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Aperture or Lightroom?


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Aperture or Lightroom?
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digitaldave
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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2007-06-21, 13:44

Does anyone have any experience with these apps? I've been thinking about using one of them but I was limited by my old PowerBook - now I have a new MacBook Pro, Aperture is more of an option. I've looked around at some comparisons, but they all seem to compare Aperture with the beta of Lightroom, I can't seem to find an up to date versions . I'll give the trial versions a go, but I'd love to hear from people that have actually used them in anger .

Thanks,

Dave.
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sirnick4
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2007-08-19, 23:56

I have been wondering this same question. I've been reading up on both Aperture and Lightroom and I can't decide which one is best (for me).

I like the seamless integration between Lightroom and Photoshop a lot. Aperture makes up for it, however, by letting you send an image to an external editor (ex: Photoshop) and it will update the image in the Aperture library after you are done editing it. So the tight integration between Lightroom and Aperture might not even matter in the end.

I like how Aperture has the ability to do the Apple-designed photobooks (with even more options than iPhoto). I'm leaning toward Aperture for this very reason. I have tons of vacation photos that I'd like to print out. Apple's way of doing this is very neat. Lightroom might have more options in this regard, but they don't look as elegant as Apple's solution. I just got a new camera for my b'day and taking pictures is a new hobby of mine. My main concern is printing. The photobooks from Apple seem too cool to pass up.

I'm also a .Mac subscriber so the integration there is tempting as well.

I'm going to be purchasing Photoshop when school starts and one of the above programs. I just can't decide.

Both programs look practically identical..

I probably answered my own question. Aperture seems to be the best fit for me.

Any thoughts?

Does anyone on this board use Lightroom?

Deal with it.

Last edited by sirnick4 : 2007-08-20 at 02:59.
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torifile
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2007-08-20, 05:24

I can't speak for Lightroom (a good friend, who's also a serious photographer swears by it) but I really like Aperture's integration with the iLife/iWork apps. It's like iPhoto on steroids in that respect.
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sirnick4
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2007-08-20, 05:41

Thanks, chucker. Those articles are great
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Eugene
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2007-08-20, 11:38

I have limited experience with Lightroom, but from what I can tell it's a much better editing tool than Aperture is at this point...mostly because of it feels more responsive, and especially if you're coming from another Photoshop product. Aperture's strength is in organization (auto-stacking, ranking, projects, etc.)

For example, one quirk with Aperture is that it enlarges my photos shot in raw to 3884x2600 when the capture resolution 3872x2592.

Last edited by Eugene : 2007-08-20 at 11:49.
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ghoti
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2007-08-20, 11:55

I have used LightRoom on a 12" PB, and it was very usable. So yes, it's pretty snappy on newer hardware. I don't know if Aperture likes JPGs at all, or if it only accepts RAW - but I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that LR handles JPG just like RAW. I don't use RAW, so that's kind of a killer feature for me
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chucker
 
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2007-08-20, 12:04

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghoti View Post
I don't know if Aperture likes JPGs at all, or if it only accepts RAW - but I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that LR handles JPG just like RAW. I don't use RAW, so that's kind of a killer feature for me
Both LR and Aperture support JPEG, but with some inherent limitations. Correcting things like white balance and noise reduction, while possible, is nowhere near as sophisticated with a non-RAW format, so the results aren't as high-quality.

However, it's fine enough for many amateurs, of course.
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ghoti
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2007-08-20, 12:13

Let's not get into an argument about pros and amateurs and their relative use of RAW vs. JPEG Noise reduction is of course problematic with JPEG, but white balance works fine - for my amateurish needs, anyway .
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chucker
 
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2007-08-20, 13:34

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghoti View Post
Let's not get into an argument about pros and amateurs and their relative use of RAW vs. JPEG Noise reduction is of course problematic with JPEG, but white balance works fine - for my amateurish needs, anyway .
Oh, I certainly wasn't trying to turn it into an argument. I was merely pointing out that Aperture and Lightroom do fully support a workflow with JPEG, but you cannot take advantage of 100% of the features due to inherent differences in the formats.
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unstrung
 
 
2007-09-04, 07:52

I have been using Lightroom since it was first released. In parallel I started using Lightroom since the Beta. I now own copies of both. My experience is that Lightroom has much better image editing tools and lets one dive deeper into the photo editing process. Aperture seems to have a much better cataloging interface and methodology.

I am often torn between the two programs - but find myself leaning toward Lightroom when making edits.

Ideally I wish one could merge the two programs.

Moreover - I find that LightZone (by Lightcrafts) is a third program that I often look toward when editing images.

If you do not have thousands of images I would suggest Lightroom over all.

Since we have not heard anything about Aperture updates I am wondering what Apple is planning for Apreture now
that Adobe has release LightRoom?

Regards - Unstrung
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Moogs
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Join Date: May 2004
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2007-09-04, 09:02

I think Aperture 2 cannot be very far off at this point, but overall Lightroom is a more intuitive and more responsive application. They can both do some cool things but Aperture needs to have a more simplified UI and free itself from the library file concept, also its hardware requirements keep it from being a more widespread solution for pros.

Re: Lightzone... the more I look at it the more I think it would be the perfect solution for many photography buffs.

...into the light of a dark black night.
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BuonRotto
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2007-09-04, 11:25

Be aware, that LightZone is Java, therefore, not the most responsive (though damned impressive for Java). It's my only frustration with it, waiting for stuff to update sometimes, though there are options to limit that frustration I have yet to try out. Be aware its little browse mode is less capable than LightRoom's, and Aperture's browser especially.
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ghoti
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2007-09-04, 12:58

At least from the user interface, LightZone does look interesting though. While you can do all the same things in LightRoom (apart from picking a region to apply the changes to), they are a bit obsessed with sliders. You can push around areas in the histogram though, and also a few other things that are not just controlled with sliders - and perhaps they will buy the LightZone people, or at least feel inspired to think of more direct controls.
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unstrung
 
 
2007-09-04, 14:38

I use Lightzone as a external application - which both Aperture and Lightroom let you interfeace to
via the use external app settings in the preferences setup.

It is a cool tool - but it is still evolving. I foresee myself using either Aperture/Lightzone or Lightroom/Lightzone.

My issues is to decide is it Aperture or Lightroom.

I am still on the fence

unstrung
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sirnick4
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2007-12-15, 03:30

*bump*

Are there anymore opinions on this?

I have been using Aperture for a couple of months now and I love it. I recently picked up a Canon Rebel XTi and I'm shooting in RAW format. It's amazing how much more you can do with RAW.

I have one question, however:

If I want to edit an image in Adobe Camera Raw, do I have to use Bridge? When I open an image in Aperture, sometimes I want to use an external editor. So, I hit Shift-command-O and it takes me directly to Photoshop and not ACR (isn't Photoshop supposed to take me directly to ACR because it's a RAW file?). Is there something I'm doing wrong here? I've tried googling.. but I can't find anything

Thanks for the help.

And keep up the Aperture vs. Lightroom debate

EDIT: I think this answers my above question if anyone else has it.. http://discussions.apple.com/thread....77310&#5377310

Deal with it.

Last edited by sirnick4 : 2007-12-15 at 03:45.
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chucker
 
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2007-12-15, 03:38

Quote:
Originally Posted by sirnick4 View Post
If I want to edit an image in Adobe Camera Raw, do I have to use Bridge? When I open an image in Aperture, sometimes I want to use an external editor. So, I hit Shift-command-O and it takes me directly to Photoshop and not ACR (isn't Photoshop supposed to take me directly to ACR because it's a RAW file?). Is there something I'm doing wrong here? I've tried googling.. but I can't find anything
If I'm not mistaken, the external editor in Aperture always gets passed a rendered non-RAW version of the image. (I don't see how it could work any other way, either.)
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Eugene
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2007-12-15, 03:52

Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker View Post
If I'm not mistaken, the external editor in Aperture always gets passed a rendered non-RAW version of the image. (I don't see how it could work any other way, either.)
Correct.

IMO Lightroom + CS3 overlaps, so you don't get your money's worth as you would with Aperture + CS3. I wouldn't be able to use either on their own.
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sirnick4
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2007-12-15, 04:08

hmm.. that's what I thought. Thanks, dudes

I'm really trying to sink my teeth into digital photography. Just trying to learn it all...
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admactanium
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Join Date: Dec 2004
 
2007-12-15, 20:27

my decision was made mostly when aperture wasn't able to run on apple's portables at the time. i was going on a trip and decided to use the lightroom beta with my canon 30d's raw files. since then, i've played with aperture some more but i still like lightroom more. i'm also more used to adobe pro apps than apple pro apps. i believe lightroom also has more adjustment options than aperture. i've been on lightroom since that first trip and haven't gone back to aperture.
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Phoenix
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2007-12-17, 00:09

Yeah I'm a converted lightroom fan now. I used Aperture for a few months, but just found it awfully slow for what i was doing. I went over to lightroom and it's improved things a lot. I don't think i'd go back to Aperture unless there were some fairly big changes. Speed is the major thing. I just find the difference between the two like night and day.
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sirnick4
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2007-12-17, 00:12

I have noticed that Aperture (on my 2.33 Ghz C2D MBP) slows down a lot when handling RAW images.

I think I'm going to download the trial of Lightroom and see what it's like.

Deal with it.
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turtle
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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2007-12-17, 00:40

I'm still an Aperture fan. In fact I just got finished handling a photo shoot for a Christmas gift and it worked great. I'm on a MB CD 2GHz with 2GB RAM. The shoot was in RAW so I certainly tested it. I even had to use PS CS3 as my external editor to put a set of open eyes on to a girl who was looking the wrong way. Aperture handled it like a pro. Still great by me.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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Moogs
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2007-12-17, 12:14

Hopefully we have a new version to look forward to come January.
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bassplayinMacFiend
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2007-12-17, 12:29

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moogs View Post
Hopefully we have a new version to look forward to come January.
I hope so. I'm ready to move beyond iPhoto but don't think I could buy the current version of Aperture since it'd run like crap on either of my Macs due to GPU restrictions. I may have to check out Lightroom again as well.
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torifile
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2007-12-17, 19:16

I'm going to give Lightroom a try. The fact that Aperture has been very slow lately and I keep getting incomprehensible errors when trying to use Automator actions have really made my life difficult.
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