A Happy Lightroom User Asks: Should I Now Try Aperture?

[johnbuckley]

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The news that Apple will now support M8 DNG files makes Aperture suddenly more viable. I have been using Lightroom since the beginning of the year and truly love it. It has freed me from having to use CS2/3, which I find to be a pretty unintuitive and kludgy piece of bloated software, albeit with hugely helpful core tools. Lightroom is, for me, simple, intuitive, and whatever tools it doesn't possess, it's easy to then get to Photoshop for things like Alien Skin Exposure plug-ins, enhanced sharpening and the like.

 

Yet I know many feel Aperture is superior. Is it so superior that I should try it out? Or if I am comfortable, as I am, with Lightroom, should I pass? (I am, by the way, a Mac user, and comfortable in the Apple world...) Users of both would be especially helpful for making the comparison for me and, I would suspect, others in the same boat. Thanks in advance, JB

[dspeltz]

I have the same question. I have become dependent on Lightroom(CS3) as well and the idea of changing software fatigues me however if it is worth it, I will try. I use a Mac as well.

[Guest sirvine]

I used both for a while. I had Aperture running when it first came out, but dropped off just prior to version 1.1. The lack of support for R-D1s and M8 was primarily what caused me to lose interest, but there were also some other disadvantages that I found:

 

1) In those days, Aperture kept files locked away in a hidden filestructure (much like the iPod). When one of my libraries was corrupted (who knows why, but it was early in the product's release), I had to hack my way in and manually extract the files from folder after folder. It was a nightmare. The current version has an option to store the files in a more accessible directory structure, I believe.

 

2) Aperture used to be a RAM and CPU hog. I'm not sure if this has gotten better in recent updates, but the practical impact of this was that I could run it comfortably on my dual G5 2.3, but not on any of my laptops. Lightroom on the other hand runs pretty much anywhere, which is great if you're shooting and downloading on location or have a mobile tethered setup.

 

3) Aperture used to have a really irritating minimum screen size requirement that wouldn't allow me to route the display to my plasma monitor because its native resolution was 4 (!!!) pixels under the horizontal requirement. There were various hacks to make it work, and the current version may be a little more flexible in this respect. It just pissed me off, and once again Lightroom had no such problem.

 

4) I prefer the develop panel in Lightroom to the corresponding settings in Aperture. That's where I spend most of my time anyway. Some people may find that they prefer Aperture's DAM metaphor, and if managing huge numbers of files is your primary priority rather than tweaking RAW conversions, Aperture may suit you better.

 

I suspect most of these points are now moot in the current release, but at least you know why I went with Lightroom.

[jonoslack]

Having spent a lot of time with each . . . .

I prefer the rather more muted Aperture 'conversions', and I like the way that you can do anything anywhere with the Heads Up Displays.

 

I also like the fact that if you elect to have the files outside the library (which you should) then Aperture tracks them if you simply move them about in the finder (I've just spend a fairly relaxed morning moving files around). Projects in aperture are much less 'loosely connected' with the folder structure than they are in Lightroom, which makes it easier to reorganise (if you want to).

 

I think that you might argue that the development section has more options in Lightroom - but there is no scrolling up and down the controls in Aperture.

 

Aperture has excellent dual display support (keep controls and library on one screen - have the other with the selected image(s) full screen.

 

The Versions option in Aperture feels integral - in lightroom it feels like an addon.

 

The Vaults backup system in Aperture is excellent - not sure, but I don't think there is an equivalent in Lightroom.

 

Smart Albums and Web Albums are the real killer for me. With Aperture if you want to do web output, you make a web album, drop images into it and export (or publish to .mac). When you go back to it 3 weeks later to add a couple of images, then it's exactly the same - with Lightroom you have to start again.

 

I also find the printing much better - Lightroom has great layout options, but I've found that when you print BIG you get smudgy foliage - Aperture behaves much better

 

So, to summarise

Lightroom may have some extra facilities for development

Aperture has a better structure

Aperture is much better for web output and smart albums

 

If you're just interested in conversion / print, then it's a toss up, but IMHO Aperture is streets ahead for workflow.

 

Try going out for a day to shoot PR for 20 people, then get individual web pages out for each person in lightroom, then try it in Aperture - it's worlds apart!

 

Hope that helps a bit

[johnbuckley]

Jono - it does, and in fact, your photos are one of the reasons I'd consider Aperture. Having said that, I'm not convinced I would need to change my workflow... Cheers, JB

[Joe Mondello]

They're both quite good.

 

And there is a free 30 day trial of Aperture so of course you should try it!

 

I used the Lightroom betas 1-4 but jumped ship to Aperture when 1.1 came out. Because it could read M8 and R-D1 RAW files where Aperture could not, I purchased a license for Lightroom and have been using it and liking it, but I prefer Aperture.

 

For me:

 

Aperture can use dual displays, Lightroom is limited to one

 

Lightroom has separate Library and Develop modules which is just a pain.

 

On my system, Aperture is faster than Lightroom (dual G5 2GHz, 4GB RAM, Radeon X800XT)

 

For a single screen system like an iMac, Lightroom is fine and I don't hesitate to recommend it, but my preference is for Aperture's workflow.

[Guest sirvine]

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I'm learning some things here...I think I'll try Aperture again.