In this session we have a look at the retouching capabilities of Aperture 3, including the Retouch tool, the legacy Spot & Patch tool, and the all-important Skin Smoothing brush, which used correctly can reveal fantastic results—but used incorrectly can give you totally fake, impossibly-smooth skin.

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD) perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

Watch the first five minutes, free!

“Great learning session” —@photographchris

“This was my first AE Live Training Session and it was very valuable” —iamunique127

“Joseph has a way of teaching that is easy to understand, very thorough and complete. I would recommend any of these trainings for anyone wishing to increase there knowledge of Aperture. It helped me immensely.” —Bob Miller

“These are a great series of videos. I watch them for the stuff I don’t know, the stuff I do, and the stuff that I thought I knew well until I see/saw your video. You pack a wealth of small details and sometimes the smallest throwaway tip makes the whole experience that much more worthwhile.” —John Burridge

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This was a last minute “Special Session” where I discussed how to use 3rd party apps within Aperture, including a cool Automator action that you can make to simplify the process. We checked out Nik Software’s Snapseed, and discussed how to make the missing round-trip process easier with an Automator script. This video has an accompanying blog post, “Using 3rd Party Apps With Aperture”.

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD) perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

Watch the first five minutes, free!

“I’m still kind of a “noob” to using Automator, so this training class offered a simple and useful Automater action that helped me learn how to use Automator to automate some of my processes. Very helpful. —C Triolo

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This fifth session on Adjustments covers the Color and Black & White tools. In the Color section, we explain how each slider correlates to what you see on the color wheel, how to isolate a precise range of colors without using brushes, how to use multiple instances of the same adjustment to do complex color changes, and at the end in the Q&A (oops, almost forgot!) talk about how to reduce digital noise using the Color too. We also get into the Black and White filter, which is somewhat limited but worth knowing for simple B&W conversion. As always, we wrap with an informative Q&A with some great questions from the live audience.

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD) perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

“excellent tutorial this evening[…] I look forward to the next seance” —T Carroll [wow I didn’t consider this communing with the dead, but if your Aperture skills are dying, perhaps this is how to get back in touch with them! LOL thanks for the great comment —Joseph]

“The color block is one that I use seldom. I’ve never really messed with it. Now that I have some insight in it’s use, I will definitely be checking it out!!” —B Miller

“if you want to get a real understanding of Aperture 3 these videos (and this website) are essential!!” —B Beauchemin

“[W]hat a nice relaxed style and easy to understand explanation of the concepts.” —D Jenkins

“Excellent presentation. I highly recommend the entire series.” —J Simpson

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This fourth session on Adjustments covers Curves! It’s the one many of you have been waiting for. We start with a brief explanation of reading a histogram (somewhat repeated from Levels, but you never know what else you might learn), then go through all the Curves options, including the auto settings, explaining Luminance vs RGB curves, and look at how you can fix many off-colored images (due to impossible white balance or bizarre lighting situations) and simultaneously fix the exposure, just using Curves. We go pretty deep on this, and if the explanation sounds familiar, it’s because it’s simliar to Levels—the results you can achieve with both are simliar, but Curves takes the ribbon for sure. As always, we wrap with an informative Q&A with some great questions from the live audience.

By the way, this session ran long, so it’s over an hour of education!

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD) perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

“The RGB/Lumi adjustments tip was worth it alone.” —@chrismc on Twitter

“I’ll never fear the Curves adjustment again!” —@iharley11 on Twitter

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This third session on Adjustments covers Levels! It’s one a lot of you have been waiting for. We start with a brief explanation of reading a histogram (which you have to understand in order to use Levels effectively), then go through all the Levels options, including Luminance and RGB adjustments, the auto settings, and look at how you can fix many badly colored images (due to impossible white balance or bizarre lighting situations) just using Levels. We even get into the advanced preferences on adjusting the Black and White Clipping points! As always, we wrap with an informative Q&A with some great questions from the live audience.

We also, for the first time, included live video in the session!

Watch the trailer…

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD) perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

• Understanding Histograms
• Luminance Control; Black & White Point
• Highlight Hot & Cold Areas
• Gamma
• Levels vs Exposure
• Auto Luminance
• Quarter Tones
• RGB Control
• Auto RGB
• 4-up; Auto Levels & Curves, RGB & Luminance Script
• Basic White Demo (Video Color Grading Technique)
• Brushing Levels
• Multiple Instances
• Live Q&A
• Q&A: Would you start with the Levels brick before the Exposure brick?
• Q&A: Auto Levels in Photoshop is different than Auto Levels in Aperture… why?
• Preferences: Black & White Clipping Settings
• Q&A: How different is White Balance from Levels/RGB?
• Q&A: Why would you want the auto adjust to clip a small percentage?
• Q&A: How do you add another Levels brick?
• Explaining multiple instances in Texture Presets
• Google+ Contest

This is how to see the Chapters List…

“Another great Aperture training with @ApertureExpert. Levels is now understandable. Can’t wait for Curves!” —@dscottfrye on Twitter

“Loved it. Straight forward and very complete.” —G Kaplan

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This second session on Adjustments covers both White Balance and Highlights & Shadows—including the advanced settings! Learn how to set white balance automatically, how to tweak the mood of a shot by warming it up or cooling it down, and when to go against “technically correct” white balance to improve the overall appearance of your photo. We also explain color temperature, and I offer my thoughts on screen calibration. Next, we get into Highlights & Shadows, discussing using it as both a primary tool and a finishing tool, explain the advanced sliders, and show how to avoid the dreaded halo effect form over-adjusting an image. As always, we wrap with an informative Q&A with some great questions from the live audience. The full chapter list includes:

• White Balance:
• Eye Dropper
• Color Temperature Explained
• Temperature (Slider)
• Adjusting by “feeling”
• Tint
• A thought on screen calibration
• Compensating
• Highlights & Shadows:
• Shadows
• Over-adjusting
• Highlights
• Advanced Settings
• Q&A: Eye dropper on Grey or White?
• Q&A: Using a white card vs color profiler?
• Q&A: Highlights & Shadows vs Black Point & Recovery?
• Q&A: If you shoot JPEG, can you still use these adjustments?

Watch the trailer…

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD) (and good news—back to a reasonable @200MB file size!), perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

“Another great session Joseph” —Thomas Emmerich

“Way better than books.” —Robin Clark

“Great, short & sweet and to-the-point webcast. I had not changed the [tint] under the White Balance brick yet, so that was a really helpful tip.” —Daniel Dunn

We finally get into Adjustments! This is a massive topic and we’ll spend a lot of time here. This first Adjustments session goes into the Exposure and Enhance bricks. We break down each slider, showing not only how they work and what they do, but also explain what part of the histogram each slider is affecting. The full chapter list includes:

• Histogram Overview
• Exposure
• Recovery
• Black Point
• Brightness
• Contrast
• Definition
• Saturation
• Vibrancy
• Tint
• Q&A: Do you ever use the adjustments in the RAW fine tuning block? When?
• Q&A: When do you use highlights and shadows? Are you already doing that with exposure and enhance?
• Q&A: Is there a similarity in function between Definition and Edge Sharpen?
• Q&A: When working with Portraits, do you use Definition and/or Edge Sharpen for creative sharpening (eg eyes, etc.)?
• Q&A: Does the definition slider affect the whole picture or only the zoomed in portion?

Watch the trailer…

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD), perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

“Nice session […] Clear talk, fast pace, good.” —k p

“Joseph certainly knows the subject matter and makes each learning experience meaningful.” —Ray Craft

“This was my first training session and I thought that it was fantastic.” —Roger Musser

“It’s great to have someone out there doing this type of class.” —Howard Miller

This session is all about keywords in Aperture 3. I went through this and added a very detailed chapter breakdown, wich I hope helps when going back over them and also just to know what’s included. Here are the chapters, and the questions that were asked and answered!

• Keyword HUD
• Metadata Views
• Primary Only
• Adding a New Keyword
• Moving Keywords
• Hierarchical Understanding & Advantages
• Searching Keywords
• Keywords from Different Categories
• Smart Albums and Keywords
• Removing Keywords
• Batch Keyword Editing
• Keyword Sets & Button Bar
• Keyboard Shortcuts for Keywords
• Deleting Keywords with Buttons & Keyboard Shortcuts
• Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts
• Keywords Wrap-up
• BONUS: Add Keyword Window (Fastest Way to Add Keywords!)
• Q&A: If I delete a keyword from the HUD, does that delete the keyword from the photo?
• Q&A: What is the purpose of having a “Primary Only” on/off toggle?
• Q&A: How does capitalization work… is “Cake” the same as “cake”?
• Q&A: When I edit a version in a plug-in, all keywords show up at the top level
• Q&A: If I have a keyword under different categories, can I search for all of them so the search returns all photos tagged with “Flowers” under DETAILS, “Flowers > Wedding”, etc.
• Q&A: Where would you put the names of the guests at the wedding?
• Q&A: How verbose do you actually get with your own keyword usage? Do you use “What”, “When”, “Who” & “Where”?
• Extra: Hierarchical vs Flat keyword strategy
• Extra: Duplicate Keywords
• Q&A: Please show how to build a keyword list in text and then import.

Watch the trailer…

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD), perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

“Another great live training! I swear I’d be fairly lost in Aperture without these. Thanks!” —Iain Harley

“My favorite so far. But I would probably say that after each one. You answered 9 out of my 10 questions before we even got to the questions, and then you answered the 10th! Thanks for another great session.” —Gary Kaplan

note: the quality isn’t quite as good as previous ones, I know… I had to use a backup recording which was a remote record, not local, so there are a couple of minor glitches—but it’s still perfectly watchable. Better next time!

This session is all about you and your questions. I asked for topics in advance and chose six, which we then followed with related Q&A. The total time on this video is a bit longer, at about one hour. Here are the six questions from the session:

1. What is your on-the-road (laptop) to in-the-studio (desktop) strategy? — from Robert Sfeir
2. How do you manage a portfolio of best-work in Aperture, especially across multiple libraries, and then sync those to an iPad? — from Robert Sfier and Kenneth Lim
3. How can you create gradients in Aperture? — Argun Tekant
4. How do you create and customize books in Aperture across multiple Libraries and Projects? — Shamus Cromarty and Chris Hoch
5. Do you have any tips on white balance & color correction across large projects, such as a wedding? Lift & Stamp doesn’t always seem elegant. — Kenneth Lim
6. Can you explain RAW vs JPG… what’s the real advantage of RAW? — Graham Parker
7. A follow up question included: “What’s the best way to add keywords to your photographs?”. This is a topic I may have to expand on in a future Live Training.

Watch the trailer…

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD), perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

“When I first saw the questions you’d be answering tonight before the webinar started, I didn’t think I’d learn much new. I was wrong again.” —Thomas Emmerich

“You have a style that is clear and speedy, without unnecessary babble and straight to the point without glossing over the details.” —Argun Tekant

“I have just just made my way through the first [video]. I would have NEVER figured all that out or even attempted to customize in such a way, but now its a snap!” —Jerry Trevino

“I really like how I even end up learning tricks outside of Aperture” —Glen Lam

This session is all about developing rating, flagging and labeling strategies in Aperture. Easy, right… a five star image is a keeper! But how do you classify 1 through 5 stars so your methods are consistent? What methods do you use to ensure you really have isolated your best shots? What do you use flagging for? Labels? Do I really need all these colors on my screen?

Watch the trailer…

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD), perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

“Yet another great lesson Joseph—they are getting more interesting with each one” —Graham Parker

“It is easy to think of things like rating and tagging as not “real” photography work. Joseph, however, does a wonderful job helping to understand where they fit in the workflow of photographers. Awesome!” —Todd Peperkorn

In the fourth Live Training session, we dug into Aperture’s search capabilities. The search HUD (Head’s Up Display) and Smart Album interface are one and the same, so we dissected this dialog and showed just how powerful searching really is in Aperture 3. The tools to find *that photo* are one of Aperture’s greatest strengths, and understanding search can help you understand just how deep the metadata rabbit hole goes.

This session ran a little over 30 minutes, with minimal Q&A. I was broadcasting from a hotel in Vietnam at an odd time for the usual live audience!

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD), perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv!

“This one has cleared up so many questions I had about using the search feature and the colour labeling within aperture.” —Chris Hoch

“Nice job once again. I always manage to learn a few new tricks.” —Florian Cortese

“Another winner Joseph. Thanks!” —Thomas Emmerich

In the third Live Training session, we dug into understanding Folders, Projects and Albums, as well as touching on Smart Albums, Stacks and Versions! Understanding how these containers and methods work is key to developign a long-term strategy for storing — and finding! — your photos.

As usual, the 30 minute session was wrapped up with 15 minutes of live Q&A.

Watch the trailer…

The downloaded videos are all 1280x720 (720p HD), perfect for playback on the computer screen, iPad or even your tv! The video also has chapters in it—making it even easier to go back later and find just the section you want to see again.

“I’m always amazed at the things I don’t know that I didn’t know I didn’t know. You know?” —Thomas Emmerich

“Another very useful and informative session. […] It’s a fantastic way to learn and I like the way you teach” —Tom Bracht

“Finally after using Aperture for a couple of years I finally understand the differences between folders, project and albums.” —Arnie Berger

“As an Aperture newbie […] I was totally overwhelmed by the organizational options! You made it easy and clear!” —Mark David

“This was the best one yet.” —Graham Parker

In the second Live Training session, we wrapped up the import dialog and covered the remaineder of the Import Settings options, including Time Zone, Adjustment Presets, File Types, RAW+JPEG Pairs, Actions and Backup Location. If you missed part 1, be sure to get that as well!

As usual, the 30 minute session was wrapped up with 15 minutes of live Q&A. The questions that couldn’t be answered live are addressed in the video.

Watch the trailer…

Plus, this week’s training has chapters in it—making it even easier to go back later and find just the section you want to see again!

“The two videos [part 1 & part 2] were very helpful in figuring out just how I can import photos without making a mess of my library. Thanks!” —Iain Harley

“After watching two live events, the next one cannot come soon enough. Joseph is showing us things I haven’t seen or found elsewhere. Very helpful.” —Thomas Emmerich

“There’s always a place I get comfortable with an app where I seem to stay. Joseph is expanding my understanding of Aperture in an easy and enjoyable way.” —Gary Kaplan

In the inaugural Live Training session, we stretched the 30 minute lesson into 45, with 15 minutes of Q&A at the end, giving you 60 full minutes of Aperture goodness! We discussed the import dialog at length, focusing on long-term strategy of how to organize and name your photos—so they’ll be easy to find years down the road. We explored the import window at lenght, and of the Import Settings options, we discussed the File Info, Aperture Library, Rename Files the Metadata Presets windows, and also went through how to build your own presets for folder structure, version naming and metadata sets. In the next session, we’ll finish out the import dialog—there are still the Time Zone, Adjustment Presets, File Types, RAW+JPEG Pairs, Actions and Backup Location to cover!

Watch the first few minutes for free…

“A great start to this series. I’m really looking forward to the others. The pace of learning is just right and I really appreciate you giving your time to us for free.” —Roderick James

“There [aren’t] a lot of people who can be talking about importing photos for 45 minutes and still make it interesting. I truly enjoyed this Live Training and learned a lot even though I am not completely new to Aperture.” —Michal Fanta

“The time flew by and the information just kept on coming. Joseph has an uncanny way of answering my questions before they are asked.” —Debbie Ripps

“I was astounded at how much I learned (and will use) about importing. I look forward to following this series closely.” —Barbara Murray