Aperture conversion to LightRoom

With the passage of time, is there an automated way to convert from Aperture to LightRoom? I'm fed up with Aperture, but intimidated by the idea of converting one project at a time, via Export Masters. Is there a better way?

It's understandable enough because their priority had to be on coding core features. And on two platforms. It's more a matter of Apple not providing an easier way to get data out of Aperture - what's so hard about coding a "Save metadata to xmp sidecars"?
I have tested my idea on a small sample. I guess it's this bit that I didn't explain.... I select a project, selected its thumbnails (all raw files), and then went into Metadata > Batch Change, typed in the project name (I wrote it "A-Test project" so it would be easy to identify the ex-Aperture keywords), and then I chose keywords. Clicked OK, and Batch Change adds the new keyword to the masters.
Then like you I did an export masters with the sidecars, and imported them into LR. The keyword came into LR. I selected the keyword, and Cmd N saved the pictures into a new collection. Its main advantage is that you can leave Aperture exporting loads of files. It is worth looking at for raw files at least.

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I currently use Aperture. I understand Adobe is developing a conversion to Lightroom. I currently store all my photos on an external RAID server and I want to continue to do so. Is this allowed with Creative Cloud?

I currently use Aperture. I understand Adobe is developing a conversion to Lightroom. I currently store all my photos on an external RAID server and I want to continue to do so. Is this allowed with Creative Cloud?

So, what if I (1) connected an external hard drive to my wi-fi router so I could remote access pics w/a network connection-- this way even my wife's macbook could connect to it, creating our own cloud.
A strong warning: If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries.
Or (2) had a way to save the most recent 6mo on my locally and the rest on said external HD?
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager
how do you keep photos accessible in iPhoto when your HD is full?
Move the Library to an external disk - see above.
Do you just switch to Aperture and have multiple libraries?
Aperture uses as much space as iPhoto and both can do multiple libraries.
Regards
TD

How can I import an Aperture Catalog into Lightroom and retain the RAW file as well as the files with the edits?

I have several catalogs in Aperture that I would like to import to Lightroom 5 and I want to retain the original RAW files as well as the files with the edits. How can I do this?

Well, you can bring in the raw file (without edits), and you can bring in a rendered RGB file (e.g. jpeg or tiff) with edits baked in, but what you CAN'T do is bring in a raw file, with the non-destructive Aperture edits, and have Lr translate those Aperture edits into Lightroom edits.
Put another way: no raw converter/editor can understand the edits of any other raw converter/editor. So, you have to work with a rendered version, and/or re-edit from scratch in a new raw converter/editor.
PS - it would be feasible to write a rough translator which approximated raw edits in one world into edits in another, but such does not exist yet for Aperture -> Lightroom, that I know of.

Aperture 2 and Lightroom 2

Hello everyone.
I know this question has been asked before, and I have read some previous threads about these two products. However, I was hoping to have a few things clarified for me that I was not to sure about.
I just recently started to really become involved with Digital Photograph. Purchased my first SLR (Nikon D80) and love it. I really found a hobby I enjoy.
With all the pictures I am taking and will be taking, I obviously need to find post processing software that suits my needs. Here is where Aperture 2 and Lightroom (and to a degree, CS3) come into play.
Let me ask some obvious questions first.
1.) Lightroom 2 is a organizing piece as well as editing software piece correct? lets you get into the photo, make adjustments. Pretty good editing from what I can tell.
Can it be said that LR2 and A2 do the same thing, just differently? A2 lets you organize your photos and edit them as well. They just do it differently correct? For example, A2 lets you edit in full mode.
I guess that is one of my main questions.
2.) Fundamentally, what are the main differences between L2 and A2?
Down the road, I am planning on using CS3 (or CS4) to take advantage of layers and do the really cool fun stuff. But that is down the road when I am more experienced.
I downloaded both LR2 and A2 and installed the trials and plan to use them over the next 30 days to 'test them out.'
A2 seems to 'plugin' better to the iMac, which I expected.
With LR2, from what I can see, I could use LR2 instead of iPhoto for my organizing/cataloging, and if I wanted to move photos from LR2 to iPhoto (to make books, calenders, etc. etc.), I would need to export it out of LR2 and import it into iphoto. That correct? Where as Aperture 'co-exists' easier with iPhoto?
Is there really anything that stands out and separates the two?
The other thing I need to consider is when I bring in CS3 down the road. What is the easier way to integrate everything.
Appreciate the help.
Cheers,
Jason

Hi,
I migrated to the iMac from PC around a month ago and was evaluating my photo options both before and after the migration. The difference with me is, I guess, that I haven't previously been much of a user or any version of Photoshop, so had no Adobe-centric preconceptions to colour my own evaluation of Lightroom and Aperture.
I guess I qualify as an enthusiastic amateur who finally migrated from film to digital 5 years ago, after 25 years of film. On the PC, my photo management comprised folders on the hard disk plus Picasa to provide some basic abstraction layer and album facility. Editing was very basic and relied on The Gimp if no addressed by Picaca's built-in adjustments. Then I started taking photos in RAW rather than jpeg, and it all went to custard as they say.
Picasa didn't cut it any more, RAW opened up a lot more options and my collection was becoming unmanageable. Tried ViewNX - limited manageability. Tried Lightroom 2 on the PC - wow, this is more like it. Didn't like ACDSee, iview. Migrated to Mac, and started comparing all over again.
Lightroom - given my previous try-out I was expecting Good Things, so left the start of this trial until after using Aperture for 2 weeks. Suddenly Lightroom felt clunky - very modal and constraining.
Aperture - didn't really know what to expect. Imported all of my photos as referenced and found my folder structure replicated by albums. Kind of disconcerting initially as I couldn't work out where the Masters were, nor the true behaviour of albums, projects and folders in Aperture. Then it clicked - great version control and cataloguing, non-destructive edits etc etc, logical collections of photos. It worked more like my thought processes, rather than my thought processes having to adjust to how the software worked.
For my uses, Lightroom's closer integration with Photoshop is a bit of a non-event as I don't chop up photos - just develop them. Anyhow, Photoshop Elements is there if I REALLY need it (so far not at all after a month).
I can see how previous experience with Photoshop or Lightroom would create a preference for continuing with Lightroom. For me, there's no business reason, emotional attachment or previous experience to consider, so Aperture won. Lightroom was uninstalled after 2 weeks.
Regards,
Calx
PS - I think from an interface design perspective, Aperture is an amazing piece of software, leaving aside other comparison aspects.
Message was edited by: CalxOddity

Managing pictures in Aperture and Adobe Lightroom

I have just installed Aperture on my iMac for the first time. I also use Lightroom and Photoshop.
As such I want to keep the photo’s in the “Pictures” directory and not manage them within Apeture.
I have just tidied up some folders etc using finder and when I go into Lightroom I just press the “Synchronise” button and hey presto, the folders in Lightroom are aligned with the actual folders in the Pictures directory.
Can anyone tell me how I do the same in Aperture, as the changes I made to the folders/pictures are not reflected in Aperture’s directory?
(I have selected “Consolidate master file” in Aperture, not sure what it is doing, but it’s taking a long time!)
Many thanks
Confused 1st time Aperture user!

Note that's not what I said: Aperture does not HAVE to store the files inside its library (called "managed images"). They can be anywhere on disk you want ("referenced images"). It is entirely possible to put the files in a single location and access them from both Aperture and Lightroom.
Again, though, the key is discipline, as if you start moving them around or renaming them (via Finder, or via Aperture, or via Lightroom), you will have issues because both the applications expect that you use them to move or rename the files. If you move/rename them in Aperture, you are "breaking" what Lightroom expects you to do, and vice versa.
I think in large part it's not the best idea to try and use both Aperture and Lightroom. What they do has a huge degree of overlap, so it's really best to pick one as your primary tool. If you value Aperture's Faces functionality and interface, and perhaps its integration with other Apple products like iWork/iLife, or ease of synching pictures to iPad or integration with PhotoStream, it may be the better tool. If you'd like to edit photos and maintain smart objects, and you like Lightroom's editing tools or rendering better, it may be the better tool. There will be compromises either way, but from a sanity and workflow perspective it's probably better. Both tools can produce outstanding results.

Moving to Aperture 3 from Lightroom 3

Do I understand correctly that bringing images into Aperture 3 from Lightroom 3 will cost me the adjustments I've made in Lightroom?
If that's the case, what's the best strategy for proceeding? Stay in Lightroom?

Alexander CK wrote:
Here's a compromise I've worked out. In Lightroom, export your images (maybe only those that have adjustments) to high-quality JPEG, in the same folder as the masters. Also make sure all metadata is kept in sidecar XML files.
Then, import the folders as projects into Aperture, and choose to import raw+jpeg, with jpeg as the master by default.
That way, you have the Lightroom rendition (with all adjustments) available, though of course you can no longer incrementally tweak the adjustments. OTOH, if you want to mess with adjustments, you can always go back to the RAW file on a case-by-case basis (and you do have the jpeg sitting around as a "guide").
Thanks, that sounds like a plan worth trying.
I am torn; I love the editing and image quality in LR (that, and the LR betas have been more stable than Aperture's initial releases), but LR's DAM is quite lacking --- in particular, transparently relocating selected images (e.g., all older images with ratings < 5) is impossible; LR's project hierarchy always has to match the physical volume/folder organization on the disk. This is quite lame once you acquire enough images. Sigh.
Interesting. I agree that editing and image quality is very good in Lr; I haven't tried Aperture 3, though I was an Aperture 2 user before moving to Lightroom. But I think that Lr's DAM aspect is clearly superior to Aperture and I am leery about moving back to Aperture primarily for that reason. I just much prefer the Aperture interface, and its beautiful integration with OS X, iPhone, iPad, etc.
Thanks for your thoughts.

Aperture Phase Out, Lightroom Migration?

Since Apple is reportedly going to phase out Aperture (Per TechCrunch "“With the introduction of the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, enabling you to safely store all of your photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere, there will be no new development of Aperture,” an Apple spokesperson told TechCrunch")" does anyone know a good way to migrate Aperture's libraries to Lightroom?
TechCrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/27/apple-to-cease-development-of-aperture-and-tran sition-users-to-photos-for-os-x/
Adobe: http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/2014/06/apple-aperture-news.html
As best I can find, one can migrate Aperture files to Lightroom, preserving some keywords and EXIF, but losing all edits. For a library of thousands of photos, that would mean throwing away months and months of work that could never be duplicated.
Of course, the files can simply be exported as JPEGS, but then the advantages of non-destructive editing are lost. I don't know a way to export to the DNG format, nor export RAW files with edits.
Please tell me I am wrong and my Aperture library won't be frozen in time and I'll have to start over archiving every photo.
Thanks / jim

No reason not to hedge bets and make a move now. Even if the speculation that Photo can recreate your Aperture edits is true, you might not like the WAY it does it. Or other features. Or maybe you've got a new camera and Apple is behind on RAW (like mine). Or maybe you just don't wanna have all your photo edits in one basket.
I doubt anyone is gonna come up with an acceptable tool to import edits. We would have seen that already. But how often are you going back to those edits in Aperture? as opposed to re-editing? Even with some of my old photoshopped stuff and whatnot, and even though I have the tools to do so, some of the newer editing software is so good it's better to start over from the original anyway. And as noted, Aperture will be around for that. My copy is, even though I abandoned it quite a while ago. It's just an old tool you keep around.
So one strategy is that only new imports go into LR (although there are other choices). If you need a bunch of older stuff, you transition that. Otherwise you leave things be. In that situation, if I needed edits and/or embedded metadata, I'd export TIFFs into the finder folder where the masters were, writing metadata to xmp and/or jpgs as appropriate, and import into LR. Note that Aperture is still referenced those and can still find them. So you can either work forward from the TIFF, or redo the edits on the original.
What would be super useful IMHO would be a tool to export the metadata into jpgs and into XMPs for RAWs WITHOUT having to export. You wouldn't get edits, but location info, keywording, captioning, etc would be very very nice to have.
And that brings me to structure. The LR analogue to projects/albums/folders are collections and collection sets. How to replicate that for an existing group of folders, since it doesn't import? (Because LR just mirrors your filesystem folders, it's "import" (almost more like "show") function has no "import folders as projects" kind of deal.) For this I used keywords, since they can be hierarchical, and can be written into the files.
So you when you export a project/album like "2014 Wedding Project/Ceremony Album" you keyword all the photos with that (in LR 2014 wedding project>ceremony album). That way you can find that structure in that form even if it was stored in a finder folder called ~/Pictures/Family Photos. And in LR it's easy to turn a filtered selection into a collection, or use a smart collection. This way you can preserve some of the structure you're used to seeing in Aperture in the LR collection set/collection tab. And if later synchronize another edit or metadata (a very handy tool for use on folders within LR), it can bring up updated metadata and import new files. And if they have the same keywords, you could use a smart collection based on those keywords to replicate "2014 Wedding Project" or whatever.

Aperture 3 to Lightroom 5 WITH Adjustments?

Is there anyway to make the transition from Aperture 3 to Lightroom 5 where my adjustments to my photos also make the transition? Without having to export all my adjusted photos as TIFFs from Aperture?
I have over 20,000 photos in Aperture. I have Lightroom 5 and have read through this http://lightroomsolutions.com/articles/migrating-from-aperture-to-lightroom-wher e-do-i-begin/ but am a little freaked out about the paragraph about adjustments not making the transition. And yes, I can keep Aperture on my computer, but eventually it will no longer work with an OS or a chip or something as computers continue to progress.

Frank Caggiano wrote:
This could be done by writing the adjustments out to an XML file, for example, that LR could read in and use. Possibly not everything would map but the major adjustments could be reapplied.
Again this is only a guess on my part but it seems plausible. However we'll all have to wait and see how this plays out.
Sorry Frank, this will not work. They could write things like "set the 'Definition' slider to 0.56" into an XML file. But how would that translate into a certain setting of LR's 'Clarity' slider? Apple would have to hand over all adjustment algorithms to Adobe, and Adobe would have to implement all that into LR. There is absolutely no chance that this will happen. They could hand over a project structure, ratings, tags or whatever, but your images will never look the same.
Look at Nikon: they dropped CNX2 with Nik U-Points and turned Silkypix into their new Capture NX-D RAW editor. All Nic adjustments will be lost, and a lot of users are not exactly happy about that.

Opening aperture files with lightroom 4 in mountain lion

After changing to Mountain Lion have not been able to open files from Aperture library in Lightroom 4.
Has anyone experienced this? Solutions ??

You have said several time that you have been 'not able' to open files without giving any hint what problem you are haveing.
As I said, to access Originals from Aperture, export them.
If an Original is accessed by Aperture as Referenced, meaning that the file is stored outside the Aperture Library, then it can be used where it is. But be careful with originals that you intend to still use in Aperture. They should not be move, renamed, deleted, or altered without Aperture's "knowledge".

Aperture & Final Cut compatible? Aperture VS Adobe Lightroom?

Aperture VS Adobe LightRoom?
I have 27" Mac Pro, 17" Mac BookPor & iPhone 4S.
I'm researching the two and wonder which would be best. I'm a Fine Art Photographer and have 3 years of a huge inventory of images all messed up in iPhoto and thrown into folders on my desktop. I dislike iPhoto soooo much. I'm in desperate need to organize my inventory so I can move on with my work! Help! Advice pu-lease.
Are Aperture & Final Cut compatible?
I have Final Cut Pro on my 27" Mac Pro.
I have PhotoShop Elements 9 on my 17" MacBook Pro. I want to stop using it.
Looking for compatible software to use with my Final Cut Pro.

What does "software to use with my Final Cut Pro" actually mean? Is it FCP? or FCP X?
iPhoto and Aperture are both equally compatible with FCP, but if it's the older version you use then you'll be exporting from your Photo Manager and bring the images into FCP.
If you have FCP X either will make images available to it via the Media Browser in FCP X.
So, no difference there.
Lightroom has no interaction with either version of FCP, so you'll be exporting from that to the Finder and then adding to the FCP project.
As for which is better - that's really personal preference. It might help if you explain what it is you dislike about iPhoto, and what you're actually looking for in a Photo Manager.

Side by Side: Apple Aperture and Adobe Lightroom in S.F.

Below is info on a first ever (?) head to head comparison of Aperture vs Lightroom presented by Schorr & Hogarty. Should be a great meeting. If you are in Nor-Cal, check it out;
March 13 in S.F. http://www.asmpnorcal.org/events/event.html
Side by Side: Apple Aperture and Adobe Lightroom
Speakers:
Tom Hogarty, Product Manager for Lightroom, Adobe Systems
Joseph Schorr, Product Manager for Aperture, Apple Computer
This Tuesday join us and the designated gurus from Adobe and Apple
for a lively evening as we jump headlong into both Aperture and
Lightroom and discover the nuts and bolts of how these applications
work. You'll learn how these programs were designed from the
ground up for media photographers from the guys who helped design
them.
Dual 2.0 G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8) 17" PowerBook 1.67
Dual 2.0 G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8) 17" PowerBook 1.67

Wow, maybe this is what Schorr meant by "VERY soon" in this post in this thread on March 10th.
"Actually, Apple has annouced that Aperture support for the Pentax K10D, K100D, and K110D will be available very soon.
We will also be adding support for 11 other RAW formats from different cameras, including the Nikon D40, Leica Digilux 3, Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1, Samsung GX-1L, and seven of the Leaf Aptus and Valeo models.
Can't publish a release date, but this update will be coming VERY soon.
Joe Schorr
Sr. Product Manager, Aperture
Apple"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4209290&#4209290
If so, as a Pentax k10D owner, I will be happily cleaning Lightroom of my machine and moving ahead with Aperture!
iMac and PB G4 17" Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Aperture 3 to Lightroom

I would purely love to migrate from Aperture 3 to lightroom, but from what I find here, the olnly thing that I can clunkily migrate is masters. I've got 50,000 images in Aperture most of which have Photoshop edits as well as Aperture edits. Aperture just flat doesn't cut it, but there doesn't appear to be a way to get out of it, without maintaining two libraries, one in Aperture for the old stuff and one in Lightroom for new stuff. Unfortunately, that really doesn't cut it for me either. Surely someone has come up with a relatively seamless way to allow users who guessed wrong in the beginning to rectify their errors.

OK, with the info you folks have provided, it looks like there may be a route that has a chance of meeting my needs. I'm really not concerned about preserving Aperture edits, though I am concerned about keeping relationships between externaly edited files and Masters. That's my real hangup. Maintaining the project structure also matters, but not as much. I think, I'll download the LR4 beta today and as I have plenty of disk space to spare I'll mess with both for a while. I have no actual experience with the Relocate Masters command, so I'm not totally sure what it will do, but hopefully it's more than the name of the command suggests. I have a dummy Aperture library (or whatever Aperture calls it) that I used for testing before I moved everything into Aperture. I'll add some stuff to that and use it for testing to see if this process floats my boat. I guess my real question was "Is it worth the time and effort it will take to make this transition?" From the answers I have here, it looks like it may well be worth a shot, and it shouldn't take an excessive amount of time to find out for sure. I already know that I woul very much prefer working in LightRoom, but I don't have the time available for a lengthy reorganization of the system. And running two side by side systems (one for old stuff and one for new) has so many downsides I don't want to even think about it. Any way you slice it, it's going to be ugly, but maybe not as ugly as I had feared. Thanks muchly for the suggestions. We'll see how much of a mess I can make of it shortly.

Transfer Aperture library to Lightroom

I have to make the switch to Lightroom as my current main camera, Leica M8, is properly supported only by Lightroom.
Now after downloading Lightroom 1.0 I am trying to figure out a strategy how to transfer my old Aperture library to Lightroom. Of course I only plan to transfer originals - I have to accept that all my adjustments in Aperture are gone.
But more importantly what is a good way to transfer the existing folder & project structure of Aperture to Lightroom without too much extra work? The export function of Aperture seems a little bit limited to automatically generate a folder structure on my HD which is identical/similar to my projects and folder within Aperture.
Any idea?
Thanks
Tobias

You are correct, all Aperture settings will not move to LightRoom.
However, Lightroom adjustments are interchangeable with the new ACR 3.7 and ACR 4.0(CS3 beta).
ACR now supports more than 150 cameras, including the Nikon D40 and the Pentax K10D. And though the cameras don't appear on the official compatibility list, Phase One shooters will be happy to know that Lightroom and ACR now (unofficially) support a number of P1 cameras (H20, H25, P20, P21, P25, P30, & P45), and Fuji customers have preliminary support for the S5.
Transfer your data from Aperture one project at a time.
Build a similar directory structure as your project/folder structure in Aperture, then go into each project and export masters to the corresponding external structure.
Exporting masters is quick as it is only copying data.
Just do it, get it over with
Then fire up LightRoom and import.

Aperture 2 to Lightroom 4

I need to transfer my files from Aperture 2 to Lightroom 4 without losing the raw files. When I did it on my laptop they are now all Jpegs. I don't want this to happen on my desktop. Any suggestions?

John Beardsworth has an excellent article on the subject here: http://lightroomsolutions.com/articles/migrating-from-aperture-to-lightroom-where-do-i-beg in/

Are there any limitations for importing Apple Aperture Libraries for Lightroom 5.7 ? What can be the hardware limitation importing large Aperture Libraries like 200 gb ? Or is importing larger Aperture Libraries even possible at the moment for Lightroom 5

Are there any limitations for importing Apple Aperture Libraries for Lightroom 5.7 ? What can be the hardware limitation for importing large Aperture Libraries like 200 gb ? Or is importing larger Aperture Libraries even possible at the moment to Lightroom 5.7 ?

dj_paige wrote:
As far as hardware restrictions, the only one I can think of is that you certainly need enough free space on your hard disk to accomodate the masters from your Aperture library.
IIn which case, ensure all your masters are "referenced" in Aperture, and that you then go to Options in the Lightroom import box and import photos in their existing locations.

Aperture conversion to LightRoom

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