Replacement to Aperture

SIMPLY: iPhoto had become inadequate for the average user. It didn’t have good catalog management.

It was awkward to deal with 18,000 images & several people I know were complaining.

I’d recommended Aperture to some once the price was dropped to $80.

But those people didn’t want too many bells & whistles - they wanted easier management & multiple albums. And standalone one trick apps for a couple of bucks apiece.

It was hard enough to deal with Aperture, after years of Photoshop. I still haven’t adapted well & prefer to use Photoshop. The biggest thing (to me) was the decent Aperture interface, structure & the concept of Image Masters vs edited versions that could be kept grouped together without leaving a confusing trail of slightly different permanent versions of photos in the wake.

Its a big mistake if Apple comes out with another pro-level application to replace Aperture without telling anyone soon

& after people have changed their trajectory to a 3rd party application.

Complain loud - and complain often in the feedback, if a strong successor to Aperture important to you.

Its a big mistake if Apple comes out with another pro-level application to replace Aperture

They won't.

Suggest you take a look at "Capture One". A possible replacement for iPhoto could be "Lyn". Like Aperture, both of these programs have the ability to show keywords under thumbnails, something that "Photos" cannot do.

I wish I had been told that by upgrading to Yosemite I would lose my Aperture. Its there in my apps but it won't open it now. How can I get back all the files I have in the library? Any help would be appreciated. Can I switch back to Mountain Lion????

The main reason I bought a MAC to begin with is because I was told it was the best for graphics and photography. I paid a butt load of money for a computer that now seemingly has dropped the main software for photo editing. Im not a pro, so the Adobe Photoshop was too powerful for my use but the other programs are like many of you have stated, for the IPhone photographers. I need editing for cleaning up photos, not making them cutesy. Can any of the pros on here tell me what I should go to? I am ticked that I paid for Aperture and now cannot even access its library and my photos. Rant not over...just beginning!

Karanmc wrote:

I am ticked that I paid for Aperture and now cannot even access its library and my photos.

I'm still happily using Aperture. Download the latest version from the App Store where you purchased it. It still works fine in Yosemite. So does iPhotos, but that is more a 'cutesy' app.

Cheers

Pete

Karanmc,

Download Aperture version 3.6 which will work on Yosemite 10.10.3.

Photos is also installed in Yosemite by default but you don't have to open it or transfer Aperture's files into it.

If you want to assess Photos, there's plenty of info and vids online but a serious photographer or Aperture user is highly unlikely to want to use it.

Capture One Pro 8 is the way forward as it has a better RAW Converter than either Adobe's or Apple's.

Capture One has - captured me... The RAW converter is great and I was surprised how well it handles some of my older JPGS... I hapilly kept my old "bad" shots and with C1 am discovering that some are actually darn good !

But the file system is not as good as Aperture's and lack of slide show is sad...

I am in the strange situation now where I am re processing my old best shots with C1 and importing them back into Aperture so I can file them and play slide shows !

Doesn't work for me. When I try to open it, I am sent to the App store for an upgrade. The App store quickly informs me that it is not available. So I have not found a way to make Aperture work with Yosemite. Just saw post on downloading Aperture 3.6 but where do I go since not in the App store? On Apple website?

You are going to the wrong area. It is not in the App Store, it is under Purchases (perhaps hidden preferences) assuming that you purchased it yourself. It will be the latest version. It is NOT in the App Store itself.

Cheers

Pete

Soul and spirit? I am old enough to remember when some companies had some of that. Long ago, working for a newspaper, the publisher, my boss ,required all who worked directly under him, read THE SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE, by Tracy Kidder. A portion of our Friday meeting was designated for discussion, chapter by chapter. At the time none of us realized how enlightening that was, nor how rapidly change would come. The demise of Aperture is no doubt extremely disappointing. More disappointing is the demise of any kind of soul ,spirit and social consciousness within the corporate world.

Someone on this forum, simply stated that Apple does not care, not one wit.

My last mac purchase is likely truly my last. Depended on Aperture and was happy with the options to use photoshop. Never thought a company like Apple that has (had) deep roots in the creative community would abandon it completely and provide nothing comparable to use. Moving to a new file and edit system will break my connection to Apple for the future - there are plenty of great laptop and tablet options out there. They are no longer a must-have for my computer needs. With thousands of photos, photography file and editing decisions come first. I can store my photos anywhere. Now I am going to manage and edit them somewhere else. They told me they don't need my business and I got the message.

They told me they don't need my business and I got the message.

They most certainly said they "don't need Aperture customers".

I curse Apple every day. That, of course, helps nothing except to give me momentary comfort. But I do it nevertheless.😉

Like so many others I have been searching for an acceptable replacement for Aperture. I tried Lightroom and find it to be a superior image editor though it's interface is clunky and hard to use (for me). It has no real DAM built in. A well designed folder tree might work, but I find that to be the antithesis of effective, efficient computer use.

I really miss the ability of Aperture to organize and find my images. I've learned a little time spent at import time adding keywords is well worth while.

I have recently been introduced to ON1 Photo 10. Cursory examination of some of their 'how to' videos seems to make it appear that the DAM functions of ON1 is nearly as good as Aperture.

Does anyone here have any experience with ON1 and can validate that observation?

Driven by despair with LR's terrible performance I have been searching for an alternative and came across ON1 also. It's good but it's not the same. It's really a viewer with bells on, and the virtualisation is closer to the original iPhoto system - edits are made on a copy (you can choose Jpeg, tiff or psd) - so you get your original and the edited version both on the HD - the upside is either can then be processed by multiple apps and not just the built-in one, the downside is more disk space - especially if you're using psd or tiff.

From a DAM point of view it's good for managing files - which can be in multiple locations - and it has Albums, keywording and so on. On the downside, the Smart Albums are not so sophisticated - I can't find a way to find images 'not labelled red' for instance, no Places feature as such so it's by no means a perfect copy.

That said, I'm quite liking it so far, but really only exploring it on a few thousand images. It's worth declaring my interest - I'm a hobbyist shooting Raw, but I have other family members who are shooting with phones or P&S. I need an app that can somehow work for both. I've explored Capture One (very good) but that's too much for the others in the house, but Media Pro looks good as a Catalogue.

I think Media Pro is due a serious upgrade, and I might look again when that comes out. On1 have a new app due 'this fall' a Raw processor with true non-destructive features, and I'll have a look at that too. Right now, it's the 'most likely' contender... There is a 30 day free trail, check it out.

Terence,

Thank you so much for your review and comments.

I've seen some positive comments about Capture One, but I haven't read much about its DAM features. I am not familiar with Media Pro at all. Looks like I better do a search for it and check it out.

I'm holding my Mac Pro at Yosemite for now just for Aperture use, though there are features I'd like to explore in El Capitan and Sierra.

Think I'll take ON1 up on their 30 day offer.

Thanks again for your help.

Gerald Gifford wrote:

... but I haven't read much about its DAM features.

...

Imo it is the closest to Aperture. The biggest difference is that "Projects" cant't contain photos directly, you'll need to create an "Album" inside first (although clicking on a Project shows all photos of it's Albums). It also has hierarchical keywords which might be important to some.