• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Downloads
    • Adobe Photography Plans
    • Capture One
    • DxO PhotoLab
    • DxO Nik Collection
    • Exposure X
    • ON1 Photo RAW
    • Skylum Luminar
    • Aurora HDR
  • Editing A-Z
  • About

Life after Photoshop

  • Lightroom
  • Capture One
  • DxO PhotoLab
  • Nik Collection
  • Exposure X
  • ON1 Photo RAW
  • Aurora HDR

Aperture users: 3 ways Lightroom could drive you mad!

January 15, 2014 by Rod Lawton

Aperture users are bound to take a sneaky peek over the garden fence from time to time at its chief rival, Lightroom. Lightroom has some great editing tools and every release brings more. If only Aperture had automatic lens corrections, a Graduated Filter tool, Radial Filter, the perspective-correcting Upright tool and all the rest!

  • Lightroom CC review
  • Lightroom Classic review
  • More Lightroom articles
  • How to get Lightroom CC/Adobe Photography Plans

By comparison, Aperture can feel like it’s stuck in some kind of development backwater.

But fancy editing tools are only half the story. These two programs have another, equally important job. Actually, I’m going to say it’s more important. They also have to catalog your ever-growing collection of images quickly and efficiently and yet still give you the flexibility you need to browse, search and organise your images in a way which suits you.

It’s not exciting, it’s not sexy, but this cataloguing and organising process is central to everything you do. Nobody pays it any attention, but it’s the thing that matters most, and here’s what I think:

Aperture got this right first time, and Lightroom has never caught up nor even shown any real sign of understanding the issues.

I think this is a crucial facet of the Aperture vs Lightroom debate.

Madness trigger #01: Projects versus folders

Aperture uses ‘projects’ as its primary container for images in your library. These may initially correspond to the folders on your hard disk, but they don’t have to. You can organise your projects into an entirely new structure without affecting your external folder structure.

In other works, you can organise your pictures how you like in Aperture, but if other programs need to access them on your computer, they’re still in the same place they always were.

Lightroom works directly with folders on your computer. These are its ‘primary containers’. It’s a simpler approach that has advantages – it’s easy to grasp what’s happening and you can move files and folders physically on your computer from within Lightroom.

But while the Lightroom approach might seem obvious, it brings an intrinsic limitation that affects the ways in which you can organise and browse your images…

Madness trigger #02: Albums versus Collections

In Aperture, projects are ‘exclusive’, like folders. A photo can only be in one project or another – it can’t be in two places at once. That’s why you you need albums, which I’ll call ‘inclusive’. You can add the same picture to as many different albums as you like.

Now here’s the key thing about Aperture – you can create albums within projects. Let’s say you come back from a full-day’s shooting or a vacation with hundreds of images of different subjects. What could be more natural than creating an album within the project for each subject?

Or maybe you decide some would look good in black and white, or some need a ‘toy camera’ effect? You might want to split those off into separate albums too.

Aperture albums vs Lightroom collections
Aperture can create albums within projects, but Lightroom insists on separating folders and collections completely.

Lightroom can’t do this. It can create albums (called ‘collections’ in Lightroom), but they’re managed in a completely separate way to folders, in a completely separate panel. You can’t add an album to a folder.

I’d like to know how Lightroom users cope with this. I’ve been using Lightroom ever since it was launched, so I’m no novice – and yet I’ve never been satisfied with this separation between folders and collections. I can’t find a way to organise my images that doesn’t mean working with two separate but parallel filing systems.

My instinct is to work with folders, but I’m more or less forced into using collections because the Folders panel is visible only within the Library module – everywhere else, only the Collections panel is visible.

Even this wouldn’t be so bad if only Lightroom’s stacking system was consistent…

Madness trigger #03: Aperture stacking versus Lightroom stacking

Stacking is a great invention. It means that related images are grouped together, so that every shot in a continuous sequence can be grouped as a stack, for example, and edited images can be stacked with the originals.

Aperture and Lightroom both do stacking, but not in the same way.

In Aperture, when images are stacked, they’re stacked EVERYWHERE. If you stack a couple of images in a project, they’re also stacked in every album, smart album or light table they appear in.

What’s more, you can choose different stack ‘picks’ for different albums – so if you have an album of black and white shots, you can make the black and white image in the stack the ‘pick’ that’s displayed when the stack is collapsed. Brilliant.

Aperture stacking
We’re in an Aperture project and I’ve stacked two versions of a picture of an Antonov AN-2 biplane. One is the original, one is an edited version and they belong together.
Aperture stacking
In this project is an album containing the two Antonov pictures. Because I’ve grouped them in the main project, they’re grouped in the album too.
Aperture stacking
If I do a global search for “antonov”, these two pictures appear in the search results, and they’re stacked together here too.
Aperture stacking
If I create a new album for ‘Lo-fi effects’ and drag only the edited image into it, the original version still comes with it. Because I only dragged the edited version, though, it becomes the new stack ‘pick’ for this album – note the ‘tick’ badge at the top of the thumbnail.

But in Lightroom, stacking is context sensitive. You can stack images in a folder, but that doesn’t stack them in the collections they appear in. You can stack images in one collection, but they won’t be stacked in another. And smart collections don’t support stacking at all.

Lightroom stacking
I can select my two Antonov pictures in their folder and stack them together.
Lightroom stacking
So what happens if I select one of these stacked images and create a new collection?
Lightroom stacking
When I add this stacked picture to a new collection, the one it’s stacked with is left behind. In fact in this collection there’s no indication it’s stacked with anything.
Lightroom stacking
Even if I copy both stacked images to a new collection, they are unstacked when they get there. I can stack them again manually, but the same thing is going to keep on happening when they’re copied to other collections.

Lightroom’s ‘localised’ stacking is a real headache – it’s often very important to know if an image is stacked with another, but where Aperture will always show you, Lightroom will often give you no clue.

We all work differently

I’m sure there will be a lot of Lightroom users out there who find it perfect for their needs. I’m not trying convince any Lightroom fans they’re using the wrong software. If I could make it work for me, I’d probably swap tomorrow.

But I can’t. I’ve got used to the way Aperture works and the things it can do, and I can’t go back.

So if you’re currently using Aperture, and wondering whether the grass is greener on the other side, be careful. It’s easy to be beguiled by Lightroom’s sexy image-enhancement tools, but it’s the organisational tools you need to pay attention to, because they may not offer the features you currently take for granted in Aperture.

See also

  • Aperture 3.5.1 review
  • Lightroom 5.3 review

Related

Filed Under: Lightroom, Tutorials Tagged With: Apple Aperture, Lightroom, Organising

Primary Sidebar

Get the Adobe Photography Plan

Reviews

The best image-editing software: what to look for, where to find out more

November 2, 2020

DxO PhotoLab 4 review

November 2, 2020

Exposure X6 review

October 9, 2020

More reviews

  • Lightroom CC review (2020)
  • Lightroom Classic review
  • DxO PhotoLab vs Lightroom vs Capture One – which is best for RAW files?
  • Best image cataloguing software: tools to keep your images organised
  • Skylum Luminar 4.3 review
  • ON1 Photo RAW 2020.5 review
  • ON1 360 review
  • Analog Efex Pro 2 review
  • Perspective Efex review
  • DxO Nik Collection 3 review
  • Exposure X5 review
  • Capture One 20 review

Contact

Email lifeafterphotoshop@gmail.com

Life after Photoshop A-Z

A

  • Aberrations
  • Accent-AI filter (Skylum)
  • ACROS (Fujifilm)
  • Adjustment brush
  • ... more
  • Adjustment layer
  • Adobe Bridge
  • Adobe Camera Raw
  • Adobe RGB
  • Affinity Photo
  • AI (artificial intelligence)
  • Album
  • Alien Skin Exposure X
  • Analog
  • Analog Efex Pro
  • Apple Aperture
  • Apple Photos
  • Aspect ratio
  • As shot (white balance)
  • Astia
  • Augmented Sky
  • Aurora HDR
  • Auto white balance
  • Axial chromatic aberration

B

  • Barrel distortion
  • Batch processing
  • Bits and bit depth
  • Black and white
  • ... more
  • Black and white filters
  • Blend modes
  • Bokeh
  • Borders and frames
  • Boundary Warp (Lightroom)
  • Bracketing
  • Brush
  • Burn Edges (Silver Efex Pro)

C

  • C4K video
  • Camera calibration
  • Camera Kit (Analog Efex Pro)
  • Capture One
  • ... more
  • Cataloguing software
  • Channel
  • Chromatic aberration
  • Clarity
  • Clipping
  • Cloud storage
  • CMYK
  • Collection
  • Color adjustment
  • Color cast
  • Color Efex Pro
  • Color fringing
  • Color labels
  • Color management
  • Color model
  • Color noise
  • Color space
  • Color temperature
  • Composition
  • Constrain Crop
  • Contrast
  • Contrast filter
  • Control Point
  • Corner shading
  • Creative Cloud (Adobe)
  • Cropping
  • Cross Processing
  • Culling images
  • Curves

D

  • Darks
  • Dehaze
  • Depth of field
  • Detail Extractor
  • ... more
  • Dfine
  • Diffraction
  • Distortion
  • Distortion correction
  • Dodging and burning
  • Dropbox
  • DxO FilmPack
  • DxO Optics Pro
  • DxO PhotoLab
  • DxO ViewPoint
  • Dynamic range

E

  • Effects
  • Export
  • Exposure latitude
  • Exposure value (EV)
  • ... more
  • Exposure X

F

  • Film simulation
  • Folders
  • Frame rate
  • Full HD

G

  • Gamut
  • Geometry (Lightroom)
  • Golden hour
  • Gradient mask
  • ... more
  • Graduated filters
  • Grain
  • Guided Upright (Lightroom)

H

  • HDR
  • HDR Efex Pro
  • HD video
  • Highlight recovery
  • ... more
  • Highlights
  • Histogram
  • History
  • HSL adjustments
  • Hue/Saturation

I

  • Import
  • Instagram
  • ISO

J

  • JPEG
  • JPEG vs RAW

K

  • Keywords

L

  • Lab mode
  • Laowa 9mm f2.8
  • Lateral chromatic aberration
  • Layers
  • ... more
  • Lens corrections
  • Lens profile
  • Levels
  • Light leak
  • Lightroom
  • Lightroom CC
  • Lightroom Mobile
  • Lightroom web
  • Lights
  • Linear gradient
  • Loawa 9mm f/2.8
  • Local adjustments
  • Loupe
  • Luma curve
  • Luminance (contrast) noise
  • Luminar
  • Lutify.me
  • LUTs

M

  • MacPhun Creative Kit
  • Masks
  • Metadata
  • Microcontrast (DxO)
  • ... more
  • Miniature effect
  • Mobile photography
  • Monitor calibration
  • Moonlight

N

  • Nik Collection
  • Noir
  • Noise
  • Noise reduction
  • ... more
  • Non-destructive editing

O

  • Old Photo (Color Efex Pro)
  • ON1 360
  • ON1 Perfect Suite
  • ON1 Photo RAW
  • ... more
  • Organising
  • Orton Effect
  • Overlays

P

  • Panoramas
  • Parametric curves
  • Perspective correction
  • Perspective Efex
  • ... more
  • PhotoDirector
  • Photography Plan (Adobe)
  • Photoshop
  • Photoshop Elements
  • Picktorial
  • Picture Control/Style
  • Pincushion distortion
  • Pixelmator
  • Plug-ins
  • Point curve
  • Polarising filter
  • Post crop or pre crop vignette
  • Presets
  • Printer profile
  • Print sizes
  • Profiles
  • Provia

Q

  • Quick fixes

R

  • Radial filter
  • Radial gradient
  • Radial mask
  • Ratings
  • ... more
  • RAW+JPEG
  • RAW file
  • RAW processing
  • Recipes (Color Efex Pro)
  • Repair tool (DxO)
  • Replace Color
  • Retouching
  • RGB

S

  • S-shaped curve
  • Saturation
  • Selection
  • Selective colour
  • ... more
  • Selective Tone (DxO)
  • Sensei (Adobe)
  • Sensor size
  • Shadow recovery
  • Shadows
  • Sharpener Pro
  • Sharpening
  • Sidecar file
  • Signal to noise ratio
  • Silver Efex Pro
  • Skylum
  • Slow motion
  • Smart Album or Collection
  • Smart Object
  • Smart Preview (Lightroom)
  • SmugMug
  • Snapseed
  • Snapshot (editing)
  • Soft focus
  • Solarisation
  • Sony A7R II
  • Sony A6000
  • Split toning
  • Spot removal
  • sRGB
  • Straighten
  • Structure
  • Sunlight filter (Color Efex Pro)

T

  • Targeted adjustment
  • Temperature (white balance)
  • Textures
  • TIFF format
  • ... more
  • Tilt shift
  • Timelapse
  • Tint (white balance)
  • Tone curve
  • Toning
  • Topaz Labs
  • Transform

U

  • Upright tool (Lightroom)

V

  • Variants (Capture One Pro)
  • Velvia
  • Versions (Lightroom)
  • Vibrance
  • ... more
  • Video
  • Vignette
  • Vignetting
  • Virtual Copy (Lightroom)
  • Viveza
  • Volume deformation or anamorphosis

W

  • Warmth
  • Watermark
  • White balance
  • White balance presets
  • ... more
  • Working space

X

  • X-Trans sensor

Z

  • Zone System

0-9

  • 4K UHD
  • 4K video
  • 8-bit image
  • 1:1 ratio
  • ... more
  • 14-bit RAW
  • 16-bit image
  • 3:2 ratio
  • 4:3 ratio
  • 16:9

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OK