Casey Gets A Base Hit: Aperture 1.1 Released Today

Back in December I reviewed Aperture, Apple Computer’s new pro photo studio app, and found myself unimpressed. But Aperture 1.1 was released today and I actually like what I see (and what I don’t see).

Aperture is at version 1.1 now (you can check it out here) and a glance at the improvements leave me fairly impressed. In my December review I compared Apple to Casey of Casey At The Bat—sure and cocky but ultimately producing something weak and disappointing. I’m happy to see the behemoth got in the batter’s box again and got a solid hit.

WHAT I DON’T SEE…

…is the inflated price tag! Aperture is now $299, which I think is a good price point. I think lots of professional photographers will warm up to Aperture now that the price has been cut 40%. And I think it was long overdue, Aperture is a good tool but at $500 (and with Bridge and other Adobe apps competing in the same arena) it smacked of hubris. Now it’s more fairly priced.

IMPROVED RAW HANDLING

RAW tools just keep getting better and better. Aperture 1.1 now renders RAW images with improved algorithms that boast even better images (I haven’t seen an example, so we’ll have to see…). More exciting are some neat new RAW Fine Tuning controls in the Adjustments display:

• Boost: increase or decrease contrast
• Sharpening: control sharpening in the RAW conversion
• Chroma Blur: Blur color artifacts

Chroma Blur is particularly good because artifacting and noise are problems in digital photography—and a good solution would be highly praised. Along the same lines is the addition of an Auto Noise Compensation, which automatically applies noise reduction to images. I don’t know how automated it is, but what would be even more helpful would be some advanced controls that allow the user to fine-tune these settings. Photoshop filters and plug-ins can only go so far; if an application like Aperture could deliver simple and effective tools to deal with noise and artifacting and make them easy to tweak I think it would become a major component of many professional and prosumer workflows.

NUMBERS AT LAST!

Figure 1: A great new Color Meter!

Apple was obviously reading my review with great care, because Aperture 1.1 is finally paying attention to color numbers. A new Color Meter (see Figure 1) allows users to obtain color numbers (RGB, CMYK or even LAB) at any point in the process—even on the Light Table. Impressive! Working with the numbers is such an important part of the photography process, and I’m glad Apple has taken notice of this.

VARIOUS OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

As with any other application, there’s many other small tweaks to Aperture 1.1. Some of the goodies:

• Output images at set resolutions or dimensions
• Work with layered Photoshop files
• Set default resolutions for various applications like Photoshop
• Aperture 1.1 now a Universal app for your Mactel machine

BASE HIT

I like the look of these improvements because it just feels like Apple is getting Aperture right this time. Of course it’s not all there yet, but adding things like Photoshop file compatability, a color meter and noise/artifacting controls make this feel like a new application. And the $299 price tag makes the application not just a trophy purchase but something worth considering by any serious photographer. If I get my hands on Aperture 1.1 or catch a demo I’ll report back; if anyone works with it in the workplace or just at the local Apple Store, let us know how it handles!