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Aperture 3.3: The ApertureExpert Review

PhotoJoseph's picture
June 14, 2012 - 5:00pm
While ApertureExpert.com is already full of posts and tips on specific features in Aperture and the new Aperture 3.3, I also wanted to write a more standard review of the upgrade, to discuss not only what’s been added or changed, but also to address many of the comments and concerns I’m reading online. I’ve seen it referred to as “no longer pro” and as a step towards a forced iPhoto migration (to iPhoto, not from), a C|NET article called the most significant feature “support for AVCHD”, and one particularly well known photographer made a high profile exodus to Lightroom immediately following the 3.3 announcement. These observations are not only completely wrong, but frankly, bad journalism. Let’s get started.
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How to Put RAW Fine Tuning Back in Aperture 3.3

PhotoJoseph's picture
June 14, 2012 - 1:00pm

There have been some complaints that Aperture 3.3 removed the “RAW Fine Tuning” adjustment panel from the default set. I’m sure it was removed because most people don’t use it, but if you want it to show up on every image, all you have to do is add it back to the default set.

First, add the RAW Fine Tuning adjustment in from the Add Adjustment menu.

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ApertureExpert Live Training Session 021: Aperture 3.3 SPECIAL Now Available

PhotoJoseph's picture
June 14, 2012 - 3:32am

The high quality video of Live Training Session 021: Aperture 3.3 SPECIAL is now available. This is a 2+ hour session that took a lot of prep to get going so quickly after launch, so I hope you’ll forgive the price jump on this one to $4. The full video is avaialble for free however on YouTube, also embedded below, at lower quality.

Download the high quality video here!

Or, watch it free:

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Show Last nn Months Album in Aperture 3.3

PhotoJoseph's picture
June 13, 2012 - 11:00am

Another new feature in Aperture 3.3 that made it’s way over from iPhoto is the adjustable Show last nn months album. The default is 12 months:

The new “Show last nn months album” feature in Aperture 3.3

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Reclaim the Legacy Highlights & Shadows Adjustment in Aperture 3.3

PhotoJoseph's picture
June 13, 2012 - 9:00am

There’s a lot of fuss over the loss of the advanced adjustments in the Highlights & Shadows tool. Keep in mind, these aren’t features that were dropped — this is a modification of the tool where the new Mid Contrast slider combines “several advanced tools”, according to Apple. I’m trying to find an image that I can enhance with better results using the old Aperture vs the new one, and so far I can’t. Regardless…

Want the old Highlights & Shadows adjustment tool back?

If you want the legacy adjustment tool back, it’s actually still in Aperture… it has to be, otherwise all your previously edited photos would have to be re-rendered, and that’d be a Bad Thing™. If you open pre-3.3-adjusted photo that had Highlights & Shadows applied to it, then you will see the old adjustment tool, with a new “Upgrade” button in place.

Here’s what the legacy Highlights & Shadows tool looks like in the new Aperture 3.3

Turns out you can save that old adjustment as a preset (set to zero even), and then add that to any new photo.

Keep reading to see how to save a preset, or even download a pre made one!

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Auto Enhance and Auto White Balance in Aperture 3.3

Thomas Boyd's picture
June 13, 2012 - 1:01am

I went stumbling through my Aperture library and found a photo that I remembered having a hard time adjusting due to the poor conditions it was shot in. I found the perfect example. It was outside a motorcycle show here in Portland. It was dark, rainy, and lit only by yellow street lights. I can’t get much worse.

I remember fiddling with the white balance and the shadow slider for way too long before settling on a what I thought would be the best I could get.

So, I took that same photo, duplicated the version, and set it to “Revert to Original”. I then clicked “Auto Enhance” and Auto White Balance on the Natural Gray setting. That’s it…two clicks.

It’s came really close to what I spent at least 15 minutes doing. In fact, I think I could make the argument it’s better and more natural looking. 

I’m going to make a bold statement here, ready, here it comes: You are a fool if you don’t first try Auto Enhance and then Auto White Balance. The more difficult the photo, the more important is to try it first. It’s a simple fact that those two simple clicks of the mouse may just save you massive amounts of time. And, if you don’t abide, it’s a simple command-z undo. No harm done.

One note: When I set the auto white balance mode to Natural Gray, it switched automatically to Temperature and Tint. It’s possible to switch it back after hitting the button and you do get different results. I suspect it’s seeing the numbers and choosing what it believes to be the best option. 

No adjustments except crop

 

Click through to see the two improved versions…
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