Best way to compare the effect of an adjustment

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Level 1

16 points

Best way to compare the effect of an adjustment

In iPhoto, if I change any settings, such as exposure, I can press the shift key to quickly toggle back and forth between the 'before' and 'after' version. I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to do the same thing in Aperture.

I know that I can press 'M' to flip back to the master image, but this has two problems: 1) If I've cropped the original image, then switching to the master doesn't keep me at the same place where I was zoomed into, and 2) I don't want to compare to the master, I just want to compare to the version just before I made the edit. So if I've made 4 adjustments, and then I make a 5th adjustment, I want to compare to the version with 4 adjustments, not the master (with no adjustments).

I also know that I can make a duplicate version of any photo and put them side by side. This is handy for some purposes, but this has problems too: 1) I don't want to have to create a new version every time I make any adjustment, just so that I can compare before and after, 2) it's several steps to arrange the two images side by side at the same zoom on the same section of the photo, which is very annoying to have to do for each adjustment, and 3) I'm working on a 15" MacBook Pro, so I really don't get to see much of my image when I have two versions side-by-side.

I've tried just using undo and redo, but that is so slow for large images that it's not useful for comparison purposes. I want to instantly flip back and forth between the two versions.

I would just suck it up and get over it IF iPhoto didn't have this exact feature - just press shift to compare to the previous version.

Aperture 3, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Apr 25, 2012 6:48 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 25, 2012 7:06 AM in response to Jesse Barnum

Several of us have asked for the split screen, before/after as in Photoshop Elements, etc.

You have already figured out the extra version trick. You do know that each adjustment can be toggled on and off individually. Speed will vary; looking at sharpening on a 120 MB TIFF will take a moment as the whole image needs to be rerendered.

--

DiploStrat 😉

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

194,773 points

Apr 25, 2012 8:34 AM in response to Jesse Barnum

When I am adjusting an image using brushes I quit often compare the effect of the brush by toggling the "invert" action (from the cog wheel in the Brush HUD). This will switch between the image with the effect brushed in, and the image with the effect applied to the parts of the image that have not been brushed. It's not quite the same as in iPhoto, but it helps to judge the effect of a brushed in adjustment quickly 😝

Regards

Léonie

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Answer 3

Apr 25, 2012 3:36 PM in response to Jesse Barnum

Click and unclick the selection check box next to the relevant adjustment (Exposure, White Balance, etc.) in the adjustment pane. On my MBP that is instant.

Or I will move the slider while looking only at the image and see what my eyes/brain likes a few times and see what adjustments result. If I keep coming to about the same number I stay there.

HTH

-Allen

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Answer 4

Apr 26, 2012 6:30 AM in response to SierraDragon

I do exactly the same. (On my 3-year old MBP (5,5) there is often a small wait for the processing.*)

When I get to the point that I can't see the difference, I know I've overworked the adjustment 🙂 .

(* for those who provided excellent advice a few weeks ago -- I am going to get a new 15" MPB with dual SSDs (I'll put one in myself), but waiting a couple of weeks to see if Apple announces new MBPs.)

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