One thing I have never been overly impressed with in Aperture is re-sizing images.
Many times, for example, one needs a specific pixel size for web sites, for on-line competition entry and so on.
I have never found Aperture satisfactory in this regard and have to export as full size then use Image Well to specifically re-size, or PSE if I need more options relating to how the image data is treated (bicubic etc) when re-sizing.
Am I entirely missing something, or is Aperture just a bit below par in this particular area?
Marcus,
Scaling quality issues aside, what you’re trying to do is possible — I do it all the time.
First, you said that you “can crop to that in Aperture (although only by using the Inspector - the pop up crop tool does not give pixel input options)” — however it does. Just set the Aspect Ratio to Custom, and you can enter whatever ratio you want [screenshot] (again remember this is an aspect ratio, not a size, but I always enter the size I need for export as the aspect ratio to assure it’s precise).
You also said “but I cannot save it as a preset which is tiresome” which is unfortunately true. But a pseudo-workaround for that is using this tip from Thomas Boyd, “Workaround for Creating Crop Presets in Aperture 3.3”.
Then you said “I can’t really use the Export preset either as 948x440 is not a size that an uncropped image can be made to fit so as you say the computer will just guess - usually incorrectly” but again, this does work. Set the preset to your needed size, and set your crop to the same aspect ratio, and it should work just fine. As I said, I do this often.
Finally, you also said “Also none of the options will give me the file size resulting which is another necessary parameter as there is a file size limit as well” which is also true. In my experience though these were never accurate, but maybe that technology has gotten better.
@PhotoJoseph
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Marcus,
If you need an image at exactly 948 × 640, as opposed to fitting within 948 × 640, then yes you do need to crop to that exact dimension before outputting. Aperture doesn’t have a “fill dimensions” option on export that would result in cropping pixels.
As far as image quality, I have seen instances where the export and down-sample is less than ideal, and no you don’t have the control like you would with Photoshop.
I’d look for a streamlined workflow that will let you use other software, such as the Image Well that you said you were using. Is it AppleScript aware? Maybe you can write a script to export a 100% TIF from Aperture, open it in Image Well, and export from there at your desired size.
@PhotoJoseph
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Hi Joseph
Yes, i thought so - and it is a big omission I think. They should correct that.
I found a handy - and quite cheap - app in the App Store called JPEG4Web.
It is a very quick and easy way to alter the size of images for use where you need a specific size.
Unlike many such apps it also gives the crucial information of what size the resulting file will be on the disc, so that you can adjust both pixels and file size.
To do what you want in Aperture, make a Crop adjustment on your image, then crop as desired, then export.
However, I don’t really see why you would want a piece of software to arbitrarily crop your image for you. How does it now how you want to do that? Does it chop the top of a head off, or the feet, or a mountain. How can it know? If OTOH, you just want to resize to a specific maximum dimension, then Aperture will do that for you in an export preset.
As for the quality … Photoshop is very good at downsizing. What it is doing is using excellent sharpening. Adding a Sharpen, or Edge Sharpen adjustment in Aperture, just for export, would go a long way to achieving the same thing.
Grant
It still would not do what I need it to do really.
I have for example one website where the image size in the gallery is 948x440 pixels. I can crop to that in Aperture (although only by using the Inspector - the pop up crop tool does not give pixel input options) but I cannot save it as a preset which is tiresome.
I can’t really use the Export preset either as 948x440 is not a size that an uncropped image can be made to fit so as you say the computer will just guess - usually incorrectly.
Also none of the options will give me the file size resulting which is another necessary parameter as there is a file size limit as well.
(of course I may just be missing something obvious that will solve all my issues but I can’t see it)
I think it is an area of Aperture that could stand some improvement really.
You can make a preset of your favorites like 8x10 = 3000 x 3000 @300 dpi. Yes you do have to open an additional dialog box if the existing presets wont work for you. I didnt like it either in the beginning but now Im use to it. Cheers
ps Never met any software that did everything I wanted the way I wanted.
davidbmoore@mac.com
Twitter= @davidbmoore
Scottsdale AZ
Despite the option to re-size using the respective dialogs I was not very satisfied with the sharpness of downsized (web) images. I was pointed to a plugin called Border FX which offers adjustable edge sharpening on the re-sized image an lots of options regarding image frames / borders, copyright notices, water marks and text boxes (if needed).
However you still get no control over how the data is treated in the resizing, do you?
My web people have also found the Aperture-resized images to be inaccurate before now, too.
I dont know what you mean by inaccurate. Can you clarify. David
davidbmoore@mac.com
Twitter= @davidbmoore
Scottsdale AZ
Images with specific size requirements (e.g. 948 pixels by 640 or something) have not actually been exported correctly because they require cropping to achieve it.
Aperture does not allow you to (easily or obviously at any rate) control what part of the image will be placed within the 948x640 output.
For me, the lack of the capacity to define a crop preset is definitely the most conspicuous lack in the otherwise excellent program.
I make custom headers for my blog and, because you can’t save a crop preset, I need to enhance or process and sort in Aperture, export jpegs to a folder, then open them all in Ps, then crop using the preset there, then re-save.
I would much prefer to duplicate, crop precisely, and export versions from Aperture.
http://www.StretchTherapy.net
I often use BorderFX for Web format. For Facebook I usually send my image to BorderFX to fit within a size of 2048 x 2048. I also sharpen the resized image and add copyright using BorderFX.
From Aperture you could edit or export with BorderFX and of course you could create presets too. I have found the image to render very well (better than using Apertures integrated Facebook feature) whilst also giving greater control over other nice additional features not available in Aperture.