I know that version 1.5 makes a lot about its compatibility with iLife, but I need to know what is the best workflow for an Aperture/iPhoto combo. Has anybody ditched iPhoto completely, or is there a way to work with both? Also, if there is a Photoshop intervention (i.e. remove blemishes or dust), where would that fit in the workflow?
Thanks! I'm sure I'm not the only one with these existentialist questions...
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My workflow goes like this:
I shoot raw (Canon 300D).
Once "home", I plug my CF card into the reader, which brings up Aperture. I copy all the photos over into Aperture in a new project (which seems heavy-weight; some day I'll look into a lighter-weight way to do that).
First pass in Aperture I reject at least 75% of the shots for focus or missed subject reasons, and mark up any obvious winners.
Second pass I do all color correction, cropping, red-eye, etc.
Once I'm reasonably happy with everything, I take the keepers (25% kept in first pass minus any I decided I couldn't work with in the second pass) and drag into iPhoto. Dragging into iPhoto does a JPEG export of the latest version of each.
Before quitting out of Aperture, I select the rejects and delete them. Yes, I know, it hurts. But, still, I'd rather keep my permanent collection slimmer.
In iPhoto, I then re-rate the newly imported photos (NOTHING copies over from metadata from Aperture!), apply keywords (who is in the picture, which sport, holiday, etc), and organize.
iPhoto is my display library. It's got some nice slideshow options, some really nice sharing options, and it integrates well with the rest of the system.
Granted, Aperture integrates better with the rest of iLife now, but still, not very well. Instead, Aperture is my library of record. If I notice a flaw in the picture a few days later, or want to bring out the shadows a little more, or make a wholly new take on it, whatever: I go right into Aperture to do it.
A word about Aperture and iLife: it's still nowhere near integrated. If they could get iPhoto to read directly from Aperture, not as an import process but as another source for iPhoto, I'd be in paradise. Even if they could just get the Aperture->iPhoto import process to preserve keywords, ratings, comments, etc ... hell, I'd love that too!
But, today, for all the hype, the Aperture-iLife "integration" is hardly anything to write home about. IMHO.