iMedia Browser for Multiple Aperture (and iPhoto) Libraries - ApertureExpert

If you have your photographs in multiple Aperture (or iPhoto) libraries, this post at ApertureExpert regarding iMedia Browser will be of interest. I used to have several libraries back when having too many photos in a single one caused Aperture to choke and become slow and unresponsive. However, Apple fixed this in an update for Aperture 3 (at least it did for me) and I consolidated everything into a single, managed, library.

Aperture 3.2 update adds iCloud integration

I'm currently updating all my Apple devices to the latest operating systems so I can use iCloud. And I just noticed Aperture was updated to integrate with it and support iOS5. Now all references to MobileMe have changed to Photo Stream.

According to Apple, the update also addresses "minor stability, performance and compatibility issues, including":

• Resolves an issue that could cause the "Loading" indicator to reappear in the Viewer when cropping a photo
• Aperture now automatically relaunches into Full Screen mode if the application was in Full Screen mode when last quit
• Pinch-to-zoom gesture now automatically activates Zoom mode in the Viewer
• Left and right swipe gestures can now be used to navigate between photos in the Viewer
• Microsoft Outlook can now be chosen in Preferences as the application used by Aperture for emailing photos
• Fixes a problem that could cause Aperture, running on OS X Lion, to quit unexpectedly when using brushes to apply adjustments
• Loupe now correctly displays magnification levels between 50-100%.
• Fixes an issue that could cause Aperture, running on OS X Lion, to display the incorrect color profile on externally edited images
• Import window now includes an option to delete photos from iPhone and iPad after they have been imported into Aperture
• The Lift & Stamp tool now displays the correct cursor icons when being used in Split View and Viewer only modes

Full info in this Apple support article.

On the best way to use Aperture

Rob Boyer:

The best way to use Aperture is to change the UI to suit what you are trying to do at the moment.

The ability to change the UI is why I like Aperture so much and why I chose it over its competitors. The entire post is worth a read if you're interested in how to organise your library in Aperture.

Apple Aperture video tutorials by Nathan Smith

Speaking of Aperture, there are several video tutorials at Nathan Smith's site. I particularly like the one titled Better Black & White. I used the Color brick in the same way for my Aperture 3 Black & White presets.

iOS App: Test Yourself for Aperture 3

Pearson Education just released an iOS app that helps you study for the official Aperture 3 certification test. The app is designed for both iPhone and iPad and is called Test Yourself for Aperture 3.

The iTunes App Store description says:

Whether you are preparing for the Aperture 3 Level One Exam or brushing up on your knowledge of Apple’s groundbreaking photo editing and management software, the new Test Yourself for Aperture 3 iPhone/iPad app from Peachpit can help you prepare with confidence.

The app is based on the official Apple Training and Certification program. If you're interested in learning Aperture 3 it might be worth a look, even if you're not going after the certification.

It's only $1.99 and has good reviews, so worth a try I think.

Aperture Tip: Drag image to Inspector

David Schloss:

That’s when I thought “I wish that when you dragged an image over the Inspector in Aperture it would switch to the Library pane. Oh, it does.”

I love finding out little tips like this one.

1,000 downloads of my Black & White Aperture presets

I just checked the analytics for this site and realised my black & white presets for Apple Aperture have been downloaded just over 1,000 times.

I find that amazing.

If you're one of them please send me a note or tweet me and let me know what you think. And if you've used them on your own photographs send me a link. I'd love to see what people have done with them.

Thanks to everyone who's downloaded them!

Fix for Apple Aperture 3 green tint error

This weekend I merged a few different Aperture libraries into a single big one (more on that in another post). It took a long time as some libraries had close to 10,000 photographs, but I now finally have all my photos in one library, which is what I wanted.

The only issue I had was that a bunch of my photographs suddenly had a green tint over them. It was like a green layer on top of the image, which made it impossible to work with. Some looked like they'd been crossed-processed or something to that effect. Really annoying.

I tried rebuilding the library, deleting the Aperture preferences file, and other things, but nothing seemed to work. So I went to Google to see if others had experienced the green tint problem and if someone had a solution.

The green tint problem seems to be fairly common and it's been discussed quite a bit. There's a long thread in the Apple forums here. But sadly, none of the suggested fixes actually fix the problem for me.

In my investigation, some images that had the green tint in the thumbnails looked ok in full screen, and some the other way around. The fact that they looked ok sometimes suggested it could be the preview (the jpeg Aperture creates to display the image), so I gave rebuilding all previews a go. And that solved the problem! All my photographs are back to normal.

Here's what I did step by step:

1. Select Photos in the Library section.
That shows you all the photos in your library irrespective of which projects they're on. It's just every singe photo you have.

2. Click on a photo in the viewer and Select All.
This will of course select all your photographs. Now, anything you do from the menu will affect them all.

3. Go to Photos and select Generate Previews.
To see it you need to hold the Option key and the menu item will turn from Update Previews to Generate Previews.

4. Wait.
And wait some more. And keep waiting. Aperture is generating new previews for all your photographs. To see the progress click on "Processing…" at the bottom or go to Window > Show Activity to open up the Activity window. Depending on the size of your library this step could take a long time, so be warned!

That's it.

I guess you could just select the ones that have the green tint and generate previews for those only, but I found it more time consuming to go through my entire library trying to select the problem ones. I just let it do it while I watched Dexter so no problem. Hope that helps those with the same issue.

My Aperture Presets in Apple's website!

A few days ago I submitted my black & white Aperture presets to the Apple site for inclusion in their downloads page. It's my first time sending anything to Apple and I honestly expected it to take a while, but a friend found them today! I'm excited to see them there and really impressed that they were approved and published so quickly.

Link to them in the Apple website here.

The presets have been downloaded a few hundred times from my site already and I'm sure the Apple site will give them more exposure. It's great to see other photographers finding them useful. I even found a website in a language I don't know linking to them. I still find this whole Internet thing amazing.

Anyway, I've been considering sharing other Aperture presets I've made and this has certainly given me new energy to do so. I'll put another pack together in the next few weeks and post it here for download... and of course, submit to Apple.

I have another set of black & white presets that I use often for photographs taken at night with flash. Not sure how useful they'll be for others as they do a very specific job for me. I also have a couple of colour ones that I think are interesting.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please leave them in the comments.

How to install Apple Aperture 3 presets

Step by step instructions on how to install presets in Apple Aperture 3

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