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Two Pro App Updates
Apple released two Pro App updates bright and early this Monday morning:ProKit Update 4.5: "This update improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and Logic Express."Plugin Manager 1.7.3: "This update improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and related SDKs."According the release notes for the Plugin Manager update, it addresses a backwards compatibility issue with Apple and third-party filters in the applications listed above. Users of any of these apps and Motion should fire up Software Update and install the recommended updates. No reboot is required (and there was much rejoicing!).Update: These updates were new to me! Sorry for the false alarm all, I just installed FCP and jumped the gun. That being said, be sure to check out Apple's list of available updates. You never know what you'll find on there.Thanks to everyone in the comments for setting me straight.
Aperture 2.1 SDK available
When Aperture 2.1 was released last month it added a plug-in architecture allowing third-party developers to add editing tools. While some of the bigger names have already been working on such plugins, Apple has now released the SDK so you can too (provided, that is, you can write sophisticated image editing code). The architecture basically allows the plugin to request an editable version of a picture from Aperture and then send back the result as well as adding metadata and manipulating image data, all within a custom interface.The Aperture 2.1 SDK is available for download from Apple, through you do have to have an ADC account.[via Infinite Loop]
Apple offers photo book discounts for Mother's Day
If you've been looking to get the perfect Mother's Day gift, Apple says to look no further than iPhoto or Aperture. It's that special time of year when we celebrate our mothers (of course, if you ask Mom every day is Mother's Day), and Apple is cutting us a break! You can now get 20% off of iPhoto books when you use the promo code LoveMom at checkout. This promo code is valid for iPhoto or Aperture users in the US and Canada and is good until May 11, 2008. Apple recommends that you order by April 30 for standard delivery and May 4 for express delivery so that you get your book in time for Mother's Day. You can read more about this promotion on Apple's website.
Beta Beat: Aperture2Gmail 0.8
If you love Aperture (or iPhoto) like we do, then you know that there are some nice plug-ins that allow you to export pictures to differing photo sites (i.e. Flickr, etc.). However, if you use Gmail's web based e-mail service, then you are out of luck ... until now! Aperture2Gmail (or iPhoto2Gmail) allows you to export your photos in a new e-mail directly to Gmail. You can also resize on-the-fly, just like you can in Mail.app. So, no more exporting from Aperture or iPhoto and uploading to Gmail one by one. Aperture2Gmail and iPhoto2Gmail is available from the developer's website as donationware.
Many developers working on Aperture 2.1 plugins
When Apple released Aperture 2.1 last week the big news was that the editing API will allow selection based editing in Apple's flagship image management application. But what good is an API without developers? So it's heartening to see how many are jumping on board. Rob Galbraith has a good post on what the editing API plugin means and also reveals that a number of well-known image plugin developers are hard at work on Aperture. Perhaps most exciting, to me at least, PictureCode is working on Noise Ninja, but Galbraith lists many more including Nik Software, dvGarage, Digital Film Tools and others.One interesting thing about these developments is that most of these third-party developers offer these tools as Photoshop plugins. It's possible that getting some of these more advanced tools into Aperture will allow some users to get free of Photoshop. Given the recent developments with the next version of Photoshop CS4 being 32-bit only, this may mean that Apple will be more willing to step on Adobe's toes (or allow others to do so).[via Daring Fireball]
Aperture 2.1 adds Plugin architecture
Today Apple has released an update to their photo workflow app, Aperture. Aperture 2.1, a free update for all Aperture 2.0 users, adds a new, and open, plugin architecture to Aperture. This means it will now be much easier for developers to extend Aperture's builtin capabilities by writing little bits of codes that plug into the Aperture frameworks (hence the name).Apple is already working with some developers, and is including a dodge and burn plugin of their own with Aperture 2.1. Aperture 2.1 is available now, and if you don't already have Aperture it will cost you $199 (or $99 to upgrade from Aperture 1.0).
Plugin Manager update 1.7.3
Today, Apple released Plugin Manager version 1.7.3 for Apple's Pro applications. In regular Apple wordiness, here's what the update says: This update improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and related SDKs.You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading the installer from the Apple Support website.
'Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.0' Is Out
If you happen to be a photographer who likes to take digital photos using the RAW format, then Apple has just released an update you might want to take a look at and, perhaps, even apply. Appearing today in Software Update is what Apple calls the "Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.0."According to the notes in Software Update, this new update "extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto '08 for the following cameras:Hasselblad CFV-16Hasselblad H3D-31Hasselblad H3D-31IILeaf Aptus 54SLeaf Aptus 65SNikon D60Olympus E-3Pentax *ist DL2Pentax *ist DS2Pentax K100D SuperSony DSLR-A200Sony DSLR-A350If you're curious, you can also find more info on this update, which according to this page seems to be a bit of a security update as well, by going to the Apple support site. Of course, as always, if you decide to apply this update and your Mac explodes or something, be sure to let us know.
Stop your iPhone from auto-launching iPhoto (or Aperture, etc.)
One particularly annoying thing about plugging in my iPhone is that it always launches Aperture and prompts for permission to import photos. While you should be able to turn this off (in the preferences of the Image Capture application), what if you still want iPhoto (or Aperture, Lightroom, etc.) to launch when you plug in your camera or memory card? Capitalizing on the fact that Image Capture lets you choose any application to run automatically, Sam Stephenson over at 37signals has cooked up a fancy AppleScript to do just this. Once set up it looks to see what you've plugged it; if it's your camera it will launch iPhoto, etc.; if it's your iPhone it won't. The script is slightly complicated and must be customized for your particular camera model, but if you want the convenience of auto-launching your image management application for your camera, without the annoyance of the iPhone, it's worth a look.[via Daring Fireball]
Aperture to include plugin support?
While everyone is still getting acclimated to the new Aperture 2, an overview published at Aperture Users Professional Network revealed an interesting tidbit that Apple itself has yet to talk much about. According to David Schloss, "Apple has added the ability to create editing plug-ins for Aperture." Aperture has only supported export plugins thus far, so this is particularly interesting. It opens up the possibility of more pixel-level editing in Aperture from third-party plugins, even if Apple itself doesn't want to crowd Adobe's Photoshop turf. As Schloss notes, this will quite likely "revolutionize the program" in the long run. Now if only Apple would publish the details and let the developers get to work.[via NSLog();]
TUAW Review: Zooming in on Aperture 2, an introduction
With murmurings of Aperture 2 maybe, just maybe, arriving on the scene 'very soon', this morning's store down-time left one blogger hoping not for new hardware (I picked up a new Black MacBook just last weekend) but that Aperture 2 would arrive.I've been a huge, huge fan of Aperture since I picked up a MacBook Pro in January last year, leaving the then-beta Adobe Lightroom out in the cold. Ever since the launch of Leopard, Aperture has been one of the few applications I've had minor stability issues with -- and the now-resolved incompatibility with Time Machine made me choose my photos over my backups. Others were less impressed with Apple's apparent dithering on Aperture, with a number of customers venting their frustration on certain message boards. Thankfully, if the compatibility issue with Time Machine has now been resolved, and a much-updated Aperture 2 has arrived.So what on earth is new with Aperture 2.0, and what are our first impressions here at TUAW? Read on...
Aperture and Time Machine, happy at last
Way back in October Nik (who is busily working on his Aperture 2 review) blogged about the problem combo of Aperture and Time Machine. It would seem that using Time Machine and Aperture could lead to some bad things happening to your Aperture database. Apple's suggestion, at the time, was to simply exclude Aperture's database from your Time Machine backups. Sadly, most photographers like to back up their photographs so this wasn't deemed a long term solution.Enter OS X 10.5.2 and, according to Apple, the problem is solved. Time Machine will now happily back up your Aperture database (both Aperture 1.5 and 2) without a problem. That sound you hear is thousands of Aperture users breathing a sigh of relief.
Aperture 2 is here
Let's just say it: Aperture 2 is here - and boy are some of us here at TUAW excited. Amongst the news, the full-price of the application has dropped to just $199 US, with the paid upgrade being just $99. That's down from the previous full price of $299 -- a price currently retained by competitor Adobe Lightroom (we'll see how long that lasts).New features include: Quick Preview mode -- 'for rapid-fire photo browsing' re-engineered database for the application to allow Quick Preview touted to be snappy even with half-million-image libraries. an all-in-one heads-up panel for Library, Adjustment and Meta-data controls. a selection of new tools: Recovery for blown highlights, Vignette & Devignette, Definition , Vibrancy and Repair and Retouch .Mac Web Gallery integration and 'All Projects' view, not dissimilar to iPhoto '08's 'Events' view improved RAW decoding The new version is available to buy in the US online store now, and undoubtedly heading to other international online stores soon, though the Aperture site has yet to be updated to reflect the changes now got the low-down on the new features.Thanks to all those who sent this in!
Apple releases Aperture 2, no MacBook Pro updates in sight
The Apple Store is back online with Aperture 2 for $199 but little else. While Aperture 2 is certainly a boon to the pro photographers among us, it seems abundantly clear that this Tuesday isn't bringing you a MacBook Pro update, which fills us with great sadness. We were also hoping for that Apple TV (take 2) update to finally hit, or perhaps a MacBook spec bump, but no dice there either. Perhaps this whole "unreasonable optimism" thing is overrated.
Leopard camera RAW formats list
In the run up to Leopard Apple mentioned that they were adding support for more camera RAW formats, but it wasn't exactly clear which models would be supported. The final list is now available in this Apple Support Document. This means that native support for these cameras' RAW file format is in OS X and certain imaging applications, most importantly, Aperture. As it happens I was delighted to discover that my Panasonic DMC-FZ50 made the list after not being supported in Tiger. If you've been waiting for Apple to add RAW support for your camera you'll probably want to check it out.[via MacVolPlace]
Aperture 1.5.6
Attention Aperture, there is a new version out. Apple just just released Aperture 1.5.6 which: Resolves some issues with iPhoto 7.1 Solves some issues with metadata and sort ordering in the iLife Media Browser Improves reliability It also makes Aperture compatible with Leopard.Thanks, Brian.
American Photo and Apple team up to find the next great photographer
I am sure there are more than a few photographers out there reading TUAW (Mac users are a creative lot), so this is for you. American Photo is looking for the next great photographer by scouring the web for amateur photographers to feature in a special upcoming edition of their magazine. Apple has created a special plugin for Aperture which lets you submit your photos to American Photo's 'Portfolio Review' and get them in the running for publication (which is available for download).American Photo suggests you check out Aperture's free trail, but I assume if you have a full version of Aperture the plugin will work just fine.
Aperture Updated to 1.5.4
On this day of announcements big and sorta big, there looks to be some software updates coming down the pipeline as well. A few minutes ago we told you about an update to Front Row. Now, there's an update to Apple's pro photo application Aperture as well. According to the blurb in software update, this Aperture update "is required for compatibility with iLife '08. This update is recommended for all Aperture users." So, there you go. As you probably don't have iLife '08 just yet, you might be able to wait a few days on this one. But when you do get it, update away!
FlickrExport 3 teaser screencast
Fraser Speirs' FlickrExport plug-ins for iPhoto and Aperture are the undisputed kings of bridging the gap between Flickr and your Mac-managed photos. The plug-ins are pretty powerful, offering a lot of strong integration with Flickr by adding photos to sets or creating new sets on the fly, as well as keeping in step with the tags you use in your account. The Aperture plug-in can even keep track of the photos you upload to Flickr and replace them with updated versions - instead of creating a duplicate. Apparently not one to sit in one place for too long, however, Speirs is already hard at work on a new version, FlickrExport 3.Not many details are known just yet, but Speirs has been tweeting some teasers about the new version, and just this morning published a screencast (.MOV link) demoing some of the impressive new Groups features in FlickrExport 3 for Aperture. Most notably, users will no longer be limited with adding a picture to one group at a time - the new version features a table of all the groups to which you belong, allowing you to check more than one group for adding the images to. FlickrExport 3 will even check with Flickr to make sure you haven't overstepped the upload quota for each group.[Update: Mr. Speirs stopped by to comment that the new features in this particular demo will also be present in FlickrExport 3 for iPhoto as well; he just happened to be demoing them in Aperture for this screencast.]No release date has been set for FlickrExport 3 just yet, and I assume the prices will remain the same for the iPhoto plug-in (~ $23 USD) and Aperture plug-in (~ $27 USD).
RapidWeaver 3.6.2 released
Realmac Software today released v3.6.2 of RapidWeaver, their popular WYSIWYG tool for creating websites, podcasts, blogs and more. Among the new features of this version are: Aperture Support in the iMedia Browser Dynamic PHP Sidebar option for the blog plugin Sidebar is now a fully features styled text area The link panel now supports linking to tags and categories from Blogs Also included in their blog post announcing this update is a PDF manual for the new version and an all-new Help Desk area with links to tutorial videos, manuals, FAQs and more. A demo of RapidWeaver is available, while full licenses costs $49.00 and upgrades from versions previous to 3.6.x are $25.
