contents of the Smart Album.
To change the contents of a Smart Album by changing the search criteria 1 In the Library inspector, click the Smart Settings HUD button to the right of the Smart Album to show the Smart Settings HUD. 2 Revise the search criteria in the Smart Settings HUD to eliminate or add the photos you want, or change the keyword or rating for the photo itself. 3 Click the Smart Settings HUD’s close button.
Working with Library Albums If you created a library in a previous version of Aperture, a selection of Smart Albums was set up in the Library inspector for you automatically. When you click the disclosure triangle beside Library Albums in the Library inspector, you see the following Smart Albums: •• Five Stars: Select this Smart Album to see all photos in the library that are rated five stars. •• One Star or Better: Select this Smart Album to see all photos that are rated one star or better.
16 An Overview of Image Adjustments Adjustments in Aperture Adjustment controls are found in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD. The controls are the same in each. The Adjustments inspector is a tab in the Inspector pane on the left side of the Aperture main window. The Inspector HUD is a floating version of the inspectors that can be placed anywhere onscreen, allowing you the most flexibility in how you use your screen workspace.
Adjustment Function Noise Reduction Reduces digital noise in an image. White Balance Sets an image’s white balance by evaluating the image for natural gray or skin tone in identified faces, as well as by adjusting the color temperature and tint. Exposure Adjusts exposure, recovery, black point, and brightness. Enhance Adjusts contrast, definition, saturation, and vibrancy, as well as black, gray, and white tints.
Quick Brush Function Polarize (Multiply) Deepens the colors in the image by specifically darkening the shadows and midtones while preserving the highlights in the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on. Intensify Contrast (Overlay) Corrects the shadow areas of the image that appear washed out by intensifying the contrast between pure black and 50% gray in the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on. Tint Shifts the tint in the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on.
mm Click the Inspector button in the toolbar, then click the Adjustments tab. Add Adjustment pop-up menu Effects pop-up menu Histogram Reset button Auto Enhance button Adjustments Double-click the top of an adjustment to show and hide the adjustment’s controls. Adjustment Action pop-up menu Each adjustment contains individual properties, called parameters, for which you can specify a range of values.
For more information about Full Screen view, see Performing Adjustments in Full Screen View on page 272. Add Adjustment pop-up menu Effects pop-up menu Histogram Reset button Auto Enhance button Adjustments Double-click the top of an adjustment to show and hide the adjustment’s controls. Adjustment Action pop-up menu Note: The adjustment controls in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD appear dimmed when an audio or video clip is selected.
To add additional adjustments The first time you show either the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, only the White Balance, Exposure, Enhance, Highlights & Shadows, Levels, and Color adjustments are available. Note: A photo must be selected in the Browser in order for adjustment controls to appear in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD.
The adjustment controls for the Quick Brush appear in both the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown. Also, a HUD containing the Quick Brush controls appears, and the pointer changes to a brush. For more information about Quick Brush adjustments, see Using the Brush Controls on page 270. Using Sliders There are two types of slider controls for changing parameter values—sliders and value sliders.
Using the Brush Controls Whenever a photo is selected and displayed in the Viewer or in Full Screen view, you can retouch it using a brushed adjustment, which allows you to manually target a specific part of the image using brush controls. Most adjustments can be brushed on images. You choose a brush for an adjustment from the adjustment’s Action pop-up menu. A Brush button appears when the adjustment is brushed on the photo. Click the button to open the Brush HUD for the adjustment.
To reset all parameter values for an adjustment mm Click the Reset button to the right of the adjustment name. Reset button To turn an adjustment on and off mm Select the checkbox next to the adjustment’s name to turn it on, and deselect the checkbox to turn it off. Turn an adjustment on and off by selecting and deselecting the checkbox.
Performing Adjustments in Full Screen View Full Screen view, which displays photos against a solid background and contains only a few interface elements, provides the best onscreen work environment for performing color adjustments. It is highly recommended that you perform adjustments in Full Screen view to achieve the best results possible. For more information about Full Screen view, see An Overview of Full Screen View on page 122.
2 In the tool strip, select the Lift tool (or press O). Lift tool in the tool strip Stamp tool in the tool strip The Lift & Stamp HUD appears, showing the adjustments, IPTC metadata, and keywords applied to the image. 3 Deselect all metadata-related checkboxes to prevent Aperture from copying the metadata from the selected photo. Deselect a checkbox to prevent Aperture from copying the item from the selected photo.
•• Select the photos to which you want to apply the adjustments by Shift-clicking to select a range of adjacent photos and Command-clicking to select nonadjacent photos. Note: The adjustments aren’t applied to photos within closed stacks. If you want to stamp the adjustments on photos within a stack, you must open it first by choosing Stacks > Open Stack (or pressing Shift-K). 6 Do one of the following: •• In the tool strip, select the Stamp tool.
Working with Effects An Overview of Effects If you frequently use the same adjustment parameter settings, you can save these settings as an effect. You can create new effects, rename and rearrange effects, and delete effects you no longer use. When you create an effect, it appears in the Effects pop-up menu. You can create effects for individual adjustments or for a set of multiple adjustments. For example, you can create an effect for creating black-and-white images.
3 In the Effect Presets dialog, enter a name for the new effect, then click OK. Enter a name for the effect here. The adjustment parameter settings are saved as an effect, and the new effect is now available for use in the Effects pop-up menu in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD. Applying Effects Applying an effect to an image is as simple as selecting the photo and choosing the effect from the Effects pop-up menu.
Note: When you place the pointer over an effect in the Effects pop-up menu, a preview of the adjustment applied to the image is shown to the right of the highlighted effect. Place the pointer over an effect to preview its effect on the photo. The effect is applied to the image. If the image already had some adjustments applied to it, the effect is applied in addition to the previous adjustment settings.
2 In the Effect Presets dialog, select the effect you want to modify, then click the Remove (–) button beside the adjustment you want removed from the selected effect. Click the Remove button to remove an adjustment from the selected effect. The adjustment and its parameter values are removed from the effect. 3 Repeat step 2 until all of the adjustments you want removed from the selected effect have been removed, then click OK. Renaming Effects You can rename an effect at any time.
The effect’s name is highlighted. Double-click an effect’s name to rename it. 3 Enter a new name, then press Return. The effect is renamed. Organizing Effects Each time you create an effect, it is added to the bottom of the list of effects in the Effect Presets dialog and the Effects pop-up menu. As this list grows, it can become difficult to locate a specific effect in a long list of effects. You can rearrange the order of the effects in the Effect Presets dialog to make effects easier to find.
To rearrange the order of effects 1 In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Edit Effects from the Effects pop-up menu. 2 In the Effect Presets dialog, drag an effect to a new position. A black bar indicates where the effect will be placed. Drag an effect to its new position. A black bar indicates where it will be placed. 3 Repeat step 2 until your effects list is organized, then click OK.
4 Drag effects into the effect group. Drag effects into an effect group. The effects are consolidated into the effect group and can be accessed by clicking the disclosure triangle to the left of the effect group’s name. 5 Click OK. Deleting Effects You can delete an effect at any time. Any adjustments that were previously applied to images using the effect remain applied.
4 In the dialog that appears, enter an effect name in the Save As field, choose a location to export the effect to, then click Save. The effect is exported to the location you selected as [name].AdjustmentPresets. It’s a good idea to export the effect to a location the other Aperture system can access. Effect files are small and can be easily sent to another Aperture system via email. 5 On the second Aperture system, navigate to the location of the effect file and double-click it.
Using Modifier Keys to Identify Color Clipping Identifying Color Channel Clipping When performing adjustments, it’s useful to know if you’re clipping one or more color channels and thereby losing important image details. In Aperture, you can use modifier keys to get instant feedback on channel clipping when using controls in the Exposure and Levels adjustments.
For more information about how the color overlays correspond to individual adjustment parameter settings, see Color Overlay Descriptions on page 284. •• To display the clipping overlays in black, shades of gray, and white: Choose Monochrome. For more information about how the monochrome overlays correspond to individual adjustment parameter settings, see Monochrome Overlay Descriptions on page 285.
•• Cyan: Indicates shadow clipping in the blue and green color channels. •• White: Indicates no shadow clipping in any color channel. •• Black: Indicates shadow clipping in all three color channels. White Levels parameter (Levels adjustment) •• Red: Indicates highlight clipping in the red color channel. •• Green: Indicates highlight clipping in the green color channel. •• Blue: Indicates highlight clipping in the blue color channel.
Using the Color Meter and Displaying Camera Information Aperture provides a built-in Color meter you can use to sample the color values in an image and display them as RGB, Lab, CMYK, HSL, or HSB values. When you place the pointer over a photo or thumbnail, the color values are displayed in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD. You can also use the Loupe for a more accurate pixel selection and see the color values displayed within the magnified area of the Loupe.
The color values appear in the magnified area of the Loupe. To choose a color value option for the Color meter mm In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose a color value option from the Adjustment Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). Choose a color value option here.
To choose a color value sample size (pixel area) for the Color meter mm In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose an appropriate color value sample size from the Adjustment Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). Choose a color value sample size here. Using an External Editor If you need to perform more advanced image operations, such as compositing, you can set an external editor for use within Aperture.
•• To set an external editor for video files: Click the Choose button to the right of the External Video Editor field, navigate to an application in the Select Video Application dialog, then click Select. The application’s name appears in the External Video Editor field. To use an external editor in Aperture 1 Select an item in the Browser. 2 Choose Photos > Edit with > External Editor (or press Command-Shift-O).
For more information, see Turning On Automatic Noise-Compensation Adjustments on page 294. Note: Some controls in the RAW Fine Tuning area of the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD appear dimmed if these settings are not available for use with images derived from a particular RAW file format. Some camera models can create multiple types of RAW file formats, and different controls may be available for each of these RAW file formats.
2 In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, adjust the Boost parameter by doing one of the following: •• By default, the Boost slider is set to 1.00. Drag the Boost slider to the left to decrease the amount of contrast applied to the image during the RAW decoding process, and drag the Boost slider back to the right to increase the contrast.
2 Adjust the strength of the sharpening effect by doing one of the following: •• The default value for the Sharpening slider and value slider is determined by the camera used to create the RAW image file. Drag the Sharpening slider to the right to increase the strength of the sharpening effect applied during the RAW decoding process, and drag the Sharpening slider back to the left to reduce the sharpening effect.
Using the Moire Controls Digital images often have color artifacts that appear around edges and lines because of noise created by digital image sensors. Images whose subjects have linear patterns often introduce a moire pattern that gives the subject a wrinkled or rainbow-colored appearance. In addition, cameras with image sensors employing Bayer patterns often introduce noise into monochromatic images.
•• Double-click the number in the Moire value slider, then enter a value from 0.00 to 1.00 and press Return. Use the Moire slider and value slider to adjust the amount of signal the Moire adjustment is applied to during the RAW decoding process. A value of 0.00 applies no moire correction during the RAW decoding process. A value greater than 0.00 applies moire correction during the RAW decoding process.
Working with DNG Files In Aperture, you can adjust how OS X decodes RAW images in the DNG format. If the digital camera that captured a photo is supported by Aperture, the calibration data for that camera is used to decode the RAW file in the same manner as if it were decoded from the RAW file format itself. If the DNG file is from an unsupported camera, Aperture uses the camera information stored in the DNG file to decode the image.
2 Select the RAW Fine Tuning preset you want to remove, then press the Delete key. 3 In the dialog that appears, click the Delete Adjustment Presets button. The adjustment preset is removed from the RAW Fine Tuning Adjustment Presets dialog, and the adjustment preset no longer appears in the RAW Fine Tuning Action pop-up menu.
Understanding How to Read Histograms An Overview of Histograms The histogram is a graph that displays relative brightness in an image, from pure black to pure white. The area under the graph represents all the pixels in the image. From left to right, the histogram describes the range of dark pixels (shadows), gray pixels (midtones), and bright pixels (highlights) in the image. The shape of the histogram graph depends on the tonality of the scene and the exposure.
A series of peaks in the center of the histogram often indicates a balanced exposure because a majority of the pixels are concentrated within the midtones of the histogram. They’re not too dark or too bright. However, a series of peaks in the brighter side of the histogram often indicates an overexposed image because most of the pixels in the image are too bright.
Likewise, images of bright scenes, such as snow or light reflecting off the ocean, have a majority of their peaks in the brighter side of the histogram. Histograms can also depict contrast in an image. For example, this silhouette of the man in the hammock in front of the sunset consists of a relatively even assortment of extreme bright and dark tonal values with few midtones. In this case, the histogram is shaped like a valley with peaks in both the dark and bright sides.
Before you begin making color adjustments to your images, it’s important to pay attention to the following: •• Set your display to its highest-resolution setting. This will give you the best view of your image. •• Make sure you are employing good color management. This means that your displays and printers are calibrated and their profiles are up to date.
Making Image Adjustments 17 Working with the Auto Enhance Button You use the Auto Enhance button when you want to quickly improve your image or preview what the image will look like when adjusted. When you click the Auto Enhance button, Aperture evaluates the image and then applies the White Balance, Enhance, Curves, and Highlights & Shadows adjustment settings in a manner that suits the selected photo.
Working with the Retouch Controls An Overview of the Retouch Adjustment Controls You use the Retouch brushes to touch up imperfections in the image caused by sensor dust, image artifacts, and other environmental conditions. You can also copy an element of an image and paste it in another area for purely aesthetic reasons. Aperture provides two methods for retouching your images.
Repairing Your Images You use the Repair brush of the Retouch adjustment when the area surrounding the blemish has elements of high contrast, such as an edge, or when you need to copy texture from the source area and maintain the color and shading in the destination area. Before Repair adjustment After Repair adjustment To retouch an image using the Repair brush 1 Select a photo.
6 If you need to copy pixels from another area of the image, deselect the “Automatically choose source” checkbox, and Option-click the source area. 7 Brush over the area with the imperfection. Brush over the blemish with the Repair brush. Cloning Your Images You use the Clone brush of the Retouch adjustment to copy pixels from an area of the image with similar visual elements and paste the pixels over the area with the imperfection. No pixels are blended from the area surrounding the brush stroke.
The pointer changes to a brush, and the Retouch HUD appears. 4 In the Retouch HUD, do the following: a Click the Clone button. b Set the radius of the brush by dragging the Radius slider or entering a value in the Radius value slider. c Set the softness of the brush by dragging the Softness slider or entering a value in the Softness value slider. d Set the opacity of the brush by dragging the Opacity slider or entering a value in the Opacity value slider.
Working with the Red Eye Correction Controls An Overview of the Red Eye Adjustment You use the Red Eye tool and the Red Eye Correction adjustment controls to reduce the red-eye effect in the eyes of the subjects in your image. You use the Red Eye tool to place targets on the red eyes of the subjects in the image, and then you can adjust the radius and sensitivity of the target overlays using the Red Eye Correction controls.
The Red Eye target overlay is placed over the red eye, and the red pixels within the Red Eye target overlay are desaturated. 5 Repeat step 4 until all of the red eyes in your image are corrected. Adjusting the Size of Red Eye Target Overlays Aperture fixes red-eye in your images by desaturating the red pixels within the Red Eye target overlay area. It’s a good idea to fit each Red Eye target overlay to the size of the eye it covers.
A hand icon appears to indicate that you can select the Red Eye target overlay. The Red Eye tool changes to a hand icon to indicate that you can select the Red Eye target overlay. 3 In the Red Eye Correction area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, adjust the Radius parameter by doing one of the following: •• Drag the Radius slider.
Adjusting the Sensitivity of Red Eye Target Overlays When you target a red eye in a picture, Aperture automatically chooses the area within the target overlay circle where the desaturation is applied. In a few cases, the area chosen by Aperture might be either slightly too large or slightly too small (typically including a few pixels in the eyelid skin, or missing a few red pixels inside the pupil).
To view the corrected image with the Red Eye target overlays turned off mm Select the Selection tool in the tool strip or the Full Screen view toolbar (or press A). The Red Eye target overlays disappear, but the effect of the Red Eye adjustment remains visible. Note: You can still make adjustments to the targeted red eyes with the overlays turned off, and the image is updated to show the changes.
mm Command-click a Red Eye target overlay. Command-click a Red Eye target overlay to delete it. The Red Eye target overlay disappears. Working with the Spot & Patch Controls An Overview of the Spot & Patch Adjustment You use the Spot & Patch adjustment controls when you need to modify Spot & Patch parameter settings that were applied using previous versions of Aperture.
Spotting Your Images When the area around the blemish is continuous (such as a solid color) and doesn’t contain a distinct texture, you can use the spotting method to obscure the blemish by integrating the pixels that surround it. You fix a blemish by placing the Spot & Patch target overlay over the blemish in the image and then adjusting the size of the target overlay so that it just barely covers the blemish.
The yellow Spot & Patch target overlay is placed over the blemish, and the blemish disappears. Click a blemish to place a Spot & Patch target overlay on it. Note: You can always adjust the size of the target overlay and other parameters. For more information, see Adjusting the Size of Spot & Patch Target Overlays on page 315. 5 Repeat step 4 until all of the blemishes in your image are removed.
The pointer changes to a target, and the Spot & Patch HUD appears. 4 Click the blemish area to place a Spot & Patch target overlay on it. A yellow target overlay is placed over the blemish, and the blemish is replaced by the pixels that surround it. This yellow target overlay is the destination target overlay. Click a blemish to place a Spot & Patch target overlay on it.
To adjust the angle of the cloned pixels within a destination target overlay Adjusting the angle of the cloned pixels within the destination target overlay rotates the cloned pixels over the destination area. This is particularly useful if you’re cloning an area that has a visual element, such as a pattern or line, that is at a different angle from elements in the destination area. The Angle controls allow you to match the angle of the pixels within the destination target overlay.
mm Double-click the number in the Radius value slider, then enter a value from 3 to 400 and press Return. mm Use the scroll gesture. The size of the Spot & Patch target changes. To change the size of an existing Spot & Patch target overlay 1 Display the image at full size (100 percent) by clicking the Zoom Viewer button in the tool strip or the Full Screen view toolbar (or pressing Z). 2 Click a Spot & Patch target overlay to select it.
Adjusting the Softness Within Spot & Patch Target Overlays You can also change the “softness” of cloned pixels within Spot & Patch target overlays. Softness describes how well the area within the target overlay blends in with the surrounding image area. The Softness parameter controls the blending of pixels between the center of the Spot & Patch target overlay and the circumference. The higher the Softness parameter value, the closer to the center the pixel blending occurs.
To adjust the opacity of cloned pixels in a Spot & Patch target overlay In the Spot & Patch area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, adjust the Opacity parameter by doing one of the following: mm Drag the Opacity slider. mm Click the left or right arrow in the Opacity value slider, or drag in the value field. mm Double-click the number in the Opacity value slider, then enter a value from 0 to 100 and press Return.
Viewing the Corrected Image Without Spot & Patch Target Overlays After retouching the blemishes in your image, you can view the corrected image with the Spot & Patch target overlays turned off. To view the corrected image with the Spot & Patch target overlays turned off mm Select the Selection tool in the tool strip or the Full Screen view toolbar (or press A). The Spot & Patch target overlays disappear, but the effects of the Spot & Patch adjustment remain visible.
mm Command-click the Spot & Patch target overlay. Command-click a Spot & Patch target overlay to delete it. The Spot & Patch target overlay disappears. Working with the Straighten Controls An Overview of the Straighten Adjustment When you shoot photos, environmental conditions often make it difficult to frame an image that is level in relation to the horizon—either real or virtual. In Aperture, you can straighten an image so that the horizon in the image is parallel to the bottom and top edges.
As you rotate the image, a yellow grid overlay appears to help you make the horizon perfectly straight, and the image is cropped to prevent gaps from appearing in the corners of the image. Drag within the image to rotate it. Note: It’s a good idea to turn zooming off when straightening an image, so that the full image fits within the Viewer.
Working with the Crop Controls An Overview of the Crop Adjustment You use the Crop tool and the Crop adjustment controls when you want to improve the composition of your image by trimming the edges, or when you want to change the aspect ratio of the image. For example, you can change an image’s aspect ratio from 4 x 6 to 3 x 5.
A Crop overlay appears on the image with resize handles, and the trimmed edges are dimmed. Drag across the photo with the Crop tool. A dark overlay is placed over the trimmed areas. 4 Do any of the following: •• To change the size and shape of a Crop overlay: Drag a resize handle on the Crop overlay. Drag a resize handle to resize the Crop overlay. •• To adjust the placement of the crop on the image: Drag the Crop overlay to the appropriate position. Drag the Crop overlay to adjust its position.
•• To change the orientation of the crop: Click the Switch Aspect Ratio button. Click the Switch Aspect Ratio button to change the orientation to portrait or landscape. The values in the Width and Height fields are reversed, and the Crop overlay is updated to show the new orientation. (Entering a number in the Width field that is smaller than the number in the Height field sets a portrait orientation. Entering a larger number in the Width field sets a landscape orientation.
3 If the Crop controls are not shown in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Crop from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu. 4 In the Crop area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, click the X value slider’s left or right arrow, or double-click the number and enter a new number, to set the horizontal position of the bottom-left corner of the Crop overlay.
3 In the Flip area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, do any of the following: •• To flip the image horizontally: Choose Horizontal from the Flip Type pop-up menu. •• To flip the image vertically: Choose Vertical from the Flip Type pop-up menu. •• To flip the image both horizontally and vertically: Choose Horizontal and Vertical from the Flip Type pop-up menu.
4 If your image exhibits blue and yellow fringing, neutralize it by doing one of the following: •• Drag the Blue/Yellow slider to the right to add yellow, neutralizing the blue fringing, or drag the slider to the left to add blue, neutralizing the yellow fringing. •• Click the left or right arrow in the Blue/Yellow value slider, or drag in the value field. •• Double-click the number in the Blue/Yellow value slider, then enter a value from –5.0 to 5.0 and press Return.
The left arrow decreases the amount of brightness applied to the edges of the image, and the right arrow increases the brightness. •• Double-click the number in the Intensity value slider, then enter a value from 0.0 to 1.0 and press Return. Use the Intensity slider and value slider to adjust the amount of brightness applied to the edges of the photo.
Working with the Noise Reduction Controls You use the Noise Reduction adjustment controls when you need to reduce digital noise in an image. Digital noise is often caused by shooting at high ISO settings in low-light conditions. When you reduce noise in an image, you often have to sharpen the image to prevent blurry edges or loss of detail. For more information about sharpening an image, see Working with the Edge Sharpen Controls on page 381.
•• Click the left or right arrow in the Edge Detail value slider to adjust edge detail by 5 percent increments, or drag in the value field. The left arrow decreases edge detail sharpening in the image, and the right arrow increases it. •• Double-click the number in the Edge Detail value slider, then enter a value from 0.0 to 3.0 and press Return. As you change the parameter value, the image is updated to display the amount of edge detail sharpening applied to it.
To automatically adjust an image’s white balance 1 Select a photo. 2 In the White Balance area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, click the Auto button. Click the Auto button to automatically adjust the image’s white balance. Aperture evaluates the image. If faces are detected in the image, the image is adjusted to preserve skin tones.
•• If you chose either Natural Gray or Temperature & Tint from the White Balance pop-up menu: Position the target area of the Loupe over the pixels in the image that are a natural gray, then click. •• If you chose Skin Tone from the White Balance pop-up menu: Position the target area of the Loupe over a skin tone in the image, then click. The white balance of the image is adjusted. The color tonality of the image is shifted either cooler or warmer, depending on the tonality of the original image.
You use the Warmth and Temp parameter controls to adjust the image’s color temperature. Color temperature is a term used to describe the color of light when the image was shot. However, it refers to the color value of the light rather than its heat value. Light’s color temperature is measured in units called kelvin (K). Adjusting the color temperature of the image changes how Aperture interprets the colors in the image in relation to the assigned temperature of light.
•• If you chose Temperature & Tint from the White Balance pop-up menu: Use the Temp parameter controls to adjust the image’s color temperature (in degrees kelvin) and the Tint parameter controls to neutralize unwanted green or magenta tints. Use the Temp slider and value slider to adjust the color temperature of the photo. Use the Tint slider and value slider to adjust the tint of the photo. Tip: You can brush Natural Gray and Skin Tone White Balance adjustments on an image.
Using the Auto Exposure Button When you want to quickly adjust the exposure of a RAW image, you can use the Auto Exposure button. Depending on the exposure Aperture sets for the image, you can always fine-tune the image’s exposure setting using the Exposure adjustment controls. For more information about manually adjusting the exposure of an image, see Correcting Exposure in the Image on page 335.
•• Double-click the number in the Exposure value slider, then enter a value from –9.99 to 9.99 stops and press Return. Use the Exposure slider and value slider to correct the photo’s exposure. A negative value decreases the exposure (darkening the image), and a positive value increases the exposure (lightening the image). The exposure of the image is updated as you change the parameter value.
Setting the Image’s Blacks Shadow detail and the importance of visual elements in shadow vary from image to image. In addition, some cameras are more capable of capturing shadow details than others. In some photos, such as an image of a person’s face in the shadow of an alley, the shadow is the most important visual element in the image. In other images, the details in the shadows have nothing to do with the main subject of the image.
Adjusting Brightness in the Image You can adjust the Brightness parameter when you want to lighten or darken your image. When you adjust brightness, the brightness values of the midtone pixels in the image change the most. You can change the brightness of the image temporarily to see how the adjustment affects details in the shadows, midtones, and highlights. For more precise control over the range of tonality in the image, consider using the Levels adjustment controls.
Adjusting Contrast in the Image If you want to adjust the difference between the dark and bright areas of the image, you can modify the Contrast parameter. An image with very little midtone tonality is considered to have a lot of contrast, whereas an image with considerable midtone tonality is considered to have minimal contrast. Often, an image with too much midtone tonality looks flat. Adding contrast to the image can add depth to it.
Adjusting Definition in the Image When you want to add a little clarity and definition to an image without adding too much contrast, you use the Definition parameter controls. The Definition parameter is useful for adding local contrast (adding contrast to areas of the image that are improved by a contrast adjustment without affecting the image’s global contrast) as well as reducing haze. Before Definition adjustment After Definition adjustment To adjust definition in an image 1 Select a photo.
Adjusting Saturation in the Image You can change the value for the Saturation parameter to either give your image an extra burst of color or tone down the color palette by desaturating the image. Before Saturation adjustment After Saturation adjustment Important: Increasing the saturation of an image can make the colors appear more pure, and many people like the effect of an image whose colors are more saturated than they would appear naturally. However, you can easily oversaturate an image.
Adjusting Vibrancy in the Image You use the Vibrancy parameter controls when you want to add a bit of punch to the image without affecting skin tones. The Vibrancy parameter applies saturation to the image in a nonlinear manner. Colors that are already saturated are left alone, while saturation is added to all other colors. In addition, the Vibrancy parameter takes skin tones into account, leaving them untouched. This allows you to take a portrait and desaturate the image except for the skin tones.
Setting the Tint of Black, Gray, and White Values in the Image You use the Black Tint, Gray Tint, and White Tint color wheels when you want to selectively remove color casts from the shadows, midtones, and highlights in the image. Color casts are often caused by shooting in mixed lighting and unnatural lighting situations, where the difference in the color from the mixture of multiple types of source lights can produce a color variance in a specific tonal range in an image.
You use the Gray Tint eyedropper to remove color casts from the midtones in your images. Before Gray Tint adjustment After Gray Tint adjustment You use the White Tint eyedropper to remove color casts from the highlights in your images.
To set the tint of the shadows in an image 1 Select a photo. 2 If necessary, click the Tint disclosure triangle in the Enhance area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD to reveal the Tint color wheels, then select the Black Tint eyedropper. Click the disclosure triangle to reveal the Tint color wheels. Select the Black Tint eyedropper to activate the Loupe. The pointer changes to the Loupe, showing a magnified view of the target area.
To set the tint of the midtone values in an image 1 Select a photo. 2 If necessary, click the Tint disclosure triangle in the Enhance area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD to reveal the Tint color wheels, then select the Gray Tint eyedropper. Click the disclosure triangle to reveal the Tint color wheels. Select the Gray Tint eyedropper to activate the Loupe. The pointer changes to the Loupe, showing a magnified view of the target area.
To set the tint of the highlight values in an image 1 Select a photo. 2 If necessary, click the Tint disclosure triangle in the Enhance area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD to reveal the Tint color wheels, then select the White Tint eyedropper. Click the disclosure triangle to reveal the Tint color wheels. Select the White Tint eyedropper to activate the Loupe. The pointer changes to the Loupe, showing a magnified view of the target area.
•• To adjust the tint of the midtones: Drag the Gray point in the Gray Tint color wheel. •• To adjust the tint of the highlights: Drag the White point in the White Tint color wheel. Drag the Black, Gray, and White points (white circles) to selectively adjust the tint of the photo. Click the disclosure triangle to reveal the Tint color wheels. You remove a color cast in a tonal range by dragging the point in the color wheel toward the opposite color.
You can also have Aperture automatically identify tonal ranges in an image using the Black Point, Gray Point, and White Point eyedropper tools in the Curves adjustment controls. When you select a tonal range using one of the eyedropper tools, Aperture plots the corresponding curve over the Curves histogram. You can also brush the Curves adjustment on selected parts of an image. For more information, see An Overview of Brushed Adjustments on page 388.
•• Range pop-up menu: Choose a viewing range option from this pop-up menu. Choosing Shadows restricts the view of the histogram and tonal curve from pure black to 50 percent gray. Choosing Normal presents the view of the histogram and tonal curve from pure black to pure white. Choosing Extended enlarges the view of the histogram from pure black to two times pure white.
The tonal curve of the image is adjusted. To fine-tune the tonal curve adjustment, see Adjusting the Tonal Curve of an Image Using the Curves Controls on page 351. To automatically adjust the tonal curve of an image based on an evaluation of each color channel When you want to automatically adjust the tonal curve of an image based on individual evaluations of the red, green, and blue channels, you use the Auto Curves Separate button.
As you perform a tonal curve adjustment, a histogram is displayed behind the tonal curve and is updated as you manipulate the tonal curve. You can specify the tonal range of the histogram to focus the graph on the part of the tonal curve you plan to work with. For example, if you plan to manipulate the contrast in the shadow areas of the image, you can limit the tonal range of the tonal curve and histogram to display pure black to 50 percent gray only.
4 Choose the tonal range to display from the Range pop-up menu. For more information about the options in the Range pop-up menu, see Curves Adjustment Controls on page 349. 5 Choose the type of tonal curve adjustment to apply to the image from the Type section of the Curves Action pop-up menu. Choosing Linear—the default option—applies the Curves adjustment to the image evenly from pure black to pure white and beyond.
8 Adjust the shape of the curve by doing one of the following: •• Drag the point on the curve until that tonal area of the image looks correct. For example, dragging a point down in the shadow area of the curve darkens the shadows in the image, and dragging a point up in the shadow area lightens the shadows in the image. •• Click a point on the curve and enter new In point and Out point values in the In and Out fields.
Using Eyedropper Tools to Set Black, Gray, and White Points You use the Black Point, Gray Point, and White Point eyedropper tools in the Curves adjustment controls when you want to have Aperture selectively modify the tonal values of the shadows, midtones, and highlights in an image automatically.
2 If the Curves controls are not shown in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Curves from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu. 3 Select the Black Point eyedropper tool to activate the Loupe. Click the Black Point eyedropper button to activate the Loupe. The pointer changes to an eyedropper, and the Loupe appears, showing a magnified view of the target area. By default, the Loupe is set to magnify the image to 100 percent (full size).
3 Select the Gray Point eyedropper tool to activate the Loupe. Click the Gray Point eyedropper button to activate the Loupe. The pointer changes to an eyedropper, and the Loupe appears, showing a magnified view of the target area. By default, the Loupe is set to magnify the image to 100 percent (full size). If necessary, you can increase the magnification of the Loupe by choosing a larger magnification value from the Loupe pop-up menu. For more information, see An Overview of the Loupe on page 86.
3 Select the White Point eyedropper tool to activate the Loupe. Click the White Point eyedropper button to activate the Loupe. The pointer changes to an eyedropper, and the Loupe appears, showing a magnified view of the target area. By default, the Loupe is set to magnify the image to 100 percent (full size). If necessary, you can increase the magnification of the Loupe by choosing a larger magnification value from the Loupe pop-up menu. For more information, see An Overview of the Loupe on page 86.
To adjust the tonal curve of a single color channel in an image 1 In the Curves area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose a single color channel from the Channel pop-up menu. Choose a color channel from the Channel pop-up menu. 2 Place points on the curve, and adjust them as necessary, to remove or accentuate a color cast in the image.
Adjusting the Tonal Curve of the Green Color Channel You adjust the tonal curve of the green color channel when you want to remove green and magenta color casts in the image. Before Green Curves adjustment After Green Curves adjustment Green adjustment Effect Move tonal curve down in the shadows. Adds magenta to the shadows, removing green. Move tonal curve up in the shadows. Adds green to the shadows, removing magenta. Move tonal curve down in the midtones.
Blue adjustment Effect Move tonal curve down in the shadows. Adds yellow to the shadows, removing blue. Move tonal curve up in the shadows. Adds blue to the shadows, removing yellow. Move tonal curve down in the midtones. Adds yellow to the midtones, removing blue. Move tonal curve up in the midtones. Adds blue to the midtones, removing yellow. Move tonal curve down in the highlights. Adds yellow to the highlights, removing blue. Move tonal curve up in the highlights.
Adjusting the shadow areas is necessary when the shadow areas in an image are underexposed. A good example is an image shot in a doorway, where the background is correctly exposed but the foreground is a little underexposed. Adjusting the shadows lightens the pixels in the shadow areas only, bringing out detail that would normally have been shades of black or dark gray.
Upgrading Images Previously Adjusted with Highlights & Shadows Adjustment Controls The Highlights & Shadows adjustment controls have been updated in Aperture 3.3 for ease of use, reduced halo effect with shadow adjustments, improved highlight detail recovery, and better overall performance. Images that were adjusted using the original Highlights & Shadows controls are not upgraded by default.
3 If you want to adjust the Highlights & Shadows advanced settings, click the Advanced disclosure triangle to show the advanced Highlights & Shadows controls, then do the any of the following: Click the disclosure triangle to reveal the advanced Highlights & Shadows controls. •• To set the area Aperture uses to determine each pixel’s tonality: Use the Radius parameter controls.
You can also brush the Levels adjustment on selected parts of an image. For more information, see An Overview of Brushed Adjustments on page 388. Automatically Adjusting Luminance When you want to quickly adjust the levels of an image based on total luminance values—red, green, and blue channels combined—you choose Luminance from the Channel pop-up menu in the Levels adjustment and then click the Auto Levels Combined button.
Automatically Adjusting RGB Channels When you want to automatically adjust the levels of an image based on individual evaluations of the red, green, and blue channels, you use the Auto Levels Separate button in the Levels adjustment. Red, green, and blue channels are adjusted based on the evaluation of each channel. You use the Auto Levels Separate button when you want to correct the color cast in the image in addition to correcting the contrast.
To adjust the black clipping point 1 Choose Aperture > Preferences, then click Advanced. Use the Auto Adjust Black Clip slider and value slider to add tolerance to Auto Levels adjustments when evaluating colors beyond black. 2 In the Advanced pane, do one of the following: •• By default, the Auto Adjust Black Clip slider is set to the left side of the slider control.
3 Once the white clipping point is adjusted, click either the Auto Levels Combined or the Auto Levels Separate button in the Levels area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD to view the effect on the image. Adjusting the Luminance Levels in an Image When you want to adjust the overall tonality of an image, you use the Levels adjustment controls based on a histogram that shows luminance.
•• Drag the Black Levels and White Levels sliders to where they touch the outside of the histogram graph, constraining the image to its new black and white points. Drag the Black Levels and White Levels sliders to where they touch the outside of the histogram graph. •• Select the numbers in the Black (B) and White (W) fields, then enter a value from 0.00 to 1.00. By default, the black point is set to 0.00, and the white point is set to 1.00.
Showing Quarter-Tone Levels Controls When you need additional control over tonal values between the midtones and shadows as well as the midtones and highlights, you use the Quarter-Tone Levels controls in the Levels area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD. For example, if you need to add contrast to the midtone values independently of the black and white point settings, you use the Quarter-Tone Levels sliders.
Using Levels for Color Correction A powerful way to color correct an image is to adjust the levels of each color channel in the image. Adjusting the levels of each color channel is useful for removing color casts in an image. It’s important to understand that you’re adjusting the colors of the image within the RGB spectrum; therefore, you reduce yellow when you increase blue, you reduce magenta when you increase green, and so on.
Adjusting the Levels of the Green Color Channel You adjust the levels of the green color channel when you want to remove green and magenta color casts in the image. Before Green Levels adjustment After Green Levels adjustment (moved Gray Levels slider right) Green adjustment Effect Move Black Levels slider right. Adds magenta to the shadows, removing green. Move Gray Levels slider left. Adds green to the midtones, removing magenta. Move Gray Levels slider right.
Working with the Color Controls An Overview of the Color Adjustment You use the Color adjustment controls to selectively adjust the red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow colors in an image. Each color has individual Hue, Saturation, and Luminance controls. If you need to adjust the hue, saturation, and luminance of a color that does not appear in the Color controls, you can use the Color eyedropper to identify a hue in the image that needs adjusting.
Luminance (L) describes the brightness of the selected color. An increase in luminance brightens the selected color value. A maximum Luminance adjustment results in pure white. Conversely, a decrease in luminance darkens the selected color. A minimum Luminance adjustment results in pure black. L H S Adjusting the Color of the Image with the Color Controls When you want to adjust the color values in an image, you must first identify the colors that have the most influence on the colors you want to change.
Note: You can also click the Expanded View button to expand the Color area to show the controls for all colors at the same time. Click the Expanded View button to view the controls for all colors at the same time. 3 If a Hue adjustment is necessary, adjust the Hue parameter by doing one of the following: •• By default, the Hue slider is set to the center of the slider control. Drag the Hue slider to the left or right to change the hue of the selected color.
•• By default, the Hue value slider is set to 0.0. Double-click the number in the value slider, then enter a value from –180.0 to 180.0 and press Return. Use the Hue slider and value slider to remap the hue of the selected color. 4 If a Saturation adjustment is necessary, adjust the Saturation parameter by doing one of the following: •• By default, the Saturation slider is set to the center of the slider control.
•• Double-click the number in the value slider, then enter a value from 0.00 to 20.00 and press Return. Use the Range slider and value slider to adjust the chromatic range of the color adjustment. By default, the Range value slider is set to 1.00. Reds Yellows Greens 10 Cyans 1 Blues Magentas Reds 10 You can adjust the chromatic range up to 20. The default spread is 1. 7 Repeat steps 2 through 6 until you are satisfied with the appearance of the colors in your image.
3 Position the eyedropper over the color in the image that you want to adjust, then click. The new hue is selected and becomes the starting point for color adjustments of that hue. For more information about Color adjustments, see Adjusting the Color of the Image with the Color Controls on page 374. Working with the Black & White Controls You use the Black & White adjustment controls when you want more control over converting your image from color to black and white than simply desaturating it gives you.
3 Adjust the mixture of red, green, and blue channels by doing one of the following: •• Drag a color slider to the left to decrease the color’s percentage in the color mix, or drag the slider to the right to increase the percentage. •• Click the left or right arrows in the value sliders to modify the percentages by single increments, or drag in the value fields. The left arrows decrease the percentage, and the right arrows increase it.
3 Click the Color well and then choose a new tint color from the Colors window, or click the disclosure button (to the right of the color well) and choose a new tint color from the pop-up color palette. The selected color appears in the Color well and tints the midtones in the image. 4 By default, the color intensity is set to the maximum value of 1.0.
•• Double-click the number in the Intensity value slider, then enter a value from 0.0 to 1.0 and press Return. The image is converted to black and white, with the sepia color tint applied to the midtones. You can also brush the Sepia Tone adjustment on selected parts of an image. For more information, see An Overview of Brushed Adjustments on page 388.
To sharpen an image using the Edge Sharpen controls 1 Select a photo. 2 If the Edge Sharpen controls are not shown in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Edge Sharpen from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu (or press Control-S). 3 Sharpen the image by doing one of the following: •• Drag the Intensity slider to the right to increase the amount of sharpening applied to the image, and drag the slider back to the left to reduce the amount of sharpening.
•• Double-click the number in the Falloff value slider, then enter a value from 0.0 to 1.0 and press Return. Use the Falloff slider and value slider to adjust the strength of the subsequent sharpening adjustment. The falloff percentage is applied proportionally to the second and third sharpening passes. For example, if 0.
•• Double-click the number in the Intensity value slider, then enter a value from 0.0 to 1.0 and press Return. Use the Intensity slider and value slider to adjust the strength of the sharpening adjustment. Use the Radius slider and value slider to adjust the area over which the sharpening adjustment is applied. A value of 0.0 applies no sharpening adjustment to the image. A value greater than 0.0 increases the sharpening adjustment to the image.
The Exposure vignette is designed to simulate a lens-created vignette. Before Exposure Vignette adjustment After Exposure Vignette adjustment The Gamma vignette is designed for artistic effect and applies a gamma adjustment to the affected pixels within the vignette. Because the Gamma vignette intensifies colors in the affected pixels, it creates a more pronounced vignette effect than the Exposure vignette.
•• Double-click the number in the Intensity value slider, then enter a value from 0.0 to 1.0 and press Return. Use the Intensity slider and value slider to adjust the amount of brightness removed from the edges of the photo. 5 To adjust the radius of the vignette, in pixels, do one of the following: •• Drag the Radius slider to the right to increase the dark shading from the edges of the image inward, or drag the slider to the left to limit the dark shading to the edges of the image.
The right arrow moves the Vignette adjustment toward the center point of the image, and the left arrow limits the Vignette adjustment to the edges of the image. •• Double-click the number in the Radius value slider, then enter a value from 0.0 to 2.0 and press Return. Use the Radius slider and value slider to adjust the size of the area over which the Vignette adjustment is applied. The Gamma vignette is applied to the image. You can also brush the Gamma Vignette adjustment on selected parts of an image.
Making Brushed Adjustments 18 An Overview of Brushed Adjustments In Aperture, you can make adjustments to specific portions of your images with brushes to selectively correct and enhance your photos. Most adjustments in Aperture can be brushed on images. You simply specify the parameter settings for an adjustment, previewing the effect of the adjustment on the entire image, and then choose to either brush the adjustment “in” or brush the adjustment “away” using the adjustment’s Action pop-up menu.
When you brush an adjustment on an image, a Brush button appears at the top of the adjustment controls for that adjustment. A Brush button appears after the adjustment has been brushed on the photo. Aperture also provides Quick Brush adjustments that have been specifically designed for brushing on images. Using Quick Brush adjustments, you brush an adjustment on the image and then modify the adjustment’s parameter settings.
You can also choose a Quick Brush adjustment from the Quick Brush pop-up menu in the tool strip of the Aperture main window or in the Full Screen view toolbar. Quick Brush pop-up menu Each time you choose a Quick Brush adjustment from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu or the Quick Brush pop-up menu, the adjustment controls for the Quick Brush adjustment appear in the Adjustments inspector (and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown).
Using Brushed Adjustment Controls Working with Controls in the Brush HUD The controls in the Brush HUD are the same for all brushed adjustments except for Retouch. For more information about the Retouch adjustment, see An Overview of the Retouch Adjustment Controls on page 302.
Applying Brushed Adjustments When you want to apply an adjustment to a small portion of an image, you can specify the adjustment parameter settings and then brush the adjustment in. A plus sign (+) indicates that you’re brushing the adjustment in. When you want to apply an adjustment to most of an image except for a specific portion, you can specify the parameter settings for the adjustment and then brush the adjustment away from the areas of the image you want to exclude.
4 When the area of the image you want to adjust has the correct appearance, choose “Brush [adjustment] in” from the adjustment’s Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). Action pop-up menu for the Enhance adjustment The pointer turns into a brush, and the Brush HUD for the adjustment appears. The adjustment is also removed from the image.
4 When the area of the image you want to adjust has the correct appearance, choose “Brush [adjustment] away” from the adjustment’s Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). Action pop-up menu for the Enhance adjustment The pointer turns into a brush, and the Brush HUD for the adjustment appears. The adjustment remains applied to the entire image.
To apply a brushed adjustment to the entire image You can extend a brushed adjustment to the entire image if you decide that the adjustment should be applied to the entire image rather than just the area you brushed over. 1 Select the photo with the brushed adjustment you want applied to the entire image. 2 If necessary, select the brushed adjustment in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, then click the Brush button in the adjustment controls. Click the Brush button.
The pointer turns into a brush, the Brush HUD for the adjustment appears, and adjustment controls for the adjustment appear in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown. Note: The controls in the Retouch HUD are different from those that appear in the Brush HUD for other brushed adjustments. For more information about the controls in the Retouch HUD, see Repairing Your Images on page 303.
To feather brush strokes In many situations, it’s best to avoid brush strokes that have hard, noticeable edges. The Brush HUD has a feathering brush that you can use to smooth the edges of previously applied brush strokes so that they blend seamlessly into the image. The feathering brush is applied to the selected brushed adjustment only.
Tip: When feathering brush stokes, it’s a good idea to display the brush strokes as color overlays to help identify the boundaries of each brush stroke. Then turn the color overlays off at regular intervals and visually inspect the image to ensure that the brush strokes are feathered appropriately. For more information about working with overlays, see Working with Brushed Adjustment Overlays on page 400. The adjustment’s brush strokes are feathered, blending them into the image.
To erase brush strokes You can erase the brush strokes for any brushed adjustment applied to an image using the Eraser button in the Brush HUD. The eraser brush erases the brush strokes of the selected brushed adjustment only. The eraser brush uses the same parameters as the standard brush (Brush Size, Softness, and Strength). Tip: You can quickly switch from the brush to the eraser by holding down the Option key. Release the Option key to switch back to the brush.
2 If necessary, select the brushed adjustment in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, then click the Brush button in the adjustment controls. Click the Brush button. The Brush HUD for the adjustment appears. 3 In the Brush HUD, choose “Clear from entire photo” from the Brush Action pop-up menu. Choose “Clear from entire photo” from the Brush Action pop-up menu. All brush strokes for the selected adjustment are removed from the image.
•• Brush Strokes: This option displays the brush strokes for the selected adjustment as pure white over a pure black background. This option provides the easiest method for identifying brush strokes that have been applied to an image. It’s a good idea to use this overlay option if you suspect that you missed a tiny part of the image when brushing. The missed portions of the image appear as black dots or lines.
2 If necessary, select the brushed adjustment in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, then click the Brush button in the adjustment controls. Click the Brush button. The Brush HUD for the adjustment appears. 3 In the Brush HUD, choose an overlay option from the Overlay section of the Brush Action pop-up menu. Choose an overlay from the Overlay section of the Brush Action pop-up menu.
•• In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Quick Brushes from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu, then choose a Quick Brush adjustment from the submenu. •• In Full Screen view, choose a Quick Brush adjustment from the Quick Brush pop-up menu in the toolbar. The Brush HUD for the adjustment appears. 3 In the Brush HUD, choose a tonal range for the adjustment from the Brush Range section of the Brush Action pop-up menu.
3 Specify the brush stroke settings using the controls in the Skin Smoothing Brush HUD. For more information about the controls in the Brush HUD, see Working with Controls in the Brush HUD on page 391. For more information about applying brush strokes to an image, see Working with Brush Strokes on page 396. 4 Brush the adjustment on the area of the image that contains the person whose skin you want to smooth.
•• In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Quick Brushes > Dodge (Lighten) from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu. •• In the tool strip, choose Dodge (Lighten) from the Quick Brush pop-up menu (with a brush icon). The Dodge Brush HUD appears, and the Dodge adjustment controls appear in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown. 3 Specify the brush stroke settings using the controls in the Dodge Brush HUD.
•• In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Quick Brushes > Burn (Darken) from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu. •• In the tool strip, choose Burn (Darken) from the Quick Brush pop-up menu (with a brush icon). The Burn Brush HUD appears, and the Burn adjustment controls appear in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown. 3 Specify the brush stroke settings using the controls in the Burn Brush HUD.
•• In the tool strip, choose Polarize (Multiply) from the Quick Brush pop-up menu (with a brush icon). The Polarize Brush HUD appears, and the Polarize adjustment controls appear in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown. 3 Specify the brush stroke settings using the controls in the Polarize Brush HUD. For more information about the controls in the Brush HUD, see Working with Controls in the Brush HUD on page 391.
•• In the tool strip, choose Intensify Contrast (Overlay) from the Quick Brush pop-up menu (with a brush icon). The Intensify Contrast Brush HUD appears, and the Intensify Contrast adjustment controls appear in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown. 3 Specify the brush stroke settings using the controls in the Intensify Contrast Brush HUD. For more information about the controls in the Brush HUD, see Working with Controls in the Brush HUD on page 391.
To brush the Tint adjustment on an image 1 Select a photo. 2 Do one of the following: •• In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Quick Brushes > Tint from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu. •• In the tool strip, choose Tint from the Quick Brush pop-up menu (with a brush icon). The Tint Brush HUD appears, and the Tint adjustment controls appear in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown.
To brush the Contrast adjustment on an image 1 Select a photo. 2 Do one of the following: •• In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Quick Brushes > Contrast from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu. •• In the tool strip, choose Contrast from the Quick Brush pop-up menu (with a brush icon). The Contrast Brush HUD appears, and the Contrast adjustment controls appear in the Adjustments inspector and the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, if both are shown.
Note: You can also apply a Saturation adjustment by brushing the entire Enhance adjustment's parameter settings in to or out of an image. However, brushing the Enhance adjustment on an image applies the Contrast, Definition, Saturation, Vibrancy, and Tint parameter settings. You use the Quick Brush equivalents when you need to apply each of these adjustments in different ways to different parts of the photo.
Working with the Definition Quick Brush Controls You use the Definition Quick Brush adjustment to add clarity and reduce haze without adding too much contrast to the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on. Before Definition adjustment After Definition adjustment (added definition to the flower in the foreground) Note: You can also apply a Definition adjustment by brushing the entire Enhance adjustment's parameter settings in to or out of an image.
•• Specify the amount of the Definition adjustment you want to apply to the image using the Intensity slider and value slider. The previously applied Definition adjustment is modified. Working with the Vibrancy Quick Brush Controls You use the Vibrancy Quick Brush adjustment to add saturation to desaturated colors only in the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on. Skin tones are not affected.
To modify the Vibrancy adjustment after it has been applied to an image 1 Select a photo with the Vibrancy adjustment applied to it. 2 In the Vibrancy area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, modify the Vibrancy adjustment by specifying the amount of the adjustment you want to apply to the image using the Amount slider and value slider. The previously applied Vibrancy adjustment is modified.
2 In the Blur area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, modify the Blur adjustment by specifying the amount of the adjustment you want to apply to the image using the Amount slider and value slider. The previously applied Blur adjustment is modified. Working with the Sharpen Quick Brush Controls You use the Sharpen Quick Brush adjustment to fine-tune the details in the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on.
2 In the Sharpen area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, modify the Sharpen adjustment by specifying the amount of the adjustment you want to apply to the image using the Amount slider and value slider. The previously applied Sharpen adjustment is modified.
Working with the Noise Reduction Quick Brush Controls You use the Noise Reduction Quick Brush adjustment to remove digital noise in the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on. Before Noise Reduction adjustment After Noise Reduction adjustment To brush the Noise Reduction adjustment on an image 1 Select a photo. 2 Do one of the following: •• In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Quick Brushes > Noise Reduction from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu.
To modify the Noise Reduction adjustment after it has been applied to an image 1 Select a photo with the Noise Reduction adjustment applied to it. 2 In the Noise Reduction area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, modify the Noise Reduction adjustment by specifying the following settings: •• Specify the area over which the Noise Reduction adjustment is applied using the Radius slider and value slider.
Printing Your Photos 19 An Overview of Printing Aperture makes it easy to print high-resolution photos. You can print single photos, contact sheets, webpages, and books. You can print photos selected in the Light Table, as well as create PDF files that you can easily transfer to clients for review. Aperture allows you to print your photos as high-resolution images and multi-image contact sheets.
•• Use a printer that supports 16-bit printing: If the photo you’re printing is a high-resolution 16-bit file, using a printer that supports 16-bit printing results in smoother gradations. •• Color calibrate your Aperture system: It’s important to calibrate your display and printer so that your printed photos look as much as possible like the photos you see on the computer screen.
1 Select either the Standard print preset or a custom preset in the Presets list of the Print dialog. Select the Standard preset to see the print controls for printing individual photos. The More Options button indicates that the default print controls are shown. The basic controls for standard print presets are shown. 2 To show additional print controls, click the More Options button. The Print dialog expands to show additional print controls for standard prints.
1 Select either the Contact Sheets preset or a contact sheet preset saved in the Custom Presets area of the Print dialog. Select the Contact Sheets preset to see the print controls for printing contact sheets. The More Options button indicates that the default print controls are shown. The Printer and Layout controls for contact sheet presets are shown. 2 To show additional print controls, click the More Options button. The Print dialog expands to show additional print controls for contact sheets.
•• Choose a paper size from the available items in the Paper Size pop-up menu. •• In the Orientation pop-up menu, choose whether you want the image printed in Landscape mode or Portrait mode. •• Choose the size of the printed photo from the Image Size pop-up menu, by doing one of the following: •• To print the photo so that the entire image fits on the page: Choose Maximum to Fit.
•• Choose a printer from the Printer pop-up menu. •• If necessary, choose a print profile from the Color Profile pop-up menu. Note: Printer Managed, the default setting, is the appropriate choice in most cases. If you are outputting to a specific device profile or if you have color calibrated your printer, you should choose an appropriate profile from this pop-up menu. •• Choose a paper size from the available items in the Paper Size pop-up menu.
Important: Make sure the paper type matches the color profile selected in the Aperture Print dialog. If you chose Printer Managed, make sure to enable your printer’s color management. For more information about enabling color management on your printer, see the documentation that came with your printer. 8 Click Print. Your photos are printed, one photo per page. Printing a Contact Sheet or Series of Contact Sheets You can print contact sheets of your photos, and Aperture does all the layout work for you.
Your contact sheet is printed. Manually Adjusting Photo Layout in the Preview Area In addition to using the Layout and Margins controls in the Print dialog, you can manually adjust the margins and spacing in the Preview area of the Print dialog. When printing a single photo with a border or dimensions smaller than the paper size, you can adjust the placement of the photo on the page by dragging the margin lines in the Preview area.
•• Select a print preset that prints the same photo multiple times on the same sheet of paper. •• Select a print preset for a contact sheet. 4 In the Preview area, do either or both of the following: •• Drag the margin lines between the outer edges of the photos and the paper’s edge. •• Drag the lines between the photos to adjust the spacing between them. Drag the lines between the photos to adjust the spacing between them. The overlay displays the distance between the photos.
To create a PDF file of a book 1 In the Library inspector, select a book album. 2 Choose File > Print Book (or press Command-P). 3 In the Print dialog, choose Save as PDF from the PDF pop-up menu. The Save dialog appears. 4 Enter a name for the PDF file and choose a location to save the file, then click Save. Printing a Light Table Arrangement You can print an arrangement of images in the Light Table. You can also create a PDF of your Light Table arrangement using the OS X Print dialog.
Creating and Modifying Print Presets After examining a selected preset’s print settings, you may want to change certain settings. You can do this by modifying an existing print preset and then saving it, or by duplicating an existing print preset and making changes to it. You use the presets stored in the Custom Presets area of the Print dialog to create and save your customized print presets.
To use onscreen proofing, choose the proofing profile that most closely matches the characteristics of the final output device, and then turn on onscreen proofing. When onscreen proofing is turned on, the photo is converted using the selected profile before it is sent to the printer. To choose a proofing profile mm Choose View > Proofing Profile, then choose the profile you want from the submenu. To turn onscreen proofing on or off mm Choose View > Onscreen Proofing (or press Shift-Option-P).
Exporting Your Photos 20 An Overview of Exporting Photos Using Aperture, you can export copies of originals, as well as versions that you’ve created. When you export photo versions, you can export them in JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and PSD file formats. At export, you can rename files, resize and adjust images, and include metadata such as EXIF information, IPTC information, and keywords. You can also apply ColorSync profiles and watermarks to the versions you’re exporting.
You can also export projects, folders, and albums, as well as a combination of all three. Aperture consolidates the originals and versions of the items you selected in the Library inspector and exports them as a library, maintaining their organizational structure. Then you can merge the exported library into the Aperture library on another computer. For more information about merging libraries, see Merging Libraries on page 41.
Exporting Photo Versions You can export photo versions that you’ve created in Aperture. For example, you might make adjustments to images for a specific purpose and then export them for use in another application. You can also rename photos when exporting them, make minor adjustments on export, add watermarks, and export photos with metadata. You can also quickly export photos to your email application to send them to others.
6 Choose a name format for your files from the Name Format pop-up menu. If you choose a Custom Name format, enter a name in the Custom Name field. For more information on renaming photos at export, see Renaming Photos at Export on page 445. 7 If you want to be notified when the export process is complete, select the “Show alert when finished” checkbox. 8 When you’re ready to export files, click Export Versions. The photos you selected are exported to the location you specified.
•• Choose a folder name preset from the Subfolder Format pop-up menu to specify that Aperture create a hierarchy of subfolders with specific folder names to hold your files. For more information about creating folders to hold your exported audio and video files, see Exporting Photos into Folders in the Finder on page 443. •• Choose Custom Name or Custom Name with Counter from the Subfolder Format pop-up menu, then enter a custom folder name in the Custom Subfolder Name field.
Aperture consolidates the selected items into a library and exports the library file to the location you chose. Working with Export Presets Viewing the Settings for an Export Preset Export presets are groups of saved export settings that help you quickly and easily export your photos. Aperture comes with numerous export presets, and you can also create your own.
The Image Export dialog appears. Select a preset on which to base your new preset. Click the Add button to add a new preset. 2 Select an export preset on which to base your new preset, then click the Add (+) button. A new preset appears highlighted in the Preset Name list. 3 Enter a name for the new preset, then press Return. 4 Change the export settings as required, then click OK. Modifying an Export Preset You can modify existing presets when you need to.
To delete an export preset in the Image Export dialog 1 Select the preset, then click the Remove (–) button. Click the Remove button to delete the selected preset. 2 In the dialog that appears, click Delete. The preset disappears from the Preset Name list. 3 Click OK. The preset is permanently deleted. Note: If you click the Delete button and then click Cancel, the preset reappears the next time you open the Image Export dialog.
The Image Export dialog appears. Enter a DPI setting for exported photos here. 2 Select an export preset or create a new one, then enter a dpi setting. For more information on creating export presets, see Creating an Export Preset on page 436. 3 Specify additional settings as necessary, then click OK. Use this export preset when you need to export versions at the resolution specified in the DPI field. Create a new preset when a new dpi setting is required.
The Image Export dialog appears. Choose a Size To option and enter the corresponding values here. 2 Select an export preset or create a new one. For more information on creating export presets, see Creating an Export Preset on page 436. 3 Choose an item from the Size To pop-up menu, then specify the size of the photo by entering values in the fields that appear below it. 4 Specify additional settings as necessary, then click OK. Use this export preset when you need to export photos at a specific size.
To adjust images at export, you create a new export preset in the Image Export dialog and then modify the Image Quality, Gamma Adjust, ColorSync Profile, and Black Point Compensation settings as appropriate. Use these options to adjust photos when they are exported. Gamma adjustments applied at export are applied on top of gamma adjustments previously applied to photo versions. Before exporting, verify that you are not doubling any gamma adjustments previously applied to your photos.
Adding a Watermark at Export A watermark is a visible graphic overlay that is applied to a photo. Photographers often use watermarks to indicate that the photos are protected by a copyright and to discourage others from inappropriately using their photos. You can import a graphics file and add it to your photos as a watermark. Use the following guidelines to create high-quality watermarks for your photos: •• Save your watermark as a PSD (Photoshop) file with a transparent background.
To create an image export preset that includes metadata with exported photos 1 Do one of the following: •• Choose Aperture > Presets > Image Export. •• Choose File > Export > Versions (or press Command-Shift-E), then choose Edit from the Export Presets pop-up menu. The Image Export dialog appears. 2 In the Image Export dialog, select the export preset you want to use to export your photos, or create a new one. For more information about creating export presets, see Creating an Export Preset on page 436.
You can also create a hierarchy of folders within folders. For example, you can specify that Aperture place your photos in a subfolder named Date, and within that folder you can create subfolders identified by the time the photo was taken. To create the folder name format, you drag the elements you want into the Format field and drag the slash element between the elements where a subfolder should be created.
Renaming Photos at Export When you export a large group of photos, the exported files often have nonsequential names. You can rename your photos at export, giving them more meaningful names. For example, suppose you want to export photos LA 031, LA 441, LA 686, and LA 894 from photo group LA 001 to LA 1061. You can use the Custom Name with Index name format to rename your photos LA 1, LA 2, and so on. To rename photos at export 1 Select the photo or photos you want to export.
The File Naming dialog appears. 2 In the Preset Name list, select an existing name format on which to base the new name format, then click the Add (+) button. Select an existing name format in this list. Click the Add button. A copy of the selected name format is created. 3 Enter a name for the new preset, then press Return. 4 Add name elements by dragging the elements from the Include area to the Format field.
If necessary, enter relevant naming information in the fields provided. Remove name elements from the Format field by selecting them and pressing Delete. You can also type characters directly in the Format field. The name format example automatically updates as you change the name elements. Name elements appear here. Remove a name element by selecting it and pressing Delete. Add name elements by dragging them to the Format field.
2 In the File Naming dialog, select the preset name format you want to modify. Select the name format you want to modify. Select the space between name elements and delete it. 3 In the Format field, select and delete the spaces or characters between the name elements. If you wish, you can also add spaces or characters between name elements. 4 Click OK. Exporting Metadata in a Separate File You can select photos and export the IPTC metadata assigned to them in a tab-delimited text file.
To use an export plug-in, you must first obtain the plug-in software from the service or application vendor and install it. You can find a list of available plug-ins by connecting to the Internet and choosing Aperture > Aperture Plug-ins. Third-party plug-ins for Aperture are stored in the following location: /Library/Application Support/Aperture/Plug-ins/Export/. To export photos using a third-party plug-in 1 Select the photos you want to transfer.
5 Choose a name format for your files from the Name Format pop-up menu. 6 When you’re ready to export files, click Export Versions. You can now open your email application and attach the exported files. Exporting by Dragging You can export photo, audio, and video versions by dragging them from the Browser or Library inspector to the desktop or any location in the Finder. You can also do the same with projects, albums, and folders in the Library inspector.
Creating Slideshow Presentations 21 An Overview of Slideshows With Aperture, you can easily create and present slideshows of your photos. You can use two main methods to create slideshows in Aperture. You can quickly create a slideshow from a selection of photos, or you can create an advanced multimedia presentation complete with video clips, a layered soundtrack, and customized titles, borders, transitions, and effects.
Playing Slideshows Using Slideshow Presets An Overview of Slideshow Presets To play a slideshow using a slideshow preset, you select an item in the Library inspector or individual photos in the Browser and then choose File > Play Slideshow (or press Shift-S). When the Play Slideshow dialog appears, you can specify how you want photos displayed by choosing a slideshow preset. Slideshow presets are groups of predefined settings for playing a slideshow.
To create or modify a slideshow preset, you choose Aperture > Presets > Slideshow (or choose Edit from the Slideshow Preset pop-up menu in the Play Slideshow dialog), and the Slideshow dialog appears. The Slideshow dialog lets you create or modify slideshow presets. You can then select a slideshow preset or create a new one, specifying the settings you want. Playing a Slideshow Using a Preset You can easily set up a slideshow by selecting the photos you want and then choosing a slideshow preset.
3 Choose a preset from the Slideshow Preset pop-up menu. Note: Additional slideshow presets appear in the Slideshow Preset pop-up menu for use in Aperture when iPhoto ’11 is installed. When you choose a preset from the Slideshow Preset pop-up menu, a preview of the slideshow preset plays below the pop-up menu. 4 Click Start. If either no photo or a single photo is selected, the slideshow displays all photos in the current album or project.
mm Choose File > Play Slideshow (or press Shift-S), then choose Edit from the Slideshow Preset pop-up menu in the Play Slideshow dialog. The Slideshow dialog appears. •• Preset Name list: Displays the list of current slideshow presets. •• Theme pop-up menu: Choose a theme for your slideshow preset from this pop-up menu. •• “Show title slide” checkbox: Select this checkbox to display a title slide at the beginning of the slideshow.
•• Audio browser area: Displays sample music and slideshow theme music selections, as well as music from GarageBand, your iTunes library, and any audio imported into the Aperture library. Navigate to a song to accompany your slideshow, or search for a song name, artist, or song time by entering information in the search field. You can also preview DRM-free music by clicking the Play button. •• OK button: Click this button to apply any changes made to the selected slideshow preset.
Modifying Slideshow Presets You can modify slideshow presets to create custom slideshow presentations. To modify an existing preset 1 Choose Aperture > Presets > Slideshow. The Slideshow dialog appears. 2 Select the preset you want to modify in the Preset Name list. 3 Modify the slideshow preset’s settings as appropriate. 4 When you’ve finished modifying settings for the slideshow preset, click OK.
5 In the Slideshow dialog, select the “Play music during slideshow” checkbox. Select this checkbox if you want to play music or an audio clip during your slideshow. Select a song or an audio clip. Click the Play button to preview your choice. 6 Navigate to a song or an audio track in the audio browser. You can search for a specific song, artist, or song time by entering information in the search field. 7 If you want to preview your song choice, click the Play button.
Stage 5: Selecting Music Choose the music or audio clip that will play during the slideshow. You can apply a looped song to the main audio track and then add voiceover audio clips and other audio clips to the secondary audio track. Stage 6: Adjusting Transitions Adjust transitions to emphasize the most important photos in the slideshow or give a particular treatment to photos with similar subject matter.
3 In the dialog that appears, give the slideshow a name, select a theme, and make sure the “Add selected items to new slideshow” checkbox is selected. Enter a name for your slideshow in this field. Make sure this checkbox is selected. You can preview slideshow themes by selecting themes in the left column. 4 Click Choose Theme. The new slideshow album containing the selected photos appears in the Library inspector, and the Slideshow Editor appears above the Browser.
•• Choose Slideshow from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar. 2 In the dialog that appears, give the slideshow a name, then select a theme. You can preview slideshow themes by selecting themes in the left column. 3 Make sure the “Add selected items to new slideshow” checkbox is not selected. 4 Click Choose Theme. The new, empty slideshow album appears in the Library inspector, and the Slideshow Editor appears above the Browser.
About Editing Slideshow Transitions and Applying Effects Aperture provides two methods for applying transitions and effects to the slides in your slideshow. The first method applies the changes uniformly to every slide and transition in the slideshow using the Default Settings controls. The second method applies changes to individual slides and transitions using the Selected Slides controls.
Modifying Settings Applied to the Entire Slideshow An Overview of Modifying the Entire Slideshow The onscreen duration of each slide, the type of transition between slides, and the length of the transitions are initially set by the theme you choose for the slideshow. However, you can change these settings at any time, along with the aspect ratio, background color, image borders, Ken Burns effect settings, and titles.
To apply a title to the beginning of the slideshow 1 In the Default Settings pane of the Slideshow Editor, select the “Show title” checkbox. Disclosure button for the pop-up color palette “Show title” color well The slideshow album’s name appears in a text box over the first slide in the slideshow. 2 If you wish, double-click the title and enter new title text.
Choosing a Background Color for the Slideshow You can change the color of the background over which the slides play. Background color well Disclosure button for the pop-up color palette To change the slideshow’s background color Do one of the following: mm Click the disclosure button to the right of the color well, then select a color from the pop-up color palette. mm In the Default Settings pane of the Slideshow Editor, click the Background color well, then select a color from the Colors window.
Fitting the Slides to the Aspect Ratio After you have chosen an aspect ratio for your slideshow, you need to decide how you want your photos to appear within the aspect ratio. Use the Crop pop-up menu in the Default Settings pane of the Slideshow Editor to choose to have the photos fit within the frame of the slideshow aspect ratio, have the photos fill the frame of the slideshow aspect ratio, or apply a Ken Burns effect to each photo in the slideshow.
Note: The Transition direction buttons appear dimmed if you choose a transition that can be applied in only one direction. 3 Set the duration of the transitions between slides by specifying the time, in seconds, using the Speed value slider. The chosen transition is applied uniformly between slides in the slideshow, with the direction and duration you specified. Adding Text to Slides You can display basic information about each photo in your slideshow, such as each version’s name or caption.
Modifying Individual Slides and Transitions An Overview of Modifying Individual Slides and Transitions After specifying the basic settings for a slideshow, you use the Selected Slides controls to modify or accentuate specific slides and transitions.
To add a fade-out to a video clip You can set the volume of a video clip to smoothly decrease over time by applying a fade-out. Adding a fade-out to a video clip helps prevent an abrupt transition from the audio in the video clip to the audio clip in the slideshow’s main audio track. mm In the Selected Slides pane of the Slideshow Editor, specify the duration of the fade-out, in seconds, using the Fade Out slider and value slider.
2 In the Selected Slides pane of the Slideshow Editor, select the “Play slide for” checkbox. Make sure this checkbox is selected. Specify a duration using this value slider. 3 Specify the length of time you want the slide or group of slides to appear using the “Play slide for” value slider. The display time for the selected slide or slides changes to the duration you specified.
2 In the Selected Slides pane of the Slideshow Editor, select the Background checkbox. Make sure this checkbox is selected. Click here to select a color from the Colors window. Click here to select a color from the pop-up color palette. Pop-up color palette 3 Do one of the following: •• Click the Background color well, then select a color from the Colors window. •• Click the disclosure button to the right of the color well, then choose a color from the pop-up color palette.
The new image border is applied to the selected slide or group of slides in the slideshow. Setting the Crop for Individual Slides You can make a photo or a group of photos in your slideshow fill the screen. Choose how you want the photo cropped from this pop-up menu. Make sure this checkbox is selected. To make the photo or group of photos in the slideshow fill the screen 1 Select a photo or group of photos in the Browser. 2 In the Selected Slides pane of the Slideshow Editor, select the Crop checkbox.
3 Choose Ken Burns Effect from the Crop pop-up menu. A Ken Burns effect is applied to the photo. To set the start and end frames for the Ken Burns effect 1 Follow the steps above for applying a Ken Burns effect to an individual slide. 2 Click the Edit button to the right of the Crop pop-up menu. The Start and End overlays appear in the Slideshow Editor. 3 Drag the Start (green) and End (red) overlays over the parts of the photo where you want the panning to begin and end.
2 In the Selected Slides pane of the Slideshow Editor, select the Transition checkbox and choose a transition from the pop-up menu. A preview of the transition applied between the photos appears in the Preview area below the Speed value slider. Transition pop-up menu Transition direction buttons Speed value slider Preview area Make sure this checkbox is selected. 3 Set the duration of the transition in seconds using the Speed value slider.
•• Click the Text color well, then select a color from the Colors window. •• Click the disclosure button to the right of the color well, then select a color from the pop-up color palette. 4 If you would like to choose a specific font and font size for the slideshow text, click the Text Fonts button and select a font and font size from the Fonts window. 5 If you would like to choose where the text appears on the screen, drag the text to a new position.
The second method of adding audio to a slideshow involves dragging a song or an audio clip, such as voiceover recorded using GarageBand, from the Audio browser to a specific slide in the Browser. Dragging an audio clip to a slide creates a secondary audio track, which appears as a green bar below the slides in the Browser. You can trim the length of audio clips in the secondary audio track, as well as control fade-in and fade-out effects.
2 Choose the source for your audio from the Source list pop-up menu. Choose the source audio for your audio from this pop-up menu. Select a song or audio clip in this area. Audio Browser button 3 Select a song or audio clip from the Audio browser. 4 If you wish, preview the audio by clicking the Play button. 5 Drag the selected song or audio clip to the Browser’s background.
2 Choose the source for your audio from the Source list pop-up menu. Choose the source audio for your audio from this pop-up menu. Select a song or audio clip in this area. Audio Browser button 3 Select a song or audio clip from the Audio browser. 4 If you wish, preview the audio by clicking the Play button. 5 Drag the selected song or audio clip to the specific slide in the Browser where you want the audio to begin.
A green bar appears at the bottom of the Browser to indicate that the audio clip has been added to the secondary audio track. When the playhead reaches the secondary audio track, the audio clip in that track plays over any audio clip in the main audio track. Drag the song or audio clip to where you want the secondary audio to begin. The green bar indicates a clip in the secondary audio track. 6 Repeat steps 2 through 5 to add additional audio clips to the secondary audio track.
The pointer changes to a hand, indicating that you can drag the audio clip to a new position. The hand icon appears when you drag the audio clip to a new position. Adjusting the Volume Between the Main Audio Track and Secondary Audio Track As the slideshow plays, the clips in the secondary audio track always play on top of audio clips in the main audio track.
3 In the Audio Adjustments HUD, drag the Fade Out slider to the right to increase the duration of the fade-out, or to the left to decrease the duration. You can also click the left or right arrow in the Fade Out value slider, or drag in the value field. Fade Out value slider Fade Out slider A setting of 0.0s turns the fade-out off. The volume at the end of the audio clip in the secondary audio track will slowly decrease according to the setting you specified in the Audio Adjustments HUD.
To fit the slideshow to the duration of the main audio track mm In the Slideshow Editor, choose Fit Slides to Main Audio Track from the Slideshow Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). To align the slides to the beat of the music mm In the Slideshow Editor, choose Align Slides to Beats from the Slideshow Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). To reset audio adjustments You can always reset any audio adjustments you’ve made to an audio clip applied to a slideshow.
Viewing Your Slideshows in Aperture You can view your slideshow at any time in one of two ways in Aperture: in full-screen mode or in the Slideshow Editor. Play Slideshow button Preview Slideshow button Audio Browser button Slide Duration button Slideshow Settings button Slideshow Action pop-up menu To preview your slideshow in the Slideshow Editor 1 In the Slideshow Editor, click the Preview Slideshow button. 2 Click the Space bar to begin playing the slideshow, and click it again to pause playback.
4 If you want to export a slideshow movie in a custom size, choose Custom from the “Export for” pop-up menu, choose a codec from the Codec pop-up menu, enter the number of frames per second in the Frame Rate field, enter the width and height, in pixels, in the Width and Height fields, then choose a compression setting from the Quality pop-up menu. 5 If you want Aperture to automatically send a copy of the slideshow movie to iTunes, select the “Automatically send slideshow to iTunes” checkbox.
Creating Webpages 22 An Overview of Creating Webpages In Aperture, you can easily create webpages of your photos that you can post to your own website. Then clients can conveniently review your work via the Internet. You can use built-in Aperture webpage themes and designs to create two types of webpages: •• Web galleries show your photos in eye-catching settings and are designed to display photos without your having to lay out pages by hand.
To create a web gallery, you must first create a webpage album that holds your web gallery photos. The easiest way to do this is to select photos you want to appear in the web gallery, create a webpage album, and have Aperture automatically place the photos on the web gallery pages. Aperture creates as many webpages as necessary to hold all of the selected photos. You can also create an empty webpage album and then drag photos into the album.
A new, empty webpage album is added to the Library inspector. You can drag the photos you want into the new webpage album from the Browser or from other items selected in the Library inspector. Creating Smart Web Page Albums You can use the Aperture Smart Album feature to gather photos from the library or from projects and place them on web gallery pages automatically. Smart Albums gather photos based on search criteria that you specify.
Note: Make sure the “Add selected items to new web journal” checkbox is selected. The selected photos appear in the Browser. You can then manually add photos to your web journal pages from the Browser or from other items selected in the Library inspector. To create a new, empty web journal album 1 Do one of the following: •• Choose File > New > Web Journal. •• Control-click in the Library inspector, then choose New > Web Journal from the shortcut menu.
When someone clicks a photo on a page in your website, a page showing an enlarged view of the photo appears. You can view these enlarged photos in the Webpage Editor. To see an enlarged photo from a webpage Do one of the following: mm In the Webpage Editor, position the pointer over the photo, then click the Detail button (with a curved arrow). mm Click the up arrow and down arrow buttons on the side of the Detail Images pane to navigate through detail pages for the photos in a web gallery or web journal.
To specify the types of metadata that appear with your photos You can specify that your photos appear with metadata in your web gallery or web journal. You can choose different combinations of metadata to appear on your pages. For example, you might display your photos with a simple set of metadata that includes the filename, caption, and photo date. mm Choose an option from the Metadata View pop-up menu at the top of the Webpage Editor.
To turn on the display of photo plate numbers in a web gallery mm Choose Enable Plate Metadata from the Metadata View pop-up menu at the top of the Webpage Editor. Plate numbers appear below each photo in the web gallery. Choose Disable Plate Metadata from the Metadata View pop-up menu to turn off the display of plate numbers.
Adding Web Journal Pages You can add pages to your web journal as you need them. You can also have Aperture create pages in your web journal to hold photos that have a type of metadata, such as a specific rating, keyword, or photo date. For example, you can have Aperture create a page for each keyword assigned to the album’s photos and place photos that have certain keywords on the correct pages automatically.
Reordering Pages in a Web Journal You can change the order of web journal pages when necessary. To move a page up or down in the page order of a web journal 1 In the Webpage Editor, select the thumbnail of the page you want to move in the Pages pane. 2 Choose either Move Current Page Up or Move Current Page Down from the Page Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon).
7 When you’re ready to export your webpages, click Export. The webpage is exported to the location you specified. Note: If you would like to check on the progress of an export operation, choose Window > Show Activity. The Activity window displays the progress of each export operation. You can also use this window to pause and cancel an export operation.
The Web Export dialog appears. Select a preset. Then click the Add button. 2 Select a web export preset on which to base your new preset, then click the Add (+) button. A new preset, based on the export preset you selected, appears highlighted in the Preset Name list. 3 Enter a new name for the preset. 4 Make your changes to the export settings, then click OK. Modifying Web Export Presets After examining a selected preset’s settings, you may want to change something about the preset.
Deleting Web Export Presets You can delete web export presets when you no longer need them. To delete a web export preset mm In the Web Export dialog, select the preset, then click the Remove (–) button. Select a preset. Then click the Remove button. The preset is permanently deleted. Adding Watermarks to Webpage Photos You can add a graphics file to your photos as a watermark to discourage others from using your photos without your permission.
To create a preset that adds a watermark to your exported web photos 1 Choose Aperture > Presets > Web Export. 2 In the Web Export dialog, select the web export preset you want to modify, or click the Add (+) button to create a new preset. 3 Select the Show Watermark checkbox. 4 Click the Choose Image button. 5 Select the image you want as a watermark, then click Choose. 6 Choose where you want the watermark to appear on the photo from the Position pop-up menu.
Using the Light Table 23 An Overview of the Light Table The Light Table provides a large, open space where you can freely resize, group, and rearrange photos. You can also easily arrange related photos together to compare them, as you might during color correction. The Light Table is used to arrange and view photos. You can work with photos in the Light Table just as you would work with slides on a physical light table.
Creating a Light Table Album To view photos in the Light Table, you first create a Light Table album. You can create a new, empty album and drag photos into it, or you can select photos in a project and create a Light Table album to hold them. To create a new, empty Light Table album 1 In the Library inspector, select the project or folder where you want the new Light Table album to appear. If you want the Light Table to appear in the Light Tables section of the Library inspector, select Projects.
•• Control-click the selected item in the Library inspector, then choose New > Light Table from the shortcut menu. •• Choose Light Table from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar. Choose Light Table from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar. 3 In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the Light Table, and make sure the “Add selected items to new light table” checkbox is selected. Make sure this checkbox is selected. 4 Click OK.
To add photos to the Light Table mm Select a Light Table album in the Library inspector, then drag photos from the Browser to the Light Table. Simply drag images from the Browser to the Light Table. To remove a photo from the Light Table mm Select the photo in the Browser, then click the Put Back Selected button at the top-left corner of the Light Table. Click the Put Back Selected button to remove a selected photo. The photo disappears from the Light Table but remains available in the Browser.
mm Click the Show Unplaced Images button. Show All Images button Show Unplaced Images button To see the entire contents of the Light Table album in the Browser again, click the Show All Images button. Moving and Resizing Photos in the Light Table You can drag photos to different locations in the Light Table, trying out different combinations and orientations. For example, you might take a group of related photos and arrange them to see how they’d appear on a print page.
You can also select a group of photos in the Light Table and automatically align them according to their top, bottom, or side edges, or by their centers. In addition, you can have Aperture arrange a selected group with equal space between each photo. When you drag a photo, guidelines appear, helping you align it with the other photos. To manually align photos 1 In the Light Table, select the photos you want to align, making sure that the photo or group of photos you want to align with remain unselected.
1 Select the top photo in the group. The top photo is selected. 2 Click the Uncover button (or press Shift-X). Click the Uncover button to reveal all photos under the selected photo. 3 Select an uncovered photo. The photos are regrouped, with the selected photo on top. Adjusting the Light Table View You can adjust the Light Table view to better view and work with photos. This is particularly useful when the Light Table is larger than your screen size. You can also increase the area of the Light Table.
To fit the Light Table to your screen size mm Click the Scale to Fit button. To change the Light Table view to 100 percent mm Control-click in a blank area of the Light Table, then choose Zoom to 100% from the shortcut menu. To increase the area of the Light Table mm Drag a photo to the border of the grid background so that the area of the Light Table automatically expands. Drag a photo to a border of the Light Table to expand the Light Table area.
24 Creating Books An Overview of Creating Books Using the book designs and page layouts included in Aperture, you can print outstanding portfolios of your work that show your photos in their best light. You can order printed books of your photos using the Apple print vendor service, which provides excellent printed results and direct delivery to you or your clients. You can also print your own custom books on a color printer or create files that you can hand off to a print vendor.
When you choose a theme, the Book Layout Editor provides a professionally designed set of master pages that determine how you mix text and photos on the page. For example, you can choose among master pages that create a cover page, pages of text in columns of various sizes, pages of photos in different arrangements, and pages with different combinations of photos and text. You’ll find master pages provide a fast and convenient method for quickly laying out a book.
Important: Books created in Aperture are not visible when working with your Aperture library in iPhoto. However, your Aperture books are not discarded. To view and work with your Aperture books, open the Aperture library in Aperture. Planning Your Book The amount of planning and work involved in creating a book varies with the type of project you’re undertaking.
Stage 11: Distributing Your Book Send the book to the Apple print vendor, or create a PDF file that you can print or send to a print vendor. If you create a PDF file, make sure to include all the fonts you used in your book in the PDF file.
•• Control-click a project or folder in the Library inspector, then choose New > Book from the shortcut menu. •• Choose Book from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar. 3 In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the book album in the Book Name field, and specify the following: •• Theme list: Select a theme in the list to see a preview of its design on the right. •• Book Type pop-up menu: Choose the physical size of the book. 4 Make sure the “Add selected items to new book” checkbox is not selected.
To choose a new theme for your book 1 In the Book Layout Editor, click the Theme button. Theme button A dialog appears, alerting you that you may lose text when you change themes and that any custom layouts you created will not be preserved. 2 Click OK. 3 Choose a book size from the Book Type pop-up menu. 4 In the theme list, select a theme. 5 Click Choose Theme. After you change the theme, Aperture updates all of your pages to use the new theme.
You can also quickly navigate through your pages by clicking the Previous Page and Next Page buttons. Previous Page button Next Page button Displaying Single Pages or Spreads You can set the Book Layout Editor to display your pages singly or side by side. For example, you can display pages side by side to see how photos work beside each other in two-page spreads.
To add photos to the book manually mm Drag a photo from the Browser to a photo box on the page. Placing Photos Automatically Using the Autoflow feature, you can have Aperture automatically place your photos in a book. It’s a good idea to set up the page structure of your document first by creating the number of pages needed and assigning master page layouts.
Viewing Photos to Be Placed in a Book After a photo is placed in the book, its Browser thumbnail is marked with a number to show how many times the photo appears on the pages of the book. The number indicates the number of times a photo has been placed in a book. In a long book with many photos, it can at times be difficult to know which photos have been placed in a book. To help you work efficiently, you can click the Show Unplaced Images button to see only the photos that remain unplaced.
Note: You can’t select and use the Lift, Stamp, Rotate, and adjustment tools in the tool strip when using the Book Layout Editor. To use these tools to make a change to a photo in your book, select the photo in the Browser, then click the Show Viewer button. The selected photo appears in the Viewer where you can make image adjustments. Click the Show Viewer button again to return to the Book Layout Editor.
mm Select a page in the Pages pane where the new page should appear, then choose Edit > Duplicate. mm Select a page in the Pages pane, then choose Duplicate Page from the Add Pages pop-up menu. A new page appears in the Pages pane with the same page layout as the one you selected. Automatically Creating New Pages Aperture can automatically add pages to a book to accommodate the unplaced photos in the Browser. Aperture creates the number of pages needed to hold the remaining unplaced photos.
Adding New Pages to Hold a Selection of Photos You can also select a group of photos and Aperture can automatically place them on new pages in a book. Aperture creates the number of pages needed to hold the selected photos. Set Master Page pop-up menu Book Action pop-up menu Remove Pages button Add Pages pop-up menu To add a selection of photos to new pages in a book 1 In the Browser, select the photos in the book album that you want add to the book.
Adding New Pages Based on a Master Page You can add pages that are based on a specific master page. Set Master Page pop-up menu Book Action pop-up menu Remove Pages button Add Pages pop-up menu To add a new page that is based on a master page 1 To show master pages, choose Show Master Pages from the Book Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon) in the Book Layout Editor. 2 Select a page in the Pages pane. The new page will appear just after the selected page. 3 Select a master page in the Master Pages pane.
4 Choose Add New Pages From Master > With Selected Images from the Add Pages pop-up menu. Aperture adds the selected photos to new pages and places them at the end of your book. All the new pages are based on the selected master page. If you do not want the new pages to appear at the end of the book, drag them to the position in the book that you prefer in the Pages pane. For more information, see Reordering Pages in a Book on page 521.
2 Click the Remove Pages button (or press the Delete key), then confirm that you want to delete the page or pages. Working with Pages Creating a Cover for Your Book When you create a new book album, Aperture automatically creates a front cover page for the book. You can select the page and add a title, cover photo or design, and other text or photos that you like. You can also choose between a softcover or hardcover design.
2 Do one of the following: •• Choose a master page from the Set Master Page pop-up menu. •• Click the disclosure triangle on the page, then choose a master page from the pop-up menu. To reapply a master page design to a page If you change a page’s design by repositioning or resizing boxes and you want to start over with the original design, you can reapply the original master page design. 1 Select the page you want to change in the Pages pane of the Book Layout Editor.
2 Do one of the following: •• Click the page background to select the image, then press the Delete key to remove the image. •• Choose No Background from the Set Background pop-up menu. Note: The Set Background pop-up menu is not available for all themes. Using Page Numbers in a Book Aperture provides automatic page numbering in your books. Each theme offers page numbers in preset positions on the page. You can turn off page numbering if you wish.
2 Select a page in the Pages pane. 3 Choose Add Photo Box from the Add Box pop-up menu. When the photo box appears, you can drag it to a new position and resize it. Changing How a Photo Fills a Photo Box Aperture is preset to scale photos to fill a photo box on a book page. You can change the position of a photo within a photo box, making it appear centered or aligned on the right or left edge. You can also adjust the scaling of a photo within a box.
To change the aspect ratio of a photo box 1 In the Book Layout Editor, click the Edit Layout button, if it’s not already selected. 2 Select the photo box you want to change. 3 Choose Photo Box Aspect Ratio from the Book Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon), then choose an aspect ratio from the submenu. •• To change a photo box to a 4:3 landscape aspect ratio: Choose Landscape 4:3. •• To change a photo box to a 3:2 landscape aspect ratio: Choose Landscape 3:2.
To copy and paste the contents of selected photo boxes 1 In the Book Layout Editor, click the Edit Content button, if it’s not already selected. 2 Select the photo box or boxes whose contents you want to copy. 3 Choose Edit > Copy Content. 4 Select the photo box or boxes where you want the copied contents to appear. 5 Choose Edit > Paste Content. To copy selected photo boxes 1 In the Book Layout Editor, click the Edit Layout button, if it’s not already selected. 2 Select the box or boxes you want to copy.
To remove photo boxes from a page mm Click the Edit Layout button, select a photo box or boxes, then choose Edit > Cut (or press Delete). Changing the Look of Photos with Filters Aperture allows you to change the look of photos in books by applying filters. For example, you might apply a filter that fades a photo so that you can position text over it to create an interesting cover. You can also apply filters that change a photo to black and white or sepia.
2 In the Map Options HUD, enter a title for the map in the Title field at the top of the HUD. Enter a title for the map here. A title appears over the bottom-left portion of the map in the Book Layout Editor. To add a location to the map By default, the map automatically displays the locations where the photos that surround it were captured, provided they have location information assigned to them. However, you can also add and remove locations that appear on the map using the Map Options HUD.
A list of locations appears below. Enter the first few letters of a new location and choose the location from the list that appears. 4 Choose the location from the list. The new location appears on the map in the Book Layout Editor. To remove a location from the map 1 If necessary, double-click the map in the Book Layout Editor. 2 In the Map Options HUD, do one of the following: •• To temporarily remove a location from the map: Deselect the checkbox next to the location’s name.
•• To show curved lines with arrowheads indicating the direction of movement from one place to another: Choose Show Lines with Arrowheads. Choose to show direction lines on the map from the Action pop-up menu. The direction lines appear on the map. To set the path of the direction lines in the map When you show direction lines on the map, they may not initially connect locations in a way that matches the route you intended.
•• To zoom in to and out of the map: Drag the Zoom slider (at the top of the HUD) to the right to zoom in and to the left to zoom out. •• To reposition the map to show other locations: Drag the map to reposition it. •• To center the map on the photo locations: Choose Center Map on Places from the Map Options HUD Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). Choose to center the map direction lines using the Action pop-up menu.
3 Choose Add Text Box from the Add Box pop-up menu. A new text box appears on the page. 4 Drag the text box to the location where you want it to appear. You can resize a text box by dragging its resize handles. Adding Metadata Boxes to a Page You can display photos on a book page along with any metadata associated with them. To display a photo’s metadata, you add a metadata box to the page and link it to the photo. You can also unlink a metadata box from its selected photo and relink it when necessary.
Hiding or Showing Photo Plate Numbers in Books You can turn the display of plate numbers in your books and web galleries on or off. Aperture is preset not to display plate numbers for photos. To turn on the display of plate numbers in a book mm In the Book Layout Editor, choose Enable Plate Metadata from the Book Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). Choosing a Text Style You can assign text styles to text and metadata boxes to change the look of text in your book.
To change the number of text columns in a text box 1 In the Book Layout Editor, click the Edit Layout button, if it’s not already selected. 2 Select the text box. 3 Choose Text Box Columns from the Book Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon), then choose the number of columns from the submenu. 4 If necessary, resize the text box to better accommodate the changed column layout of the box.
2 Specify an angle value using the Angle value slider. The photo rotates counterclockwise as the value increases. Decrease the value to rotate the photo clockwise. To add a border to a photo box 1 Select a photo box on a book page displayed in the Book Layout Editor. 2 Set the width of the border by specifying a value using the Thickness value slider. 3 Set the color of the border by clicking in the Color well and then choosing a color in the Colors window. The border is applied to the photo.
Viewing Master Pages To view and work on a book theme’s master pages, you must show the master pages in the Master Pages pane. To show master pages mm Choose Show Master Pages from the Book Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon) in the Book Layout Editor. The Master Pages pane appears above the Pages pane, showing thumbnails of the master pages for the selected theme. You can select master pages in the Master Pages pane to display and work on them.
1 In the Pages pane of the Book Layout Editor, select the page whose modifications you want to save as a master page. 2 Choose Save Page > As New Document Master from the Book Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon). 3 Choose Show Master Pages from the Book Action pop-up menu, if necessary, to show the Master Pages pane. 4 Select the new master page in the Master Pages pane and rename it.
Creating and Sharing Custom Themes If you need a book with dimensions different from those of the Small, Medium, and Large format books, you can create a custom theme with the precise dimensions you require. The ability to set the dimensions in a custom theme provides the precision demanded by professional printers. To create a custom theme 1 In the Book Layout Editor, click the Theme button. A dialog appears, alerting you that you may lose text when you change themes. 2 Click OK.
To copy a book album and place new photos in it 1 Select the book album in the Library inspector. 2 Choose File > Duplicate Book. The duplicate book appears in the Library inspector. 3 Drag the duplicate book album to a new project, if you wish. 4 With the duplicate book album selected in the Library inspector, select a photo in the Browser and choose Edit > Select All (or press Command-A). 5 To remove the photos from the album, choose Photos > Remove From Album (or press Delete).
Sharing Your Photos Online 25 An Overview of Sharing Photos Aperture lets you create Flickr and Facebook albums to collect photos for publication on http://www.flickr.com and http://www.facebook.com. Photos placed in Flickr and Facebook albums in Aperture are automatically exported to and published in your Flickr and Facebook accounts. Any comments your friends post about a photo in one of your Facebook accounts appear in the Info inspector in Aperture.
You can also post photos to multiple Flickr and Facebook accounts from within Aperture. With your account settings in place, Aperture immediately creates a Flickr or Facebook album and then publishes the album to the corresponding account’s website. Your Flickr and Facebook accounts appear in the Web section of the Library inspector. Select an account to view its albums in Web Albums view. Once you have an existing Flickr or Facebook album in place, you can continue to publish photos to the web album.
The first time you create a Flickr or Facebook album, Aperture asks you to sign in to your Flickr or Facebook account. To sign in to Flickr and create a new Flickr album 1 In Aperture, select a group of photos or a video. Note: If you have a basic Flickr account, you can upload only one video file at a time to your Flickr set. 2 Do one of the following: •• Choose File > Share > Flickr. •• Choose Flickr from the Share pop-up menu in the toolbar. 3 In the dialog that appears, click Set Up.
Aperture securely saves your Flickr account information to your OS X user account’s keychain and then publishes your album to Flickr. The new Flickr album representing the online Flickr set appears in Web Albums view, which is accessed by selecting the Flickr account in the Web section of the Library inspector. For more information about publishing additional photos to your Flickr set, see Updating Your Flickr and Facebook Albums on page 546.
You can also use the Info inspector to view the specific Flickr account, along with when the photo or video was published. For more information, see Viewing and Changing Metadata in the Info Inspector and Inspector HUD on page 178. To sign in to Facebook and create a new Facebook album 1 In Aperture, select a photo or a group of photos. 2 Do one of the following: •• Choose File > Share > Facebook. •• Choose Facebook from the Share pop-up menu in the toolbar.
To sign in to Facebook and upload a photo or video to your Facebook Wall 1 In Aperture, select a photo or a video. Note: You can upload only one photo or video file at a time to your Facebook Wall. 2 Do one of the following: •• Choose File > Share > Facebook. •• Choose Facebook from the Share pop-up menu in the toolbar. 3 In the dialog that appears, do the following: •• Enter your email address. •• Enter your password. •• Select the “I agree to Facebook’s terms” checkbox. •• Click Login.
•• In the Browser, select a group of photos. 2 Do one of the following: •• Choose File > Share > Flickr. •• Choose Flickr from the Share pop-up menu in the toolbar. 3 In the dialog that appears, do the following: •• If you have multiple Flickr accounts, choose the Flickr account you want to publish to from the Flickr Account pop-up menu. •• Choose New Set from the Set pop-up menu. •• In the Set Name field, give your Flickr set a name.
To view a Flickr or Facebook album in Aperture 1 In the Web section of the Library inspector, select the Flickr or Facebook account containing the albums you want to view. The albums for the selected Flickr or Facebook account appear in Web Albums view to the right of the Library inspector. 2 In Web Albums view, double-click an album’s thumbnail to view its contents.
To publish new photos to an existing Flickr set 1 Select the photos you want to publish to your Flickr album. 2 Do one of the following: •• Choose File > Share > Flickr. •• Choose Flickr from the Share pop-up menu in the toolbar. •• Drag the photos to the Flickr account in the Web section of the Library inspector. The Flickr publication dialog appears. 3 Do the following: a If necessary, choose the Flickr account you want to publish to from the Flickr Account pop-up menu.
Any new photos or videos posted to your Flickr set or Facebook album online appear in the selected album in Web Albums view. Double-click the album to view its contents. To visit your published Flickr set 1 In the Library inspector, select the Flickr account containing the album you want to visit. The Web Albums view for the selected Flickr account appears.
3 Choose File > Delete Album (or press Command-Delete). 4 In the dialog that appears, select the “Import photos to your library before deleting” checkbox if you want to save the photos before deleting the album in your library and online. 5 Click Delete. The Flickr or Facebook album you selected in the Library inspector is deleted from the Aperture library, as well as from your Flickr or Facebook account online.
When you choose to disable an account in Aperture, a dialog appears asking if you want to import the photos in the account’s albums into your Aperture library. If you choose to import the photos, Aperture places the photos in a new project in the Library inspector. If you choose not to import the photos, Aperture places the contents of the albums in the Aperture Trash. Any sharing history that appears in the Info inspector for the disabled account is deleted.
Backing Up Your Photos 26 An Overview of the Backup Workflow To safeguard your photography portfolio, it’s important to establish a reliable backup system and back up regularly. You can use the Aperture backup system to back up the entire Aperture library on a regular basis. Aperture clearly indicates how up to date your most recent backup is, and you can update your backups immediately whenever you wish.
As you add to your photo library, Aperture automatically tracks which files have been backed up to each vault. When there are image files in the library that are not backed up in a vault, the Vault Status button appears red. When your vault is up to date, the Vault Status button for the vault appears black. When you have made image modifications (such as image adjustments or metadata or keyword changes) that have not yet been backed up in a vault, the button appears yellow.
When planning the amount of storage space you’ll need, estimate the amount of disk space needed to hold your existing digital images (photos you plan to import into Aperture) and the amount of space you might need for new projects. For example, RAW images typically require 8 to 25 or more megabytes (MB) of disk space per file.
mm In the Vault pane, click the Vault Status button to the right of the vault’s name. For more information about updating vaults, see Updating Vaults on page 554. To see the hard disk assigned to a vault mm In the Vault pane, click the disclosure triangle beside the vault name. Disclosure triangle You can easily see the amount of free space your vault has available next to the vault name.
Disconnecting a Vault’s Hard Disk Drive from Your System Temporarily You may routinely disconnect a backup hard disk drive from your Aperture system and take it to a safe offsite location. When you disconnect a backup hard disk from your computer, Aperture takes the associated vault offline. When you reconnect the hard disk, Aperture automatically detects the hard disk and connects it to the corresponding vault.
4 Click one of the following buttons: •• Remove and Delete: When you click this button, Aperture no longer tracks the vault, and the vault’s files are deleted from your hard disk. •• Remove: When you click this button, Aperture no longer tracks the vault, but the vault’s files remain on the hard disk.
The Photo Library First Aid dialog appears. 3 Do one of the following: •• To repair the permissions of the files within your Aperture library: Select Repair Permissions. This option should be used when Aperture can’t access some of the image files within the database or Aperture is unable to open the library itself. The Repair Permissions option reviews each file in your Aperture library and sets the read and write access of each file where appropriate, allowing Aperture to access the files again.
27 Customizing the Aperture Workspace Changing Main Window Layouts When a project, album, or folder is selected in the Library inspector, Aperture offers three basic layouts for the main window: •• Browser: Use this layout to display image thumbnails in an enlarged Browser so you can review photos, perform initial rating passes, and create and work with stacks of photos. Layout buttons: Click a button to select a main window layout.
•• Split View: Use this layout to display both the Browser and Viewer together and use them in combination to review and work with photos. Split View layout: The Viewer and Browser appear together. •• Viewer: Use this layout to display photos in an enlarged Viewer and work with them in detail. Viewer layout: The Viewer fills the workspace and displays your photo selection. Tool strip: Use these tools to adjust and work with your photos.
Setting Aperture Preferences An Overview of Aperture Preferences Aperture provides a Preferences window for specifying settings that control the location of the Aperture library, the appearance of the Aperture window, the application used to import photos onto your computer, how photos are exported out of Aperture, how color labels are defined, how preview images are generated, as well as additional advanced settings. By taking time to specify your preference settings, you can speed up your workflow.
•• Web button: Click this button to display options for reviewing and updating albums that you’ve published to your Flickr and Facebook accounts online. For more information, see Web Preferences on page 566. •• Advanced button: Click this button to display options for specifying hot and cold area thresholds, adding tolerance to Auto Levels adjustments, choosing color or monochrome clipping overlays, and choosing to have Aperture look up photo location information automatically.
•• “Show last [number] months album” checkbox: Select this checkbox to add an item to the Recent section of the Library inspector that tracks recently imported photos. Use the value slider to set the number of months to keep track of the imported photos. •• “Automatically stack new versions” checkbox: Select this checkbox to automatically stack versions of the same photo as you create them.
•• “Badge referenced items” checkbox: Select this checkbox to have Aperture display badges that identify referenced images, audio clips, and video clips. •• “Show corkboard background for Faces” checkbox: Select this checkbox to display a corkboard in the background of Faces view.
Important: The Camera Previews and Standard Previews settings apply only when Maintain Previews is turned on in the Library Action pop-up menu (with a gear icon) in the Library inspector. Export Preferences Use the controls in the Export preference pane to set the external editor, choose the email application used to email photos from within Aperture, and assign a copyright statement to webpages you create.
•• “Include face info in exported photos” checkbox: Select this checkbox to include Faces metadata (names you have assigned to people in your photos using Faces) in exported photos. Labels Preferences Use the text fields in the Labels preference pane to customize labels for each color. Previews Preferences Use the controls in the Previews preference pane to set how Aperture creates and displays preview images.
Photo Stream Preferences Use the controls in the Photo Stream preference pane to turn Photo Stream on or off for an Aperture library, as well as set options for automatically uploading and downloading photos between Photo Stream and your Aperture library. The Photo Stream preference pane contains the following controls: •• Enable Photo Stream checkbox: Select this checkbox to turn Photo Stream on and off in the currently open Aperture library.
•• “Automatically check for newly published albums” checkbox: Choose whether you want Aperture to check regularly for new albums published outside of Aperture to your Flickr or Facebook accounts or whether you want to update the accounts manually.
Customizing the Toolbar Hiding and Showing the Toolbar The toolbar is shown by default, but you can choose to hide it. To hide the toolbar mm Choose View > Hide Toolbar (or press Shift-T). To show a toolbar that has been hidden mm 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).
•• To control whether each item’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 When you finish configuring the toolbar, click Done. To reset the toolbar to its default state mm Drag the default toolbar up from the bottom of the dialog into the toolbar area.
Feature Multi-Touch trackpad gestures Viewer and Full Screen view (Viewer mode) •• •• •• Use the pinch gesture to zoom in to or out of the photo, or double-tap with two fingers to zoom in to a specific part of the photo. Use the rotate gesture to rotate the photo beneath the pointer. Use the swipe gesture to select a different photo when “Scroll to navigate photos in the Viewer” is selected in the General pane of the Preferences window.
Use the Command Editor’s search tools to find commands, view their descriptions and keyboard shortcuts, and preview highlighted key combinations in a visual representation of the keyboard. You can modify existing shortcuts, create new shortcuts, and save multiple sets of keyboard shortcuts, called command sets, that can be imported and exported for use by others.
To display the Command Editor in Aperture mm Choose Aperture > Commands > Customize. The Command Editor appears. To choose a command set Do one of the following: mm Choose Aperture > Commands, then choose a command set from the submenu. mm If the Command Editor is already open, choose a command set from the pop-up menu in the upper-left corner. Choose a command set from the pop-up menu. Once you choose a command set, the keyboard shortcuts in the set become active in Aperture.
The Command list immediately displays the search results, listing all commands and keyboard shortcuts related to the search term. You can further narrow your search by choosing a category from the search field pop-up menu. The menu options include All, Command, Description, and Key Equivalent. Note: Do not use the Shift key to capitalize letters when typing in the search field. The search field recognizes the Shift key as a modifier key in a keyboard shortcut.
Viewing Key and Command Details The Detail area to the right of the Command List area provides additional information about a selected key in the virtual keyboard or a selected command in the Command list. When you select a key on the virtual keyboard, this area displays a list of all keyboard shortcuts associated with that key. Selected key All available shortcuts that include the selected key are displayed here.
The new duplicate command set is saved and appears as an item in both the pop-up menu in the Command Editor and the Commands submenu of the Aperture menu. To modify individual key assignments in the duplicate set of keyboard shortcuts, see the following steps. To add or modify a keyboard shortcut 1 Using the search field (or browsing the Command list) of the Command Editor, select the command to which you want to assign a new keyboard shortcut.
The file is saved in the location you chose, with a .commandset file extension. To import a command set 1 Do one of the following: •• Choose Aperture > Commands > Import. •• In the Command Editor, choose Import from the pop-up menu. 2 In the dialog that appears, navigate to the location where you have stored a command set file, select it, then click Open. The imported command set is added to the Commands submenu of the Aperture menu and to the pop-up menu in the Command Editor.
Glossary additive color Images with color elements derived from the light source itself. RGB is a common form of additive color. See also RGB. adjustment Any change to the appearance of an image. See also brushed adjustment. Adobe RGB (1998) A color profile commonly used for printing. See also color space. album A type of container in the Aperture library that holds only versions. You can create albums at either the project level or within a project.
audio file The source media file on disk to which an audio clip in Aperture refers; the audio clip’s original. See also audio clip, original. autofocus The system within the camera that automatically focuses the lens on a specific portion of the subject or scene. See also autofocus point overlays. autofocus point overlays Overlays displayed over photos in the Viewer that show which autofocus mode was used by the camera and which focal point was used to focus the photo when it was captured.
bracketing The process of taking three shots of the same photo based on the aperture and shutter values recommended by the light meter: a shot one stop under the recommended exposure, a shot at the recommended exposure, and a shot one stop over the recommended exposure. You can also narrow the bracketing range to fractions of a stop. Bracketing is used in difficult lighting situations to ensure that the scene is captured with the correct exposure. See also automatic bracketing.
candid shot Refers to a photograph of a person that appears to have been taken informally and unposed, without the subject’s knowledge. See also composition. capture a. The process of taking the image received by the digital image sensor and camera processor and storing that information on the memory card in the camera. b. The process of recording a photo in Aperture at the moment it is shot via a tethered camera. See also camera, digital image sensor, image, memory card, tethered shooting.
color depth The possible range of colors that can be used in an image. There are generally three choices with digital images: grayscale, 8-bit, and 16-bit. Higher color depths provide a wider range of colors but require more storage space. See also bit depth, color channels, grayscale. colorimeter An instrument capable of measuring the color value of a sample, using color filters. A colorimeter is used to determine if two colors are the same.
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) A type of digital image sensor that is capable of recording the entire image provided by the light-sensitive elements in parallel (essentially all at once), resulting in a higher rate of data transfer to the storage device. Tiny colored microlenses are fitted on each light-sensitive element in a CMOS sensor to increase its ability to interpret light. See also charge-coupled device (CCD), digital image sensor.
decompression The process of creating a viewable image from a compressed digital image file. See also compression. definition The clarity of details in an image. See also resolution. Definition parameter An Enhance adjustment parameter in Aperture used to adjust the clarity of details in an image. See also Enhance adjustment. Definition Quick Brush A type of Quick Brush adjustment that adds clarity and reduces haze without adding too much contrast to the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on.
digital A description of data that is stored or transmitted as a sequence of ones and zeros. Most commonly, refers to binary data represented using electronic or electromagnetic signals. JPEG, PNG, RAW, and TIFF files are all digital. See also digitization. digital image sensor The computer chip located at the image plane inside the camera that consists of millions of individual light-sensitive elements capable of capturing light.
Duplicate Version command A command in the Photos menu that duplicates the selected photo version with all applied metadata and adjustments. See also adjustment, image, metadata, version. dust and scratch removal The process of digitally removing the blemishes caused by dust and scratches on film scans. See also Retouch adjustment. dye sublimation A type of printer that creates images by heating colored ribbon to a gaseous state, bonding the ink to the paper.
exposure The amount of light in a photo. Exposure is controlled by limiting the intensity of light (controlled by the aperture) and the length of time light comes into contact with the digital image sensor (controlled by the shutter). Exposure affects the overall brightness of the photo as well as its perceived contrast. See also adjustment, aperture, contrast, digital image sensor, Exposure adjustment, shutter.
Finder The part of the Mac operating system software that keeps track of files, applications, and folders and displays the desktop. finishing The process of applying the final adjustments to a digital image just before presentation. Finishing may involve applying an additional gamma adjustment upon export, or using an external editor to either burn or dodge a portion of the image before sending it to the printer. See also export, external editor.
Full Screen view A workspace view in Aperture with minimal user interface, used to view fullscreen photos in high resolution with the least amount of light and color interference. See also Browser layout, filmstrip, HUD, Split View layout, Viewer layout. Full Screen view toolbar A collection of buttons and tools, grouped by function, located at the top of the screen in Full Screen view. See also toolbar. gamma A curve that describes how the middle tones of an image appear.
HUD Short for heads-up display. In Aperture, HUDs are floating windows that allow you to work on your image. You can open and then move a HUD wherever you wish, based on your display setup. See also Full Screen view. hue An attribute of color perception; also known as color phase. For example, red and blue are different hues. See also Color adjustment. ICC profile Created as a result of device characterization, the ICC profile contains the data about the device’s exact gamut.
JPEG Short for Joint Photographic Experts Group, JPEG is a popular image file format that lets you create highly compressed graphics files. The amount of compression used varies. Less compression results in a higher-quality image. JPEG files usually have a .jpg extension. See also format, RAW + JPEG image pair. kelvin (K) A unit of measurement used to describe color values of light sources, based on a temperature scale that begins at absolute zero. See also color temperature, White Balance adjustment.
list view A Browser view that displays photos in a list by name, icon, and accompanying metadata, such as rating, image dimensions, file size, and date, rather than as a row or grid of thumbnails. See also Browser, filmstrip view, grid view, metadata, rating. Loupe A tool in Aperture used to magnify the area of the photo you place it over. luminance A value describing the brightness of all color channels combined in a pixel.
monochrome An image presented in shades of a single color, such as the shades of gray in a black-and-white photograph. See also Black & White adjustment, Color Monochrome adjustment, grayscale, image, photograph. Navigator button A button in the Light Table used to reposition the view when the contents of the Light Table are larger than your screen. See also Light Table. negative Developed film with a reverse-tone image of the subject or scene. See also dust and scratch removal, emulsion, film, positive.
panning a. Moving the camera along with a moving subject in order to keep the subject in the frame. Panning a fast-moving subject with a slow shutter speed usually causes the subject to remain relatively in focus, while the remaining areas of the scene are blurred or stretched in the direction of the camera movement. b. In Aperture, pressing the Space bar and dragging within an image to see other parts of the image when it is displayed at 100 percent size. See also camera, image, Viewer.
Places view A view in Aperture that allows you to apply location information to a photo selection and track the location of each shot using Google Maps. Photos captured with GPSenabled cameras provide their location information automatically. See also Faces view, Flagged view, Global Positioning System (GPS), photo selection, Photos view, Places Path Navigator pop-up menus, Projects view, waypoint. PNG Short for Portable Network Graphics.
profile A compilation of data on a specific device’s color information, including its gamut, color space, and modes of operation. A profile represents a device’s color-reproduction capabilities and is essential to effective color management. See also device characterization, gamut. program exposure An exposure mode on many automatic cameras in which the camera automatically sets the aperture and shutter values for a correct exposure. See also exposure.
rangefinder An apparatus found on many cameras that is used to help focus the image. See also camera, viewfinder. raster image processor (RIP) A specialized printer driver that replaces the driver that comes with your printer. The RIP takes input from applications and converts, or rasterizes, the information to data that the printer understands so that it can put dots on a page. Software RIPs typically offer features not found in standard printer drivers.
Repair brush A type of Retouch brush in Aperture used to correct and obscure imperfections in an image by copying pixels from a similar-looking area of an image and pasting them over the area with the pixels you want to replace. In addition to overwriting the pixels, the Repair brush resamples the pasted pixels to match the color, texture, and luminance of the pixels you replaced. See also Clone brush, Retouch adjustment, retouching.
Sharpen adjustment An adjustment in Aperture used to sharpen images. See also adjustment, Edge Sharpen adjustment, image. Sharpen Quick Brush A type of Quick Brush adjustment that sharpens the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on. See also adjustment, Brush HUD, Quick Brushes. shortcut menu A menu you access by holding down the Control key and clicking an area of the interface, or by pressing the right mouse button.
Sorting pop-up menu Used to arrange photos in the Browser based on a variety of sort properties or custom sort criteria. See also Browser. source image file See original. source profile The profile of an image file before it undergoes color conversion. Span setting A secondary Viewer setting that splits the presentation of the current photo selection between the main and secondary Viewer displays. See also main Viewer, photo selection, secondary Viewer.
tethered shooting Refers to the process of connecting a digital camera to your Mac via a FireWire or USB cable, shooting photographs, and having Aperture capture and store the image files at the moment they are shot. See also camera, FireWire. theme Professionally designed layouts in Aperture used for books, webpages, and slideshows. See also slideshow. TIFF Short for Tagged Image File Format.
Vibrancy parameter An Enhance adjustment parameter in Aperture used to add saturation in an image in a nonlinear manner. Saturated colors are left alone while saturation is added to all other colors. However, skin tones are not modified. See also adjustment, desaturate, Enhance adjustment, saturation. Vibrancy Quick Brush A type of Quick Brush adjustment that adds saturation to or removes it from just the desaturated colors in the area of the image the adjustment is brushed on.
white point The color temperature of a display, measured in kelvins. The higher the white point, the bluer the white is; the lower the white point, the redder the white. The native white point for a Mac computer is D50 (5000 kelvins); for a Windows PC, it is D65 (6500 kelvins). See also color temperature, kelvin (K). wide-angle lens A lens with a short focal length that takes in a wide view. The focal length of a wide-angle lens is smaller than the film plane or digital image sensor.