Apple has updated its prosumer photo editing/management software Aperture, bringing it to version 3.4.2. The company has also released a new version of iPhoto, version 9.4.2. Both updates are available via the Mac App Store or Software Update.
What's New in Aperture 3.4.2
• Photos received via My Photo Stream or shared streams can now be added directly to other shared streams
• Multiple email addresses can now be copied and pasted in the "Shared with" field for shared streams
• When more than five subscribers "Like" a photo in a shared stream, all their names are now displayed correctly
• The Info panel for a shared stream now includes an Unsubscribe button
• The status line in the toolstrip now displays the number of new photos added to a shared stream
• Faces are now properly detected on photos imported into a library from a shared stream
• Adjusted photos added to shared streams are now published with EXIF metadata properly preserved
• Addresses the reliability of Shared Photo Streams when switching between iPhoto and Aperture with the same library
• Custom keyboard shortcuts are now properly preserved when upgrading from earlier versions of Aperture
• Double-clicking a photo in Viewer-Only mode now correctly toggles to the Browser view
• Addresses a problem that could prevent the Viewer from displaying images with correct color after Auto White Balance and Auto Enhance are applied
• Addresses an issue that could cause JPEGs exported with a custom ICC profile to render incorrectly
• A dialog now displays progress when deleting large numbers of photos using the Empty Aperture Trash command
• Fixes a problem that could cause duplicate detection on import to fail when the "Auto-Split Projects" option is enabled
• RAW files are no longer displayed in the Import window when the "JPEG files only" option is enabled
• Key photos made from panoramic images are now displayed at high resolution
• Addresses a problem that could cause the Info panel in the Inspector to display the wrong metadata view
• Fixes an issue that could prevent Microsoft Outlook from being used to email photos from within Aperture
• Improves stability when working with AVCHD video files
• Fixes a problem with using the Zoom navigator on a second display
• Addresses issues that could cause web journals to export incorrectly
• Includes stability improvements--
What's New in iPhoto 9.4.2
• Photos now can be added to shared streams or My Photo Stream by dragging them to "Photo Stream" in the source list
• Multiple email addresses can now be copied and pasted in the "Shared with" field for shared streams
• When more than five subscribers "Like" a photo in a shared stream, their names are now displayed correctly
• Contextual menu now includes an Import command to import all the photos contained in a shared photo stream
• Addresses the reliability of Shared Photo Streams when switching between iPhoto and Aperture with the same library
• Fixes an issue that could prevent Microsoft Outlook from being used to email photos from within iPhoto
• Updated national holidays are available for use in printed photo calendars
• Includes stability improvements
Aperture is available for $79.99 on the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]
iPhoto is available for $14.99 on the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]
Top Rated Comments
I do not know why Apple removed that ability. Many people want it back.
Last major version (x.0) release dates:
Aperture: February 9, 2010
Apple Remote Desktop: April 11, 2006
Compressor: June 21, 2011
Final Cut Pro: June 21, 2011
GarageBand: October 20, 2010
iMovie: October 20, 2010
iPhoto: October 20, 2010
Keynote: January 9, 2009
Logic Pro: June 23, 2009
MainStage: June 23, 2009
Motion: June 21, 2011
Numbers: January 9, 2009
Pages: January 9, 2009
P.S. GeekWebGuides should put Buyer's Guide for Apple's paid software.
It's much snappier.
As a photographer and business owner, and sometimes analog and digital assistant, there has been little proof of social networking sites providing much (if any) business benefit. It is also important to realize that any work posted on ones site (especially sites such as "Facebook") requires legal permission from clients. Most often, the only [legal] work allowed is that done personally by the photographer (which may not reflect the crux of their business, i.e. headshot photographers).
Beyond this, a personal/business site outside of Facebook provides a much better conduit for branching out online. Making certain you're advertised well and in the top brackets of search engines helps a great deal (in essence, the "old school" of internet marketing). Statistically (fairly consistent research), empirical studies [comparing businesses in the same market/locale over a one year span] between non-Facebook advertised businesses (traditional), business who ventured into Facebook (both traditional and non-traditional), and business purely on Facebook (non-traditional), little difference (if any) was demonstrated.
Facebook consists vastly of private individuals communicating with friends and family. With millions of individuals using the social service each day, advertising is consistently pushed aside/ignored by many (Safari extensions, etc allow for the removal of [some] Facebook ads, in the same vein as YouTube cleaners).
Having worked for Apple Corp., Apple invested a lot into Facebook (re: iPhoto, OS X integration). Zuckerberg was/is a smart businessman; he realized the odds that Facebook would not do well once publicly traded [which it didn't]. However, slowly getting Apple [and others] on board was a business safety net. Apple could not let Facebook plummet as they have too much invested in the company. Mark walks away a wealthier man, and Apple foots much of the bill monetarily and through more OS X/iOS integration.
Does any of this really help photographers/businesses? Not really. It simply helps Apple and Zuckerberg.
I agree with this. My photography business is 50/50 or 40/60 split between commercial and portrait photography. I experimented with a Facebook page to boost the portrait side of things and amassed quite a following of a few hundred people in no time at all, 'liking' my work.
The trouble was all the messages and enquiries from it were from young women asking if I'd do shoots for free (I guess because they are beautiful princesses I should be falling over myself to work with for nothing - no thanks, I'd rather do test shoots via the best local model agencies) or people that it turned out were expecting some sort of Craigslist pricing (doubtless due to the millions of 'Capture the Timeless Moment' psuedo-pro fauxtographers on Facebook).
After my likes crept up to over 600 I had done perhaps one small extra portrait shoot due to it.
My high local Google ranking, by contrast, sees me adding shoots to the calendar all the time. And offline word-of-mouth remains the number one source of business.
Facebook's just not worth the bother - it's a distraction.