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If you’re new to Aperture and serious about getting started, or even an experienced user who’s not sure if you started off on the right foot, this eBook is for you. 126 pages of detailed step-by-step guides on importing, rating, adding keywords, editing and sharing your photos!
$9.97
From the eBook’s introduction…
Over many years of working with Aperture, and helping other people with Aperture, I’ve noticed one very common trend—no matter how much they love Aperture now, most people had a hard time getting started. This guide is designed to get you on your way. It doesn’t really matter too much where you’re coming from to use this guide; be it from any other photo management application or none at all. This guide aims to get you moving efficiently, and possibly more importantly, to set the stage for a lot more learning. There are loads of free videos on apple.com that show you the basic of basics—I’m more interested in getting you started with a very solid understanding of what your choices are, and preparing you for a long-term relationship with Aperture. So while some of the basic instructions like “Importing Your First Photos” takes up a seemingly bizarre 11 pages, after reading it you’ll truly understand what’s happening to your photos and what options you have at your disposal—whether you choose to use them or not is up to you, but you’ll be making an educated decision.
The book is 126 pages of pages of detailed education and step-by-steps, including screenshots and break-out bonus tips, to help you get the best start possible in Aperture. Here are the topics covered:
Chapter 1 – A Primer
This chapter gives an overview to working with Aperture and understanding the importance of clean file management, compares JPEG to RAW, then proceeds to define all of the essential organizational elements in Aperture, such as Projects, Albums, Smart Albums and more.
Chapter 2 – Importing Your First Photos
Before you import, it’s best to understand your options so you can make an educated decision on how to organize your library—something that will save you immeasurable time as your library grows. There’s another
eBook dedicated solely to this topic for advanced users, however this chapter covers the essentials for those getting started, including an explanation on what actually happens when you import your photos.
Chapter 3 – Navigating Aperture
This chapter takes you on a tour of Aperture’s menus, panes and buttons, getting you acquainted with the application so you can navigate it quickly and achieve what you want instead of struggling to find the tools you need. It takes you through the Projects View and the updated Full Screen view, and also includes a tip on learning keyboard shortcuts that could help you with every application you use!
Chapter 4 – Identifying Your Favorite Photos
Flagging, Star Ratings and Keywords are an important component of a clean Aperture library, and learning to use them efficiently will help you keep control of your growing photo collection. This chapter gives you tips on using them, how to apply them quickly, and then what to do with all that information once you’ve added it—and why it’s important.
Chapter 5 – Making Those Photos Look Their Best
One of the longest chapters in the eBook, here we take a look at the most important tools for enhancing your photos. Starting with an explanation of Versions, it evolves into detailed explanation of not only how to use many of the enhancement tools provided, but when to use them. Learn the details in this chapter and you’ll be flying through photo enhancement in no-time.
Chapter 6 – Making Those Photos Look… Even Better
This entirely new chapter covers the new Brushes in Aperture 3, including a close look at Dodge & Burn and Skin Smoothing. It explains what’s actually happening when you are brushing in these effects, and how to take control of the masks they create.
Chapter 7 – Faces
Another new chapter, Faces takes you through Aperture’s exciting new Face recognition feature and shows how to get the most out of it.
Chapter 8 – Places
Places utilizes GPS data from your camera or iPhone to reverse-geocode the raw data into actual place names. If you don’t have a GPS-enabled camera, you can place them by hand—all of which is covered in this chapter.
Chapter 9 – Sharing Photos Online, in Print & on Screen
Photos were meant to be shared, and this chapter shows you many of the ways Aperture helps you to do that. From email to MobileMe Galleries to Facebook and Flickr, printing at home or ordering prints online, and using the amazing new Aperture slideshows, this chapter ensures your favorite photos will never again stay hidden away on your computer.
Chapter 10 – Deleting Projects, Albums & Photos (Oh My!)
The new Trash in Aperture 3 is more than just a simple rubbish-bin. This chapter shows you all the different types of “delete” you have in Aperture, as well as how to best recover accidentally discarded items.
To purchase the eBook, click the buttons below. The price is $9.97.
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Reader Comments (9)
Do you include (or do you plan to include at some point) a discussion about using the DNG format? It would seem that there are potentially some long-term benefits to using DNG files as your master (perhaps saving the source RAW files to an archive "just-in-case".
I don't discuss DNG in this eBook. It's an area I honestly haven't looked that deeply into, and probably should. In the meantime feel free to post a question about it in the forum, and perhaps some other users will chime in.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
Do you include a discussion covering those of us who mistakenly got started by just importing all (or most) of our iPhoto libraries? Then realized it was a bad idea?
If we just start again how would we find images that were edited in Aperture?
Evelyn,
I don't… but an iPhoto to Aperture book is on the horizon. In the meantime, post some detailed questions in the forums and there are many people with experience moving from iPhoto to Aperture.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
Joseph, is this in pdf format so that I can load it on my iPad?
Thanks.
How can it be "in-depth" if its "getting started?"
I'd like to see some truly in-depth Aperture training become available on the web. There's plenty of introductions and getting started and overview of new features and so on.
How about some meaty stuff like real world image adjustment? Take a typical professional photo and run it through Aperture's tools all the way to a print. Or work into the hows and whys of the print options such as sharpening and rendering intent - not what the sliders do, but why you'd use them.
Bob
Bob,
It can be both "In-Depth" and "Getting Started" because that's precisely what it is. Even if you've never used Aperture, this book will help you to get started. But it will help you to get started properly. It covers basic concepts, but covers them deep. To ensure that you know everything you need to know and can make educated decisions on how to organize and structure your library now, in a way that will last you for a very, very long time.
And if you already know Aperture well, chances are you'll still learn a thing or two.
This website is full of "meaty stuff". Check the free tips, the free live training (with downloadable videos afterwards), and especially the user forums. If you have a specific question, post it in the forum and if it's more complicated than a simple answer, chances are I'll turn it into a "tip".
If you want to ask what other users think of the books, post a question in the forums. You'll get lots of feedback, I'm sure :)
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
Never Bought an eBook before, I am currently at work, if i purchased it here and downloaded it, will i also be able to download a copy at home, or is it one machine per user?
TJ,
When you make the purchase, you'll be able to download up to five times in five days. After that the links expire, however if you ever need them reactivated, you just need to ask — there are instructions in the receipt.
It's just a PDF, so once you've downloaded it on one computer, you can copy it to another, put it on your iPad, or whatever you like.
I hope you enjoy!
-Joseph @ApertureExpert