Apple launches Photoshop-killer under Mac OS

[Bob Crabtree]

Oh dear, another Adobe-killer!

First there was Final Cut Pro (which knocked out the Mac version of Adobe Premiere). Then there was Motion (targeting After Effects). And now there's Aperture, aimed at what's probably long been Adobe's most profitable program under Mac OS - Photoshop.

Apple today introduced Aperture, the first all-in-one post production tool that provides everything photographers need after the shoot.

Aperture offers an advanced and incredibly fast RAW workflow that makes working with a camera’s RAW images as easy as JPEG.

Built from the ground up for pros, Aperture features powerful compare and select tools, nondestructive image processing, colour managed printing and custom web and book publishing.

Check out the Aperture announcement and let us know your thoughts on yet another Adobe-killer program being launched by Apple.

Me, I'm wondering just how much longer Adobe will be willing to front up for Steve Jobs whenever Jobs wants someone to back him up on stage and say how wonderful Apple's latest strategy is.

Bob

[Rys]

Any chance we're going to look at Aperture in a review on HEXUS.lifestyle? I don't usually pay much attention to Apple bar their hardware, but this one has me intrigued.

[Funkstar]

I'm not sure this is aimed at Photoshop CS, but more at the Photoshop RAW handling. I could be wrong but i think it is more for RAW workflow, phot management and adjustment rather than full on image editing/creating/manipulation.

I'm sure many will find this does everything they need and probably more, but i do think there are even more that will still need photoshop.

I'll be happy to change my mind though if someone was to send me a copy (along with a Mac to run it on )

[DR]

I suspect it is driving a more mainstream approach?

[bsodmike]

Aperture is not here to replace Photoshop, its role is to take the management and handing of high quality images (RAW format) to the next level. Aperture pretty much handles 'sorting out' your images, and the next step maybe Photoshop (for image manipulation).

Ok, this could seem confusing but Aperture is pretty much an Adobe Bridge killer - don't take my word for it, go and check out the quicktime vids that demonstrate the sheer speed of Aperture. This program is mainly targeted towards semi-professional/professional photographers who tend to take multiple takes of a single scene (I'm guilty of this) and with RAW files you simply forget about white balance as you know you can mange this post-production. The biggest problem with RAWs is due to their large file sizes that tend to slow applications down, so processing them tend to be a a little tedious and time consuming. Currently I have easily over a couple gigs of unprocessed RAW images as I simply do not have the time to go through them all.

A review of this would be great and I for one am looking forward to it

[Bob Crabtree]

bsodmike,

As they say in management-speak, "I hear what you say".

But, truth is, I'm not convinced that Apple didn't in fact target Aperture as a Photoshop killer - at least for a large proportion of the present user-base of Photoshop.

My experience is in magazines (24 years) and, to a far more limited extent, professional photography of sailing events (I help out a best mate on IT matters and he's one of the world's top marine photographers - Nigel Pert's his name).

Let's take print publishing, first, specifically mags.

In my experience, most editorial offices have Macs, and a large proportion of those have Photoshop installed, even though the serious Photoshop work is usually done by a very limited number of designers, rather than by editors, or others on the writing/workflow side.

And by serious, I mean not tweaking pics to get them to look their best but doing clever stuff starting with the like of cut-outs and masking and compositing shots that are Photoshop's forte.

So, in small mags, you could find that three out of the four copies of Photoshop could be regarded as redundant if Apeture does what Apple claims for it - and here, I suspect, its ease of use (and perhaps speed) will be critical to its being accepted.

And, realise, too, that editorial offices are moving over to become all-digital - especially those which do a lot of product photography, where the saving are massive, even though they initial investment does look scarey - and so have a deep-rooted interest in getting the best out of RAW files, including their management.

Let's now take the average professional photographer who, I'd wager, is very far from being expert in the use of Photshop.

So, if Aperture works as promised and is easy to use, I'd envisage a large proportion of the "average" Mac-using photographers adopting it and not finding any real need to learn the intricacies of Photoshop - preferring, perhaps, to move down to Photoshop Elements if they want any of the 20 per cent of functions (or fewer) they might use on the full version of Photoshop.

And, I do fully understand the importance of image-management for pro photographers who've moved over to digital - indeed, I'd regard it as probably the trickiest thing to get right while also being the most important.

My mate Nigel, for example, shoots thousands of digital shots when he covers a sailing event and has huge problems not only evaluating each shot but also in categorising them, converting them to other formats and, importantly, making sure he can find any one shot when his memory of the event is less fresh.

Also, he regards his images as his pensions - banking on the fact that many of the pictures are timeless - and I suspect many photographers in certain other specialised areas will think the same.

And, that gives many pro photographers yet another reason for not using Photoshop, given that Photoshop doesn't make a very serious attempt at image management.

As for a review of Aperture - I'm working on trying to find an appropriate reviewer right now (and getting hold of a copy of Apeture for the review, as well).

Bob

[Tobeman]

Is this going to force Adobe to slash Photoshop prices?

[Bob Crabtree]

Now there's a thought!

Is this going to force Adobe to slash Photoshop prices?