Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

Chapter 38 ■ Two Featured Products 447
the Lift & Stamp HUD. From there, you can select the specific metadata and adjustments
you want to apply from the displayed image to other images in the Library. This
can speed up the process, for example, by quickly transferring a white balance adjustment
to other images that have been shot under similar lighting conditions.
Retouching Your Images
This tool goes beyond “spot and patch” repairs to provide intelligent retouching with a
soft-edged brush. In repair mode, it automatically maps the texture of the surrounding
area, giving a perfectly clean result. The brush also has a “detect edge” mode, which
allows you to remove blemishes near hard edges such as walls or pillars, without needing
to cut and paste chunks of the image. Yet by changing opacity and softness, you
have a set of controls to use in the full cloning mode for retouching larger areas.
Baseline DNG
Aperture can read DNG files no matter what model of camera created the original RAW
file. Even where the program does not support a particular RAW format, it will at least
read a DNG file derived from it.
Command Editor
Expert users love the Command Editor. It allows them to create their own shortcuts, mapping
controls to any key. Many of them like to be able to use their left hand to execute
commands, while leaving the right hand free to remain on the mouse. Apple has implemented
this standard feature very well in Aperture by providing a picture of a keyboard
in the Command Editor window. It indicates which keys are available and highlights those
that have been used. There is a full set of defaults to which you can make additions or
changes as you see fit.
Tethered Shooting
For the studio photographer, tethered shooting support has been a welcome addition
to Aperture because it gives immediate full-screen feedback during shooting. To use it,
you simply connect a supported camera to the Mac via FireWire or USB, and then
launch the Tether HUD to control it. Here you will see some essential information
about camera and exposure settings. Before each Tether session, you choose where you
want to store the images, the name of the session, and the set of metadata you want to
attach to each image.
Output and Publishing
The photographic workflow usually culminates in showing your images, a step that
involves printing them or sharing them online. Aperture offers a full set of output
options including books, slide shows, DVDs, and help with placing your images into
online galleries.