Obviously, which path you take depends on a lot of factors, but I hope this post helps highlight some of the factors that might influence your decision.
Lightroom supports both Mac and a Windows.
If you are a Windows user, Aperture isn’t a choice since it is Mac-only. If facial recognition in important to you, then Aperture is the clear choice.
I did want to include it as a difference, though, because Aperture does this and Lightroom does not. This was a cool feature in iPhone and Aperture, but it wasn’t one that was a requirement in my workflow.
I also happen to have a good in with the guy that runs Lightroom Fanatic… Facial Recognition
Online or offline, free or paid, Adobe and Lightroom have an extensive network of resources available for every level of photographer, including Kelby TV and other outlets dedicated to the Adobe line of products. While Aperture does have a solid community of users and resources, nothing compares to the juggernaut that is Adobe. So is the extra money worth it for Lightroom over Aperture? That’s a personal decision, but obviously it was worth it for a lot of people, including myself. That might seem like a lot, especially when iPhoto might have come with your computer and other free tools being available, but anything under $200 for what these applications do is a bargain, in my opinion.
The other very noticeable place where Lightroom and Aperture differ is price, with the full version of Lightroom nearly double that of Aperture. However, if you’re used to the Adobe suite of products, including Photoshop, then Lightroom might be more intuitive. If you are an iPhoto user looking to move up, then Aperture might feel like a more natural transition. Lightroom and Aperture do a lot of the same things, but the user experience is different. Honestly, these tools are 80% the same, with the major differences highlighted below. Both tools provide support for plugins and presets, location / GPS / mapping, and limited video support. The 1st rule of scripting is to not talk about scripting…īoth tools are great and, fundamentally, they both do very similar things in very similar ways. Comparison OverviewĬamera native raw, PSD, PNG, DNG, TIFF, and JPEGĬamera native raw, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, PDF, DNG, PSD So which one should you choose? The short answer is: it depends. Lightroom works for me and for a lot of people, but it might not work for everyone. You might think that by running a website called Lightroom Fanatic that I would be recommending Lightroom to everyone. "Give Me A Place To Stand And I Will Move The Earth.Probably the most common question that gets asked about Adobe Lightroom is how it compares to Apple Aperture and “Which one should I choose?” What else is good w/ Aperture, what do you use it for? Why would you use it over Picasa? I know it's geared toward Togs, but how is it different? I know, I'm probably just don't get it at all lol.ī (Owner/Admin) | (Photo-Blog) | (Soon To Be My P.A.D.) It is looking like Aperture acts the same as iPhoto, and I am wondering if there is a way around this, or should I stick to Picasa on my Mac? This way I know where everything is, and there is only one copy of each photo (at least not duplicates).
It simply browses/links to the structure I already have. It's just how I operate, and I can't work otherwise. So then, either I have one copy of everything in a horrible sorting situation, or I have my own folders w/ pics in a logical structure, and then there is iPhoto's library, so I am taking twice the space. So first, is it better than Picasa? On of the things that I hate about iPhoto (and why I don't use it), is that it moves/copies the pictures that are imported to it's own library. What does it do exactly? Here are my observations after 2 minutes of use, and questions. Lightroom aside, since I know what it is, and haven't installed it yet, lets discuss Aperture.