Aperture: Worth the money?

[Caitlyn]

Hey guys!
I'm considering purchasing Apple's Aperture to use with my newfound interest in photography. I want to be able to add great effects to the images and edit them a bit more advancedly than iPhoto 6 does. But is Aperture with the money for me? Will it really help me much more? What are your thoughts on the application? All feedback is welcome.

EDIT: Oh, and one last question, is Aperture even compatible with my current iBook? Specs in sig.

 

[MIDI_EVIL]

Check Adobe's site for their equivalent of Aperture which is called Lightroom, it's still in Beta stage, but it's free! We all love that word!

As for Aperture i think it's G5 or nothing. I don't think it'll be worth it running it on a G4, i wouldn't even bother for my PowerBook.

Also, check out Photoshop, or even Photoshop elements if you'd like to try a much cheaper version first.

Rich.

Hey guys!
I'm considering purchasing Apple's Aperture to use with my newfound interest in photography. I want to be able to add great effects to the images and edit them a bit more advancedly than iPhoto 6 does. But is Aperture with the money for me? Will it really help me much more? What are your thoughts on the application? All feedback is welcome.

EDIT: Oh, and one last question, is Aperture even compatible with my current iBook? Specs in sig.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

That will run pretty bad on your iBook.

It'd work great on the future iMac you're getting soon, though!

 

[GoCubsGo]

Hey guys!
EDIT: Oh, and one last question, is Aperture even compatible with my current iBook? Specs in sig.

In a word, no. If it won't run smooth on my powerbook, there is no way it's running on an ibook. Try lightroom as someone mentioned or photoshop elements. And I don't think "advancedly" is a word.

 

[iGary]

It's a great program - I can't wait for 1.1

 

[Caitlyn]

And I don't think "advancedly" is a word.

Haha, neither do I. I thought I put it in quotes. Guess not.

Anyway, I will take a look at Lightroom. But because it is in beta version, is it buggy? I hate bugs.

 

[MIDI_EVIL]

Try it! It's FREEEEE!! Woooohoooo

Rich.

Haha, neither do I. I thought I put it in quotes. Guess not.

Anyway, I will take a look at Lightroom. But because it is in beta version, is it buggy? I hate bugs.

 

[Caitlyn]

Try it! It's FREEEEE!! Woooohoooo

Rich.

Haha, Rich. Good point I guess. It's free so therefore, why not try it. Can anybody tell me any of the differences between Lightroom and Aperture?

 

[Roy Hobbs]

Just remember Lightroom is only Free while it is Beta.

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

It depends on what you want to do, and how many photos you expect to be handling.

For me (500 to 1000 a month) iPhoto is quite ok for managing the photos. Other people don't like the way iPhoto works, but that's their prerogative. I use Photoshop Elements and Image Tricks (free from BeLight software) to adjust colour and add effects. I also use Comiclife (which I presume you will get with your iMac) - it's a great little layout program and I use it for more than just comic strips.

I don't use either Aperture or Adobe Lightroom, although I tried out Lightroom beta. It seems to me that Lightroom would not give me many advantages over iPhoto (at least in the way that I use it), and that ultimately it falls short of Aperture.

As I said - it depends on how you want to manage your photo archives and how you want to play around with your images. If you are just starting out, then you might be wise to use your existing software (iPhoto) to organise the photos, then add PSE and/or Image Tricks for adjustments and effects.

 

[Caitlyn]

I also use Comiclife (which I presume you will get with your iMac) - it's a great little layout program and I use it for more than just comic strips.

Does it come with the iMac??

 

[Grimace]

I've been using Aperture for a few months now and would NEVER go back to iPhoto. Color correction batch processing, and more importantly the workflow make it a fantastic program.

I will say that you want to run it on something zippier than a G4. My 1.67 PB runs it okay, but my PM (2.3) is far better. The program likes a LOT of RAM, so consider it unless you have more than 512MB.

Also, the bigger the screen, the better. A 12" iBook/Powerbook won't cut it.

If you can, go to a local Apple store and play around with it.