Following this week’s release of the second expansive update for its Leopard operating system (v10.5.2), California-based Apple Inc. has also introduced a second edition of Aperture, its “groundbreaking” photo editing and management software.
Apple releases Aperture 2, the latest version of its image and photo-editing software. Credit: Apple.
Boasting more than 100 new content features, designed to make the software faster, easier to use, and also more powerful, Aperture 2 offers users a streamlined interface and a completely revamped image processing engine.
Apple is keen to point out that Aperture 2 also delivers new imaging tools for highlight recovery, colour vibrancy, local contrast definition, soft-edged retouching, vignetting and RAW fine-tuning. Users will also be able to directly post portfolios through to the .Mac Web Gallery for conventional online viewing and via the Apple iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV.
“Many of the most respected photographers on assignment all over the world trust Aperture to organize, edit and deliver their images,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple's VP of Applications Product Marketing. “With its simpler interface and lower price, anyone can take full advantage of Aperture's power.”
The new and more user-friendly control interface has been designed to be more intuitive and accessible, allowing users to navigate quickly between Viewer and Browser modes with a single key press.
Specific features of Aperture 2 include the likes of Embedded Previews, which enables photographers to caption, keyword, and rate imagery as it is imported, while also allowing them to export images in the background and continue working while images are processed to JPEG, TIFF, PNG and PSD file formats.
Quick Preview allows users to browse RAW images in rapid succession without having to wait for files to load, while the Aperture library database has been re-architected to provide fast project switching and near instantaneous search results -- even when working with extremely large libraries of 500,000 images or more.
“Apple's next-generation RAW image processing is at the core of Aperture 2 offering uncompromising image quality and precision controls that let users fine-tune the image profile for each of their cameras,” explains Apple.
“New tools for improving and enhancing images include Recovery for pulling back ‘blown’ highlights, Vibrancy for selectively boosting saturation without adversely affecting skin tones, Definition, which offers local contrast for adding clarity to images, Vignette & Devignette filters for providing professional visual effects and a true soft-edged Repair and Retouch brush for quickly and easily removing blemishes, cleaning up sensor dust and cloning away problem areas.”
Available for a mere $199 USD (or $99 USD for those upgrading from the original Aperture), Aperture 2 is compatible with Mac OS X, iLife, iWork, .Mac, and Apple print products, which means any image residing in the Aperture library can be quickly accessed from within other compatible software applications including iMovie, Keynote, Pages, and also Leopard Mail.
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