Aperture 2 adds a redesigned interface and new image-processing tools for highlight recovery, vibrancy, local contrast, smoothing, vignettes and RAW fine-tuning. It can publish photographs to a .Mac Web Gallery for viewing in a browser, on an iPhone or iPod touch, or through Apple TV. The application is priced at €199 including VAT.
“Many of the world’s most respected photographers rely on Aperture to organize, edit and output their photographs,” said Apple vice president for applications product marketing Rob Schoeben. He said the simplified interface and lower price broadened access to the application.
Sports Illustrated photographer David Bergman highlighted the new RAW processing, image previews, detail and color rendering. Wedding photographer Bob Davis said the release consolidated postproduction tasks that had previously required multiple applications.
Aperture 2 switches between viewer and browser modes with a single keyboard command. Its all-in-one inspector uses tabs for the library, metadata and adjustment tools. An All Projects view shows a representative image for every project and supports rapid browsing, while the integrated iPhoto browser accesses events and photographs in an iPhoto library.
Performance improvements accelerate importing, browsing and searching large libraries. An import preview lets photographers add captions, keywords and ratings while files are being transferred. Background export allows work to continue while images are written as JPEG, TIFF, PNG or PSD. Quick Preview browses RAW images without waiting for full decoding, and the revised file-management system is designed for libraries containing 500,000 photographs or more.
Aperture 2 uses a new RAW processing architecture with per-camera profiles. Recovery restores clipped highlights, Vibrancy adjusts selective saturation, Definition controls local contrast, Vignette and Devignette create or correct edge shading, and the smoothing tool retouches defects and sensor or lens dust spots.
The application integrates with Mac OS X, iLife, iWork and .Mac, exposing Aperture library images to iMovie, Keynote, Pages and Leopard Mail. Its book-authoring system adds templates, layouts, full-bleed dust jackets and foil finishes.
