New Features in Aperture 3

Aperture 3 features over 200 new features, so I’m not going to go crazy here trying to list them all. Here are the ones I view as most important to the average-Joe photographer.

• the faces and places functions from iPhoto
• adjustment presets
• non-destructive brushes with edge detection
• chromatic aberration filter
• full-screen browser
• curves tool – YES!
• skin smoothing – Chase Jarvis loves this
• camera focus points
• improved search, including photo usage, place, face, label, etc.
• enhanced web publishing for Facebook, Flickr, etc. built in
• ability to apply presents on import
• video and audio support
• 64-bit support
• enhanced RAW support, even for brand-new cameras like the Nikon D3s (but no Panasonic GF1?)
• better image quality on RAW conversions
• same low price as Aperture 2!

Now Aperture 3 doesn’t have everything. For instance, I would have loved a lens distortion filter for the rare occasion when I use my Canon kit lens.

But overall, Aperture 3 extends the awesomeness of Aperture 2 pretty damn well. Frankly, I’m not sure I ever want Photoshop, because I’m not into heavy pixel-level editing, composites, or anything like that. I also hate the whole ordeal of managing multiple version of the same photo in different files.

Find the lowest price for Aperture 3.