Aperture Tutorials - Importing - Part 1

Aperture is a great pro tool for both professionals and amateurs for tweaking and organizing photographs. Having snagged a promo copy from Apple and fiddle about with it a lot, I am going to show you basic and advance tips to help you with getting the best out of Aperture. Having just been on a holiday I have lots of not so perfect photos to work with this would be a great to show you what to do. If you want to buy your copy of Aperture now is the best time. Apple have just lowered the prices. Click here to find out more.

This session is going to show you about importing photographs into Aperture and the sort of information you can add to make sure they are imported correct so you don't have to re add them at any time. For any of the image you can click on the image for a full size version.

To import pictures there are 2 basic ways, from the import button on the menu bar or from File > Import, you will then be give the options screen so you can import your photos.


The option screen all gives a lot of options it is pretty simple to navigate. On the left you have the import to option. You may need to click or create a new folder or project for you photos to go in.

The middle frame is the photos that you want to import, you can usually select a folder path from the top boxes, but I am importing them directly from an external backup drive. If you only want to select a couple of images you can use the command key to select the ones you want. By default by selecting any of the image they will all be imported.


As you can see the directional arrow shows the import path.


The left hand pane shows the import options for your photos. You can keep all the defaults if you want, although you have the option of changing file names, and the EXIF data.


One option that should be of note is the location of the photos, you can import them to a variety of locations, the files are moved upon import.


Finally you can click the import all or the import x, as you have selected in the photo thumbnail pane.


After importing the small swirling icon in the bottom of the window will move as the files are being imported, clicking on this will give you the current status of the import.


After everything is done your files will be imported and you are ready to work with them.


The next step (due either tomorrow or in 2 days time) will show you the basic overview of the features on the main screen. Over the course of time I will delve deeper and deeper into the program. You can find more on this topic by using this URL.
The next post after this is about the Aperture Interface.

Creating An Interesting Picture WaterMark

Nearly all websites on the internet water mark there image is some way so if it does get posted on another website people might go visit to check out the original source. But how do you create a watermark that is cool and of a modern internet style, yet still attracts attention but doesn't take the focus away from the image.
By simply create a semi transparent text this can be easily achieved within Photoshop. And this simple tutorial will show you how that can be done. All you need is Photoshop or a similar graphical editor and a good set of standard fonts or your personal preference. You can click any of the images for the full size versions.

Step 1)

Find you image that you want to watermark and open it in Photoshop. This is of a military aircraft from a recent air show.


Step 2)

Add you text. This can either be the name of your website (if its popular and is easy to find in search results) or you website address. I have chosen the later for another website of mine.


Step 3)

This is more of a personal preference of mine but change the text size shape and space to one that suits your needs. The character palette in Photoshop is excellent at doing this.


Step 4)

Once as you have the style of the text that you want it is time to add some colour. Personally I would stick with grey as that seems to complement the style nicely.


I've picked a darker colour (although I have changed this to a slightly lighter colour in later renditions)


Step 5)

One of the defining parts of any water mark is where is it placed. Stuck in the middle or at the bottom looks boring an normal. Try placing it on one of the edges. Experiment to pick a style that looks best.


Step 6)

Play about with the opacity of the layer. Changing this can really change what the water mark looks like and how it works with your image. Again experiment with opacity and layers blending to find a style that works for you.


Not bad for 5 minutes work. Creating a script like that can be easily done to add the water mark to any image. All is needed is some repositioning.