This week I received an email from Apple, as did many other users, regarding its decision to stop supporting Aperture. Over the last year one of the big changes in the photography world has been the abrupt call by Apple to drop its support of Aperture. The reliance has instead been put onto ‘Photos’ for storage and editing needs. This is Apple’s attempt to keep the images captured from iPads and iPhones stored in the same way across all devices. This could be very beneficial for many users as you can access the photos you just took on your iPhone straight away on your Mac, edit and then share.
However for the professional and amateur photographer there are very few tools to use in the ‘Photos’ app which means another substitute is needed to fill this gap. Fortunately Adobe has a fantastic range of products, as well as the well-known Photoshop, for importing, sorting and editing photos, they also have ‘Lightroom’.
Aperture and Lightroom logos
Switching to Lightroom
I have decided to switch to Lightroom as it has been recommended to me for quite a while now due to its far greater user options, especially for RAW pictures. There are three problems that I see with this switch, firstly the price, secondly learning a new program and finally transferring my photos over to the new platform.
The Waste and Expense
Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about the price, it will be expensive and I will have to pay for it. It is a shame though after paying for Aperture that there are no refunds or vouchers to another app as it is now obsolete. There are two different ways to get Lightroom, either through a monthly subscription, which also includes online extras and storage, or to buy the program outright. I am opting for the latter, as I would rather pay one lump sum rather than continually paying.
Layout comparison
As shown from the screen shots above the two programs differ a lot and it is going to take quite a while to learn how everything works and where the tools are! A great series I found is by Anthony Morganti on YouTube that gives a good training tutorial for Lightroom.
In terms of transferring my Aperture photos over to Lightroom, I haven’t decided whether or not I am going to do this fully as many of mine are backed up on separate hard drives etc. However if I do, and I will move a couple albums over for testing, I will use a program from apertureexporter.com. It is well known to work well and has been recommended to me by several friends.
The questions still remain, why is Apple pulling away from their strong background in providing industry standard programs such as Final Cut Pro and Aperture? Will Final Cut Pro be next in line for the chopping block? Apple will then be relying on other companies such as Adobe to produce programs that match up with the technology they produce, or will the Mac Pro be a thing of the past as Apple leaves the pro market?
It would be great to hear your thoughts on Apple’s decision and how you are coping with the switch! Thanks