Aperture Tricks

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

You may find that once you've moved images around on an Aperture Light Table that your dimensions get out of control. To quickly bring the Light Table back to its minimum size, Control-click on the gray portion of the Light Table. A flyout, contextual menu appears - choose "Minimize Size."

You can also use this menu to:

1) Arrange All Items,
2) Zoom To 100%
3) Zoom To Fit
4) Choose The Navigator

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

We usually don't do things like this, but I wanted to thank Aperturetricks readers for their support. If you sign up for our March 17-18, 2006 class in San Francisco, you can get $50 off if you use the coupon code:

bbk234

NOTE: This offer is valid for 48 hours unless the class sells out sooner. It's first come, first served.

For more information go to Pixel Corps Training.

Enjoy.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Well it ain't Dick Clark but I just launched the world's first Aperture only podcast. Give a listen.

Here's the link:

Podcast

Hope you like it.

(NOTE: We just realized our mic pre-amps failed and consequently, the audio had to be mixed at a low volume to match the mics. So you might need to crank up your iPod or iTunes to hear this episode. We have new mic pres on the way and will have better technical quality for show two. We'll also re-record show one when we get a chance.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Derrick Story and I were guests on Scott Sheppard's Inside Mac Radio 1220 AM in San Francisco and available worldwide as a podcast here.

We did two full segments on Aperture. Our segment is about one third of the way into the show.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Lightbox Software announces a new Aperture tool: Aperture2iLife http://www.lightboxsoftware.com/aperture

Aperture2iLife allows you to take your Aperture projects and images and use them instead of iPhoto in your iLife and iWork applications, from iWeb to iDVD. To use it, make sure iPhoto is not running, open Aperture2iLife, select a project, and click "Start." Aperture2iLife will load your project's images and generate thumbnails. Furthermore, you can choose to use your Master files directly, but since some of the iApps can't load RAW files, you can also set it to create jpegs with the changes you've made to your images in Aperture automatically applied. Then, leave Aperture2iLife running and go open up an iApp to see your photos! Be aware that if you switch projects, you'll have to close and re-open your iApp, and do not run iPhoto while using Aperture2iLife since iPhoto will interfere with Aperture2iLife.

NOTE: I tested Josh's program and it absolutely works. Of course, not everyone who uses Aperture cares about bringing images from Aperture into iLife, but if you do, this program makes that happen seamlessly. You can write Automator scripts to do the same thing but it's not something everyone knows how to do or even has time to do. Josh's program works well and is in my opinion, a good solution.
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If you have a product or service of interest to Aperture users, please let us know here at Aperturetricks.com and we'll spread the word if we think the product makes sense.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Congratulations to Tom Utterback of Indiana. Tom selected a Nikon version of the Lensbaby.

If you'd like the chance to win a prize, just send us your Aperture tricks, tips, news or information.

Next drawing is March 1, 2006 - We'll be giving away some Aperture books and some inkjet paper from Inkjet Direct.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Well here goes folks. Our good friends at Pixel Corps have asked Derrick Story and me to teach our Introduction to Aperture 2-Day Lecture/Demo Course. The location: Pixel Corps Headquarters, in beautiful downtown San Francisco right across the street from Virgin Records.

Fee: $249

Synopsis: Apple's Aperture is the complete postproduction tool for serious digital photographers. Once you capture the images, Aperture handles uploading, organizing, archiving, image processing, and output. This application is especially appealing to photographers who prefer to use Raw format. Aperture lets you manage your Raw files -- from importing to processing and printing -- without ever having to convert them. This two-day workshop will introduce you to all of Aperture's major functions. If you want to learn how to effectively and efficiently edit, process, catalog, keyword, archive, distribute, and backup your digital images, this class is for you.

Requirements: This is a lecture/demo class; a laptop with Aperture is optional.

For all the details visit Pixel Corps Training.

NOTE: This is the same class Derrick and I offered at Macworld for about $600 less money. It will sell out and soon so don't delay if you're interested.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

While it may appear that you cannot change fonts or fonts sizes in Aperture's book layouts, you can. You can select any font or font size you want for any text in an Aperture book. Here's how:

Select the text you want to change and right-click (or Control-click) that text. A fly-out sub menu (also called a drop down box) will appear. Scroll down this menu to FONT> SHOW FONTS - A fonts box will open on the right side of the screen. In this box you can change the font's size, color, etc.

You can go to the size box and type in any size you want or you can use the provided font sizes. Be sure to use only whole numbers. In this box, you can also change the vertical alignment of the highlighted text, and the button in the upper left (T) creates a drop down shadow.

---

This was a trick we'd already figured out but so had a bunch of our readers and contributors including Jeff Weinberg, Tom Williams, Tom Utterback, Jay Tufton and Derrick Story. Thanks folks and keep em coming!

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Believe it or not, after a mere six weeks or so of blogging, we have 26 Aperture tricks available for you here at Aperturetricks.com. So be sure to look for the archives in the nav bar on the right and click through the older months to get all the goods.

And if anyone is a Blogger expert and has an idea how I could create a more valuable reference to the archives or a better master list of all tips I am all ears. I'm not sure what we'll do when we're up to 300 tips but it's a problem I am looking forward to.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

My story entitled, "What the critics don't get about Apple's Aperture," has been posted at MacDevCenter.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

As I predicted weeks ago, third-party developers will offer add-ons that make Aperture more valuable. One of the first of these is a new set of templates for Aperture's books. See them at:

http://macmethod.com/ApertureBooks/Site/Signature%20Series.html

FROM THE WEBSITE: "mac:method and Silvery Stars Productions jointly introduce the first in a series of professionally designed book layout plug-ins that work with Apple’s professional photography workflow application, Aperture. These layouts will showcase your work with beautiful, dynamic page flows and a long list of filters not included with the standard Apple layouts.

Once your design is complete, the book can be ordered and printed just like the built-in book designs that come pre-installed with Aperture."

I have looked at the screen shots and hope to offer an in-depth review later so stay tuned and if you find any other third-party Aperture products, please be sure to e-mail me at aperturetricks@aol.com.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

While you can make beautiful slideshows in Aperture, you can't save them for export. Here's a workaround using Apple's powerful Automator.

This workflow will export the images from any Aperture album to a new slideshow in the currently open iDVD project. *Note you must have iDVD and Automator for this to work.

Step #1: Run Automator and Choose Album

From the Library column on the left side of a new Automator window, select the Aperture action group to reveal its actions in the Action column. Locae and double-click the Choose Albums list item in the Action column to add it to the workflow.

This action will be used to select the album containing the images you wish to export.

To allow the choice of album selection to be made every time the workflow is run, click the Options disclosure triangle at the bottom left of the action view to reveal other action settings. Select the Show When Run checkbox to enable display of the action view when the workflow is executed.

Step #2: Export Images

The next step in the workflow will be to export the images from the chosen album using one of Aperture's export settings. From the list of Aperture actions, drag the Export Images action from the list to the end of the workflow and release the mouse to add the action.

Choose the export setting you wish to use from the Export Setting popup menu in the action view, and then select the destination folder for the exported images from the Destination popup menu.

NOTE: Any export settings you create within Aperture will automatically be displayed in the popup list along with the built-in settings.

Step #3: Create Slideshow

Select the iDVD icon in the Library column to display its actions. Double-click the New iDVD Slideshow list item to add it to the end of the workflow.

As with the first action in the workflow, click the Options control in the action view to display the action's optional parameters. Select the Show When Run checkbox to enable this action view to be displayed when the workflow is executed.

Step #4: Save the Workflow

From the File menu in Automator, choose Save as Plug-in... to display the save sheet at the top of the workflow window.

Name the workflow Aperture Album to iDVD Slideshow and select Script Menu from the Plug-in for popup menu. Click the Save button to save the workflow, and then close the workflow window. The saved workflow will now be available from the system-wide Script Menu at the top right of the main menu bar.

Step #5: Run the Workflow

To execute the workflow, select the Aperture Album to iDVD Slideshow menu item from the Script Menu. The action view for the first action will be displayed. Select the source album.

NOTE: if more than one album is selected, their images will combined into a single group of images. To create multiple slideshows, run the workflow for each slideshow you wish to create.

After you've chosen the source album, the workflow will continue by exporting each image in the chosen album using the previously chosen export setting. The status of the workflow will be displayed next to the Script Menu icon in the main menu bar.

Once the export process has completed, the action view for the iDVD slideshow will be displayed. Enter the name for the slideshow and any desired settings.

The slideshow will be created in the currently open iDVD project.

You now have an automation tool for creating new iDVD slideshows using the images from any Aperture album.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Our drawing for a free Lensbaby takes place on January 28, 2006. If you are a US resident and you send in an Aperture trick, once we verify the fact that your trick works, we'll enter your name in the drawing. (Canon or Nikon mount only.) If you don't get your trick to us in time for this drawing, have no fear, we'll try to have at least one prize drawing every month or so. Our next drawing will be held March 1, 2006.

If you want to send in your trick and remain anonymous, you may, but we will need your name for the drawing. Send all tricks to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Thanks!

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

You can apply one or more keywords to a group of images by dragging them from the Keyword Hud to the image thumbnail. To select a continuous group of keywords use the Shift key while you select. For discontinuous keywords use the Command key.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

If you'd like your very own copy of Apple Aperture, have we got a deal for you. Aperturtricks.com readers are entitled to a special price and free shipping.

Call Gary Farber at Hunt's Photo & Video. 1-800-221-1830 ext 2332 or email him at filmguygary@aol.com.

Mention the "Scott Bourne special on Aperture" and you'll get the program for $449 with free shipping anywhere in the USA and no sales tax unless you are a resident of MA.

This offer may expire at any time so don't delay.

Thanks to Hunt's Photo for supporting Aperturetricks.com.

Send your tricks, tips and announcements to aperturetricks@aol.com.

Pressing Control+ or Control+ rates the selected image down or up by one star AND automatically navigates you to the NEXT photo. This is a great way to speed-rate your images, turning what would normally be two keystrokes into one.

Thanks to Apple Aperture Project Lead - Joe Schorr for this great tip!

From time-to-time, I will update you on our ongoing projects.

1) Remember that if you submit a tip to Aperturetricks.com, and we use it, you'll be entered into a drawing for a free prize. Our first drawing is January 28, 2006 and we'll be giving away a free Lensbaby. So get your tips in before the deadline.

2) We're keeping a list of all Aperture-related books. If you know of a book either on the bookstore shelves or in the works, please let us know about it.

3) We're also keeping a list of things that Aperture CAN do and that Lightroom CANNOT. If you would like to contribute to that list, please send us an e-mail and once again, you'll be entered into our drawing for a free Lensbaby.

Send all correspondence to:

aperturetricks@aol.com

Thanks!

If you want to create proofs that are more stylized than the ones that are available in CONTACT SHEET mode, or if you just want to create comps that can easily be printed or saved as a PDF or JPEG, then Aperture's Light Table is for you.

Place some images on the Light Table. Drag-select over the images you want to print or save as a PDF. Note, you can select some or all of the images. This trick works either way.

Once you have your selection, go to the File menu and select the "Print Light Table" command. This command will print only the portion of the Light Table that you have selected. If you have not selected any images, this command will print all of the images on the Light Table.

Aperture will automatically size the Light Table to the page size you specify using either one of Apple's presets or one that you create.

In the print dialog box, you can choose between printing the Light Table layout to a printer or a PDF. While it's not an option in Aperture, you can also convert this layout to a JPEG for electronic publishing. Here's how:

Using Apple's free software called Preview, you can open the PDF and convert it to a JPEG for publishing on the Web or for sending as an e-mail attachment.

Apple issued an announcement today about Aperture - Universal Version.

A Universal version of Aperture, which will run natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Mac computers, will be available before the end of March 2006. New and existing owners of Aperture will be able to crossgrade to the Universal version at no additional charge via Software Update.

This means that if you buy one of the new Intel-based Mac, you won't have to pay an additional fee to run your existing copy of Aperture.

Apple has started to ramp up its training programs for Aperture.

Here's a link to the basic course part one:
http://www.apple.com/software/pro/training/courses/aperture100.html

And here's a link to the basic course part two:
http://www.apple.com/software/pro/training/courses/aperture101.html

And for those who want to become an Apple Certified Trainer, the Aperture T3 classes have been set up. The next available course is in Santa Monica. If you decide to sign up let me know. I have been accepted into that class and look forward to obtaining my Apple Certified Trainer designation. Here's the class schedule...

Santa Monica - February 21,22,23
NY - March - 7,8,9
Santa Monica - May 9,10,11
Boston - June 20,21,22

For more information go to Apple's Pro Training web page.

Here's an update to our Aperture Book News.

Jon Canfield is working on "Apple Aperture For Digital Photographers Only" from Wiley. This is in the same series as Rob Sheppard's "Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only."

This book is now on our list of Aperture books we already knew about and reported on. So here's the updated list...

"Aperture Exposed" by Ellen and Josh Anon (NOTE: I am proud to announce that I have been hired on as a technical editor for this book.)

"Apple Aperture For Digital Photographers Only" Jon Canfield

An untitled book by Ben Long

An untitled book by Derrick Story

"88 Secrets to Aperture" by Scott Bourne

Stay tuned to Aperturetricks.com because I will be promoting ALL the Aperture books out there on the market, not just my own. And if you know of another book either on the shelf or in the works, email me at aperturetricks at aol.com.

Thanks!

This trick relates to Aperture Trick #19 below. If you want to improve Aperture's performance, particularly on a Powebook, always perform any straightening or cropping before you apply a shadow highlight or noise reduction correction. In Aperture, the order of your adjustment matters in terms of performance.

As some of you may know, Derrick Story from MacDevCenter.com and I co-presented a class at the 2006 Macworld Conference last week. Derrick's a very generous guide and has provided a free link to his training notes for the class at his blog, The Digital Story. You can go there to download a free PDF. Take advantage of this free training information. It's really very valuable and it provides information not available in Apple's documentation for Aperture.

To remove a single keyword from a photo, or group of photos, first select the
photos that have the common offending keyword(s), then type the keyword you want to remove in the "Add Keyword" box at the bottom of the interface. Then simply press SHIFT+RETURN. Aperture will then remove the keyword(s) from all the selected photos. Additionally, if you know you don't want a particular keyword for ANY photo, simply select all the photos in your project and remove the keyword. It does not matter that the keyword was in some and not in others.

Thanks to Jerry Wilson for sending in this tip.

By the way, if YOU send in a tip, you could be eligible to win a Lensbaby. Send your tips to aperturetricks at aol.com.

Those of us on the Mac platform are fortunate. Aperture, Lightroom and iPhoto, three of the most important pieces of photo software in the world only run on a Mac.

The Adobe answer to Apple's Aperture is called Lightroom. And while the critics were all over Aperture, they seem to be lining up to praise Lightroom. I find this curious since Lightroom doesn't seem to be half the program Aperture is. And while I think Lightroom will have its place for certain photographers, I also think it's fair to point out it's early flaws.

For instance, you can't even crop an image in Lightroom. You can't add music to a slideshow in Lightroom. You can't view a RAM image at 100% in Lightroom. There's no STACKS in Lightroom. Get the idea?

So here's the deal. At Aperturetricks.com, we're going to start building a list of things Aperture can do that Lightroom cannot. The list will eventually be published here and other places. Please contribute your list at the followng email address:

aperturetricks at aol.com

(Sorry - for not hotlinking the email address but we're allready getting too much spam.)

And we'll be entering your name into our drawings. On January 28 we're giving away a free Lensbaby. And beginning February 1, 2006, we're giving away AT LEAST one prize each month. Our next prize is a copy of The Peachpit Press title, "Introduction to Aperture."

This is my last day at MacWorld in San Francisco. It's been a great show. The crowds were huge and the new Macs are indeed screamers. To quote Steve Jobs, they "Scroll Like Butter!" (You had to be there to understand that.)

I was allowed to play with the new (not yet shipping) MacBookPro laptop and man is it fast. I'll wait for the 17-inch model since I think Aperture can use all the screen real estate it can get. But waiting will be hard, given the fact that I have seen for myself how fast these new machines are.

As for our Aperture class, it came to a close yesterday. We got stellar workshop evaluations from our wonderful audience and I think everyone, including the two of us who taught the class, learned a great deal.

Aperture drew lots of attention at the show. Jobs gave it nearly top billing in the keynote and there were Aperture demos going on throughout the showfloor. Apple had one whole wall full of G5s running dual Apple Cinema Displays and all were running Aperture. It was a sight to behold. The big Apple theatre in the middle of the floor was home to some grand Aperture demos seen by hundreds of people at a time.

It's a great time to be a photographer and a Mac user since three of the most important photo software programs are Mac only.

Until next year it's goodbye MacWorld.

While some reviewers and early Aperture users complained that you can't read RGB values in Aperture, their concerns weren't justified. You can read these values, you just have to know how to do it. Here's a tip from my friend Derrick Story that came up during our Aperture training session at Macworld...
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If you've wanted to read RGB values in Aperture, then you've probably
been frustrated by the lack of a color meter tool built into the
application. But here's a nifty workaround until Apple adds it to a
future version.

Go to your Utilities folder and open DigitalColor Meter. It's a slick
little app included with Mac OS X. In its preferences, set the
magnification factor to 8X, and check the box next to "Float window
above other apps." Move the diameter of the meter (called Aperture
Size) to its smallest setting.

Now open the Aperture application. You'll see the color meter
floating above the application enabling to you to take pixel-level
readouts. It works great. You may want to add this app to your Dock.

(This great tip came directly from Apple during a discussion about
Aperture.)

Thanks to Derrick Story from The Digital Story for this tip.

Well sort of. While there's no actual update to the Aperture Program itself, Apple did release OS 10.4.4 yesterday here at Macworld and this is a must have upgrade for Aperture users. Remember, that Apple relies on its 32-bit Core Image technology to make Aperture work. Without getting too technical here, it's important that I explain to you that Core Image has a component called "Image Input/Output" otherwise known in the developer community as Image I/O. And Image I/O was updated in the new OS 10.4.4.

What this means for Aperture users is simple: Improved stability and real improvements in the way that Aperture hangs on to the EXIF data that gets attached to images. You can now even export your EXIF data and IPTC data with RAW files that are exported out of Aperture. That's a big deal since it was one of the big complaints of early reviewers. There's still a bug that makes it hard to hang on to original EXIF data from the camera that comes into Aperture and then out as a TIFF file, but Apple's Joe Schorr, Aperture product lead, told me Apple is aware of that one remaining problem and working on it.

Please note that while Apple relies on the OS to update its camera raw conversion capability, there's nothing in the 10.4.4 in the way of new conversions. 10.4.4 had to be ready for Macworld and there wasn't time between the 1.01 update and now to implement any additional camera raw functionality. While Apple NEVER comments on future plans, they came as close as they can to saying that additional camera raw functionality will be available in the next OS update and that could be soon.

Derrick Story and I finished day one of the world's first public Aperture training at the Macworld Users Conference. We had a great audience and we all learned a great deal about Aperture. Joe Schorr, Aperture product lead for Apple stopped by and did a great no bones question and answer session that left the crowd wanting more so he promised to come back for Tuesday's session.

We were able to debunk certain myths about Aperture and showed off previously undocumented tricks that prove the power of Aperture for professional photographers. We look forward to the Tuesday session and we'll fill you in on how it all ends up along with information on future training from Derrick and Scott so stay tuned.

Apple Aperture product lead Joe Schorr gave us a trick today - and it's a simple one. If you want to improve Aperture's performance during intense activity like using the straighten command, turn off other adjustments like noise reduction, levels, etc., to cut down the overhead on the GPU. Once you've accomplished the straighten or similar task, turn back on the other adjustments. Since everything is non-destructive and since no changes are made to the original file until you export it, there's no reason to leave all these other adjustments turned on until they're needed. Thanks Joe!

SCRUB FIELDS

When you are making adjustments in the HUD or on the Adjustments Palette, the rectangular shaped text fields are scrubby fields. Just hold down the Shift key while scrubbing over the box and the slider flies from one extreme to the other. To make fine adjustments, just hold down the Option key while scrubbing. This limits how far the slider moves and makes fine adjustments easier. Also, you can hold down
SHIFT-OPTION to come somewhere in between.

Thanks to Ellen Anon, Brice Hendricks, Jim Eckland and to me :) for contributing to and/or modifying this tip. If you have an aperture trick, please email it to aperturetricks at aol.com.

There are several Aperture books coming. The first will probably come from my friends Ellen and Josh Anon. The mother/son team is already working hard on an Aperture book. You can visit Ellen's website here.

Ben Long who writes for Creative Pro also informed me he's working on a book about Aperture. You can read more about Ben here.

Derrick Story who invited me to be his co-presenter at the MacWorld Power Tools conference will also have a book with O'Reilly. Derrick's web site can be found here.

And last but not least, if you're a reader of my "88 Secrets" series of photography books, you may have guessed I will do a book on Aperture. Well not to worry. "88 Secrets to Aperture" is in the works, although I may wait for a while to publish it given the fact that Aperture will no doubt be morphing and changing a fair amount in its first year.

Stay tuned to Aperturetricks.com because I will be promoting ALL the Aperture books out there on the market, not just my own. And if you know of another book either on the shelf or in the works, email me at aperturetricks at aol.com.

Thanks!

If you'd like your very own copy of Apple Aperture, have we got a deal for you. Aperturtricks.com readers are entitled to a special price and free shipping.

Call Gary Farber at Hunt's Photo & Video. 1-800-221-1830 ext 2332 or email him at filmguygary@aol.com.

Mention the "Scott Bourne special on Aperture" and you'll get the program for $449 with free shipping anywhere in the USA and no sales tax unless you are a resident of MA.

This offer may expire at any time so don't delay.

Thanks to Hunt's Photo for supporting Aperturetricks.com.

When you 'Lift' and the tool automatically changes to 'Stamp', no need to switch back to the lift tool if you lifted from the wrong image or simply change your mind and want to use another for your source. Simply hold option and lift from another image.

The same is true whether you choose the lift or stamp tool and also with the Rotate tools.

Thanks Doug Young

Do you have an Aperture trick to share? If so, please send it to aperturetricks at aol.com.

It's pretty obvious that interest in Aperture is very high, despite some of the negative press. The first public training of Aperture at MacWorld has long been sold out. That two-day session is being led by Derrick Story. (See a press release about the show here.)

Derrick is a well-known and respected author, photographer and lecturer who focuses on digital photography, music, and Mac computing in his teaching and writing. You can keep up with his online articles, weblogs, and books at O'Reilly Media.

Derrick's also a regular contributor to Macworld Magazine. You can listen to his photography podcasts and browse his daily tips and tricks at The Digital Story.

And I am proud to add that Derrick has asked me (your humble blogmaster Scott Bourne) to join him co-presenting at the MacWorld Aperture Power Tools conference. I will demo a few tricks and tips alongside Derrick.

While this training session is sold out, there will be others in the future so check back here often to find out what's in the works. And if you see me wandering in the hallways of the Moscone Center, be sure to say hello!

UPDATE: Due to demand, IDG, the Macworld Expo show coordinators have changed the training session to a larger room so there may be seats available for the two-day training session. Go to MacworldExpo.com for more information.

This is a simple trick but a powerful one. When you want to create a Web Gallery in Aperture, switch to the Ratings & Keywords view by pressing COMMAND + OPTION + R. This will put the website on the right side of the screen and the viewers and other related tools on the left, giving you the best view to check your work.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/blogs_forums/apertureforumwidget.html.

If you use Widgets (and you should) you'll want to know this. The first widget designed for searching German speaking forums for Aperture, Apple’s all-in-one post-production tool for photographers is now available. And while the developers want you to know its primary language is german, they invite all english speaking people to join. For free, of course!

If you try to straighten an image by clicking on the straighten tool in the tool bar and then clicking and dragging within your image, it's easy to go too far or not far enough. Actually getting the image straight often requires some luck done that way. An easier way to straighten an image is to open the Adjustment Inspector or HUD and click on the straighten tool from the drop down menu under the + sign. Click on the the small arrow to the right or left of the "0" in the right part of the dialog box. Repeat the clicks until the image is nearly straight, then click on the slider to perfect the job.


Illustration by Scott Bourne

Thanks Ellen Anon
(http://www.sunbearphoto.com/)

PS: Ellen is the co-author (W/Tim Grey) of a very popular Photoshop book called Photoshop for Nature Photographers: A Workshop in a Book.

When setting white balance on a picture, you can pick a white point (using the dropper tool) from ANY photo in the library, even from the thumbnails. Just point the loupe at it.

Thanks David Dingman

If you have a trick, send it to aperturetricks at aol.com and you'll automatically be entered into our drawing for a free Lensbaby.

Did you ever wish you could give Apple a piece of your mind? Or maybe you just want to send them a Valentine? If you want to let them know how you'd like to see Aperture improved, it's easy. Open Aperture and then open the Aperture Menu. Simply select "Provide Aperture Feedback" and you'll be wisked to the following URL:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/aperture.html.

Fill out the form and Apple will hear you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

And if you want to see some of the cool things you can do using Aperture and Apple's powerful Automator, go to:

http://www.automator.us/aperture/

And if you have any Automator scripts ready to work with Aperture, be sure to share them here. Send an email to aperturetricks at aol.com.