Aperture Tutorial: Less Really Can be More

Step 8: The Autostack head-up display now appears. Move the slider to make Aperture read the metadata across the images in the project and split them up accordingly. You now have two distinct sets of images with which to work.

Step 9: Now you can close down one stack by clicking the number in the top left-hand corner of the first image, and start to take a closer look at the second group of images. Shift + click a number of images in the open stack to bring multiple images into view.

Step 10: Another approach to working through a stack is to set a Compare Item and view images against it. Select an image and hit Return. A yellow border appears around it and the next picture in line comes up alongside. Now use the Arrow Keys to navigate along the stack, thereby changing the image you’re comparing the item against. Hit Apple + Return to clear a Compare Item, returning to view a single image.

Step 11: The next step is to sort through the stack and decide which image should be at the top of the tree. The first image in a stack is called the Pick. To move images within a stack to become your Pick, use the Promote (Apple + [) and Demote (Apple + ]) controls to move images left or right in the series. Alternatively, if you get to an image that you know is the one for you, use Apple + \ to immediately take that image to the top of the pile. This is effective no matter whether another image is set as a Compare Item at the time.

Step 12: Just because you’ve used the stacking facility to make fast choices about images you have captured, it doesn’t mean you are stuck with all your images held in this way. A stack is still a completely flexible grouping of images under your control. Sometimes the Autostack command has grouped images by firing time, but you want to split that stack down further to take into consideration the subject matter. To do this, click on the image that you’d like to form the first of the new stack, press Alt + K and the two stacks will become three.

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Aperture Techniques

Keyboard Shortcuts: Stacks

Apple + K

Create stack

Shift + K

Open / Close stack

Alt + ’

Open all stacks

Alt + ;

Close all stacks

Apple + Alt + A

Autostack

Up / Down Arrow Keys

Go to next / previous stack

Left / Right Arrow Keys

Navigate along stack

Select Image + Return

Enter ‘Compare Item’ mode

Apple + Return

Clear ‘Compare Item’ mode

Apple + Shift + K

Unstack

Alt + K

Split stack

Apple + \

Set stack pick

Apple + [

Promote stack item

Apple + ]

Demote stack item

Shift + Alt + K

Extract item

Vital Stats: Jonathan Briggs

Jonathan Briggs is a former MD of The Association of Photographers (AOP). Now a director of Magic Bean — a company set up to offer technical training and event logistics for companies working within the creative industry — Briggs has over ten years’ experience working with Macs and associated software across the design, imaging and photographic sectors. This series of guides offers a real-world user perspective on how you can get the most out of Aperture.

About the Photographer

All the images seen here were taken by cycling photographer Graham Watson. Graham shoots with two Nikon D2X cameras — one fitted with a long telephoto lens, the other with a wide angle — and uses Aperture running on a 15” MacBook Pro. To find out more about how Graham uses the Mac and Aperture, read our profile. To see more of Graham’s work, visit www.grahamwatson.com.