Aperture Tutorial: More Than Just Grayscale
Step 6: Once you have the balance of the image sorted out in grayscale, you have the option of using the Colour Monochrome feature to add colour tone to the image. Again, go up to the + button at the top right of the Adjustments Inspector or HUD, and select Colour Monochrome from the menu. Once more, this extra section offers its own controls for returning to the original settings. Now click the rectangle next to Colour, and the Colour Palette appears.
Step 7: Here you have a number of ways of mixing your own colours to apply as tones to black and white images. The decision of whether to use the Colour Wheel, RGB Sliders or pre-set swatches is a personal preference, but each tab at the top of the palette is equipped with the same features. Once you have a colour you like, you don’t want to go back later and re-make what you’ve already done. So expand the Swatch Tray at the base of the Colour Palette by clicking and dragging the three dots at the bottom of the window. Now let go and click and drag from the colour bar at the top, down to the white grid in the tray. You take a swatch with you and place it in a square. Now it’s saved, and all you need do to apply it in the future is to click on the relevant square.
Step 8: Another approach to creating colour swatches is to click on the Magnifying Glass that sits next to the colour bar, then click anywhere on any colour image either in the main Viewer or on a thumbnail in the Flimstrip. The colour you click on is sampled and, again, you can now drag it into the tray and save it as a swatch. Swatches that have been created by sampling have the top right-hand corner of the swatch ‘turned over’.
Step 9: You’ll most likely find that fairly dull, pastel shades work best when you intend to apply them to a mono image. Now use the Intensity Slider in the Colour Monochrome section to back off the effect — note that the less intense your chosen colour, the finer control you will have in applying a percentage of it to the image. It’s also worth noting that the Colour Palette used in Aperture actually exists separately to the software. As you build a bank of colour swatches you can in fact make use of these exact same colours in other applications such as iWeb — it’s a neat touch that means you won’t be struggling to match colour themes if you publish these pictures to a Web site, for example.
Step 10: Finally, it’s worth hitting Control H to bring in the Highlights & Shadows section of the Adjustments panel. Many monochrome images will respond particularly well to these controls, effectively allowing very fine alterations to the amount of detail and information displayed at the top or bottom end of an image. In some cases it may be possible to ‘bring back’ highlight or shadow detail that had been sacrificed when capturing the image on the basis of best overall exposure.
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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.
The images featured here are by Gino Sprio, a vastly experienced portrait/fashion commercial/fine art photographer who’s had everyone from Pelé to Morrissey to Sirs Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley in front of his lens. Sprio’s clients range from Aston Martin to Barclaycard, and from The Sunday Times Magazine to US Vogue and Esquire.
