I’ve been working on a video tutorial series for Aperture and in the course of creating each tutorial I often rediscover some of the little and not so little gems that make Aperture so outstanding. It’s easy to become complacent and take things for granted, focus on what needs to be improved, and then whine when another product announces the intent to include a feature that seems better than what Aperture has right now (never mind that the other software doesn’t currently contain those things either.) So this week what I want to do is focus on some of the things I appreciate the most in Aperture and ask you all what features in Aperture are on your top three (or more) list? (By the way this list is not in any particular order.)

I love the ability to quickly see my images after I import them, then within seconds adjust a few sliders and/or check a 100% magnified view to know for sure whether it’s a keeper, and then continue editing the other images in the project. That’s a compilation of several features I realize, but it lets me work efficiently and doesn’t force me to leave the main interface. This is probably my number one favorite aspect of Aperture.

I also appreciate that Aperture recognizes that we photographers might have different ideas about what’s the ideal configuration for our workspace at any one moment and makes it easy to change views with a single click. In fact the overall customizability of the interface is truly impressive. (Here’s a tip, by the way, take advantage of the option to include different icons in the tool bar and place them where it’s most convenient to you. You’ll work even faster. )

It goes almost without saying that I completely take for granted and love the ability to create numerous versions of an image without creating an additional master file unless I use a plug-in or external editor. And I appreciate that Aperture keeps those versions together for me but lets me create albums and smart albums to view different subsets of my images as I choose.

Of course none of the above would matter if the quality of the adjustments was not excellent. The tools in the Adjustment Inspector are easy to use and enable high quality output. Some of the new tools such as Retouch, Definition and the Selective Color eyedropper are truly outstanding.

And speaking of output, I rely on the ease of creating emails with the pictures embedded, ready to go with my watermark applied. And recently I’ve started relying on the web galleries for submissions and transferring images to clients. I can’t imagine a more efficient way to send images.

And for now the last feature I’ll mention is the ease of using images in other applications, particularly iWork and iLife apps.

There are a lot of other features - some little seemingly insignificant things - that also make me smile as I work. Maybe I’ll mention more about them in a future blog. For example, have you noticed the slight animation in the sliders in the Adjustment Inspector and HUD?