Apple embraces plugins with Aperture 2.1 upgrade

Apple has released Aperture 2.1 which opens up the photo editing and organising application to specialised imaging tools from Apple and third-party developers.

The move means that Aperture - which only two months ago had a major upgrade to version 2 - can now incorporate a range of new plug-ins that offer many Photoshop-like functions.

One of the first plug-ins is bundled with the upgrade: Dodge & Burn was developed by Apple and brings a powerful set of brush based tools to brighten (dodge) and darken (burn) areas of an image while keeping the overall contrast unchanged.

The plug-ins work on a Tiff version of the image rather than the original RAW file. Already Apple has announced a raft of new plug-ins that will take advantage of the new open architecture, including:

• Nik Software’s Viveza plug-in which provides an easy way for photographers to selectively control and adjust color and light in their digital images;
• PictureCode’s Noise Ninja plug-in that delivers advanced high ISO noise analysis and reduction
• Digital Film Tools' Power Stroke plug-in which features a simple, stroke-based interface to quickly mask and intuitively perform targeted adjustments
• The Tiffen Company's Dfx plug-in, that provides an expansive suite of creative filters and effects
• dvGarage's dpMatte plug-in, which is a high performance chroma key tool for creating seamless composites, and the HDRtoner plug-in enables the selection of multiple photos to create a single high dynamic range (HDR) image
• Image Trends' plug-ins which include Fisheye-Hemi to quickly and effortlessly correct wide-angle lens distortion, ShineOff which automatically removes shine from faces, and PearlyWhites that automatically whitens and brightens teeth

Some of these plug-ins will be free while others will cost money, but the interesting thing about the move is that it could soon mean that DSLR enthusiasts could soon be able to avoid paying for Adobe Photoshop (£650 and upwards for the new CS3 version).

Although Apple insists that Aperture is not a Photoshop rival the fact remains that with the 2.1 release and the new raft of plug-ins most - if not all - of the tasks that required a heavy-duty standalone application such as Photoshop can now be carried out within Aperture.

The Aperture 2.1 upgrade is free to owners of Aperture 2.0 and can be downloaded from Apple's website.