Aperture 3 Pocket Genius E-Book

Josh Anon

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Portable Genius
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 190

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

If you want to get the very most out of Aperture 3, put this savvy Portable Genius guide to work. Want to organize your images with Faces? Use GPS data to explore photos by the location? Import video? Create advanced, multimedia slide shows? You'll find cool and useful Genius tips, full-color screenshots, and pages of easy-to-access shortcuts and tools that will save you loads of time and let you enjoy Aperture 3 to the max.

Leseprobe

Aperture® 3 Pocket Genius

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: How Do I Get Started with Aperture?

Understanding Why Aperture Is a Key Part of Your Workflow

Seeing the difference between Aperture and iPhoto

Choosing Aperture over Bridge and Lightroom

Working with Aperture’s File Structure

Understanding the Aperture library and where your files live

Understanding referenced and managed files

Understanding how images are organized within Aperture

A Brief Tour of Aperture’s Interface

Understanding the Inspector, Browser, and Viewer

Managing files with Projects and Albums

Using special built-in views

Basic Customization Options

Setting library location and other General preferences

Changing appearance preferences

Changing default import behavior

Modifying preview preferences

Running in 32-bit or 64-bit mode

Chapter 2: How Do I Import Images?

Importing from a Memory Card, Camera, or Hard Drive

Touring the Import Panel

Using the Different Views in the Import Panel

Choosing Import Settings

Configuring a destination project for your images

Using referenced or managed files

Renaming files on import

Fixing time zone settings on your images

An introduction to presets

Configuring what types of files to import

Working with RAW + JPEG pairs

Running actions automatically after importing

Setting up an automatic backup on import

Accessing Images from iPhoto

Importing your iPhoto library

Importing select images from iPhoto

Dragging and Dropping Files into Aperture

Moving to Aperture from Bridge

Chapter 3: What Methods Can I Use to See My Images?

Customizing the Interface

Rearranging and grouping library items

Using Viewer modes

Using the Viewer with multiple monitors

Using multiple Browsers

Showing hot and cold areas of an image

Taking a Closer Look

Zooming and scrolling in Viewer

Using and customizing the Loupe

Viewing in Full-Screen Mode

Using Browser and Viewer in full-screen mode

Working with the filmstrip and toolbar

Working with heads-up displays

Additional Viewer Options

Using Primary Only

Using Quick Preview

Viewing the master image

Configuring and Using Metadata Overlays

Switching between RAW + JPEG Masters

Working with Referenced Images

Identifying and managing referenced images

Reconnecting a missing master

Relocating referenced masters

Converting referenced masters to managed masters

Deleting referenced files

Working with Stacks in Browser

Creating and Working with Light Tables

Chapter 4: How Can I Use Metadata to Organize and Find My Images?

Using Ratings to Sort Images

Setting ratings

Working with rejected images

Using Flags and Labels to Further Organize Images

Setting flags and labels

Customizing label names

Using the Metadata Inspector

Switching and customizing metadata views

Setting metadata

Managing and applying presets

Adjusting Date and Time after Import

Working with Keywords

The Keywords control bar

The Keywords heads-up display

Adding Custom Metadata

Applying Batch Metadata Changes

Using the Batch Change tool

Using the Lift and Stamp tool

Searching for Images

Searching within Browser

Creating Smart Albums

Searching with stacks

Writing IPTC Information to a Master

Chapter 5: How Do I Use Faces and Places to Categorize My Images?

Using Faces

Enabling Faces

Using the Faces interface

Finding people using Faces

Using Places

Enabling Places

Assigning locations to photos

Removing location information from an image

Finding images using Places

Other Books in the Series

Aperture® 3 Pocket Genius

by Josh Anon and Ellen Anon

Aperture® 3 Pocket Genius

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.10475 Crosspoint Blvd.Indianapolis, IN 46256www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-00970-3

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization of Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at [phone], outside the U.S. at [phone] or fax [phone].

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley Publishing logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley and Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Aperture is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

About the Authors

Josh Anon has been a nature photographer for most of his life, with his interest in photography starting when he received his first Kodak 110 camera at the ripe old age of 4. Camera in hand, he received a B.S. in computer science from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

After graduating, Josh started working at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. There he has worked on The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, and more. Currently he is a camera and staging artist.

He has traveled the globe searching for the next great picture, be it 100 feet deep on the Great Barrier Reef, on a cold and windy beach in the South Atlantic, or inside the Arctic Circle. His award-winning images, represented by the prestigious Jaynes Gallery and available on www.joshanon.com, have appeared in a variety of galleries, calendars, and other publications, including the San Diego Natural History museum, Nature’s Best, Photo Media, The Kiteboarder, and more. Josh teaches photography, both privately and for the Panasonic Digital Photo Academy, and he and his mother, Ellen, have also coauthored Aperture Exposed (Sybex, 2006) Photoshop CS5 for Nature Photographers (Sybex 2010), and more. He is also a cofounder of DSLRU (www.dslru.com).

Josh continues to develop software in his free time, currently focusing on FlipBook, which is movie-making software for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

When not shooting, making cartoons, or coding, Josh can be found kiteboarding.

Ellen Anon got her start with photography at age 5, but for years it remained a hobby as she took a very long fork in the road, eventually earning a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Finally, a broken foot in 1997 forced her to take a break from work as a psychologist and she used the time to study photography. She debated briefly between building a traditional darkroom in her home and creating a digital darkroom. Because she’s not fond of being closed up in small dark spaces with strong smells of funky chemicals, she opted for the latter. Ever since, photography has been a two-part process for her. Making the image in the field is step one, and optimizing it in the digital darkroom is step two. Being creative with it is the icing on the cake!

Ellen is now a freelance photographer, speaker, and writer. Her goal with her photographs is to go beyond the ordinary in ways that she hopes stimulate others to pause and appreciate some of the beauty and wonder of our earth. Ellen’s images are included in collections in several countries. She is represented by several stock agencies, and her photos have been showcased in galleries, used in numerous publications (including Sierra Club’s Mother Earth and Inner Reflections 2010 calendar). In addition, she has been Highly Honored in Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards and Highly Commended in the 2008 BBC/Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. She is honored to be a member of the Aperture Advisory Board and is an Apple Certified Trainer for Aperture.

In addition to Aperture 3 Pocket Genius, Ellen is the coauthor, along with Josh, of the series Photoshop CS5 for Nature Photographers: A Workshop in a Book (Sybex, 2010), and Aperture Exposed (2006). She has contributed chapters to several other books and she creates video training materials on digital software for several companies including www.maccreate.com. Ellen leads both photographic- and digital darkroom–oriented workshops and is a featured speaker at various events. She is an active member of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) and is an instructor for its high school scholarship program. She is honored to be a member of Nik software’s Team Nik.

Credits

Senior Acquisitions Editor

Stephanie McComb

Project Editor

Jama Carter

Technical Editor

Paul Sihvonen-Binder

Senior Copy Editor

Kim Heusel

Editorial Director

Robyn Siesky

Editorial Manager

Rosemarie Graham

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Barry Pruett

Business Manager

Amy Knies

Senior Marketing Manager

Sandy Smith

Project Coordinator

Katie Crocker

Graphics and Production Specialist

Andrea Hornberger

Quality Control Technician

Jessica Kramer

Proofreading

Penny Stuart

Indexing

BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services

Dedication

To my family, for having a second refrigerator just for film. –Josh Anon

To Jack, Josh, and Seth for always being there for me. – Ellen Anon

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, we both owe our family a big thank you for their continued support and encouragement. Neither of us would have made it where we are today without the support of Jack, Seth, and each other.

Someone once said it takes a village to raise a child. We don’t know whether that’s true or not, but it sure feels like it takes a village to create a book like what you hold in your hands. Specifically, we owe special thanks to Stephanie McComb, our Acquisitions Editor, and Jama Carter, our Project Editor. They somehow always managed to stay calm even when we were being stubborn.

We also owe our gratitude to our technical editor, Paul Sihvonen-Binder, for making sure that we really are leading you in the right direction.

We both want to thank our friends at Apple involved with Aperture, especially Kirk Paulsen, Martin Gisborne, and Joe Schorr for working hard to create such an amazing program that’s completely optimized our workflows.

Josh wants to thank his friends and co-workers at Pixar, including Trish Carney, Jeremy Lasky, Patrick Lin, Eben Ostby, and Matt Silas. You guys always provide great inspiration and are just awesome people. To his friend Michelle Safer: thank you for always being there to provide moral support. Last but certainly not least, he owes his continued gratitude to his high school English teacher Claudia Skerlong, for teaching him to write well; although he thinks he heard she once started a betting pool about whether his authoring a book (to say nothing of four) or Armageddon would happen first.

Ellen wants to extend a special thanks to her son Josh for being the lead author on this book and smoothing the way. It is a special pleasure to coauthor books with you! She also wants to thank all the people who have requested that she and Josh do another Aperture book. She also wants to thank Dr. Gary Brotherson and Dr. J.P. Dailey for their flexibility and perseverance in safeguarding her eyesight while enabling her to travel to remote places in search of the next photographic adventure.

Chapter 1: How Do I Get Started with Aperture?

©Josh Anon

Aperture in some ways is like iPhoto on steroids, but in other ways it’s a completely different beast. Unlike iPhoto, it’s designed to be an incredibly flexible image, video, and audio file asset management tool so that it can integrate into your existing workflow. However, this flexibility means that Aperture has more jargon, settings, and buttons than iPhoto. This chapter helps demystify Aperture’s jargon and shows you key fundamentals you need to know when using Aperture.

Understanding Why Aperture Is a Key Part of Your Workflow

Working with Aperture’s File Structure

A Brief Tour of Aperture’s Interface

Basic Customization Options

Understanding Why Aperture Is a Key Part of Your Workflow

Most photographers agree that the time you spend behind the lens shooting is the best part of being a photographer, and all the other stuff (processing an image, categorizing it, trying to sell it or use it to promote business) is really just annoying. While digital photography enables you to be more creative as a photographer, from being able to see right away whether you got the shot or not to being able to experiment as much as you want with the only cost being disk space, the “other stuff” arguably gets more frustrating because now you have to manage digital files instead of physical film and learn to use multiple programs to develop and output your images. That’s where Aperture comes into play. Aperture is a central point for all of your image management, from the moment you download an image from camera to computer until you search for an image and click Print to make a physical copy for a client. Aperture makes it relatively easy and fast to organize and manage your digital files, and that lets you spend more time having fun shooting. However, Aperture isn’t the only digital asset management tool out there. Let’s look at what Aperture gives you over iPhoto, Bridge, and Lightroom.

Seeing the difference between Aperture and iPhoto

If you’ve been using iPhoto to manage your images, then you know that our explanation of why Aperture is a key part of our workflow could apply to iPhoto, too. While iPhoto is great for managing images of your family and friends taken with your point and shoot, it’s really limited when you put it under a microscope. For example, while you can make basic retouching adjustments in iPhoto like a levels adjustment, Aperture lets you fine-tune those adjustments to develop your image exactly the way you want it to look, perhaps adjusting the levels in just one color channel or using the quarter-tone controls (which we cover in Chapter 6) to adjust the levels in a specific part of your image. If you really like the effect your adjustment creates, you can save it as a preset to easily apply to other images, even on import. Aperture 3 has the ability to brush those adjustments selectively onto just part of your image, meaning you can make one levels adjustment in the sky and another on the ground, something iPhoto just can’t do. Oh, and if you prefer using curves to levels, Aperture 3 has a curves adjustment, too.

However, more advanced image adjustment controls aren’t the only difference between iPhoto and Aperture. Aperture provides tools to manage a far larger library than iPhoto can manage. For example, Aperture lets you make complicated searches for images, such as the search in Figure 1.1 that finds all your top-rated images taken in 2010 that were taken in San Francisco and have the keyword water. If you want to know specifics about Aperture’s tools to help categorize and search for images, check out Chapters 5 and 6. Aperture is also a lot more flexible with managing your photos, and unlike in iPhoto, images in Aperture can easily be stored on multiple hard drives. Aperture 3 also adds great new tools to merge and split off collections of images, making it easy to share image collections between two machines.

1.1 An image search that’s easy to do in Aperture but just not practical in iPhoto.

Lastly, while there are similar features in iPhoto and Aperture, like Faces, Places, books, and slide shows, they are just more powerful in Aperture. Aperture’s Book tool, which we cover in Chapter 7, has advanced layout options that let you completely customize the image and text boxes on your page, or even use a photo to create a two-page background spread. Aperture’s slide shows, explored in Chapter 8, let you go beyond iPhoto’s click-and-play slide shows, creating custom titles, transitions, and music. You can even include HD video within an Aperture slide show.

In summary, while iPhoto is great for the casual consumer, just as you move from a point-and-shoot camera to a dSLR to upgrade your photography, moving to Aperture from iPhoto lets you upgrade your image-management tools.

Choosing Aperture over Bridge and Lightroom

For many photographers, Adobe Photoshop is the number one tool of choice for image work, and we certainly agree that it’s a great image-manipulation program (although Aperture’s adjustment tools combined with third-party Aperture plug-ins have made it so that we do more than 90 percent of our manipulation work in Aperture instead of Photoshop). You might be asking yourself why you shouldn’t just use Adobe products, such as Adobe Bridge or Adobe Lightroom.

Bridge

Bridge, which comes free with your copy of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, gives you basic organization features, such as letting you add keywords and captions to your images, and because it lets you open your RAW files in Adobe Camera Raw, you can adjust your images in it, too.

However, the key reason to choose Aperture over Bridge is that Bridge is really more of a File Browser that lets you do a couple of basic tasks with your files. Aperture, on the other hand, is a full asset management tool with a database behind the scenes tracking all your images. With Bridge, it’s still up to you to manage where your files live, and tasks like searching for a particular image are quite clunky compared to an asset-based tool like Aperture. Furthermore, because Adobe wants to promote Lightroom over Bridge, Bridge lacks many features that are useful to photographers, like being able to spell-check keywords and captions. Adobe has explicitly chosen to omit those features.

Lightroom

While in some ways the Lightroom versus Aperture debate is a bit like a religious Mac versus PC debate, there are specific reasons that we find Aperture to be a much better choice than Lightroom for our workflows. The main reason is that Lightroom has different modules that you must switch between for different tasks, whereas Aperture does not. Practically speaking, adjustments affect editing decisions, and it’s faster to make those decisions in Aperture than in Lightroom. For example, you may frequently look at an image and say, “This is good, but if I straighten it, will it be great?” In Aperture, you can press one keyboard shortcut and then drag the mouse to straighten the image. In Lightroom, you need to switch from the Organize to the Develop module, adjust the image, and then switch back to the main module to continue making editing decisions. Less time having to switch modes to make a decision means more time shooting and having fun!

We prefer Aperture for specific, technical reasons as well. One is that Aperture has a more powerful hierarchy (we dig into the specific parts of its structure shortly) that you can customize, such as moving albums wherever you want them to be, whereas Lightroom has a relatively flat hierarchy with limited customization options. In Aperture 3, like in Lightroom, you are able to brush adjustments onto an image, but Aperture provides far more control over how those adjustments are applied, such as only affecting the highlights or shadows. Furthermore, only a few adjustments in Lightroom can be brushed onto an image, whereas most adjustments in Aperture can be selectively applied. Aperture’s new curves control is far more powerful than Lightroom’s parametric curves, too. Then there are also features that Lightroom just doesn’t have; for example being able to manage audio files and being able to make a book. Lightroom also lacks any form of Faces and Places.

We should mention that while we far prefer Aperture to Lightroom, Lightroom is not a bad program, and if you have a PC, it’s a very good choice. However, if you have a Mac, we enthusiastically recommend that you use Aperture.

Working with Aperture’s File Structure

If you’ve used a program like Bridge before, then you’re accustomed to the folder hierarchy on your hard drive being exactly what you see in Bridge, and when you move images around within Bridge or make new folders, it also creates new folders and moves files around on your hard drive for you. Programs such as Aperture (and Lightroom) take a different approach. Your images live in a particular location on your hard drive (more on this in a minute) and appear within a different structure within Aperture. When you move images around within Aperture, between albums for example, they don’t move around on your hard drive (although there are special commands to let you move the files around your disk), and when you create a new folder within Aperture, that folder doesn’t actually exist on your hard drive. Let’s take a minute to explore how Aperture stores files and the different terms for the various collections of images.

We frequently use the word image to talk about any file in Aperture, including movie and audio files, as Aperture treats them all in essentially the same way, especially as far as the file structure is concerned.

Understanding the Aperture library and where your files live