Aperture update (2.1) released!

[Martin_Doudoroff]

Apple just released a 2.1 update to Aperture that adds various refinements and takes another step towards opening the application to software developers.

The most prominent addition is a Dodge & Burn plug-in, which demonstrates the new plug-in architecture. You can watch a video about this feature here.

What we learn from this is how Apple has elected to approach image editing plug-ins: they have punted on opening up the metadata-based image pipeline and simply grafted on a pixel-editing-based system to Aperture. If you want to use plug-ins to modify your imagery, Aperture cooks a TIF file, stacks it with the RAW original, and then opens a special editing window. Instead of shelling out to Photoshop, you stay in Aperture, but the fundamental process is the same. Whatever changes you make to your image in the plug-in are permanent (destructive) and once you leave the plug-in, you can go back, but only to pile on more changes.

On the one hand, this approach is practical, because it will make it straightforward for a gazillion Photoshop plug-ins to be ported to Aperture. Lots of new capabilities could be quickly added to Aperture by third parties, further reducing Aperture users' dependency on Photoshop.

On the other hand, this approach is bitterly disappointing. Yet another pixel editing framework couldn't be more retrograde or against the spirit of Aperture. Moreover, the implementation—at least based on my first impressions—is a shockingly inelegant user experience. It feels like a hack.

You can update to Aperture 2.1 through the Software Update... feature of OS X.

[Johan_Elzenga]

I agree. It seems rather useless to have a plugin infrastructure that does nothing more than what I can do using 'Edit in Photoshop' already. Plugins in Aperture should work on the raw files and should be non-destructive like Aperture itself.

[Martin_Doudoroff]

Rob Galbraith's article on the plug-in architecture reveals that there are a few odd twists and turns in what Apple has produced. We'll have to wait and see how this all shakes out.

[Johan_Elzenga]

Well, I found one small advantage over 'Edit in Photoshop'. If you invoke the plugin, do some dodging and burning, and decide you don't like the result, you can click 'Cancel' and you're back at the RAW file. The TIFF is not created (or discarded again). If you would do the same with 'Edit in Photoshop', you would have to delete the TIFF manually afterwards (and be careful that you do not delete both, because both are still selected).

[David_Buzzard]

It's not so much the dodging and burning tool, but the ability to accept 3rd party plugins, like Photoshop and Final Cut Pro, that appeals to me. Graphic designers who work in Photoshop often have more invested in their plugins than they do in the value Photoshop itself.

The dodge and burn sounds a bit like the 16MB card you get when you buy a camera. It's there to show you where to put the cards, and to give it a try, but it's not good for much else.

David Buzzard's Technical Blog