For Aperture users, what photo editor did u choose?

[danielsterno]

Hi:

Using Aperture but need to move on. There is not a Photo extension for DXO Nik Collection Silver Efex which is critical to me. I have a trial copy of Lightroom going now but do not love it, using DXO Nik Collection Silver Efex is critical to my decision. Very minimal editing done. Import Fuji x100f some Raw & mostly JPEG images. Export to Flickr/Instagram/email/hard drive, the usual needs.
I am curious about what decision RFF Aperture users made for Photo editing and your level of happiness with it, and if you are using Silver Efex?
Thank You in advance... Dan

 

[vbsoto]

I still use aperture and am able to use the NikFX tools via the right click "edit with" external editor function. You have to set it to the editor you want via preferences first, but it works.

 

[danielsterno]

I still use aperture and am able to use the NikFX tools via the right click "edit with" external editor function. You have to set it to the editor you want via preferences first, but it works.

Thank you- I am still able to work with Nik FX, though can not import fuji 100f Raw image even though the majority is jpeg-just feel like I am pushing the envelope and expect that one of Apples new releases will not allow Aperture to be part of the new OS and want to be proactive-last it stopped uploading to Flickr, they can not figure out why- just a hassle....

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

I moved to the stock Apple Photos app. I am not super happy with it as it is very slow and the adjustments are not great. Fortunately I shoot mostly film these days so my use of and need for this program is limited mostly to managing my scanned images (I view my negs as the archival versions). I do still use Silver Efex and the rest of the Nik Collection, but it is not convenient as I have to export each photo individually. There is probably a better way to do this, but I haven't bothered to figure it out.

Frankly Google Photos is just as good as Apple Photos or maybe better if you don't mind having your photo collection in the cloud (and subject to usual caveats about proprietary software in general and Google creepiness in particular).

 

[bjolester]

I still use Aperture 3.6 on a Mac running OS Sierra. My most recent DSLR, a Pentax K-5iis, is still supported, and Aperture also functions well with scanned film images.

I would like to try the new Photos app featured in OS High Sierra, but I guess I than would have to invest in a new Mac, my 2010 MacPro tower is probably best kept at OS Sierra (at least that is what I have read on Mac forums).

 

[Peter Jennings]

I use Capture One for session editing of raw photos and then import jpeg conversions into Photos. I then give the images a quick edit with the Light slider in the Photos editor. I also use Photos to clone-out dust specks on film scans. I agree that editing in Photos is too slow and sometimes crashes the app. I think Capture One has a slightly better raw converter, too.

 

[splitimageview]

Still using Aperture, and perhaps will move to Capture One, but definitely not LR.

 

[danielsterno]

Wow, seems like we are all in the same metaphorical boat aka slighted aperture users with inconvenient workflows.... I thought I was an exception. If my flickr link did not occur and the fact that I can't get my raw images processed on my x100f I would stick with aperture but getting ridiculous.... I'm determined

 

[Rob-F]

Hi:

I have a trial copy of Lightroom going now but do not love it, ...

I've been an aperture fan and user practically since it came out. I have aperture 3.6 on this MacBook Pro, and aperture 3.xx on the iMac. Also on the iMac is Lightroom, and I am in agreement about not loving it. I'm planning on doing whatever it takes to be able to keep using Aperture from now on even if it means stockpiling extra Macs capable of running it. I don't have DXO Silver Efex though, so that is not a problem for me.

 

[Takkun]

Another one holding on to Aperture. I was an early adopter of LR when it was in beta, partly because it ran on my old ca. 2003 G4 back then, but went with Aperture when I bought an Intel machine. Learned on Photo Mechanic in journalism school, LR again while working at one publication, then Bridge/PS at another. Adobe products worked seamlessly at publications were everything was on networked drives, but that, and Curves adjustments early on, was the only advantage. Always used Aperture for my own personal work. The iTunes-like internal file system always seemed intuitive.

I'm still using the same 2010 iMac maxed out on RAM with a SSD and whatever the last version of Aperture was. I did run into some problems working on files from a D850, but learned that RAW processing is in the OS, and updating to High Sierra let me import the needed files.

I don't foresee Aperture being dropped entirely in the near-term. It never was an industry standard like Final Cut was (which was a whole other can of worms; the switch to FCX was great for flash-based videographers, terrible for everyone used to old NLEs), but there are too many who are too heavily invested to let it just drop dead.

Then again, you never know with Apple and their tendency to go whole hog on new standards and drop the old—floppy discs, serial ports, PowerPC, FireWire, their own Dock connector, headphone jacks, the list goes on.

(Typed on a 1986 ADB keyboard with an adapter)

 

[Lss]

Switched to LR. I still don't like it as much as Aperture, but it has the best life expectancy.

 

[dasuess]

Moved to LR and have not looked back once. With the Adobe photography subscription I also get PS, LR mobile on my phone and tablet, Spark and Portfolio.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[vbsoto]

I'm running Aperture on a Macbook running El Capitan. I do not have any unsupported cameras at the moment. But know that that is subject to change in the future, so I've been testing Photos and it will read Aperture Libraries, so I have a path moving forward. Until necessary I'm keeping them on Aperture. I may start all new imports into Photos at the beginning of the year to keep things clean. I'm testing a third party app that provides extension access to other editing apps.

 

[Peter Jennings]

Don’t need to worry about Aperture supporting a camera. RAW camera support is handled by macOS. If the system supports the camera, Aperture will, as well.

 

[vbsoto]

@Peter Jennings so true, but in my case I may be limited by my hardware being maxed out on the OSX version it will support. I may have to upgrade to a newer model if I need to move to a newer OS for camera support inside of Aperture.

 

[peterm1]

Hi:

Using Aperture but need to move on. There is not a Photo extension for DXO Nik Collection Silver Efex which is critical to me. I have a trial copy of Lightroom going now but do not love it, using DXO Nik Collection Silver Efex is critical to my decision. Very minimal editing done. Import Fuji x100f some Raw & mostly JPEG images. Export to Flickr/Instagram/email/hard drive, the usual needs.
I am curious about what decision RFF Aperture users made for Photo editing and your level of happiness with it, and if you are using Silver Efex?
Thank You in advance... Dan

I too love Nik plugins and use them pretty well constantly, and in particular I use Silver Efex for conversions to mono. (BTW it is possible though a little clunky to run them freestanding - without a parent photo editor ( https://petapixel.com/2017/12/15/can-run-nik-collection-plugins-standalone-apps-heres/ ). I use Lightroom with Corel Paintshop Pro as backup and running Nik Efex as well. For conversion and basic editing I use Lightroom then drop into either one of the Nik plugins or into Corel Paintshop Pro itself if, for example, I want something only that editor can do for me (like using complex layer masks). All of these "sub editors" are set up to be hooked into Lightroom to run as plugins. This means that when I save at the end of editing using one of them as a Lightroom plugin the resulting edits are exported directly back into Lightroom as a copy of the image with the new edits added. This is very convenient if you use Lightroom to keep track of your edited images or if you want to make any final tweaks in Lightroom. I am not sure if Corel supports the Apple platform though.

Like you I was not in love with Lightroom (preferring in my case, some of the Corel suite's tools). But there is no doubt, now that I am more used to it, that used in the above manner Lightroom makes a pretty useful, powerful and quick editor. It also has some editing tools that work better than any others I have encountered - for example its ability to pull back over-exposed areas and get some detail out of them is quite unsurpassed in my experience. Nothing else I have tried works as well.

Overall I am pretty happy with this set up finding it functional and quick. My main complaint about using Corel Paintshop Pro alone (which I previously did) was that it was clunky to copy edits from one image to another in a series (you had to save and create "actions") so basic editing of a large number of similar photos required them to each be manually edited one at a time. The above arrangement fixes this because of Lightroom's ability to synchronize Lightroom edits across multiple images at the click of a button. While still allowing the subsequent use of Corel or Nik for any more complex edits.

 

[vbsoto]

Thought I would document some findings on testing of Apple Photos.

It does not have a function for resizing when exporting like Aperture does. I use that all the time with Aperture.

 

[Darthfeeble]

I loved Aperture, then they killed it. I tried to go back to PS Elements but never really liked it. Tried the trial versions of several other programs. I tried LR, just couldn't get a grip on it though it's similar to Aperture. I got some instruction on LR and found out that I actually liked it but I'll be damned if I'll buy into that subscription thing...... My wife bought the subscription and son of a gun if the version in it wasn't better than my LR6. So here I am a big fan of Lightroom CC. It does everything I want a post processing program to do.

 

[PRJ]

IIRC the guy that was in charge of Aperture went out on his own and now has a plugin for Photos. I haven't used it, but it is pretty cheap and worth a look if you are an Aperture user. Might be exactly what you are looking for.

https://gentlemencoders.com/raw-power-for-macos/

 

[Rob-F]

I loved Aperture, then they killed it. I tried to go back to PS Elements but never really liked it.

I think the reports of the death of Aperture may be exaggerated. My understanding is that Apple has no plans to kill it off; they just can't promise that future operating systems will be backwards-compatible with Aperture. Me, I have it up and running on two MacBooks and an iMac. The latest OS I have is Sierra.