I am an avid Mac user and use Aperture 2.0 extensively.

Recently I ran Cannon's Digital Photo Professional to look at some raw files and noticed that all images looked way better than in in my beloved Aperture

Both are set on RGB 1998 color space. But the images in the Canon software are all much sharper and look better.

Am I missing something

Perhaps the default conversion settings were different. DPP pays attention to the profile that you used whereas most or all other software does not. The profile can make a difference to the way an image looks.


Also make sure the programs are using the colour management properly and that yor monitor has been calibrated and profiled. that won't affect sharpness but it affects other aspects of image appearance.

- Alan

Hi Alan,

Thanks for your reply.
I have calibrated my monitor and have selected the profile.

Do you mean by "profile" the settings in the camera like, sharpness, contrast etc?

hi Rogier,
Rogier you are right, i have noticed that clearly. i exported from aperture and converted from DPP and you can see clear difference in details. and you can see it more clearly when you zoom in using preview the huge difference. even when i process i added more sharpness and color you still see the huge difference, i keep convincing my self that they look the same but there is a big difference in details. because for me if i do all my processing in one software (aperture) that would make my life much simpler, but unfortunately life isnt simple lol. this is why i keep all my raw in external hard drive to keep DPP editing info in the same location. and if i want the raw again i just convert again from DPP,and dont have to do all the processing again, and only keep the Jpg in Aperture.
good luck.