For a long time, I didn't use Aperture's HUDs (otherwise known as 'floating palettes' in all previous applications...) all that often. As time goes past I find myself using them more and more often - especially after Aperture 2 came out and made them more useful.

A lot of my time in Aperture recently has involved copying metadata from existing images on to similar new images for eBay auctions. This has meant that my favourite interface layout at the moment is to have the Metadata Pane open on the left side, the main Browser Pane taking up the middle of the screen and a second Browser Pane (Alt/Option-click on a container to open it in a second pane) along the right edge. No HUDs so far, but bear with me...

The Metadata Pane doesn't need much explanation, but the big Browser Pane in the middle shows a large collection of untagged images, while the smaller one to the left normally shows one of a number of Smart Albums, one for each of the main eBay categories that I deal with. The Smart Albums contain the finished images, ready for me to lift-n-stamp the metadata from. The HUDs come in the form of the Inspector HUD showing the Projects view so that I can easily swap to the relevant Smart Album. The Search HUD is usually open as well, so that i can easily narrow down images within the Smart Album. Finally, the Lift-n-Stamp HUD is usually open as a result of the moving of metadata, and so that I can uncheck the information that I don't want transferred - such as the main rating, which I'm using to keep track of the image's status - 4 stars for 'all metadata done', 5 stars for 'metadata done, physical item collected together'.

The customisable keyboard shortcuts have been a boon as well, with F1 set up to lift metadata, F2 to lift adjustments, F3 to lift both and F4 to stamp.

Ian