Earlier this week I did a bunch of keywording on my backlog of photos. It'd been a while since I'd worked through a large set of relatively unrelated photos. That kind of eclectic group that didn't lend itself to lifting and stamping keywords. Aperture's Keyword Controls bar is perfect for rapidly applying keywords.
I have defined a few button sets, but honestly don't use them much. My keyword hierarchy is well established, so I park my cursor in the text box and start typing. Aperture does a lookup in your keywords, and usually after a few keystrokes I have the keyword I'm after. Hit enter, apply that keyword, and start typing the next one. When it's time to move to the next photo, Command-Right Arrow (⌘→). And the cursor stays in the keyword text box.
Aperture's Keyword Controls Bar
When it comes to metadata, the longer I can keep my fingers on the keyboard and away from the mouse, the faster it goes. This applies to rating, rejecting, keywording and stacking.
For loads of other Aperture workflow goodies, grab my eBook, Effective Aperture Workflow on iBooks. The book includes a video showing this keywording technique in action.
