Aperture is a non-destructive editor that can handle a number of tasks common in post-production work, such as importing and organizing image files, applying adjustments, and printing or exporting photographs.

It can organize photos by keywords, facial recognition, and location data embedded in image files, it offers brushes for applying effects such as dodge and burn, skin smoothing, and polarization, and it can export to Flickr, Facebook, SmugMug, and iCloud.

It also offers tethered shooting support for DSLRs made by Nikon and Canon; when photographers connect these cameras to their computers, they can be instantly imported without user action, for a more efficient workflow.

Aperture also offers a range of image adjustment tools, including specific color retouching, a luminance-based edge sharpener, and spot repair.

In terms of project management, Aperture offers extensive metadata and searching support, as well as the ability to group photos using autostacking based on the time between shutter clicks.

Finally, Aperture has a heavily customizable book creation feature, as well as the ability to create web galleries and blogs that can be uploaded via FTP or WebDAV.

Unlike Adobe Lightroom, Aperture stores photos by default inside a package, rather than inside normal folders, however it can also manage photos stored in regular folders (referenced files)[9] On February 12, 2008, Aperture 2 was released with a new interface, new editing features, and a reduced price of $199 in the United States.

Aperture became a 64-bit application capable of handling large files such as high definition scans, a face detection and recognition tool called Faces, a Places feature that automatically places photos on a world map, native integration with Flickr and Facebook, nondestructive, edge-aware brushes for applying adjustments to photos, dozens of new built-in adjustment presets, the ability to create custom presets for download,[16] advanced slideshow capabilities, and the ability to handle and edit video and audio files.

DPReview's Jeff Keller said he was "not enthused about Photos" due to the missing features and "incredibly dumbed down interface", instead deciding to keep using Aperture and switch to Lightroom once it stopped working.

[25] French outlet MacGeneration and reporter Jason Snell noted that Apple continued selling Aperture, and that its sales pages failed to indicate that the application was discontinued.