Capture One Pro (C1) is a solid RAW converter with superior image adjustment features. In fact, I like that part of it better than the equivalent features in either Aperture, DxO Optics Pro or Lightroom. There are also a number of options for customizing the interface to match your own working style. Unfortunately, other key features supporting the editor are not yet competitive.

I depend on a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system to organize and retrieve images and in C1, the Catalog is just too immature. PhaseOne also develops Media Pro and perhaps, over time, the features of that venerable DAM will begin showing up in C1. I sure hope so.

Some photographers yearn for the days of film in this digital age. For those folks, Aperture and Lightroom have had a number of preset packs that emulate the look of a wide range of popular films from when you could still buy those films. One of the most popular makers of such film packs has been VSCO (Visual Supply Company).

Capture One users need not feel completely left out because Capture One Styles is offering their own set of styles that emulate many old films. The full 100 style set is $49.00. As a way to see if these style might fit your needs, you can download a set of 5 styles for free.

The folks at Capture One Styles sent me their complete set to try out and report on. Here’s what I learned.

I’m getting more comfortable working within Capture One Pro (C1, for short), but I still did a little work trying to see if I could continue to use Aperture for its excellent DAM features, but use C1 for adjustments. I don’t think I’m going to go that route, but I wanted to document what I learned. If not for anyone else, then for me.

There’s a plug-in for Aperture called Catapult that will allow Aperture to export an unconverted RAW file to a “drop folder” and then import edits made in another program saved to a “pick up folder.” It will even stack the edited version with the original in Aperture. And it’s easy.

You won’t be able to work with C1’s catalogs with this round-trip method, it must use sessions. And it gets a little messy to keep C1’s edits non-destructive as the C1 session gradually fills with images that have been round-tripped from Aperture. But it works.

One of Aperture’s many well-designed features is its library. The central point for organizing your image collection, it works well as a storage point for all your work, or as smaller, self-contained sets of related work. My desire to move away from Aperture has nothing to do with its library; it’s more about the future of its image adjustment tools.

While I am really liking what I’m finding about Capture One Pro’s image adjustment abilities, its library is killing me. It hurts so bad that I’m looking for ways to use Aperture’s library and C1’s adjustments.