Tuesday
Apr052011
APERTURE A CLOSER LOOK: PART 2 - IMPORTING IMAGES - JEREMY WARNOCK PERTH WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 12:17PM Ok so since Apple kindly updated Aperture recently to version 3.1.2, which addresses bugs with importing images from iPhoto, I figured it would be a great time to talk about importing images into Aperture.
Aperture uses Apples well known “It just Works” technology when talking to devices such as digital cameras. Those of you who may have recently switched from that other platform that will not be named, will be only to familiar with buying a new camera and having to install the buggy manufactures software just to get the camera talking to the computer. Well as with the normal Apple experience as long as the camera has a USB port your Mac will detect it up and figure out its a camera not a printer or a scanner and you will never have to install the software from Nikon or Canon or Pentax or whoever the manufacture is again! But there are sometimes you want to import photos from else where like from your computer, a card reader or perhaps your upgrading from iPhoto Apertures import features will allow you to choose any source for your images and I will go over that with you now.
So you have done a fresh install of Aperture and you are looking at a blank library, if you just connect your camera or card reader or iPhone Aperture will detect that an image device has been connected and open its import menu. In version 3 Apple completely overhauled the import menus and they are now so much more useful, Apple also added support for video to accommodate the slew of hybrid DSLRs now on the market.
Aperture Import Window
Aperture uses Apples well known “It just Works” technology when talking to devices such as digital cameras. Those of you who may have recently switched from that other platform that will not be named, will be only to familiar with buying a new camera and having to install the buggy manufactures software just to get the camera talking to the computer. Well as with the normal Apple experience as long as the camera has a USB port your Mac will detect it up and figure out its a camera not a printer or a scanner and you will never have to install the software from Nikon or Canon or Pentax or whoever the manufacture is again! But there are sometimes you want to import photos from else where like from your computer, a card reader or perhaps your upgrading from iPhoto Apertures import features will allow you to choose any source for your images and I will go over that with you now.
So you have done a fresh install of Aperture and you are looking at a blank library, if you just connect your camera or card reader or iPhone Aperture will detect that an image device has been connected and open its import menu. In version 3 Apple completely overhauled the import menus and they are now so much more useful, Apple also added support for video to accommodate the slew of hybrid DSLRs now on the market.
Aperture Import Window What you should be presented with now is your Library on the left hand side, thumb nails of your images in the centre browser view and some import settings on the right. Now we could just hit the import all button but that will import your images with no context and as your library grows it will also make them very hard to find again. So is what I do - I am not saying its perfect but it works for me and maybe give you some ideas of your own.
First in your new fresh Library before attaching the camera or card reader, I do some organising. Each year I create a folder for that year so it keeps all the projects in that folder. To create a new folder you can go to File>New>Folder or simply use the short cut Key of Shift+Command+N, now rename that folder to 2011. Next create a new Project, within the folder selected again go to File>New>Project or try Command+N. Now I rename that that project. I learnt this trick from Joesph Linaschke’s Aperture Expert site but its a great naming convention so I would like to pass it on but also give credit. For all my image projects i use the following convention - Year-Month-Day ~ Subject. So my new project I just renamed would look something like 2011-03-23 ~ Caleb playing at beach. Ok so with that set we are ready to do some importing.
Aperture Library Showing PorjectsGo ahead now a re-connect your camera to your Mac and watch the important menu system pop up. Now with your thumbnail's shown ready to import go over and click the import settings at the top right hand side. A few default ones I have selected are Rename files, Metadata Presets, Adjustments and Backup location. Some I currently do not use by default are File Info - allows you to see some attributes of the image that you have selected in the browser view, Time Zone - allows you filter by the Time Zone the images was taken in handy for travellers, File Types - allow you to filter by file types such as video or photo or audio and Raw + Jpeg for cameras that shoot both RAW & Jepg this allows you to define how you want to handle the pair, such as setting the Jpeg to the Master file or only importing the RAW images.
Import Settings - LocationBy default Aperture will store images in the Aperture Library for now that is what we are going to do, next time we will talk about file management and other options. So lets go ahead and change some settings; first set destination to your new Project, in this case mine would be set to 2011-03-23 ~ Caleb, Notice here you can also choose not to import duplicates very handy for iPhone photo libraries where you import the images but also leave them on the iPhone. And Store Files in Aperture Library. Next I set the Version name under Rename Files setting, much like the projects my convention for the file name is again YEAR-MONTH-DAY ~ SUBJECT. I also go a bit further and set copyright information these. You can customise and set your own defaults which I will cover in the file handling post next time. But one of Apertures default import options is Image Version Name and Date and Time. This will give you something like DSC_001_2011_03_23_12_43_23 so we know that it was take at 12:43:23pm on the 23rd of March 2011. next I also tick Rename Master File so the Version and the Master file have some context.
File re-nameing
Next is a great tool. It will append all the metadata you want on the image on import. Of course with your new install you will have no metadata presets so first choose edit give your preset a name like “On Import” and start ticking the fields you want to have information for - there are plenty so I wont go through them all. The fields I use are Creator, Caption, Keywords, Caption Writer, Image City - again useful for finding that image you took on Holiday, State/Province, Image Country, Copyright Notice and Contact - here I fill in phone numbers and email address. You can create as many matadata presets as you find useful and it will save you hours of time later.
Metadata Preset
Next in the list is Adjustment Preset. If you google around you will find many people selling or giving away adjustment Presets for Aperture, here I have 1 I created myself. An adjustment preset is just a set of adjustment rules that you want applied on import such as contrast or exposure. Again its very useful if you have a predefined style that you want applied to your images on import.
Adjustment Preset
Final setting is backup location. In this setting you can define define a backup location for Aperture to create an additional copy of the images on import. Now I have to be honest I only use this setting on my Macbook Pro when I'm on the road. When I am at home I employ a very stringent backup plan using superduper. However for everyone else if you do not have any backup plan then this is a must. Get a cheap USB harddrive from JBHI FI and use this setting on EVERY import.
Backup Location Setting
Now we have our folder, our new Project and all the import settings ready we are ready to import. You can import all or import a selection. when you click the import button Aperture will take you out of the import menus and display your project again and you will see your project become populated with images you will also see a progress indicator next to your project. As the import takes place you can start working instantly on your images.
Aperture Import Progress MetterThat may have seemed a little long winded but if you take the time to set it up initially it will save hours and hours later. To import from your harddrive the process is identical except, because you are importing from your computer the import menu wont magically appear like it does when you connect the camera so choose the import button from the menu bar or you can go to File>Import or the short cut key of Command+I when the directory structure is show simply navigate to the location of the media you wish to import.
To Import From Your Hard-drive Navigate Your Directory Structure
With the release of Mac OS X 10.6.6 Apple introduced the Mac App Store and one of the gems on the Mac App store is Aperture. Normally Aperture would retail for $249AUD but it can now be purchase for $99AUD. This price reduction has seen a large number of users upgrade from Apples iPhoto to Aperture. And with due cause. iPhoto is a great little photo management application but it is no Aperture. If you are one of these people to import your iPhoto Library into Aperture simply go to File>Import>iPhoto Library. This will open the iPhoto import menu. It is similar to the menu we just went through, giving you a choice of where to store your images and name the images but it lacks the metadata, adjustment preset and backup location.
Aperture Also Allows You To Import From iPhoto
Ok now you have images in Aperture you can go and check out some of the great adjustments possible. But before I finish I mentioned a pro tip well actually I have 2 for you this time. First one is simple, if you are using a DSRL buy yourself a card reader. Attaching the camera via the USB cable is incredibly show, but if you Mac has a firewire port and all but one strange model of Macbook and all the Macbook Airs do have a firewire port then please please buy yourself a firewire card reader. The performance increase the Firewire card reader will give you over USB is huge. Which is good because they are not cheaper or easy to come by I found here http://www.ht.com.au/part/W0736-Lexar-Professional-UDMA-FireWire-800-Reader-card-reader-FireWire-800/detail.hts otherwise ebay and your pro camera shops will stock these.
The second tip is one that will stop some of the magic we just spoke about. By default whenever you plug in a camera device, that's a camera, card reader or iPhone Aperture will start up and ask you to import your images. There are going to be times when you do not want to import your images, you just want to charge or sync your iPhone, and dam Aperture keeps opening. You can stop this with your iPhone connected on your Mac go to Applications>Image Capture open image capture and on the left hand side down the bottom you will see the option of what to do when the iPhone is connected by default its set to open your default image application, for me that's Aperture for you it may be iPhoto. Just choose from that menu Do Nothing. From now on when you attach your phone Aperture or iPhoto will not open by default allowing you to simply charge or sync the phone.
So next time lets go over image handling
First in your new fresh Library before attaching the camera or card reader, I do some organising. Each year I create a folder for that year so it keeps all the projects in that folder. To create a new folder you can go to File>New>Folder or simply use the short cut Key of Shift+Command+N, now rename that folder to 2011. Next create a new Project, within the folder selected again go to File>New>Project or try Command+N. Now I rename that that project. I learnt this trick from Joesph Linaschke’s Aperture Expert site but its a great naming convention so I would like to pass it on but also give credit. For all my image projects i use the following convention - Year-Month-Day ~ Subject. So my new project I just renamed would look something like 2011-03-23 ~ Caleb playing at beach. Ok so with that set we are ready to do some importing.
Aperture Library Showing PorjectsGo ahead now a re-connect your camera to your Mac and watch the important menu system pop up. Now with your thumbnail's shown ready to import go over and click the import settings at the top right hand side. A few default ones I have selected are Rename files, Metadata Presets, Adjustments and Backup location. Some I currently do not use by default are File Info - allows you to see some attributes of the image that you have selected in the browser view, Time Zone - allows you filter by the Time Zone the images was taken in handy for travellers, File Types - allow you to filter by file types such as video or photo or audio and Raw + Jpeg for cameras that shoot both RAW & Jepg this allows you to define how you want to handle the pair, such as setting the Jpeg to the Master file or only importing the RAW images.Import Settings - LocationBy default Aperture will store images in the Aperture Library for now that is what we are going to do, next time we will talk about file management and other options. So lets go ahead and change some settings; first set destination to your new Project, in this case mine would be set to 2011-03-23 ~ Caleb, Notice here you can also choose not to import duplicates very handy for iPhone photo libraries where you import the images but also leave them on the iPhone. And Store Files in Aperture Library. Next I set the Version name under Rename Files setting, much like the projects my convention for the file name is again YEAR-MONTH-DAY ~ SUBJECT. I also go a bit further and set copyright information these. You can customise and set your own defaults which I will cover in the file handling post next time. But one of Apertures default import options is Image Version Name and Date and Time. This will give you something like DSC_001_2011_03_23_12_43_23 so we know that it was take at 12:43:23pm on the 23rd of March 2011. next I also tick Rename Master File so the Version and the Master file have some context.File re-nameing
Next is a great tool. It will append all the metadata you want on the image on import. Of course with your new install you will have no metadata presets so first choose edit give your preset a name like “On Import” and start ticking the fields you want to have information for - there are plenty so I wont go through them all. The fields I use are Creator, Caption, Keywords, Caption Writer, Image City - again useful for finding that image you took on Holiday, State/Province, Image Country, Copyright Notice and Contact - here I fill in phone numbers and email address. You can create as many matadata presets as you find useful and it will save you hours of time later.
Metadata PresetNext in the list is Adjustment Preset. If you google around you will find many people selling or giving away adjustment Presets for Aperture, here I have 1 I created myself. An adjustment preset is just a set of adjustment rules that you want applied on import such as contrast or exposure. Again its very useful if you have a predefined style that you want applied to your images on import.
Adjustment PresetFinal setting is backup location. In this setting you can define define a backup location for Aperture to create an additional copy of the images on import. Now I have to be honest I only use this setting on my Macbook Pro when I'm on the road. When I am at home I employ a very stringent backup plan using superduper. However for everyone else if you do not have any backup plan then this is a must. Get a cheap USB harddrive from JBHI FI and use this setting on EVERY import.
Backup Location SettingNow we have our folder, our new Project and all the import settings ready we are ready to import. You can import all or import a selection. when you click the import button Aperture will take you out of the import menus and display your project again and you will see your project become populated with images you will also see a progress indicator next to your project. As the import takes place you can start working instantly on your images.
Aperture Import Progress MetterThat may have seemed a little long winded but if you take the time to set it up initially it will save hours and hours later. To import from your harddrive the process is identical except, because you are importing from your computer the import menu wont magically appear like it does when you connect the camera so choose the import button from the menu bar or you can go to File>Import or the short cut key of Command+I when the directory structure is show simply navigate to the location of the media you wish to import.To Import From Your Hard-drive Navigate Your Directory StructureWith the release of Mac OS X 10.6.6 Apple introduced the Mac App Store and one of the gems on the Mac App store is Aperture. Normally Aperture would retail for $249AUD but it can now be purchase for $99AUD. This price reduction has seen a large number of users upgrade from Apples iPhoto to Aperture. And with due cause. iPhoto is a great little photo management application but it is no Aperture. If you are one of these people to import your iPhoto Library into Aperture simply go to File>Import>iPhoto Library. This will open the iPhoto import menu. It is similar to the menu we just went through, giving you a choice of where to store your images and name the images but it lacks the metadata, adjustment preset and backup location.
Aperture Also Allows You To Import From iPhotoOk now you have images in Aperture you can go and check out some of the great adjustments possible. But before I finish I mentioned a pro tip well actually I have 2 for you this time. First one is simple, if you are using a DSRL buy yourself a card reader. Attaching the camera via the USB cable is incredibly show, but if you Mac has a firewire port and all but one strange model of Macbook and all the Macbook Airs do have a firewire port then please please buy yourself a firewire card reader. The performance increase the Firewire card reader will give you over USB is huge. Which is good because they are not cheaper or easy to come by I found here http://www.ht.com.au/part/W0736-Lexar-Professional-UDMA-FireWire-800-Reader-card-reader-FireWire-800/detail.hts otherwise ebay and your pro camera shops will stock these.
The second tip is one that will stop some of the magic we just spoke about. By default whenever you plug in a camera device, that's a camera, card reader or iPhone Aperture will start up and ask you to import your images. There are going to be times when you do not want to import your images, you just want to charge or sync your iPhone, and dam Aperture keeps opening. You can stop this with your iPhone connected on your Mac go to Applications>Image Capture open image capture and on the left hand side down the bottom you will see the option of what to do when the iPhone is connected by default its set to open your default image application, for me that's Aperture for you it may be iPhoto. Just choose from that menu Do Nothing. From now on when you attach your phone Aperture or iPhoto will not open by default allowing you to simply charge or sync the phone.
So next time lets go over image handling
You can see more of my work at www.warnockimagery.com, you can read about my latest antics at www.warnockimagery.com/blog or friend me on facebook at www.facebook.com/warnockimagery
tagged Aperture, Apple, Image Editor, Image Manager, Import, iPhoto in Software
Aperture, Apple, Image Editor, Image Manager, Import, iPhoto in Software
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