[quote author=Paul Perreault
I'm a bit surprised there aren't more DAM solutions out there on par with Aperture. Anyone who claims LR is that tool doesn't know what they are missing
Paul and Bob hit on something that mystifies me as well. Aperture invented the integrated the non destructive DAM / Converter / Editor /Print workflow App which was a brilliant invention. It's analog like workflow (Inviolet Masters = negatives, Versions =print recipe (s) Projects = Job Jacket etc. It made perfect sense to me.
So Like Bob, I learned my approach from Aperture. Apple announced it with great fanfare, and then dragged their feet ever since.
V1 was roundly criticized of the Managed library only design , It was modified to allow Referenced Libraries. I for one think the managed library approach is brilliant.
I keep a main library for personal work, and annual libraries for commercial work, and never lose anything. I love it
It mystifies me also that no one else has offered anything similar as a front end.
My daughter uses lightroom I use Aperture. I own lightroom and have had to use it several times when Aperture became unusable during certain version upgrades.
I really hate using it. I realize it is partly that I learned Aperture first, because many more folks use lightroom than Aperture.
I've upgraded Lightroom continually and have purchased v5.5 but pointing lightroom to a catalog you have to design and maintain yourself seems like a huge step backwards. As does the the module system.
So I'm going forward with Aperture, Lightroom and Capture 1 and waiting to see what Apple does with Photos though it is doubtful that Apple would have felt it necessary to announce a cesation of development of Aperture if their intent was to duplicate all of it's functionality in Photos.
I wish they would sell the Aperture DAM to Capture1 and we might have something.