If you ask about a photo editor for Mac, most people will recommend iPhoto.
But if you're looking for something else, you should probably skip to
Aperture. Aperture could be defined as 'iPhoto on steroids'. It's a complete
photo organizer and viewer, easy enough for the amateur, but with the
powerful tools that any advanced user would need. Plus it features a
comfortable interface that hardly takes a few minutes to get used to.
Aperture lets you import images from various resources (including your photo
camera), organize them in an intuitive way and optimize or fix them if
necessary. When ready, sit back and enjoy them in a fullscreen slideshow, or
use them in various creative projects such as a book, an album or a web
gallery. When I said Aperture was a bit like iPhoto, I wasn't exaggerating.
This new version includes Faces, the popular facial recognition technology
implemented in the last version of iPhoto. But Aperture goes a step beyond
and also includes Places, another special technology that geolocates your
images using the information stored in metadata by some cameras. However, I
have to say that this feature wasn't working properly: the map took ages to
load and controls were over-sensitive – which made map navigation a real
pain. It even caused a program crash while testing it. Besides these
organizational features, Aperture includes a bunch of interesting tools to
enhance your pics. You can tweak the image's balance, exposure, color and
light values, levels and more with easy-to-use slides. The so-called
Adjustment presets let you apply quick, frequent fixes to images in just two
clicks. Finally, the all-new precision brushes help you fix the problem with
extraordinary accuracy. Other features in Aperture I found specially
interesting were the possibility to share your images online in MobileMe,
Facebook and Flickr right from the program, and to create printed copies of
your photos – which always works as a nice present for grandma. Aperture is
an excellent photo application, there's no doubt about that. But in a way I
felt disappointed when testing this new version. I expected to have more
editing and drawing tools, and – why not – support for layers and masks.
I found the controls uncomfortable and hard to manage, and my overall
impression was one of disappointment. Aperture is a powerful photo organizer
and viewer that includes a handful of features to view, fix, optimize,
enhance, share and enjoy your photos!Download *Aperture 3.2.3* in Softonic
