Mac / Aperture users

i83N · 08-23-2014, 10:08 AM

Originally posted by boriscleto

Even then it might still work. The switch from 32 bit to 64 bit mostly affected drivers.

Seriously? OS X switched to 64 bit years ago.

normhead · 08-23-2014, 10:14 AM

I guess Apple should have just stayed 32 bit. (Not.)

**boriscleto** · 08-23-2014, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by i83N

Seriously? OS X switched to 64 bit years ago.

Seriously. When Apple switched to a 64bit kernel with 10.6.8 the only things that stopped working were things like drivers and screen savers. I have a few System Preference panels that require the System Preferences app to restart in 32bit mode, or I should say did have as I never reinstalled them when I had to reinstall the OS after a HD failure.

Then again OS X won't be going 128 bit any time soon.

6BQ5 · 08-23-2014, 06:39 PM

I have been looking at alternative ever since Apple announced its discontinuation of Aperture. Nothing seems to come close to the smooth fluid workflow of Aperture. Apple really nailed the environment. The tragedy was that they never added new and significant features. So, for as advanced and as beautiful the workflow and the catalog is the image processing is very simple and mundane in some cases. I have to give kudos to Adobe Lightroom for even simple things like the gradient filter, invert mask, and their sharpening tools. However, I knock Adobe way hard when I find a lack of eyedropper tools for selecting blacks, whites, grays, etc. I love Aperture's loupe and despise Adobe's. There seem to be fewer shortcut keys in LR and those that exist are more complicated than in Aperture. I will fully admit that I am probably trying to use LR like Aperture and that is why I am having so much difficulty ... but I have to start somewhere, right? Even when I started with Aperture and worked on learning it I was approaching it as if I were using Paintshop Pro from years before.

I have tried trials of commercial packages such as Optics Pro 9 and Capture One and I have tried open source packages like RawTherappe and GiMP ... all among whatever else I can get for free. None of them appealed to me. For as much as it pains me to use LR I found it to be the most viable solution if I choose to switch. Aperture still works and I like the results I am getting. I'm sure it will continue working for a long while yet. When compatibility breaks with a new release of OS X or new hardware then I can still keep my current Mac as a machine frozen in time. I disconnect it from my internet and leave it as-is. Then I buy a new computer, which at that point I may be doing anyways. My old computer simply turns into my post processing machine for my positive digital images and camera scanned film negatives. I am also eager to see what Photos will be like. It could simply be Aperture with a new skin. As long as the basic engine, functionality, and workflow are preserved (or mostly preserved) then I may just migrate to that. It may be good enough for me and what I do. If that's the case then I'm a happy camper.

For as much as I lament the demise of Aperture, I recognize that Apple made a tough decision. They understood that they were competing in a crowded space where they couldn't win. Adobe and many other companies were developing more advanced system faster than Apple. Apple has a long of baggage to carry with their compatibility with iPhotos, the cataloging, etc. Also, maintaining Aperture and iPhoto in parallel was probably inefficient. I assume that they are streamlining down to one product that will meet the needs of 80% to 90% of the user base. What I don't know is how they define their user base. Do they include past Aperture users in that or are they focusing on the JPG-only teenage iPhone shooter? With one s/w package to maintain I would hope that they would have the bandwidth to accommodate the prosumer who likes to post process and be creative.

Only time will tell and time is something I have in this case. My computer continues booting up and Aperture fires right up when I click on it. So far, so good!

Tarragon · 08-24-2014, 04:16 AM

I'm in the same boat. Photoshop is a no-go with their new business model. Apple seem to be heading in a bad direction. These big companies seem to be forgetting that they are providing professionals a service and we are not just dumb consumers (err, hopefully not!!)

I ended up using Photo Supreme for cataloging my photos. It is great, if a bit clunky sometimes on my mac. What I like about it is that it doesn't try and tie you into their product. All the tags you assign to the photos are stored within the exif data of the image. So, you can abandon their software and still have organised photos.

I am sure aperture is slicker, but do you really want to be tied to using apple software? I don't plan on abandoning mac to go back to PC (!) but I don't want apple telling me when I need to pay them even more money!

**boriscleto** · 08-24-2014, 06:42 AM

I think Robin Harris hit the nail on the head back in June on why Apple discontinued Aperture.

Apple's software ju-jitsu | ZDNet

The writing was on the wall for quite some time. As soon as iPhoto started using the same core frameworks as Aperture, and even sharing a library with Aperture, the path to a single app was set. Adobe was clearly in panic mode when they announced that they would be providing a migration path to Lightroom for Aperture users before it was even clear what Photos was going to mean for Aperture users.

Photos isn't meant to compete with Lightroom. Apple has conceded the old pro market to Adobe. But the pro photography market is dying and Apple is aiming for market share in what will replace it.

**jac** · 08-24-2014, 07:38 AM

I may just dedicate the current iMac to Aperture and its nice little plug-ins from NIK and Topaz. I really can't think of anything that I can't do right now that NEEDS more bells and more whistles. More gimmicks to confuse an old man. Before the Photo announcement was made, I was quite content. I will probably be quite content in five years. Heck, I can't even upgrade to Mavericks. Our so-called broadband up here keeps dropping while Apple in its cloud-wisdom responds to the majority market and won't even offer a USB install as it did with Lion.

But believe it or not, the sun came up today and, if luck holds, will set again tonight.

sinjin · 06-07-2015, 04:46 PM

Originally posted by sinjin

I plan on sticking with Aperture until which time something else is clearly better for my purpose. Whether that is because of new developments or the aging of Aperture doesn't matter. It's a bummer, but we've got time.

Erm, this may have come sooner than I expected! Just updated to Yosemite 10.10.3 and now Aperture won't open, saying I need to update it to the latest version. So I click the link to getting it from the App Store and get the message that Aperture is not available. Seems I was supposed to upgrade Aperture to 3.6 BEFORE upgrading Mac OS X Yosemite to 10.10.3.

Sigh. I should have cloned my drive before upgrading, which is my usual practice. My bad. Looks like I'm a very-soon-to-be Lightroom user!

sinjin · 06-07-2015, 06:02 PM

Originally posted by sinjin

Erm, this may have come sooner than I expected! Just updated to Yosemite 10.10.3 and now Aperture won't open, saying I need to update it to the latest version. So I click the link to getting it from the App Store and get the message that Aperture is not available. Seems I was supposed to upgrade Aperture to 3.6 BEFORE upgrading Mac OS X Yosemite to 10.10.3.

Sigh. I should have cloned my drive before upgrading, which is my usual practice. My bad. Looks like I'm a very-soon-to-be Lightroom user!

Phew, found a solution!

I'm up and running again, but that was a wake up call. I need to do my homework and start getting to know my Aperture replacement soon.

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08-23-2014, 10:08 AM	#16
i83N Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Lithuania Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,203	Originally posted by boriscleto Even then it might still work. The switch from 32 bit to 64 bit mostly affected drivers. Seriously? OS X switched to 64 bit years ago.

08-23-2014, 10:14 AM	#17
normhead Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Near Algonquin Park Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 40,451	I guess Apple should have just stayed 32 bit. (Not.)

08-23-2014, 10:33 AM	#18
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,475	Originally posted by i83N Seriously? OS X switched to 64 bit years ago. Seriously. When Apple switched to a 64bit kernel with 10.6.8 the only things that stopped working were things like drivers and screen savers. I have a few System Preference panels that require the System Preferences app to restart in 32bit mode, or I should say did have as I never reinstalled them when I had to reinstall the OS after a HD failure. Then again OS X won't be going 128 bit any time soon.

08-23-2014, 06:39 PM	#19
6BQ5 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Nevada, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,348	I have been looking at alternative ever since Apple announced its discontinuation of Aperture. Nothing seems to come close to the smooth fluid workflow of Aperture. Apple really nailed the environment. The tragedy was that they never added new and significant features. So, for as advanced and as beautiful the workflow and the catalog is the image processing is very simple and mundane in some cases. I have to give kudos to Adobe Lightroom for even simple things like the gradient filter, invert mask, and their sharpening tools. However, I knock Adobe way hard when I find a lack of eyedropper tools for selecting blacks, whites, grays, etc. I love Aperture's loupe and despise Adobe's. There seem to be fewer shortcut keys in LR and those that exist are more complicated than in Aperture. I will fully admit that I am probably trying to use LR like Aperture and that is why I am having so much difficulty ... but I have to start somewhere, right? Even when I started with Aperture and worked on learning it I was approaching it as if I were using Paintshop Pro from years before. I have tried trials of commercial packages such as Optics Pro 9 and Capture One and I have tried open source packages like RawTherappe and GiMP ... all among whatever else I can get for free. None of them appealed to me. For as much as it pains me to use LR I found it to be the most viable solution if I choose to switch. Aperture still works and I like the results I am getting. I'm sure it will continue working for a long while yet. When compatibility breaks with a new release of OS X or new hardware then I can still keep my current Mac as a machine frozen in time. I disconnect it from my internet and leave it as-is. Then I buy a new computer, which at that point I may be doing anyways. My old computer simply turns into my post processing machine for my positive digital images and camera scanned film negatives. I am also eager to see what Photos will be like. It could simply be Aperture with a new skin. As long as the basic engine, functionality, and workflow are preserved (or mostly preserved) then I may just migrate to that. It may be good enough for me and what I do. If that's the case then I'm a happy camper. For as much as I lament the demise of Aperture, I recognize that Apple made a tough decision. They understood that they were competing in a crowded space where they couldn't win. Adobe and many other companies were developing more advanced system faster than Apple. Apple has a long of baggage to carry with their compatibility with iPhotos, the cataloging, etc. Also, maintaining Aperture and iPhoto in parallel was probably inefficient. I assume that they are streamlining down to one product that will meet the needs of 80% to 90% of the user base. What I don't know is how they define their user base. Do they include past Aperture users in that or are they focusing on the JPG-only teenage iPhone shooter? With one s/w package to maintain I would hope that they would have the bandwidth to accommodate the prosumer who likes to post process and be creative. Only time will tell and time is something I have in this case. My computer continues booting up and Aperture fires right up when I click on it. So far, so good!

08-24-2014, 04:16 AM	#20
Tarragon Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Lancashire Photos: Albums Posts: 48	I'm in the same boat. Photoshop is a no-go with their new business model. Apple seem to be heading in a bad direction. These big companies seem to be forgetting that they are providing professionals a service and we are not just dumb consumers (err, hopefully not!!) I ended up using Photo Supreme for cataloging my photos. It is great, if a bit clunky sometimes on my mac. What I like about it is that it doesn't try and tie you into their product. All the tags you assign to the photos are stored within the exif data of the image. So, you can abandon their software and still have organised photos. I am sure aperture is slicker, but do you really want to be tied to using apple software? I don't plan on abandoning mac to go back to PC (!) but I don't want apple telling me when I need to pay them even more money!

08-24-2014, 06:42 AM	#21
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,475	I think Robin Harris hit the nail on the head back in June on why Apple discontinued Aperture. Apple's software ju-jitsu \| ZDNet The writing was on the wall for quite some time. As soon as iPhoto started using the same core frameworks as Aperture, and even sharing a library with Aperture, the path to a single app was set. Adobe was clearly in panic mode when they announced that they would be providing a migration path to Lightroom for Aperture users before it was even clear what Photos was going to mean for Aperture users. Photos isn't meant to compete with Lightroom. Apple has conceded the old pro market to Adobe. But the pro photography market is dying and Apple is aiming for market share in what will replace it.

08-24-2014, 07:38 AM	#22
jac Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada Posts: 2,364	I may just dedicate the current iMac to Aperture and its nice little plug-ins from NIK and Topaz. I really can't think of anything that I can't do right now that NEEDS more bells and more whistles. More gimmicks to confuse an old man. Before the Photo announcement was made, I was quite content. I will probably be quite content in five years. Heck, I can't even upgrade to Mavericks. Our so-called broadband up here keeps dropping while Apple in its cloud-wisdom responds to the majority market and won't even offer a USB install as it did with Lion. But believe it or not, the sun came up today and, if luck holds, will set again tonight.

06-07-2015, 04:46 PM	#23
sinjin Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ottawa Posts: 242	Originally posted by sinjin I plan on sticking with Aperture until which time something else is clearly better for my purpose. Whether that is because of new developments or the aging of Aperture doesn't matter. It's a bummer, but we've got time. Erm, this may have come sooner than I expected! Just updated to Yosemite 10.10.3 and now Aperture won't open, saying I need to update it to the latest version. So I click the link to getting it from the App Store and get the message that Aperture is not available. Seems I was supposed to upgrade Aperture to 3.6 BEFORE upgrading Mac OS X Yosemite to 10.10.3. Sigh. I should have cloned my drive before upgrading, which is my usual practice. My bad. Looks like I'm a very-soon-to-be Lightroom user!

06-07-2015, 06:02 PM	#24
sinjin Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ottawa Posts: 242	Originally posted by sinjin Erm, this may have come sooner than I expected! Just updated to Yosemite 10.10.3 and now Aperture won't open, saying I need to update it to the latest version. So I click the link to getting it from the App Store and get the message that Aperture is not available. Seems I was supposed to upgrade Aperture to 3.6 BEFORE upgrading Mac OS X Yosemite to 10.10.3. Sigh. I should have cloned my drive before upgrading, which is my usual practice. My bad. Looks like I'm a very-soon-to-be Lightroom user! Phew, found a solution! I'm up and running again, but that was a wake up call. I need to do my homework and start getting to know my Aperture replacement soon.