We all love the new Aperture 2.0 interface. Compared to the previous version, the new streamlined look is amazingly sleek. The engineers at Apple certainly did an "insanely great" job in updating it to its present modern iteration. But beyond the looks, the new interface facilitates ease of navigation that actually results to faster way of doing things in Aperture.

When it comes to Aperture's interface change, almost everyone seemed to notice only the new tabbed panel that puts together the Project, Metadata and Adjustments panels. This consolidated panel is of course fantastic because it now allows for a standard bigger area devoted to viewing the images. But there are parts of the interface change that are not as easily apparent. One of them is the seemingly subtle tweak to the Browser pane. The change is right there, but it's something that we might easily overlook. This change may be deemed minor, but still, it adds a new level of subtle flexibility.

Previous versions of Aperture will show you only two types of Browser views. These are the Grid (Thumbnail) and the Column views. In version 2.0, the Filmstrip view has been added. So now, can easily choose from any of the three views in the Browser pane. To change views, simply click on any of the three icons near the top left representing such views. Or, if you want the fast keyboard shortcut, click CTRL+G for Grid, CTRL+L for List, and CTRL+F for Filmstrip.

This is how the Grid View (sometimes called the "Thumbnail View") looks like:

This is how the Column View looks like:

And this is how the new Filmstrip View looks like:

What's the difference between the three views?

The Grid view allows you to view thumbnails of several images all at once in a grid format. You can resize the grid area and you can view both rows and columns of images at the same time.

In Column view, you can look into a thumbnail of the images as well as metadata information about the images neatly arranged and organized in a table. The List view provides information such as: Version Name, File Name, Version Name, File Size, Pixel Size, Orientation (whether Landscape or Portrait), Aspect Ratio, Badges, Rating, Image Date, Aperture, Shutter Speed, Exposure, ISO Speed, Focal Length, Camera Model, Lens, Import Session, Project Name, among others. This view provides a quick comparative look into some of the basic metadata about the images.

And finally, the new Filmstrip view allows you a single strip of thumbnails that you can only sequentially view.

While in the Browser, there are many things you can do to make looking, selecting, assessing, and changing image position faster and easier. In both the Grid and the Column view, you can resize the thumbnails. However, you cannot resize the image in the Filmstrip view. But in all the three views, you can move through your images by pressing the letters J, K, and L. This is a command in Final Cut Pro that has been carried over to Aperture. To move back, press J, to stop press K, to move forward, press L. If you press the letters J or L twice or more, it will make the images move along faster. Of course, you can just as easily use to Shuttle arrows and sliders to move the images at variable speeds.

In the new Aperture, the Browser view now provides a more a flexible way of going through your images. Happy browsing!