Aperture Tutorial: Your Partner in Pictures
By Jonathan Briggs
Control of your environment is the basis upon which Aperture is built and, as we’re about to discover, keyboard shortcuts make the Aperture experience fast and fluid. You can have access to what you need, when you need it and even have the software do some of the thinking for you along the way.
When a piece of software actually seems to think like you do, there’s more time to focus on the main event — your images — rather than wasting energy trying to fit in with a set way of working. In this tutorial, Jonathan Briggs demonstrates in 10 easy steps how Aperture can make you more productive.
Step 1: Aperture’s standard set-up gives you the main Image Viewer in the middle of the screen with the Folders and Projects down one side, the Inspectors down the other, and the Filmstrip at the bottom. The main fact to remember with the Aperture interface is that you won’t be using all of this information and data all of the time. We’re here to look at images after all. To concentrate on the job at hand, go for Apple + Alt + V to maximise the main Image Viewer and put away the surrounding information with one keystroke.
Step 2: Your list of Projects and Vaults (back-up) can be re-introduced simply by pressing W, and the Inspectors can be brought back by pressing I.
Step 3: You can shift rapidly between viewing images individually with the Filmstrip, and viewing a whole project as thumbnails. Use V to move between the two views, and then turn the surrounding information on and off as you require.
Step 4: You can create tabs of different projects along the top of the viewing area for later use when the projects list is turned off, by Apple + Clicking projects in your list. This provides straightforward switching whilst also giving you room to move around and understand your work. The Project Tabs move to just above the Filmstrip when the main Image Viewer is in use (press V again).
Step 5: The Loupe tool can be accessed by hitting the Accent / Grave key (the one to the left of Z). In the Loupe, you are viewing the image at 100% and can examine the detail across an image.
Step 6: What’s particularly handy about the Loupe is that it can be used not only across the main Image Viewer but also on images in the Filmstrip and in project thumbnail view too. Use Apple + -/+ to alter the diameter. Add Shift to that key combination to increase and decrease the magnification of the tool.
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.
