There has been so much going on in the Aperture plugin world that I have been swamped trying to keep up with it all over at AperturePluggedIn.com. I have finally got a number of update posts up there, but there is always more. So, I figured I would write a sort of synopsis article having to do with what is going on with third party developers for Aperture.

First of all, the speculation. When Aperture 2.0 shipped we quickly noticed a new menu item under the "Images->Edit With" tab labeled “No Plugins Installed.” So we know that Aperture 2.0 is ready to accept edit plugins, but developers are simply waiting for the release of the updated Software Development Kit (SDK) for this.

One of the first signs of development popped up on the Alien Skin forums where Jeff Butterworth of Alien Skin was quoted as stating that “We're talking to Apple about it right now. I'm not making any promises, but we're looking into it.” We can only speculate what the means at this time, but we can certainly rest assured that something exciting is definitely on the horizon.

Next up, the updates. When Aperture 2.0 dropped we noticed a number of third party developers scrambling to produce updates for compatibility with 2.0. It seemed as though most plugins were already compatible with 2.0 but a few of the more complex plugins needed some minor tweaks.

Fraser Spiers, the brains behind Connected Flow’s FlickrExport took things a step further by adding special functionality to his plugin for users of 2.0. His newly released plugin now offers 2.0 users the ability to add flickr tags based on the new “Lens Model” EXIF data that 2.0 is exposing. In order to take advantage of this option you must have 2.0 (obviously) and your RAW images must be set to the Aperture 2.0 RAW conversion engine.

For more information about all the compatibility updates be sure to check the blog over at AperturePluggedIn.com. And, If I have missed one, please send me message!

On top of all of this plugin news, there is a whole new aspect of extending Aperture’s capabilities. Aperture 2 is now EXTREMELY AppleScriptable. Just check out the Aperture+InDesign demo over at Apple’s AppleScript website. It’s really fascinating. And for more info on how this all works, be sure to check out Brett Wilhelm’s excellent article on the subject over at AUPN by following this thread.

At AperturePluggedIn.com I am going to be adding special sections for Edit plugins as well as handy AppleScript tools. If you create a really cool AppleScript for Aperture and you want to highlight it, please drop me a line!

The ability to extend Aperture in all of these ways is a very powerful thing. It may solidify Aperture as a photographer’s workflow focal point, and it certainly opens up some new doors for third party developers. I can only begin to imagine what new tools we will begin to see for Aperture in the months to come!