Capture One Pro: A Reformed Aperture User’s Love-Hate Relationship
Customization: Where C1 Pro 8 Shines (Once You Stop Hyperventilating)
That first look at C1’s interface is like opening a spaceship’s control panel—“Why are there so many buttons?!” But here’s the magic: you can gut it like a fish. Tabs? Gone. Tools? Rearranged. It’s like Aperture on steroids, letting you strip things down to a minimalist’s dream.
Pro tip: Save workspaces (File > Workspace > Save) as you tweak. I’ve got three now:
- “Don’t Panic” mode (basic edits)
- Black & white zen garden
- “I swear I know what I’m doing” (fully customized)
The ‘Q’ (Quick Menu) icon is a lifesaver—dump your most-used tools here for instant access. It’s like having a speed-dial for your editing chaos.
The Annoying Bits: Prepare to Grind Your Teeth
1. The “Where’s My ‘Before’ Button?!” Rage
In Aperture, you could toggle corrections with a keystroke. C1? Nope. You’re forced to create two variants and flip between them like some kind of sad, analog slideshow. Even keyboard shortcut wizardry won’t save you. Phase One, explain yourselves.
2. The “Why Won’t You DIE, Spot Tool?” Struggle
Trying to delete spot adjustments feels like playing whack-a-mole. They cling to your image like bad karma. (Provisional verdict: Right-click > “Remove” should work… but sometimes it just laughs at you.)
3. The “Project vs Album” Bait-and-Switch
C1 uses Aperture’s term “Project” but with a twist: it’s just a fancy folder. Your actual images live in Albums inside it. Delete the Album thinking it’s redundant? Congrats, your photos just vanished into the “All Images” abyss. (They’re not gone, just hiding.)
Verdict: It’s Complicated
C1 Pro 8 is the overachieving, slightly neurotic successor Aperture deserved—if you’re willing to:
✔️ Embrace the customization (seriously, it’s glorious)
✔️ Forgive the quirks (RIP instant before/after)
✔️ Ignore the price tag (…or sell a kidney)
Final Tip: Use C1’s “Session” mode for client work—it’s more flexible than Catalog for Aperture refugees. Now go forth and grumble-edit.
P.S. Found a workaround for the before/after debacle? Please, for the love of all things holy, share it.
2 Comments
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Thanks very much for your thoughts here. Another point you might want to note is that when you import an Aperture library to Capture One, it brings in only the image format that is the main source. I use RAW + JPEG in my camera and import to Aperture with JPEG as the main format. But Capture One will import only the JPEG with the Aperture library. Now I’m trying a completely RAW libray (I’m duplicating the 30Gb library and I’ll change it over to RAW completely) to import to Capture One; I’ll report back, if you’re interested.
Hi there, thanks for that. I am late in replying as my site has been redesigned and had all sorts of changes so I assumed no one would be on it!
That is an interesting discovery, I was trying to import some jpegs recently into C1 and could not do it but I think I may have been doing something wrong and it was a hectic day.