Aperture 3 Portable Genius, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6: What Tools Can I Use to Make My Images Better?

Although it’s always wise to take the time to make the best photos possible while shooting, Aperture has a lot of tools that you can use to make your images even better. By clicking a button, setting a few sliders, or applying a few brushstrokes, you can optimize your shots and add impact without spending excessive amounts of time on your computer. That way you can make the most of your images and still have time to go about your life!

Getting Started with Adjustments

Making Adjustments

Using Quick Brushes

Creating and Using Effects

Using an External Editor

Using Third-Party Editing Plug-Ins

Getting Started with Adjustments

Before you jump in and start adjusting your images, there are a few basics that are helpful to understand. That way you’ll be able to get the most out of the adjustment tools as efficiently as possible.

Reprocessing originals for Aperture 3.3 or later

If you are upgrading to Aperture 3.3 or later from a version of Aperture prior to Aperture 3.0, or opening a library created prior to Aperture 3.0, you’ll discover that Apple modified the algorithms it uses for better noise processing, sharpening, and highlight recovery with RAW files as well as adding brush tools for localized adjustments (that we cover later in this chapter). In the Aperture 3.3 upgrade, the library changed to enable unified libraries, ...