Hi all - I've just bought Aperture 3 and find I'm quite nervous about firing it up. What do people think about it? I've been told that Lightroom is the best for non-Pro people such as myself, but I'm a Mac user and wanted something made for Macs. Any views? Thanks, Susan.
Having used Aperture and Lightroom, I would have to agree that Lightroom is the way to go. It works just as well on a Mac as it does on a PC, has a more user-friendly interface (more intuitive), and has a lot more features, as well as full Photoshop integration should that ever be needed by a user. A good friend and fellow photographer who had been using Aperture 3 recently bought Lightroom 3, and told me he'd never use Aperture again.
That said, there are a number of plugins available for Aperture, and it can probably do most of what you'd need to do. It's not a bad program, by any stretch of the imagination - it just doesn't quite stand up to Lightroom (according to most people, myself included).
I've just started using Aperture myself and have used Lightroom as well. I think they both have their pros and cons and it really comes down to which one suits they way you work. As is usual with Mac software, it is a bit of a learning curve if you are used to Photoshop and other Adobe products but don't let that put you off. Aperture is cheaper than Lightroom, which is a plus in my book. You can set Aperture to use Photoshop as the external editor as well.
Scott Bourne has a good review and explanation of why he uses Aperture instead of Lightroom on his blog Photofocus
The Aperture Users Network has a good set of resources and if you search for Aperture 3 at Phototuts+ you should be able to find quite a good beginners series of tutorials.
Bottom line, I'll stick to using Aperture myself as I like the way it manages the library better and the results I get from Aperture and Lightroom are identical.
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That said, there are a number of plugins available for Aperture, and it can probably do most of what you'd need to do. It's not a bad program, by any stretch of the imagination - it just doesn't quite stand up to Lightroom (according to most people, myself included).
Scott Bourne has a good review and explanation of why he uses Aperture instead of Lightroom on his blog Photofocus
The Aperture Users Network has a good set of resources and if you search for Aperture 3 at Phototuts+ you should be able to find quite a good beginners series of tutorials.
Bottom line, I'll stick to using Aperture myself as I like the way it manages the library better and the results I get from Aperture and Lightroom are identical.