Aperture 2.1 Released

SWEET. Apple just released Aperture 2.1, making some significant improvements over v2.0. Here's what's new:

• Dodge & Burn Plug-in. A sample plug-in is pre-installed, taking advantage of the Edit API introduced in Aperture 2.0. The plug-in adds brush-based tools for Dodge (Lighten), Burn (Darken), Contrast, Saturation, Sharpen and Blur.
  
• Customize Default Adjustment Set. You can now specify which adjustments appear by default in the Adjustments Inspector/HUD.
  
• Updated Crop Tool. A simplified UI makes it easier to preserve an image's original aspect ratio, match the aspect ratio of your display, or use one of the standard preset aspect ratios.
  
• Sorting in All Projects View. A contextual menu allows you to sort the All Projects view in ascending or descending date order.
  
• Show on Map. A contextual menu allows you to choose the Show on Map by right-clicking (or Control-clicking) on an image that contains GPS data.
  
• Access to Toolbar on Second Display. When using multiple displays in Full Screen mode, the Full Screen toolbar is now accessible on a second display.
  
• "Snapshots" book theme. This additional theme includes new "photo border" frames in which to place images.
  
• Flip Images. You can now flip images horizontally or vertically within Aperture.
  
• Vignette. The range of gamma and exposure settings available has been expanded.
  
• Save Books as JPEG or TIFF images. Automator actions have been added to Save as PDF pop-up menu in the Print Book window to automatically generate JPEG or TIFF images from book pages.
  
• Update EXIF from Master. This command allows Aperture to reread EXIF from a master images after they have been imported.
  
• Extended AppleScript support. The "Reveal" verb in the AppleScript dictionary has been extended to include containers such as projects and albums.

What a great update, Apple. I'm particularly pleased with being able to set my own Adjustment Sets — that's bugged me since day one. The change to the Crop tool is welcome, too, as I was always having to set my defaults (constrain to original aspect) every bloody time I used it — no more. It will also be great to be able to flip images within Aperture, and I think pretty much every Aperture user has always wondered why Apple didn't include this capability from the get-go. Plugin support is also greatly improved, and third-parties will be able to release tools to compliment Aperture's feature set.

You can get this powerhouse of a program from Amazon for just $189.99, and learn more about it at Apple's Aperture web page. And, if you're not sure how well you'll like it, you can always download and try the 30-day demo from Apple, too.