Apple’s Aperture Raw processing and editing application is a fantastic tool for managing a library of photographs taken with a DSLR. But one of the best things about recent versions is their support for plug-ins.
Here are five of our favourites:
Nik Viveza 2
Price €200
Contact niksoftware.com
Before Aperture 3, the only way to apply adjustments, such as Levels, to an image was to apply them globally. Aperture 3’s brush on adjustments remedy that, but Viveza provides another solution. It uses ‘U-point’ technology to allow you to create control points in images and apply adjustments to those points. The control point holds both the selection parameter data and the adjustments and tuning is performed using sliders for things like brightness, contrast, saturation, and now in version 2, Levels. Also new in version 2 are global controls, shadow recovery, and structure control for fine detail and texture enhancements.
Edit 2.1
Price £203
Contact humansoftware.com
Edit 2.1 has 18 different modules, allowing you to apply 5,000 different effects. You can combine modules and apply them to a single image, or a group of images. Effects include HyperFocal, which can improve sharpness of the whole image or of a local area; an image re-sizing algorithm; Depth of field, to allow you to simulate the depth of field effect of a wide-aperture lens; and a colour filter tool with brightness, contrast, and detail adjustment.
ToonIT
Price $129
Contact digitalanarchy.com
ToonIt allows you to turn your Aperture images into a cartoon in one of a number of styles. Whether you want to create a graphic novel from a series of images, or turn that family portrait into a pen and ink drawing, there’s a preset in ToonIt for the job. As always with this type of effect, the results you achieve very much depend on what you put in. To get the best from it, you need to choose your image carefully and experiment with tweaking the settings to get the result you want.
Hydra 2.3
Price $79.95
Contact creaceed.com
Hydra can be used as a standalone application or as a plug-in for Aperture or Lightroom. Use it with Aperture and you can create HDR images within that application. The process is straightforward, select the images to be used, align them and then either allow Hydra to merge them automatically or fine tune the process using Hydra’s controls. With that done, choose Tone Mapping and adjust the settings until the image looks the way you want it to.
Nik Silver Efex Pro
Price €200
Contact niksoftware.com
This clever plug-in does a great job of simulating the look of your favourite black and white film. You just choose your favourite from the drop-down menu and then fine-tune the results until your photo looks exactly the way you imagined it. You can recover lost detail using Shadow and Highlights sliders, and add control points in the same way as Viveza.
If you can’t find the film type your looking for, you can build your own profile by mixing film types. Grain levels, and filters to get the look you’re after.
