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What will the next Aperture be like?
Whenever Apple introduces a new anything, whether a new new thing or a major update to any existing products and services, it becomes publicly and magically available as a fully formed matter on their website.
We of course know that something like that doesn't just happen overnight. A whole lot of complicated work by a whole lot of people, in one concerted effort, goes into the new thing or a major update before it is publicly released and sprouts in a wonderful, amazing form on Apple's website.
With many photographers already working constantly on Aperture, and with the workflow becoming more standardized, and from out of the individual experiences of many different users, new ideas and new needs (and even new wants) on how to work in Aperture and how to do things better, easier and faster, do crop up.
At one point in time or the other, therefore, the question will have to be asked: What will the next big version of Aperture be like? I mean, in digital years, and in my opinion, I am somehow sensing that Aperture is almost ripe for a new version.
I use Aperture almost every day, and I have grown comfortable with it. Unavoidably, I am beginning to wonder more and more what the new Aperture would be like, should Apple decide to release a major version. Perhaps, some other Aperture users might also be wondering about the same thing too.
Whenever doing something in Aperture, we somehow invariably stumble upon parts of the workflow that makes us wish Aperture can do a bit differently, a bit better, a bit faster, a bit easier, or, even something totally new.
That need or want of a new, different or innovative solution, can even perhaps also spring from the fact that these are what's demanded by our clients and the work that we do for them.
A couple of things, for example, that I am hoping the new version will have: first, an even better or additional set of built-in editing tools that can selectively but still non-destructively improve certain portions of an image, and, second, a more streamlined way of adding, handling, archiving, maintaining, storing, and using a continuously growing accumulation of externally-stored or referenced images that perhaps resembles the obvious way that Time Machine works.
We can do these things now of course, and I appreciate every bit of other things I can do in Aperture as well (specially batch processing and a lot of what many 3rd-party editing and export plug-ins can do), but perhaps, some little refinement here and there, and also the addition of what we possibly consider as new essential built-in non-destructive editing tools (or perhaps even confer upon 3rd-party plug-ins the power of non-destructive editing capability) would hopefully provide us with a better and faster workflow, and a better or more refined output.
Although we may not hear from Apple about an upcoming version of Aperture, I'm somewhat reassured by the belief that Apple insiders are listening to us. And while we have no way of predicting when a new version will come out, I'd also rather wait a bit until Apple is ready with the next version instead of quickly but prematurely release a new one. Still, I imagine, it can only do a lot more good if we always let Apple what we need and want.
So, what's on your next-version wish list?
For my part, some enhancements related to file management (which you mention) would be welcome.
At present, I use a few top-level folders to organize projects by file location. For example:
- Referenced, Local
- Referenced, Remote
- Managed
And I shuffle projects back and forth as needed. Most of the time, things are managed upon import, and after I've processed and exported those photos that I need, I relocate the masters, update the vault, and move the project from the Managed folder to Referenced, Remote.
What I'd very much like to do is set up some simple rules, either on a per-project or library-wide basis, to enforce things like this:
- Relocate masters older than [TIMEFRAME] to [VOLUME], and update [VAULT].
- Relocate projects not accessed in [TIMEFRAME] to [VOLUME], and update [VAULT].
Most of the metadata needed to do this surely exists. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this could be done today with AppleScript. I simply haven't the time to look into it.
Absent improvements to the built-in Aperture feature set, there's probably a decent-sized market for a third-party utility that can do what I've outlined (and, ideally, more).
when are they going to come up with a pro version of aperture that will allow multiple users to work to one database on a server
frank
This may seem minor, but it bites me every day: I'd like to see the keywords section of the Find a/k/a Filter dialog box improved.
As it is now, it lists hundreds of keywords if I select a big enough project (Aperture manages almost 85,000 photos for me right now). It's frustrating that the window cannot be resized to show more than 52 keywords at a time.
It's also a major pain that I cannot tell at a glance whether or not some keywords down the list are checked or not. If I scroll really, really slowly, I might be able to spot them, but I usually miss them. And there's no way to clear all checked keywords, no "Uncheck All Keywords" option.
Of all the improvements I'd like to see, that simple one would affect me the most!
I'd like to see layers, masks and filters.
I'd like to see some refinements in the printing area, particularly I'd love to have on-the-fly resizing, so I can send files to my printer (Epson 3800) at 360dpi regardless of the dimensions.
I would like improvements and more flexibility for the book feature so that one can choose any single detail (layout, fonts, characters' attributes and so on) with great ease.
I will also like the chance to attach a free text, a comment to each picture and to have it eventually published either into the mobile me gallery or on a book.
I will also like a feature easier than a book-trick to create posters with multiple images (something like the light table but with the dimensions features).
I will also like to have a calendar layout just that in iphoto of a bigger one (maybe a layout that can arrive to the 13" x 19" size)
I will also like...ok, stop. But, it' Christmas, isn't it?
Merry Christmas and Happy new year to everybody.
Mauro
More "preset" possibilities !!! (multiple adjustments combined in one preset)
Certainly the possibility for non-destructive plug-ins, both Apple and third party based would be my number one choice. I love the plug-ins, but we the TIFF approach really fails the Aperture non-destructive workflow concept.
I would love the possibility to synch Aperture preferences and keywords | presets from one machine to another, in a seamless way, perhaps using mobile me? Every time I go on the road, I have to make sure I copy the latest presets and most updated keyword to my notebook.
I feel that the steps taken with book (layout) design are a great step, and I would love to see Apple continue to improve this. I find it so useful and some more power would be great.
I second the notion of a greater integration with Time Machine. Something that is totally transparent and easy to use, that allows to eventually go back in time and recover files?
I love this app, and mainly I would love to see it grow. Thanks.
I bought Aperture the first day it was released and upgraded at every point along the way to the current 2.1.2. But I stopped using it about 4 months ago and switched to Lightroom.
I'd switch back in an instant if the next version had these Lightroom features:
1. Import and Export from XMP sidecar files
2. Local adjustments
3. Graduated Filter
Mark
1. Nondestructive local editing and/or nondestructive third party plugins;
2. Ability to compose calendars and cards, in addition to books. It makes no sense to require me to go back to iPhoto for this;
3. Ability to turn off automatic stacking. Stacks are great for those who need them, but I prefer not to use them, and it is a huge time-waster and impediment to my workflow to constantly have to extract items from stacks every time I make a new version.
4. Ability to publish a smart album to my MobileMe gallery so that it will automatically update. How could they possibly overlook this obvious time-saver??? I spend lots of time rating pictures and captioning them. Why should I also have to spend time picking out photos to send to my MobileMe gallery when a smart album could do it for me automatically?
Printing!
I teach both Aperture and Lightroom but I use Aperture day-to-day.
Whenever I'm teaching Lightroom and I get to its printing module, I'm very jealous of it... it's so powerful and flexible and intuitive... Aperture could spend some time improving the printing interface.
-Jeff
I'm with Frank. A multi-user environment is the make or break feature for the company I work for - we've got a common pool of image assets and multiple people/workstations need to access them. Please...
the main thing i'm after is an increase in speed!
I'm running the latest aperture on a 17" 2.5ghz multitouch mbp with 4gb RAM and a 7200rpm drive and still when I adjust the sliders (esp exposure) it's really sluggish. The responsiveness of the sliders in general is pretty appalling. When I grab hold of one i expect it to drag and follow the mouse instantaneously but there are (sometimes severe) lag issues meaning that minute adjustments are made more difficult.
Does everyone have this issue?
will
All I want in a new version is the same kind of innovation in previous iterations.
From a usability point of view, Aperture 2 is fantastic, and whatever new features they add, I just hope they maintain the excellent user interface - its the main reason I chose it over other products.
Totally with Joe Holmes on the keywords issues - that's got to be the single most "annoying" thing about Aperture for me at the moment. Also, usign a 30" Monitor, I want way more keywords to be able to show in the keyword control bar at the bottom. Currently it seems to only allow for up to 20 keywords there (two rows of ten each), whilst I easily got space for another 16 or so... :-/
I always want more speed for Aperture.
Apple, please make Aperture faster!
Concur about the interface. Seriously great.
Want:
Please, please, please: Universal presets.
More customization with keyword shortcuts. Even the ability to create your own buttons for the toolbar. Adobe has done this Photoshop, and it's great. So has Canon.
Get other, more professional album/book companies on board with Aperture. Custom layouts are great, but let us have ability to upload directly to printers.
Ditto on turning off automatic stacking. I know Apple really likes this feature, but it's a pain for me.
The key to faster keywording is using the keyword controls. I blogged about it on my site.
1. Calendar printing. Exporting to iPhoto for anything is just silly
2. A decent way to sync with another computer like a laptop.
Support for HDR-based workflows. I agree with Justin about calendars too.
I've been wondering, before I purchase Aperture 2, if there is any talk about when Aperture 3 will be launched?
I downloaded the free one month offer of Aperture and love it so far, and was anxious to read what many of you feel could be done better. I hope to add to the discussion once I've used it more.
1. When doing a 'Batch Change' and changing the version name I'd love to have the same 'Apply to Master filename' check box that the import dialog has. Then I wouldn't have to 'Relocate Masters for Project' to rename the master files.
2. If you do use 'Batch Change' to change the version names and then 'Relocate Masters for Project' any image you edit with a plugin will return with the original version name that was used prior to the 'Batch Change' although the file name is correct. This isn't what I would expect so I manually change the version name when this happens.
3. I would like to be able to create a second copy of an image to a different location/device during an import. I do that manually now when I'm traveling and don't have access to my Time Machine drive or other regular archive drives.
More Speed
Time Machine compatibility
Reverse-Geocoding (like iPhoto '09)
sRaw support!
Speed!
Iron out all the mobileMe gallery bugs!
sRaw support!
Speed!
Iron out all the mobileMe gallery bugs!
1) More speed - on my dual 2.7 G5 with 7Gb of RAM it is still slow!
2) An end to the appalling "Unsupported Image Format" maroon box thing that plagues so many users.
3) Improvement to the printing interface is long overdue.
4) Did I mention more speed?!
5) The ability to set a screen view as a default that is locked - so that accidental key presses do not move viewers/bars etc around!
On a personal and more general note, the moving of the "Caps Lock" key to the far right of the keyboard on the number pad - or a software option to disable it completely please!!
1) How about a ROES plugin that resizes, crops, sets qty., and order any of the diff products that pro labs offer from within Aperture. This add on will deff cut back " A LOT OF TIME and REWORK, and HD SPACE!. Not only that, you can keep better track of what orders you already sent. ROES Then sends you a confirmation email of your order. Then a email for tracking of your shipment.
2) Also, would like to see complete image protection on Aperture web albums/pages to prevent printing/copy/drag drop.
3) Multiple users for a single library and sync between macs.
4) Adobe Bridge or photoshop seamless browsing of Aperture libraries. Same as iLife media browser can access any image from iPhoto and Aperture. Why export images to use in adobe suite . when the iLife media browser proves to see inside the library, and video and music as well? I know you can edit an image from aperture in photoshop. What about those of us who do lots of design work? Its a time consuming to go back and forth, when we can use the media browser!
5) On the books, a copy/past for border, shadows would speed up design
6) Book designs: Can we save the book/spread/page as a templet. I know you can save (masters) and reuse it only within that book. If you start a new book those masters are lost. you have to redo each templet. If I make copy of book and then reuse it, it does not work well, features will not work. Saving them as collections of templets would be great for saving time, and reinventing custom layouts again and again.
I hate how if I use an adjustment and I finish too soon and notice something later that I missed, I cant go back and fix it. And sometimes it can be slow for me and lag when it processes the images and this unsupported image format crap...