The Apple Store is down this morning, and you know what that means: Something new is cooking from the cats in Cupertino! First on deck is an update to the company’s pro photo software, Aperture.

Apple just announced Aperture 3, an update to the company’s professional photo editing and management software. The last major update to the program was two years ago, in February, 2008.

“Millions of people love using iPhoto to organize, 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.”

Available for $199 new or as a $99 update for existing users, Aperture 3 brings over 200 new features to the table, including advanced versions of the Faces and Places features first introduced with iPhoto ’09.

A new image-refinement tool called Brushes allows users to paint adjustments directly on images, and Adjustment Presets apply professional photo effects in a single click. Aperture 3 also offers new slideshows, allowing users to share their work by combining photos, HD video, audio and text.

“Aperture 3 gets it right,” exclaims National Geographic photographer, Jim Richardson. “The image editing tools are exactly what I have been asking for, they're so easy to use and give me a level of control that I never even thought possible.”

Other new features in Aperture 3 include a full screen browser so you can easily see the detail in your images using the entire screen, updated photo books, custom printing presets and much more. Aperture 3 also now runs in 64-bit mode on Snow Leopard with a 64-bit processor, which should also provide a nice speed bump for most users with newer Macs.

Apple has posted a free 30-day trial of Aperture 3 and is encouraging iPhoto users in particular to give it a try -- you can even move seamlessly from iPhoto to Aperture 3.