Apple Aperture, how I miss thee - is Apple still listening?

[Ctrlos]

I managed to get it to work! I have the original Aperture 2 discs I bought years ago from a charity shop for £3. I installed this on my 2012 Mac Mini and then downloaded the 3.6 update from Softonic and it works like a charm.

Despite Apple allegedly turning off the feature for new devices iCloud Photo Stream still works with it, so you can crdate a shared album on your iPhone 15 entitled ‘Aperture’ and only invite yourself. It will then turn up in the iCloud section of Aperture. Apple do not get enough credit for their legacy support for older hardware.

 

[bladerunner88]

I'm glad I'm not alone in how I feel about Aperture. I honestly felt like Apple designed that app just for me [I know, stilly]. But that's how comfortable I felt with it. I'm old enough I've developed and printed in real darkrooms, and have used Photoshop since it was 1.0 and Mac only. Aperture felt like the most natural app a photographer could ever use. I have far too many replacement apps, but none have made the process feel as smooth. I also have huge photo libraries in Aperture, and migrating them, making sure metadata is preserved, and all the things that could go wrong in that process - it's a huge task and I don't want to start it with an app I won't like [which is why I have been trying to migrate Projects into their own Libraries in Aperture, and then migrating the libraries into the other apps]. I highly miss the simple Vault feature. I have terabytes of data, and where I live, a very, very slow Internet connection [Backblaze will take at least 9 more months to finish a backup if I don't add more photos/videos to my drives - thinking about a stay in Erwin, TN as they have Google Fiber and while I'm not a fan of Google, I will gladly use their fiber to quickly upload this backlog!].

I know most in the industry have moved to Lightroom. I gave it tries multiple times [this was before Adobe went subscription] and being someone who has used Photoshop since the dawn of time, I was not against using an Adobe product like I am these days. It just didn't feel right though. And that's not something one can easily express to a developer - "your app doesn't feel right" is a lot harder to debug then giving specific bug reports or UI issues, etc. It did run on Windows so Windows folks got to use an app similar to Aperture - and Lightroom didn't require a monster machine to run on. But it never felt right. And now I've stopped using all Adobe products [not happy that Premier has overtaken FCP as I was an FCP v7 user who actually *loved* FCP X when it came out, though a few missing features were showstoppers on a few projects, but they eventually fixed that; I still like FCP X and worry about a day when it goes the way of Aperture. Since they have invested time in the iPad version, I am hoping it will stick around].

Aperture was ahead of its time, and very reasonably priced [even v1] at the time. It was truly a pro app and was deserving of the $499 initial version price, IMO. I would gladly spend that again on "Aperture: Reborn" if Apple decided to change direction. Phil was a big fan of the app, and he still works for Apple; too bad the App Store eats 80+ hours of his week. He probably doesn't shoot photos any more due to lack of time and lack of a good app to put them in!

Same hanging on to my Trashcan like grim Death for Aperture, I also have C1 but just hate the UI and all the hidden menu options. Everything just works on Aperture, still blows my mind that  just woke up one day and decided not to support it.After promoting it for long to Pro's. How hard would it be to just keep updating the RAW Profiles? And right around the time the first iPad Pro was announced Adobe came out with a mobile Vs. of P-Shop REALLY Apple why not a mobile Vs. of Apertue for crying Out Loud? You essentially suceeded all that iPad real Estate to Adobe!!!????

I once had the Producer of Lost and the Writer of Braveheart staring at my Mac Set-Up for 12 Hrs on a Hair/Makeup and Wardrobe Test for a New Show, I was Shooting tethered to my MBP, outputting to a Cinema Display and the whole show was being run by Aperture, you cant buy that kind of Advertising Apple!

Ahg yes am Ranting...

 

[elianoimperato]

I've already paid the one time fee for Nitro as I do enjoy Raw Power and liked Nitro when I tried it. I just really gotta commit to something soon. The amount of photos I have is enormous. I need to commit to C1 ...or now Nitro? Sigh...aaaah.

Hello,

my name is Eliano, I'm an Italian photojournalist and I was a big fan of Apple Aperture.
I'm always thinking about this great app and I still can't understand why Apple decided to discontinue it.
After the the news that Pixelmator joined Apple the hope of seeing Aperture again has become stronger!

I'm bored to work with Lightroom from the first day I had to start to use it. What do you think about Nitro? I'm just feat that, except Aperture, I can't find an app complete like Lightroom...

Thank you in advance,
Eliano

 

[Ctrlos]

Hello,

my name is Eliano, I'm an Italian photojournalist and I was a big fan of Apple Aperture.
I'm always thinking about this great app and I still can't understand why Apple decided to discontinue it.
After the the news that Pixelmator joined Apple the hope of seeing Aperture again has become stronger!

I'm bored to work with Lightroom from the first day I had to start to use it. What do you think about Nitro? I'm just feat that, except Aperture, I can't find an app complete like Lightroom...

Thank you in advance,
Eliano

Have you tried Photomator? It plugs straight into your iCloud library with a lot of depth to edits.

Apple also recently bought the larger Pixelmator company and might yet resurrect Aperture.

 

[bladerunner88]

Hello,

my name is Eliano, I'm an Italian photojournalist and I was a big fan of Apple Aperture.
I'm always thinking about this great app and I still can't understand why Apple decided to discontinue it.
After the the news that Pixelmator joined Apple the hope of seeing Aperture again has become stronger!

I'm bored to work with Lightroom from the first day I had to start to use it. What do you think about Nitro? I'm just feat that, except Aperture, I can't find an app complete like Lightroom...

Thank you in advance,
Eliano

Hey Eliano,

Are you aware of an App. called Retrospective it's on Github - still lets you Work with Aperture, also if you use DNG Converter you can convert RAW Files into DNG's which Aperture will recognize and Import.

 

[elianoimperato]

Have you tried Photomator? It plugs straight into your iCloud library with a lot of depth to edits.

Apple also recently bought the larger Pixelmator company and might yet resurrect Aperture.

I'm trying it but I can't find some simple but for me important things I'm using during the editing process, like for example blacks and whites clipping warnings.

 

[elianoimperato]

Hey Eliano,

Are you aware of an App. called Retrospective it's on Github - still lets you Work with Aperture, also if you use DNG Converter you can convert RAW Files into DNG's which Aperture will recognize and Import.

Unfortunately they discontinued this app and is not working on MacOS Sequoia.

 

[mattspace]

Hello,

my name is Eliano, I'm an Italian photojournalist and I was a big fan of Apple Aperture.
I'm always thinking about this great app and I still can't understand why Apple decided to discontinue it.

Apple didn't decide to discontinue it, what happened was that everyone on the team went to work on other projects (internally Apple projects compete for staff), and they couldn't find anyone interested in continuing on Aperture.

Apple doesn't generally top-down direct staff to work on things, because good Apple developers are sufficiently in demand that people can just leave if they don't want to work on the project Apple gives them.

After the the news that Pixelmator joined Apple the hope of seeing Aperture again has become stronger!

I wouldn't get your hopes up. Likely Pixelmator will be stripped for parts to become little more than an export plugin, or a better Notes editor.

I'm bored to work with Lightroom from the first day I had to start to use it. What do you think about Nitro? I'm just feat that, except Aperture, I can't find an app complete like Lightroom...

Capture One, or DxO Photo Lab is likely your best option at this stage, along with using a referenced library structure on disk, that you can automate with something like Hazel to auto-create Y/m/d folder structures when you import images etc.

Nothing in the market can replicate Aperture's combination of being able to:

• Import from iDevice and Cameras, to
• a referenced library structure AND the catalogue at the same time, then
• export size reduced versions and user select albums back to iDevice.

That is one very definite way in which modern computers and software simply can't do things older computers and software could.

 

[notrack]

Hello,

my name is Eliano, I'm an Italian photojournalist and I was a big fan of Apple Aperture.
I'm always thinking about this great app and I still can't understand why Apple decided to discontinue it.
After the the news that Pixelmator joined Apple the hope of seeing Aperture again has become stronger!

I'm bored to work with Lightroom from the first day I had to start to use it. What do you think about Nitro? I'm just feat that, except Aperture, I can't find an app complete like Lightroom...

Thank you in advance,
Eliano

After Aperture I used Capture One. When Nitro came out, I switched to Nitro. I work Session based and like the editing tools and results better than CO.

 

[bladerunner88]

After Aperture I used Capture One. When Nitro came out, I switched to Nitro. I work Session based and like the editing tools and results better than CO.

Hey Notrack, does Nitro let you import RAW/JPEG Pairs from the Card and do file naming? Cheers.

 

[smirking]

After Aperture I used Capture One. When Nitro came out, I switched to Nitro. I work Session based and like the editing tools and results better than CO.

I haven't heard of Nitro before. Is that similar in feel to Aperture?

I've come to really love Capture One Pro though. At first I customized it to feel like Aperture... which it came close to.

 

[bladerunner88]

I haven't heard of Nitro before. Is that similar in feel to Aperture?

I've come to really love Capture One Pro though. At first I customized it to feel like Aperture... which it came close to.

Nitro and "RAW Power both developed by someone who was on the Aperture Team at 

Gentlemen Coders | Home

www.gentlemencoders.com

How did you customize C1 Pro?

 

[elianoimperato]

Nitro and "RAW Power both developed by someone who was on the Aperture Team at 

Gentlemen Coders | Home

www.gentlemencoders.com

Unfortunately no one of these apps is complete like Lightroom (or like Aperture that we hope to see one day).

 

[mattspace]

Nitro and "RAW Power both developed by someone who was on the Aperture Team at 

Gentlemen Coders | Home

www.gentlemencoders.com

How did you customize C1 Pro?

I know you weren't directing at me, buy FWIW this is the workflow setup that is why most Appleland photo editors / DAM pretenders-to-the-Aperture-throne don't get as close as Capture One:

The idiot mindset on the part of developers that controls, and thumbnail viewing should happen in the same contained window space as the image viewer / editing space, has Noped more apps out my studio window without even a test of their capabilities...

Apollo One, I'm looking at you most recently.

I have a Keyboard Maestro script running so that when you select a thumbnail and then use the keyboard command for zoom to actual size, or zoom to fit, it first runs the keystroke to select the viewer window, and THEN does the view command, because C1 doesn't implement the viewer quite the same way as Aperture.

 

[smirking]

I know you weren't directing at me, buy FWIW this is the workflow setup that is why most Appleland photo editors

LOL, but I thank you for answering that question on my behalf. It has been a long time and I don't remember exactly what I did because once I got comfortable with Capture One Pro, I kept tweaking it and you probably wouldn't think it resembles Aperture anymore.

Making it look like Aperture was my first thing. I tried to replicate as closely as possible the tools in the toolbar by using one of the blank favorites toolbars to contain the dozen or so adjustments I almost always used.

I should think about some Keyboard Maestro tweaks too. Aperture had a series of keyboard shortcuts, didn't it? If I'm recalling that correctly, then the most glaring piece missing was that I had to use my mouse a lot more.

 

[vjl323]

LOL, but I thank you for answering that question on my behalf. It has been a long time and I don't remember exactly what I did because once I got comfortable with Capture One Pro, I kept tweaking it and you probably wouldn't think it resembles Aperture anymore.

Making it look like Aperture was my first thing. I tried to replicate as closely as possible the tools in the toolbar by using one of the blank favorites toolbars to contain the dozen or so adjustments I almost always used.

I should think about some Keyboard Maestro tweaks too. Aperture had a series of keyboard shortcuts, didn't it? If I'm recalling that correctly, then the most glaring piece missing was that I had to use my mouse a lot more.

I'd still love to see your tweaks. I am lucky I read that retroactive is no longer working as I have not yet upgraded to macOS 15 and use Aperture nearly daily. I have licenses for other apps, but the millions of photos I have stored in Aperture - the migration will take a while and use lots of disc space. I miss the Vault feature in every other app I've tried. And the light table feature and and and...sigh. Nitro/RAW Power are nice, but feel more like version 1 apps. I am glad the developer is someone who worked on Aperture. I'm just being selfish, but I wish he still was working on it.

Using the iCloud Photos database as the main database is a red flag for me with Photomator as I've had images go missing or become corrupted when stored using the iCloud Photos database/app.

Aperture gave you the option to use its own built in storage or used referenced storage. I would love that same option. Best Ive seen is things like Nitro where you can store referenced or using iCloud Photos. I just wish you could create a database separate of the iCloud Photos database.

I gave Lightroom a try every version they made for a while - it was faster sometimes than Aperture, but the UI, for me, got in the way. Aperture felt like the only app that was made exactly for me. I use keyboard shortcuts daily with it, and re-training muscle memory to use new ones, or have slightly different behavior with a new app than Aperture...it is gonna be a long, painful road.

As someone who decided a while ago to leave Adobe behind after using Photoshop when it was version 1.0 and Mac only, I find it distressing that apps like Affinity and now the Pixelmator team, are being bought up by others. I might feel different in Nitro was purchased by Apple as that would possibly mean a return of Aperture. Otherwise, I definitely think the Pixelmator purchase is bad news for people who use their apps as it will probably be Dark Skied.

 

[vjl323]

I know you weren't directing at me, buy FWIW this is the workflow setup that is why most Appleland photo editors / DAM pretenders-to-the-Aperture-throne don't get as close as Capture One:

View attachment 2447792

The idiot mindset on the part of developers that controls, and thumbnail viewing should happen in the same contained window space as the image viewer / editing space, has Noped more apps out my studio window without even a test of their capabilities...

Apollo One, I'm looking at you most recently.

I have a Keyboard Maestro script running so that when you select a thumbnail and then use the keyboard command for zoom to actual size, or zoom to fit, it first runs the keystroke to select the viewer window, and THEN does the view command, because C1 doesn't implement the viewer quite the same way as Aperture.

Is this screenshot all on one display? Or a vertical left/right display and a horizontal center? And Keyboard Maestro sounds like an interesting app...hmmmm...I think this February I will need to start my mass migration process. C1 or Nitro are the two contenders ....

 

[mattspace]

Is this screenshot all on one display? Or a vertical left/right display and a horizontal center? And Keyboard Maestro sounds like an interesting app...hmmmm...I think this February I will need to start my mass migration process. C1 or Nitro are the two contenders ....

Yep, Triple display.

So here's my process for your interest - the Capture One / Keyboard Maestro thing is mapping Aperture's zoom keys - comma and period to KM macros which are confined to Capture One as the activation context. So when you hit comma while in Capture One, KM steals the keystroke, and issues a "V" for Viewer window, then the C1 keystroke for "zoom to 100%"

The reason for this is that when you select a thumbnail, all keystrokes are directed to the window containing the thumbnail - in my case, the library window (thumbnails).

For image management on disk, I have a photo drive with a root folder for camera, and each camera has its own folder structure, year > month > day. The root folder for each camera has a Hazel workflow attached to it which sorts any images added into those subflders, creating new ones as necessary etc.

Then, I import images I want to edit into Capture One, or just browse in Finder using smart folders the way you use smart albums in Aperture etc.

 

[mattspace]

I should think about some Keyboard Maestro tweaks too. Aperture had a series of keyboard shortcuts, didn't it? If I'm recalling that correctly, then the most glaring piece missing was that I had to use my mouse a lot more.

The biggest difference was that Aperture didn't treat the viewer display as a separate window - it was a *view* of the thing you had selected in the thumbnail browser.

 

[notrack]

Hey Notrack, does Nitro let you import RAW/JPEG Pairs from the Card and do file naming? Cheers.

Nitro works with jpg/raw pairs but it does not have an import feature. Tbh, I have always just dragged my files from the card to the folder via Finder and I don't rename them. (Finder can batch rename files including add or replace text. But there is nothing like "tokens" as in CO.)

I haven't heard of Nitro before. Is that similar in feel to Aperture?

I've come to really love Capture One Pro though. At first I customized it to feel like Aperture... which it came close to.

I wouldn't say that it feels very similar to Aperture. That is certainly a very high bar. It is much simpler in it's UI and more like a modern version of it. But hey, it it was just released while Aperture was at 3.6 iirc.

What I like about Nitro is that it is quick, easy to use and excellent in editing. I find it really easy to get the results I like. Although Caputre One 22 is still installed on my Mac, I found myself using Nitro all the time. It just suits my needs better.

After Aperture I also customised Capture One as close as possible to Aperture. I found it to be the best alternative at that time. However, the price increase in recent years was a bit steep in my opinion, even more so as it doesn't support tethering my camera system (219 € per year vs. 99 € one-time or 35 €/year). For tethering I use the excellent Pentax Image Transmitter app directly into my session folder.

One great Aperture Feature that I still miss is to split or merge catalogs. Whent the catalog got too big, I just split off older projects and archived them.

 

[bladerunner88]

Nitro works with jpg/raw pairs but it does not have an import feature. Tbh, I have always just dragged my files from the card to the folder via Finder and I don't rename them. (Finder can batch rename files including add or replace text. But there is nothing like "tokens" as in CO.)

So you drag files to the Finder, and then tell Nitro to look at that Folder so you can work on it within Nitro?

 

[smirking]

I'd still love to see your tweaks.

OK. This is what my main workspace looks like in Capture One Pro. My main thing was being able to arrange a similar set of tools to what I was using in Aperture in the left column. Then having the ability to navigate using a thumbnail bar with 5-star ratings and a filter allows me to mix culling and editing. It was those features that made me feel at home in Capture One Pro after being so hooked into Aperture.

 

[walnuts]

Man I miss Aperture, and I was pissed at Apple when it went away. You had to put a lot of trust in the company that ran this kind of thing- basically every edit you ever made on any photo was baked into this program. While it truly functioned, you could look up your old photos and build on whatever edits you made. Granted there was some good efforts to export this kind of stuff, but that was a consolation at best. For all its warts, Adobe has lived up to this promise and since moving to Lightroom Classic, I feel safe that my edits are all preserved and nondestructive for years to come.

I disagree with some here who think that a digital asset manager is a not a financially viable product. There have been a few Lightroom competitors that have come up over the years that are doing well. I think thought that focusing on "Pro Apps" though was a direction Apple wanted to steer away from.

Apple, with its crowning achievement the iPhone, decided its heart was in personal products. Their ideal was the iPhone- dropping a surprise amazing product that no one knew they wanted but suddenly needed. For pro applications, a company needs to have a totally different relationship with their customers- there needs to be some sort of dialogue between the customers and the company so that the company can understand the customer's evolving needs. Pro Apps have legacy features that need to be supported forever even if they isn't the new hotness, and pro customers don't like wonder and delight so much as consistency and reliability. I think Apple viewed all this as a chore and distraction from its goal of wizbang consumer products.


I think there is a whole book to be written picking up the pieces of this story where Apple seemingly tried to distance itself from pros:

• dropping /dumbing down pro software including Aperture and ending with FCP X where they actually changed course due to the backlash
• essentially dropping the Mac pro
• the famous "pro" laptops that focused on getting thinner at the expense of battery life, functional keyboards, essential ports, etc.
• The seeming intention to drop Mac OS X for iPad OS, now fortunately dead with the Apple Silicon transition for Macs

It seems like now apple is content making the platforms, while encouraging third party developers to provide any pro features they aren't interested in. I miss them doing both, but if they keep up with the platform I suppose I will take it!

 

[mattspace]

• The seeming intention to drop Mac OS X for iPad OS, now fortunately dead with the Apple Silicon transition for Macs

This is still happening. Mac OS effectively becoming a UI skin for iPadOS, as Macs are effectively just iPads with different i/o.

 

[walnuts]

This is still happening. Mac OS effectively becoming a UI skin for iPadOS, as Macs are effectively just iPads with different i/o.

As someone who really wanted both iPadOS and macOS to succeed for different reasons, I'm a bit skeptical about this. It felt like it for a while, but it seems like Apple took its foot off the gas in terms of advancing iPadOS to cover a sufficient feature set to be a full OS. If it were really "the future" (even a disappointing one) I think it would be getting more than a few updates once every two years, and stage manager would have been much better thought out than it was.