HT201340 moving aperture and iphoto libraries

My aperture and iphoto libraries have consumed my little MacBook. What is the best method for moving all libraries to a different harddrive?

Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto and/or Aperture
2. Copy the iPhoto Library / Aperture Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library. Repeat form Aperture.
4. Test the libraries and when you're sure all is well, trash the ones on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

Unify aperture and iphoto libraries: the book (tricky) issue

I had been in the process of migrating from iPhoto to Aperture for a while now.
I imported iPhoto library in Aperture few monthes ago and am now using only Aperture.
Everything is fine for two things:
- I could not import the books (format is not compatible), so i had to keep the iPhoto library
- I didn't want to duplicate the orignals , so they are still in iPhoto library
With Aperture 3.3, the library could be unified with iPhoto
I would like to move all originals to Aperture library and still be able to open from iPhoto (so far, easy) but also keep the iPhoto books (which as far as i know are still incompatible with aperture books formats)
In other words, i want one aperture library, including masters, and I want to be able to open it from iPhoto, and still keep the old books (that were built from the initial iPhoto library) in iPhoto
Any clue ?

Hi Leonie,
You're really full of resources (not sure if this french expression translates well in english, but you get the idea) !
I finally found a way, not the most elegant one, but it's working:
0. Open each book in iPhoto. Delete in the book non-used photos of the book (in project list, choose book, then choose photos in the toolbar in the bottom, display non placed photos, delete). Now books projects only contain photos actually used in the book. (this step may not be necessary, but it speeds the process)
0. bis: Backup your Aperture library. don't forget to stop also any automatic backup process (like time machine)
1. Open the iPhoto library with Aperture (remember i had already migrated to Aperture 3,3 & iPhoto 9, which makes the libraries compatibles)
2. Export each of your books as a phototheque (right click on the book in the inspector navigator/ choose export impression project as a phototheque). Give specific name, for example "project x"
3. Open first created book phototheque in aperture
4. Tag photos of the phototheque with a specific keyword, for example "book x"
5. Close phototheque for "book x" and resume on step 3 for other phototheques
6. Open default aperture Library
7. Import first phototheque, merge with Aperture Library
8. Normally you get duplicates, especially if you have added metadata or edited the photos in aperture since you created the books in iPhoto. At least that's what happened to me
9. You can now grab the recent metadata on the one that was already in Aperture and apply it to the imported one. To do that, create a smart album with the keyword "project x"; then move all new imported events from iPhoto to the event where they belong in aperture. Then in the smart album, for a specific picture when you choose "display in the project" (i have defined a shortcut) you are in the event where the duplicate photo also sits. Choose cmd shift C on the photo with metadata, cmd shift V on the photo with the tag "project x" to transfer the metadata. You can delete the first one, except if you had edited the original differently in the book and in aperture and want to keep both. You still have to re-enter the faces on the imported one
10. You can erase the tag "project x"
11. Go back to step 7 for other books
12. Check you can see your books in iphoto when opening aperture library with iphoto. You can now consolidate the aperture library and migrate all referenced iPhoto pics inside the aperture library
13. you can erase iPhoto Library and other books phototheques created in step 2
You now have one unified library, that you can use in aperture and iPhoto, with your old iPhoto books in it.
(you also have lost a few hours...)

How to import Aperture and iPhoto libraries into LR Master database

I have a lot of photos in files and events in iPoto and Aperture. Would like to conso;idate all my photos inLightroom Master Photo file with those files and events as folders.
Could I have instructions on this from someone who has done the same
Many thanks
Ivan Ungar

John,
While I am very new on LR and your referenvesare to older versions of the
softwares
Running LR 5.2, Aperture 3.4.1 and iPhoto 11.
I could not find any reference as to the step by step import/export
procedure with the most important proviso for me.
There is aprox. 24000 photos in Events/Folders and I need to keep these
intact while importing it into LR.
Could you help please
Best rgds
Ivan
Ivan Ungar
Phone: (612) 8354 0618
Mobile: (+61) 417 687 906
E-mail: [email protected]

What is the best way to consolidate Aperture and iPhoto libraries onto an external drive? I am just starting out and not used to Aperture filing system.

I would like to use the drive as storage/aperture backup rather than use it to back up my whole Macbook. Would like to keep the majority of the photo files on the ext. drive and be able to add files there directly. BUT, when workng in aperture would like to be able to select some from the ext. drive and work them on the laptop directly without having to have the ext drive attached.
So do i, have the aperture library path mapped to the ext drive, and then import the iphoto library? and then how do i add additional from the camera? Or, do i move everything together (imported iphotos and new from camera) in Aperture on the Macbook first, and then transfer that library to the ext drive?
For the life of me I can't figure out how to do this in a way that seems logical. Vaults? Masters on ext drive, versions on the macbook? Consolidating libraries? The endless possible answers are baffling me.
Thanks for any help!

Kirby Krieger wrote:
Hi Shane. Not much in the way of thoughts - - but fwiw:
How is the drive attached?
Can you open large files on the drive with other programs?
Are you running any drive compression or acceleration programs (some drives arrive with these installed)?
Can you reformat the drive and try again?
Hi Kirby,
I attached the UltraMax Plus with a USB cable. The UltraMax powers the cable so power is not an issue. I can open other files. Also, there is 500GB of files on the drive so I cannot re-format it. Although, I noted I could import the entire Aperture Library. However, I do not want to create a duplicate on my machine because that would be defeating the purpose of the external drive.
Thanks,
Shane

Merge multiple Aperture and iPhoto libraries into Photos?

I have around 80GB of material in multiple Aperture libraries, and around 12GB of old material in iPhoto. Is it even sensible to think about holding all this data in Photos, and if so, how is it possible to import multiple libraries? The option to convert an existing library only seems available at first start-up, and is then limited to only one library.

Yes it is practical - but you have to merge the libraries before converting libraries to Photos - Aperture can do that
LN

After moving my iTunes and iPhoto libraries to an external hard drive and deleting the originals i found i still had no space on my mac.help

i moved my itunes and iphoto libraries to an external hard drive to free up space on my mac.
after i had moved them and checked they could be found i trashed the originals and checked again that the could be found on the external hdd.
all seemed to be ok.
when i checked the disc utility it did not show i has made any more free space than i had before.
any help please as i am loving tje mac but i am still quite new to it.

Did you empty Trash?

Aperture and iPhoto - sharing the same library? Synchornizing libraries?

Hi,
I would like to ask if it is possible to either:
1. Have Aperture and iPhoto share the same library.
2. Have the edits on one reflect in the library of the other (if it isn't possible to simply "share" the same one).
Thanks.
My major concerns that keep me from going to Aperture and forgetting iPhoto altogether are:
a. iPhoto has nice sharing capabilities (with Facebook, email, etc.) which I am not sure Aperture will have.
b. iPhoto has good iLife integration (slideshows with iTunes music, send to iMovie, etc.)
c. my photos have tags in iPhoto that I'm not sure would transfer to Aperture if I did the "import" process...

1. Have Aperture and iPhoto share the same library.
No. Th Aperture Library is a much more complex beast than the iPhoto one. The two apps can shar the same photos though.
2. Have the edits on one reflect in the library of the other (if it isn't possible to simply "share" the same one).
No. Neither is an "external editor" like Elements. Importing is a once-off thing. Once you import a pic to Aperture it never references the iPhoto version again - and vice versa.
It's tempting to think of Aperture as some kind of "iPhoto Pro". It's not. It's an entirely different application. When you edit a pic in iPhoto the apps preserves your original file and creates an entirely new file - the modified version. When you edit a pic in Aperture that doesn't happen. Your edits are recorded in the database and +applied live+ when you view the pic in the Aperture window. This is a very different way of working and the principle reason why the two apps don't - and can't - read each other's Library.
a. iPhoto has nice sharing capabilities (with Facebook, email, etc.) which I am not sure Aperture will have.
You can email from Aperture in exactly the same way as iPhoto. There is a Facebook exporter for Aperture (though, given what Facebook does to photos, I can't imagine why anyone would want one) and there are lots of other exporters available as well. Search on MacUpdate.
b. iPhoto has good iLife integration (slideshows with iTunes music, send to iMovie, etc.)
Aperture can do the same - and in the same way - if you set it to share Previews with iLife and iWork in the Preferences
c. my photos have tags in iPhoto that I'm not sure would transfer to Aperture if I did the "import" process...
They will.
There are some differences: No Face and Places features in Aperture, Aperture won't deal with video at all, you cannot order postcards and calendars via Aperture and Slideshows are better on iPhoto. But if you share the Previews with iLife, then you can access any of these features you want via iPhoto.
The best thing to do is download the Aperture trial and experiment with it.
Regards
TD

Run Aperture and iPhoto on an external drive and edit from laptop?

Can I run iphoto and Aperture on an external hard drive, like a file server? Can I store pics on the external hard drive and edit using iphoto or aperture on the external hard drive from a laptop ? How do I make this work?
HELP! I'm maxed out!

Hello Laura,
what is it, that you want to achieve?
Move the Aperture Library to an external drive to free space on your laptop?
or do you want to share your Aperture Libray between your machines and access it in parallel on a network volume?
The option "1" is easy to achieve, the option "2" is not supported by Aperture; Aperture (and iPhoto) are single User programs, see this:
Aperture: Use locally mounted Mac OS X Extended volumes for your Aperture library:http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3252
To move your library (or parts of your library) to an external drive you have two options:
move the complete libary using the finder to a local, external, MacOSX formatted drive,
or turn your library into a "referenced" library: relocate the master image files to the external drive, but keep the Library itself (much smaller now) on your laptop. This way you can browse your images and rate them, use them as screensaver, even if the external drive is not connected.
Regards
Léonie
P.S. the same (*** grano salis) holds for iPhoto; you can move the library, or your libraries, to an external drive using the Finder; you can make the iPhoto Library referenced, but referenced libraries are much better supported in Aperture, for Aperture has been designed in espacially to support huge, distributed libraries - in iPhoto I found it it safer to have several smaller libraries than to have one huge, referenced library - that was one of the reasons I moved from iPhoto to Aperture.

Sharing Photo's between Aperture and iPhoto and syncing to iPads, etc

Here is my problem.
I have 5 Macs (1 iMac, 4 laptops.) There are 4 people in my family and we have the family pack of iLife. The iMac is where everything sits with a time capsule and Drobo hanging off of it - about 6 TB's of data. Each Mac sync's with a variety of iPods, iTouchs and iPads. All linked to a user. So for example, all my oldest son's devices sync with only his laptop.
Well, I finally fixed my media (songs, movies, TV shows, etc) problem by leveraging home share in iTunes and authorizing all my Macs. But not so lucky yet for Photo's.
Here is the my photo dilemma.
I like Aperture for the editing and ability to handle large libraries better. So I have Aperture installed on the iMac where everything sits. iPhoto is also installed on the iMac and iPhoto is on all 4 other laptops. Prior to moving to Aperture, sharing photo's between computers was relatively easy using sharing in iPhoto - although it appears sharing in iPhoto is different than home share in iTunes. I converted my iPhoto library on the iMac to Aperture - now sharing is a pain in the neck.
Ideally, a Home Share like feature would be built into Aperture and iPhoto with another feature that would allow you to "check for new photos" on the laptops and pull them into Aperture - but wishful thinking right now.
So my while my 2 new iPads are awesome - they are basically useless for Photo's as they are synced to 2 laptops that use iPhoto, but all my Photos are in Aperture on the iMac.
Thoughts anyone????
Thanks

What was the question?
Regards
TD

Aperture and iPhoto library deleted

I upgraded my Aperture w/no problem. About one month later, all images in Aperture and iPhoto dissapeared. "Genius Bar" checked, said no problem and didn't have a clue. Bought a Time-Machine backup at store, had a consultant there show me how to set up, but he had a problem as the Airport Utility was gone. He said that was rare and downloaded it. He suggested there could be a connection to all this. I'm afraid to use the iMac. Help? Doing search for images or libraries no good, will show libraries, but with zero files. Tnx. Leif

How did you import your old iPhoto photos? And with what Aperture version?
Before the unified Aperture - iPhoto library has been introduced, it was possible to import an iPhoto library as referenced. This left all originals in the iPhoto library, so iPhoto continued to work, but Aperture could use the master files. Is that the way you imported your iPhoto library, with the master files in there original location?
When trying to e.g. export a file Aperture says 'The selected original image is either offline or not found. Please reconnect it and try again.'.
That is the typical error message, when Aperture cannot access the original files. And Aperture wil not be able to do anything with your images, unless you restore the missing originals.
Just moved my Aperture-library to my new iMac.
Where did you move your Aperture library from ? From an older mac? From a backup?
Did Aperture work on that old Mac and could access the originals?
Do you still have that old mac, and is there any chance that recovery software could retrieve the missing original files on that mac?
Sometimes Aperture reports originals as missing, even if they are managed inside the Aperture library.
You can find out, where Aperture is looking for the original files, if you select some image files in the browser and use Aperture's command "File > Locate Referenced Files".
In the panel that opens, you can see the path to missing files in the upper right corner below the thumbnail.
What do you see, when you use that command?

All my Aperture and iPhoto photos disappeared

I was getting ready to upload photos to mpix. I was exporting photos tweaked in Aperture 3 from iPhoto. Because the picture file to which I was exporting was full, I cancelled the export and deleted the photos in the picture file (about 790 photos). These had been imported from iMac through drop box. I then resumed the export of 45 photos from iPhoto and noticed some were gone. Not sure of the sequence next, but checked Aperture and it seemed like all my projects and photos (about 9000-11,000) were gone. Went to trash and moved dragged the photos out of the trash to the pictures drop down file in finder. I then restarted the computer and tried to open iPhoto and it seemed there was no iPhoto library there at all. Very strange.
I have not backed up my macbook pro for about a week.
Can I restore my aperture and iPhotos library?

I downloaded iPhoto Library Manager and was able to recover all the photos and albums, but not the slideshows and a recent calendar. I would like to understand what happened though and how to avoid it in the future. So here are the answers to your questions.
"When you say the "picture file" was full, to what are you referring?" Several weeks ago, I had transfered a large volume of photos from my older iMac using the drop file with the computers networked. I did not delete them from the drop file after importing them into my IPhoto and/or Aperture libraries on my laptop. After this import, neither my iPhoto nor my Aperture libraries on the laptop were comprised totally of these imported photos though.
"An external drive?" Although I also pulled some of the photos I had imported earlier from an external hard drive, I did not delete the files or otherwise connect (through a firewire cable) to the hard drive when I deleted the photos to prepare to upload the ones for printing.
Over the weekend when I went to export photos to this same file I decided to delete the hundreds/thousand or so, that were still there, so that I wouldn't have to search through them all to upload them to an online printing service. After I deleted the photos in the drop box file, when I went back to iPhoto I notice some photos were gone. Where they had been in the album I had created to print, were the empty dashed line outline box. I don't remember if I restarted the computer then or after I checked Aperture, but at some point, thinking that might restore things, I restarted the computer. After restarting, that's when iPhoto was just completely empty. No photos at all. When I checked Aperture it was the same - all the photos were gone.
"And when you say the photos are gone, when you open Aperture, does it look like a brand new library? No images, projects, albums, etc.?" Correct.
"Were the images in your Aperture library referenced from your iPhoto library?" Some but not all. Some were downloaded directly from my camera to Aperture; some were imported directly to Aperture from the drop box. Some I did import first into iPhoto. Also some of the photos originally imported to Aperture I then moved to iPhoto to make a calendar.
I am very concerned about this. Is it a software defect? Did I do something wrong? Is there a more efficient and less unstable way to get some, but not all of the photos from my iMac onto the laptop?
Thanks for your help.

I have been storing my Aperture and IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive that recently died. Fortunately I've been using Time Machine to back up to a 2nd external drive. How do I restore my libraries to a new external hard drive?

I have been storing my Aperture and IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive that recently died. Fortunately I've been using Time Machine to back up to a 2nd external drive. How do I restore my libraries to a new external hard drive?

This is a tricky one.
Open up Time Machine and go back to a date using the timeline on the right side of the window when you know the drive was working and was backing up as part of Time Machine backups.
Click on the name of your Mac under the Devices heading on the left side of the window in Time Machine, and if things are working correctly you will see Macintosh HD (or whatever you have named it) and the name of the external hard drive that was backing up in the past.
Right-Click on the name of the external hard drive and then click on "Restore (name of drive) to....." You may be asked for your adminstrator password at this point.
It might be easier to restore the drive contents to your desktop if you have room on your Mac, and then copy things over to the new external drive where you want to store the Aperture and iMovie Libraries.
Once the libraries have been moved over the new external hard drive, you will likely need to "point" Aperture and iMovie to the location of the libraries on the new external hard drive.

Aperture and iPhoto should use the same library

Hi all,
It seems that there is a lot of conversation about moving photos between Aperture and iPhoto. For example, some like iPhotos slideshow better but still require Apertures adjustment options. Still others have tried, to no avail, to use Aperture as iPhoto's external editor.
Personally, I have a large iPhoto library with most photos tagged with keywords. I have just started using Aperture and am yet to decide if its extra features are useful for a novice photographer like myself. Other than the price, I see no reason not to use Aperture instead of iPhoto but I would want to import my entire iPhoto library into Aperture.
My question, however, is why we need to 'import' from one app to the other. Without understanding how the aperture / iphoto databases work, I would assume there is no fundamental reason why Aperture could not simply open an existing iPhoto library and visa versa. They both support RAW, keywords, books etc. And while I am sure there are some deviations in the databases, surely each app could simply ignore the features it does not understand.
Is this something that anyone else has considered or think would be good. I would imagine that the easier it is for customers to upgrade from iPhoto to Aperture the better. Does Apple plan on supporting this in the future or is the import option 'good enough'.
Cheers

Can I and if so how do I best set up Aperture as main app. (master) with iPhoto as sub app that accesses the same library to sort through, look at, order books, etc.
Simply set the Preferences to 'Share Previews with iLife Applications' in Aperture. Then go to iPhoto -> File -> Show Aperture Library. A media browser will open and you can drag the pics from the Browser to the iPhoto Window. Note: You're getting the Aperture Previews not Masters. Note too that if you set iPhoto to Referenced mode (iPhoto -> Preferences -> Advanced) then you won't use double the disk space.
+Remember though, you are not accessing the Aperture Library. If you make changes in the Aperture Library (Re-edit the shots) after bringing pics to iPhoto, those changes are not reflected in iPhoto.+
This is what William means when he says the iPhoto does not access the Aperture Library.
Regards
TD

File Sizes Surge with Merger of Aperture an iPhoto Libraries

I merged an Aperture library and an iPhoto library. All went well. However, the resulting file sizes on BOTH new libraries have increased significantly. The iPhoto file size went from ~ 50 gigs to ~144 gigs and the Aperture library went from ~90 gigs to ~ 102 gigs.
I thought I would be able to delete one of the libraries (iPhoto) after the merger, but now that it is so big...I;m not sure what to do.
I can understand the post merger Aperture library getting larger, but why the iPhoto library?
Also, I read that the iPhoto library may contain "originals" and that only versions merged over into the new Aperture (post merger) library. Is that true? If so, what can be done to move over the originals to whicheveer library survives?
Thanks!

How exactly did you merge? And what are your Aperture and iPhoto versions?
Why are there two new libraries after merging an Aperture library and an iPhoto library? Merging two libraries should create one merged library, or am I missing something?
WIth Aperture 3.3 or later and iPhoto 9.3 or later: If you want to merge an iPhoto library into an Aperture library, you would open the Aperture library and then use "File > Import > Library" and select the iPhoto Library to merge the iPhoto Library into your Aperture library.
The Aperture library should increase in size to accomodate your iPhoto images, but the size of the imported iPhoto library should stay the same.
Also, I read that the iPhoto library may contain "originals" and that only versions merged over into the new Aperture (post merger) library. Is that true? If so, what can be done to move over the originals to whicheveer library survives?
That will depend on the iPhoto and Aperture versions you are using. With any Aperture version later than Aperture 3.3. both the originals and edited versions will be imported into Aperture, when you import an iPhoto library as library to merge it into the Aperture library. Only if your iPhoto library is referenced (the original image files not included in the iPhoto library), then Aperture will also reference these original files and not import them into the Aperture library. YOu can consolidate the originals later in aperture.
But we need to know, how exactly you merged your libraries to be able to understand, how both libraries increased in size. Did you not use "File > Import > Library"?
-- Léonie

Do Aperture and iPhoto automatically merge in 3.3?

Because I would really like to keep them separate.
I like to use Aperture for editing and then when I am finished I select a few favourite shots and store them in iPhoto and use it as a sort of quick portfolio if I ever want to look over my favbourite work.
Will upgrading force them to merge or can I continue to keep them separately so I don't have to wade through all the edited files to get to the few I want to show off?
Chris

Because I would really like to keep them separate.
No, the libraries will not merge automatically. But they are now compatible. You can open each iPhoto or Aperture Library in the other Application and work with it. The edits will be seen by the other Application, if you switch to the other one. But you still can keep separate libraries for Aperture and iPhoto. They will not be merged unless you import your iPhoto Libraries into the apertre Library.
This is true for Aperture 3.3. and iPhoto 9.3 and later. You need MacOS 10.7.4 or later.
Regards
Léonie

HT201340 moving aperture and iphoto libraries

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