Apple releases Aperture 3 photo editing software, with location and facial awareness features

Apple have announced the launch of Aperture 3, the latest version of their popular photo editing and archiving software.

There are over 200 new features in the Aperture 3 program, including Brushes for touching up images and one-click photo effects with the Adjustment Presets tool.

Perhaps the best new addition is the ability to organise large numbers of photos through facial recognition and location aware features. Faces lets you view snapped faces across your entire collection and assign them a name, automatically tagging other similar entries, while Places lets you assign locations to your pics by dragging-and-dropping photos onto a map or by using location information from GPS enabled cameras, tracking devices or your iPhone photos.

Slideshows can weave together photos, text, audio and HD video, and can also be exported directly to an iPhone or iPod touch, so that you can take your favourite shots organised with Aperture 3 on the go with you.

"Millions of people love using iPhoto to organise, edit and share their digital photos," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Aperture 3 is designed for both professionals who edit and manage massive libraries of photos and iPhoto users who want to take their photos further with easy-to-use tools such as Brushes and Adjustment Presets."

Aperture 3 is available now, priced £169 for first-time users, or £79 for those upgrading from previous versions.

For more info, visit, www.apple.com/uk/aperture .