Work flow with Aperture. How do you do it?

scottcolbath · May 17, 2010

Being completely new to the world of Aperture and my iMac, I'm sort of learning as I go. I love the import/export methods in Aperture and the idea of never actually messing with the original version of a picture. Good stuff for sure.

So, how do you guys get it done? Import, edit, export, upload to a photo hosting website.

I'm just curious.

Currently, I import the pics, edit, export to the documents folder on the dock, and then drag and drop them into a Smugmug upload window. I do this one at a time, that way I can work on another picture while one is uploading.

What about that Aperture plug-in on Smugmug? I can't seem to find any documentation about it on Smugmug. Do you use it? What are the benefits?

S.C.

ssklar · May 17, 2010

Though I tweak my workflow every once in a while, I usually do this (after shooting a youth baseball game, usually 300-500 RAW files on one or two cards.)

- Import the images from the cards (using a card reader) directly into a new Project in Aperture.
- Update my two Aperture vaults to ensure good backups, then erase the cards with the camera.
- Go through the shoot the first time, doing what I call the "fives and nines" (marking the obvious winner shots with 5-stars, and marking the obvious rejects, with the 9-key)
- Auto-stack what remains @ 10-seconds, so I get my "machine-gun sequences" grouped together.
- Go through the project again, applying my edits to the final "winning" shots (usually about 50% of what's left, 75-150 images.)
- Create a smart album for the project named "edits", with the rule "Adjustments are applied."
- Select all, export via SmuginForAperture, to a new SmugMug album.
- Profit! (ok, well, not as much as I'd like to.)

About once a month, I go through my Rejected album, make sure I didn't accidentally whack something useful, then move the rest to the Trash, and then empty the trash. The next time I update my vaults, the deleted images are moved to a separate folder in the Vault drive. When the vault disk gets low on space, I delete that folder.

-- Sandy

scottcolbath · May 17, 2010

ssklar wrote: »

Though I tweak my workflow every once in a while, I usually do this (after shooting a youth baseball game, usually 300-500 RAW files on one or two cards.)

- Import the images from the cards (using a card reader) directly into a new Project in Aperture.
- Update my two Aperture vaults to ensure good backups, then erase the cards with the camera.
- Go through the shoot the first time, doing what I call the "fives and nines" (marking the obvious winner shots with 5-stars, and marking the obvious rejects, with the 9-key)
- Auto-stack what remains @ 10-seconds, so I get my "machine-gun sequences" grouped together.
- Go through the project again, applying my edits to the final "winning" shots (usually about 50% of what's left, 75-150 images.)
- Create a smart album for the project named "edits", with the rule "Adjustments are applied."
- Select all, export via SmuginForAperture, to a new SmugMug album.
- Profit! (ok, well, not as much as I'd like to.)

About once a month, I go through my Rejected album, make sure I didn't accidentally whack something useful, then move the rest to the Trash, and then empty the trash. The next time I update my vaults, the deleted images are moved to a separate folder in the Vault drive. When the vault disk gets low on space, I delete that folder.

-- Sandy

Very nice, Sandy. I've got some learning to do.

S.C.

ssklar · May 17, 2010

Well, I've been suffering with Aperture since 1.0 came out, and I committed myself to using it, so I've had some time to get this workflow semi-streamlined. That said, two additional points:

- Aperture 3 (the latest point revision) has fixed 90% of my whines, gripes and complaints about the program
- Even Ap3 is much "slower" then it should be, given what it does, on my current hardware (MBP 2.4GHz, 4 GB RAM) I've got the newest MBP on order, with 8 GB of RAM (and the "best" video card option), and I'm hoping that improves the overall responsiveness. Its unfortunate that Photoshop CS3 flies through the screen rendering and destructive edits applied to images that Aperture can take sometimes 2, 3, or more seconds just to render the image on screen, with the same hardware. I understand that there is more complexity in what Aperture does, but I think things could be better.

Good luck, and if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask!

-- Sandy

scottcolbath · May 17, 2010

ssklar wrote: »

Good luck, and if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask!

The only real question would be, "Where do I start?", so I went out at lunch and picked up the Aperture3 Mac pro training book at Barnes and Noble. I'll start reading that and get a feel for things, then start asking real questions.

Thanks for the replies.

S.C.

carmel6942 · May 17, 2010

scottcolbath wrote: »

B
What about that Aperture plug-in on Smugmug? I can't seem to find any documentation about it on Smugmug. Do you use it? What are the benefits?
S.C.

Here is the Link for SmuginForAperture. The biggest benefit is that you can export any picture in your Aperture Library by right clicking and selecting export then select smuginforaperture. A window opens you choose your gallery fill in keywords and captions then click export. You can do one picture or many pictures. Quick and easy.

redleash · May 19, 2010

Ditto on the SmugMug Aperture plugin--I use it all the time and it works great!

I just picked up Aperture 3.0 last night and am anxious to put it to work. Looking at it at the store, I can see what ssklar says about it fixing his gripes--it's got some new features that will really help. BTW, ssklar gave us a good rundown on the Aperture workflow. I'm trying to tweak mine also and this will help, so thanks ssklar!

Lauren

mercphoto · May 19, 2010

I'm still on Aperture 2.

But I don't expect my workflow to change drastically when I move to 3. Here's what I normally do after a day at the race track. I will normally have roughly 1700-1900 shots to go through from about 12 different track sessions of 4 to 5 different groups of cars.

1) Import all images into a brand new project. Upon import I have it assign certain meta data, mostly copyright, contact info. I also have it rename the master files upon import. I use a YYYYMMDD_###.

2) I then apply a basic set of edits to every image. Something that I know from experience will improve each shot and get me pretty close to the final result.

By now its late, I go to sleep while Aperture churns away.

3) Update my vault.

4) Go through each image. Reject the truly bad shots. Assign stars 3, 4 or 5 to the keepers. Three stars are good enough to sell. 4 stars stand out. 5 stars need to be truly stellar. Keyword as I go. Make any edit adjustments as necessary.

5) Update vault again.

6) Time to upload. While I can FTP directly from Aperture to Exposure Manager I usually find it better to export the JPG's first, and then use Transmit to FTP from the folder to Exposure Manager. At this point I'm still uploading full sized JPG's but I intend to upload small previews only next event.

Notes on this. One, I need a second vault. Two, I need to find a way to streamline my keywording process. Three, if I were to actually upload previews only I could save the "make any edit adjustments" phase of step 4 above, and instead make the final edits upon purchase. And lastly, I need to stop taking so many photos at these events.

Snowgirl · May 19, 2010

redleash wrote: »

Ditto on the SmugMug Aperture plugin--I use it all the time and it works great!

I just picked up Aperture 3.0 last night and am anxious to put it to work. Looking at it at the store, I can see what ssklar says about it fixing his gripes--it's got some new features that will really help. BTW, ssklar gave us a good rundown on the Aperture workflow. I'm trying to tweak mine also and this will help, so thanks ssklar!

Lauren

You'll love it. I got Ap. 3 a while ago and am totally in love. I really only go into Photoshop now for very special effects and usually only on portraits or if I'm doing collages.:ivar

Work flow with Aperture. How do you do it?

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