Chapter Seven. Working with an External Editor

As you saw in the last chapter, Aperture's editing tools can make quick work of complex edits and adjustments. However, though the tools provided are capable of performing most of the edits you'll need to make, there will be times when your images will need corrections or effects that simply can't be created in Aperture. Fortunately, Apple has recognized this and included a simple mechanism for easily moving your images from Aperture to another editor and then back again.

Known as the "round-trip" feature, Aperture's Open with External Editor command lets you launch an image from Aperture directly into another application. There, you can edit your image, and when you save, the image will automatically be saved back in the Aperture library. You don't have to hassle with exporting images for use somewhere else or reimporting edited results.

However, to make the best use of this facility, you'll want to give some thought to how an external editor fits in your Aperture workflow.