When Aperture was first released in 2005, it was meant to make it easier to work with RAW images. It seemed to be a first of its kind because there really was not another photo editing software that did what Aperture did and the price reflected that. When it first came out it cost about $500 to download the app. It could be argued that the price was reasonable at the time because there was not a lot of competition, except for Adobe Lightroom which came out about a year after Aperture and did about the same functions. Lightroom proved Aperture did not have to be so costly. Now with many other substitutions available, $500 is definitely not the ideal price. It did eventually get dropped to about $80, but today you can still do better than that. Aperture was very efficient, but not as efficient as promised. Around 2014, the progress and responsiveness of the Aperture team began to deteriorate. Apple announced in April of 2019 that the newest macOS would not support Aperture and that Photos would serve as a replacement for Aperture. Aperture fans were, to say the least, dismayed. Here are some options for Apple Aperture alternatives and replacements.
Apple Photos
Many who are looking for a replacement for Aperture would typically turn to Apple Photos because it is what Apple is promoting to be the main replacement since they discontinued Aperture. It has a lot of the same features that Aperture had including filters, crop, adjust, retouch, rotate and enhance, but is still missing some that Aperture provided. It is able to store your photos on iCloud and let you edit them from any Apple device, which is convenient. Apple Photos is a very useful application, however, there are some flaws that may affect the photos you are editing. The metadata will not transfer over properly from one app to the other and it does not point out the shadows and highlights the way the Aperture did. A big flaw is not being able to do all your work in one window and seeing your progress in one screen. Overall, it is a good replacement, but it is not the best one.
- Pros: Similar features, edit from any Apple device
- Cons: Metadata may not transfer properly, difficult workspace, no local adjustments
- How to get: bundled in every iOS or MacOS device
Capture One
Another smart replacement for Aperture would be Capture One. It is a competent application that works well when processing RAW images. It is organized in a way that makes it easy to manage images. It looks complex, but as you use the app more often the layout changes to emphasize the tools you use the most which are very helpful when editing. As a tool designed for high-end professional photographers, it has an excellent “tethering” feature which is super helpful while editing. However, Capture One is not the software for you if you are a novice in photo editing. The app can be confusing and hard to use if you are just getting into editing your photos. It is definitely for more advanced users and you can see that through the price. You can either buy a subscription for $20 a month or buy the latest software for $299. There is a lack of cloud based storage and you may need to download other software and editors for the app to fully work. So, if you are just starting out with photo editing, Capture One can be a bit tricky to handle.
- Pros: Advanced features that pick up on what tools you use the most and will move those tools to the top of the list
- Cons: Expensive, complicated, lack of cloud storage, limited local adjustments
- How to get: click here for download
Picktorial
Even though Aperture was a one of a kind application when it first came out, it was soon noticeable to customers that the app did not do everything they were promised. It is still a very efficient program, but now many customers need to find a new better replacement- and in that regard, Pictorial is ideal. Built from the ground up as an Apple Aperture replacement - and improvement - It does everything Apple’s app could do in an efficient and effective manner, while the team is responsive to customers’ questions and including several features that are easy to use. The features include the patch tool, adjustments brush, highlights and shadows, and skin smoothing. It also has a very smooth workflow with photo organization, batch editing, Non-destructive photo editing (for RAW and JPEG images), and a live histogram of the image. The RAW features include 500+ supported cameras and custom presets. It is also super accessible and everything can easily be done in one window making it so you can see your progress while editing. Picktorial has learned from previous mistakes of other photo editing software to make sure that it has all the necessary tools needed for customers to make their photos look amazing and not to mention a free download or premium download at the very reasonable price of $4.99/mo.
- Pros: Responsive, continual updates to the app, easy to use, excellent features, one window workspace, inexpensive
- Cons: No panorama merge
- How to get: click here for download , free download or $4.99/mo for Premium