Aperture 2.0? Need advice from the BB photographers

[breadmama]

I'm wondering if this is a good investment for our family. I use a Canon SD 800 - and DH uses a Nikon DSLR. We love taking pictures, and iPhoto is working well for us for editing...but I feel like we might be ready to make the leap to Aperture.

I also found a better price on Amazon than the Apple site...

Two main questions:

How does Aperture help manage many thousands of photos better than iPhoto?

Does it have a wide range of options for the advanced-beginner user to the expert? Because I'd definitely be at the advanced beginner stage when it comes to editing.

Thanks for any insights...

[Terri_A]

Aperature is a big investment if I remember correctly. It does a LOT - more than my amateur self will ever need, so I use Photoshop Elements for Mac. It stil does more than I need, but costs significantly less, so you may want to look into it as well.

Good luck!

[Hammster]

After a bit of Googling and reading some reviews, it seems there are some interesting "workflow" recommendations.
Aperture seems to be very good at image management so it is highly recommended for that. But then there seem to be some real variation in what software to use next. Some think that Aperture is sufficient and others think iPhoto is better and most say to use Photoshop in addition to Aperture. They all do seem to agree on Aperture's excellent image management tools.
I'm only reporting on what I've read as I have no experience with Aperture or iPhoto. I have used Photoshop Elements and find it very cumbersome with a steep learning curve. I imagine Photoshop is even harder to learn, especially from a beginner's standpoint.
It seems the price for Aperture 2.0 is less expensive than earlier versions of Aperture. So, they are reducing price which is always a good thing.
You might want to go here and download the 30 trial version and give it a test drive.

I don't know if it's available for Mac computers, but GIMP is a free image editor that is nearly as powerful as Photoshop and seems easier to learn. Just do a Google search for GIMP and you will find a link to it.

[breadmama]

I think I will check out the tutorials - and give the 30 day trial period a go. I didn't realize that was a possibility.

I don't want to do this unless it will be truly beneficial - and not overwhelming. I guess I need some more convincing before we jump in.

Thanks!

[Laura B]

I use Aperture, and I LOVE it! It allows you to go a lot deeper with your organization than iPhoto does and has WAY more sophisticated editing capabilities. If you need to do hard-core stuff with masks and layers, you will also want Photoshop, but if you are not that into photo editing then I think you will find that you can do all of the color adjustments and basic retouching you need right in Aperture.

If you get it, you should also get the Apple Training book on Aperture and work through it to learn all the bells and whistles.

If you have any questions, I am happy to try to answer!

[leightx]

I am completely clueless about Aperture, but just thought I throw out a suggestion to look into Adobe Lightroom - fantastic editing and organizational capabilities, and it's really user friendly...