If you've read my posts before, you know that I really like Aperture's full screen mode. Being able to hide everything else and just focus on my images is quite appealing! In Aperture 1.X, unfortunately you had to exit full screen mode any time you wanted to tweak metadata (aside from applying keywords) or switch projects. Furthermore, the filmstrip was sometimes hard to move. Aperture 2 takes care of all these problems.

As before, a quick way to enter full screen mode is to press the F key.

One of the most important changes, which Ben Long mentioned previously in his Aperture 2 overview, is the floating HUD for the Inspector. Press H to bring up or close the HUD (you can pull it up from normal mode, too). When you're in full screen mode (as well as when you're not in full screen mode as long as the HUD has focus--click on it to give it focus), press W to switch tabs on the HUD. Via the Inspector, you're able to switch and manage projects, adjust images, and adjust metadata.

The Filmstrip is the second tool that received some attention. If you remember in Aperture 1.X, the controls for how you're viewing the image (e.g. N-up) were buttons on the Filmstrip, and moving the Filmstrip around required precise clicking on a small area at the top of the strip and then dragging the strip where you want it. In Aperture 2, clicking and dragging on either end of the Filmstrip just resizes it, and there's a menu item in the Action menu (at the bottom of the strip) for which side of the screen you want the Filmstrip to be on. One slightly weird change (at least to my eyes--maybe not to yours) is that the image packing isn't as tight in Aperture 2's Filmstrip. Specifically, landscape and portrait images take the same amount of space in the Filmstrip, instead of being packed more tightly together depending on how it's oriented (e.g. if the Filmstrip is vertical, landscape images could be closer together vertically). Use the J, K, and L keys to shuttle through the Filmstrip so that scrolling the extra distance doesn't hurt your wrists!

The buttons to control image viewing are now in the toolbar at the top of the screen, as well as buttons for Quick Preview and the new Retouch tool. A small, but nice, UI change was that the control to lock that toolbar into place has changed from an icon to a switch on the far right side. I would still recommend learning the hotkeys for the different commands so that you can always leave this toolbar hidden.

All in all, Aperture 2's full screen mode has made a great thing even better!