Help to make iPhoto mirror Aperture

I have not used iPhoto recently but after updating Aperture to 3.3 I now would like to use iPhoto again but would like it to mirror Aperture with the same albums, smart albums, etc. Now when I open iPhoto the library is there but no albums. Can iPhoto do this automatically and update automatically from aperture. I'd rather not set up the albums and maintain them manually.

There are some limitations on using the unified Aperture / iPhoto Library:
Aperture books and webpages will not be visible in iPhoto; and images that you have hidden in iPhoto cannot be made visible in Aperture.
Have a look at this KB article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5043, i.e. the last section:  Notes on working with unified libraries in iPhoto and Aperture
Regards
Léonie

Similar Messages

  • Help for an iPhoto-to-Aperture noob?

    I'm currently shaking down the Aperture demo, throwing all of my photos at it. Generally, I'm really liking it, but I've run into something that's either odd, or I just haven't figured it out.
    When I imported my iPhoto files, Aperture turned all of my "rolls" into projects. Makes sense.
    Only problem is that my iPhoto intall was broken into multiple libraries, and now all of my Aperture projects are broken apart into four different subfolders. I thought the fix would be easy -- just grab all of the projects and drag them into one folder to keep them together.
    But I can't select multiple projects. Aperture will allow me to drag the projects, but only one at a time. This isn't going to work with more than 500 projects -- I'd be at it all day.
    Is this just a limitation of how Aperture's designed, or am I just being, well, a noob and missing the obvious?
    Thanks for any advice.
    Tim

    Joe Schorr just did a webcast on this:
    http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2007/06/01/iphoto-to-aperture.html
    Probably worth a view first.

  • Using both iPhoto and Aperture workflow help

    I am using both aperture 3 and iPhoto 9 to edit and keep track of images
    I imported images to iPhoto the have Aperture import the iPhoto library this way I have i library..I know if something happens to it I am screwed
    1) I know that Aperture is non destructive, is iPhoto?
    2) will changes ( like GPS location) in aperture be applied to iPhoto images
    3) looking to see if I can make changes made in one program appear in the other
    4) or it it better to import the images in from my external drive (how they were before iPhoto), and have a separate library for each program

    Here's the best advice for using both iPhoto and Aperture:
    Pick one horse and ride it. They both do the same job. If you're shooting Raw or high volumes of Jpeg, then definitely go with Aperture. If you're doing family snaps with a point and shoot stick with iPhoto. Using both adds unnecessary complexity to everything, and with complexity comes the risk of error and data loss.
    1) I know that Aperture is non destructive, is iPhoto?
    Yes. In a wholly different way, mind you, but yes. WHen you edit an image in iPhoto it creates a new file called the Modified Version. You can always revert to the Original photo. If you edit only with iPhoto then you can also avoid generational loss.
    2) will changes ( like GPS location) in aperture be applied to iPhoto images
    No.
    3) looking to see if I can make changes made in one program appear in the other
    You can't.
    4) or it it better to import the images in from my external drive (how they were before iPhoto), and have a separate library for each program
    It makes no sense to use both programs.
    Aperture and iPhoto are entirely different applications that work in very different ways.
    The only communication between the two is as follows:
    Aperture is able to parse the iPhoto Library to allow it to import the contents while stacking the Originals and Modified versions, preserving metadata and so forth.
    Aperture can share its Previews with the iLife apps, including iPhoto.
    That's it.
    So, specifically, what interaction there is between the two is designed to facilitate migration from iPhoto to the more powerful app. After that, iPhoto has exactly the same relationship to the Aperture Library as, say, Pages or iMovie.
    iPhoto has no knowledge of, and knows nothing of how the Aperture Library works. It cannot read the Aperture library.
    What are you hoping to achieve by running both?
    Regards
    TD

  • I am unable to change location for editing photos.  I tried the advanced drop down menu in iPhoto and have 2 locations for editing-iphoto and aperture.  I want to add photoshop.  Can anyone help? Thanks.

    i cannot change editing location from aperture to photoshop in iphoto.  i followed directions to advanced tab in iphoto and have 2 choices for editing photos-iphoto and aperture.  any suggestions on how to change the sites?  thanks.

    Not sure why you would have Aperture there as it's not an editor.
    To change, just select Aperture again, and this will give you the dialogue to change the choice.
    Regards
    TD

  • Iphoto or aperture 3 help

    If I have aperture 3 should i get rid of iPhoto and just transfer all my photo to aperture 3 ??

    There is nothing to transfer. iPhoto and Aperture share the same library format. You can simply open your iPhoto Library in Aperture, if you have the latest iPhoto version and use both programs on the same library.
    See this support article:  Aperture 3.3: Using a unified photo library with iPhoto and Aperture
    You can also use Aperture to merge all your iPhoto Libraries into one, single library, see:
    Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries
    But even, if you will only use Aperture in future, I'd not delete iPhoto. You may find it useful to have occasionally, see                  Keep iPhoto - It May Come in Handy!
    Regards
    Léonie

  • From iPhoto to Aperture

    Hi there,
    Aperture pre-purchase concerns and Q's
    According to <http://www.apple.com/aperture/specs/> it's 15- or 17-inch PowerBook G4 with a 1.25GHz or faster PowerPC G4 processor , and thus, my PB 17, 1.67, with 2GB of RAM is OK to run Aperture under OS 10.4.11...
    My
    ATI Mobility Radeon 9700:
    Chipset Model: ATY,RV360M11
    Type: Display
    Bus: AGP
    VRAM (Total): 128 MB
    Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
    Device ID: 0x4e50
    Revision ID: 0x0000
    ROM Revision: 113-xxxxx-145
    Displays:
    Color LCD:
    Display Type: LCD
    Resolution: 1440 x 900
    Depth: 32-bit Color
    Built-In: Yes
    Core Image: Supported
    Main Display: Yes
    Mirror: Off
    Online: Yes
    Quartz Extreme: Supported
    Display:
    Status: No display connected
    Seems to meet the Tech Specs too....
    My Internal 100GB HD is almost full, and I need 5GB of disk space for application, sample projects, and tutorial... So I gotta take a lot of photos etc off my Internal and move them to External FWHD's. But that is gonna take me time..
    So here are a few Q's that Apple Care couldn't answer today, but at least they steered me here!
    I am using iPhoto 6.0.6 and iLife 07... Can I move my iPhoto Library to External HD, Delete it from Internal to create space for Aperture Install, and then Import that iPhoto Library into Aperture? Will the Keywords, Comments etc = Metadata survive that Import?
    Here is my Ultimate Goal: Asset Management!!!! = One Maser Library, Limitless Growth or trackable photos
    Just like Aperture promo says -- I want a Bird's Eye View of all my photos via Aperture, and on Internal HD keep my Select one's only, and move photos back and forth between Internal and External without losing Keywords and other Metadata?!
    Is my PB17 strong enough to run such set up?
    Also, if I decide to Upgrade this PB17 to Leopard, I'd need even more space for Archive and Install method of Installation... Will Aperture "survive" that transition?
    When I buy MacBook Pro, how do I get my Aperture "universe" transferred from my PB17?
    Would I have to buy another Aperture, or can I use it on both laptops, or move it to MacBook Pro?
    I am not a pro photographer, by I do tons of point and shoot with my S500 Canon digital camera...
    I want to carry around on my laptop my favorites, Select photos, and when I am back home, and plug all my external FWHD's into my PB, I want to have access to ALL my photos!
    Of course, non destructive editing sounds like a dream too with the respect to disk space!
    Another concern is -- how long has Aperture 1.5 been out? I'd be ticked off if I bought it now, and in less than a month, Steve Jobs announced Aperture 2.0, and I had to pay for another upgrade!
    Will Aperture 1.5 play nice with iPhoto 6.0.6 and iLife 07? I'd prefer not to buy iLife 08, since I'd be getting that with MacBook Pro, but not till after Macworld 2007!
    This promo video
    <http://seminars.apple.com/seminarsonline/aperture15iphoto/apple/index1.html> makes it all look really easy, and it might but...
    I hope this Forum helps me make this transition. Please include any and all URL links... I am pretty eager to start with Aperture, rather than lose my Keywords and Comments in iPhoto, after I move photos in bunches off my Internal...
    Is there a way to configure my profile in this Forum, so that I'd be notified whenever there is a response posted to this post! Hope yes!
    Thanks in advance to all for any help!

    Scott,
    Thanks a lot for your reply...
    Let me put this back into my present context...
    I am down to 2.8 of free space on my 100GB Internal HD on PB G4, 1.67, 2GB RAM...
    Can I move my iPhoto library to External, make sure it works there, then Delete it on Internal, thus freeing up space to install Aperture, then Import my Select Shots into Aperture on Internal?!
    Hey.
    One quick thing: the export and then import will keep your keywords, ratings,
    so on and so forth. Bone up on the Aperture method of a managed library versus
    a referenced import.
    That will save you lots of time and frustration. I
    personally do a managed library, but my organizational skills are pretty good.
    I don't want stuff all over the place when I have to get to it.
    Is there a PDF Manual or some place where I could read about managed library versus a referenced import.
    Also, I do plan on having a Dedicated FWHD for all my photos. The idea being to have a Folder that I could back up, with ALL photos in it - Internal Selects and External
    Also, bone up
    on the issue of Aperture generating Previews. Trust me. If you do you'll get a
    good sleep at night.
    Is there a PDF Manual or some place where I could read about Aperture generating Previews.
    If you do some heavy P&S shooting you're gonna grow your library quick. In
    iPhoto I started splitting libraries at the 10,000 image mark. Now, a few
    years after, I realize that a lot of that was unnecessary, and I'm purging the
    libraries. Too much junk in there!
    So, I guess that doesn't apply to me?
    If you have so many of your own shots you can probably do without installing
    the sample projects. Just a thought...
    Are sample projects part of Aperture Tutorials?
    How many systems do you have, or are going to have, to run Aperture on? PB17,
    then upgrade to Leopard, then a MBP? Perhaps you could minimize the hops and
    go from your PB to a kitted out MBP. That would save you a lot of
    administrative hoopla and allow you time to USE Aperture, and not keep
    configuring it...
    I only have PB17, and I need Aperture mostly for Freeing up Space on Internal, and Organizing my Photos. Then I got to finish a bunch of other PRIORITY project. Getting MacBook Pro would be a Premature Detour. When the other projects are done, I'll get a bigger bang for my Hardware $$
    Aperture 2.0! Oh, aren't we all dreaming of it. It's technology for you. Wait
    for the new version (and use no version now) or use a version now and get the
    new one later. I just picked up Aperture 1.5.6 after waiting from the rumor
    period years ago. It's worth it, for me, because I'm using it NOW. Now m ore
    abstract thought about it. When 2.0 comes out I'm waiting for Leopard
    compatibility and bug fixes before jumping in.
    What's not clear is how long this Aperture been out? But even though, I am thinking of waiting till after Macworld as far as Aperture and all things Mac.
    Wanna configure your profile? Log in. Click on the My Settings link on the
    right. Scroll down a little in the Subscription Preferences piece and click
    Yes, Yes, and Immediately for the choices.
    I figured it out right after posting:) Thanks. That's how your post came to me via email -- great!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!
    My suggestion: get Aperture now. Learn it and use it now. Get your MBP with
    iLife 08 pre-installed when you can. Rock on.
    That's probably what I'll do, most likely AFTER Macworld. Till then, I could use PhotoPresenter http://www.arizona-software.ch/ which basically does what I would like to do with Aperture as far as keeping track of the Photos but FAR less deeply as far as Keywords:), never mind Non Destructive Editing, Versioning etc.
    Can Aperture work with iPhoto 6.0.6. Ilife 07?
    BTW, this > symbol thing works great!!! I pasted your text as a Quote in my Entourage, Office 2004, Email. Inserted my Comments, and pasted it back into my Post here!!! Looks great!!! Who knew:)?!?!
    BTW, " Bone up" -- that's some funny English:)! But, let's be adult here, or I'll forget why I even posted here:):):!!!! Again THANKS for you Reply... I just want some to address my Original Post point by point, cause, as we all know, the devil is in the details..:)!
    And, if they use that Quoting Scheme, as I described 2 paragraphs above, it will even more clear as far as putting it all in a context -- ala dialog...
    Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • IPhoto vs Aperture--deleting iPhoto library

    I just installed Aperture 3 and in doing so, i chose the option of copying my iPhoto library into Aperture. The instructions from Apple--available here: http://www.apple.com/aperture/iphoto-to-aperture/how.html -- say that if I then select the option to "Consolidate Masters to Library" I can safely delete my iPhoto library. But when I chose that option, I got a message that 'there are no referenced photographs." Can this be? My iPhoto Library is 124 GB; the new Aperture library is only 82 GB. Can I now safely delete the iPhoto library and have all my pictures in Aperture or is there something else I need to do. (To be safe, I have already backed up my entire iPhoto library on an external drive.
    Thanks,
    Rick Derevan

    2.  There is a subfolder in the Aperture folder called "Masters" with a whole bunch of folders in it and pictures are in the ones i opened, But I don't know if these are "masters" or "versions"--but I assume they are masters.
    Aperture does not store the versions in the library as actual images - Aperture only stores instructions on how to render the version from the master. This saves disk space - you can create many versions from the same master without additional storage necessary,  and this makes the lossles workflow possible. You always can undo your adjustments step by step, The version image will be created when you export the image. So if you see an image file in the library it is the master image file, if it is in the "Masters" folder.
    So I think I am good to go, but all of my (former) iPhoto events show in the inspector column. And when I open a project in Aperture, and click on a photo, the event in iPhoto where the photo was originally found is highlighted in the inspector bar. So, why is the iPhoto event being highlighted if the photos are now in an Aperture library? Is that cause for worry?
    Aperture recreated the iPhoto library structure in the Aperture Library as far as possible.
    For each iPhoto event you now will find an Aperture project. These projects are the containers of your images. Each image has a project where it is stored. Also you should see your iPhoto albums, books, and Slideshows. and the images should be tagged with captions and keywords.
    There is no cause to worry - all iPhoto images are now in Aperture; and Aperture mirrors your old library structure; this is supposed to be helpful, not to confuse you
    The inspector panel in Aperure is very different from the iPhoto Inspector. Everything seems to be there twice, but these are just different views of the same items in the database.
    The upper part lets you view the Library by projects, places, faces, etc., an the lower part shows the storage structure - how the library is organized by folders and projects; and if you select an image in the upper part - in projects view or Photos view, then Aperture will highlight the project where the image is contained.
    I think you will find Kirby Krieger's introduction helpful to get you started:
    Kirby Krieger: Re: Organizing in Aperture, concise long version:
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/12616449#12616449
    And also the very good online manual, if you have not found it already:
    Aperture 3 User Manual: http://documentation.apple.com/en/aperture/
    Regards
    Léonie

  • Print quality difference between iphoto and aperture...?

    when ordering books, is there a print quality difference between using iPhoto and Aperture? or are they sent to the same lab?
    it's possible i may have some setting wrong, but when i order a book using iphoto, i never really feel the quality is that great. it's good, i just feel it could be a lot better. the print quality sort of reminds me of newsprint, albeit high quality newsprint. similar sized prints made at home on my basic 3-in-1 printer look better.
    thanks...

    Previews are what you view on your display. When you import a photo into Aperture (and I'm pretty sure iPhoto as well), your computer automatically generates a preview for quick viewing. The original images are stored in your library, but it is the preview that you see.
    In Aperture, you are able to set the size and quality of these previews. When sharing photos between Aperture and iPhoto, the process is as follows:
    Let's say that your images are stored in Aperture, but you also want to be able to view them in iPhoto without taking up too much room on your hard drive. Essentially, if you were to import the originals into iPhoto as well, you would be storing two exact, yet separate copies of the same image on your hard drive. As you are aware, with large images (whether JPEG's, and especially RAW) this would put quite a tax on your storage capacity after not too long.
    So, you have your images in one or the other (in this case Aperture), but you want to play around with them in iPhoto. What you can do, is open iPhoto, go to the File menu and then select, Show Aperture Library. This will open a window with all of the contents of your Aperture Library. You can then drag any images you want into iPhoto . The only thing is, you are not dragging the original JPEG's, but rather, the previews of those images. If you have those previews set to a lower quality (again for capacity concerns), you will only have lower quality and lower detailed images in iPhoto. These images might not be ideal, or even suitable for printing high quality prints. The previews that you generate in Aperture though can be adjusted to be extremely high quality with no size limits.
    My thinking was that since you mentioned Aperture, it sounded like you had experience with working with it and with ordering a photo book through Aperture. I guess you were saying that you ordered via iPhoto, weren't happy with the quality and were wondering if Aperture created books were better.
    Anyway, if this is the case, I cannot answer that for you. I have never ordered a book through Aperture. If the quality of your images is good, you should be able to get a decent product no matter where you order it from. There is not doubt that the materials used and the print shop that does the work makes a difference, but if your images are good, you should still get a decent product through iPhoto. Perhaps iPhoto isn't the way to go though if you have had poor experiences with them.
    If you haven't used Aperture yet, I would highly recommend it though aside from the photo book aspect of this thread. It is a stellar product.
    I hope this helps.
    Message was edited by: macorin

  • What is the best way to organize photos? iPhoto or Aperture?

    I am a mom taking tons of photos of my young children. On my old PC I used to organize everything within "My Pictures" by Month & Year (May 2008). I am a very organized, linear person and don't like to change the way I do things midstream so I am having a hard time figuring out how to organize our family photos now that I have switched to a Mac with iPhoto and Aperture. In the future I hope to learn about Aperture's professional tools (which as a mom & not a professional photographer I currently do not use). I would love to take photography classes at a local community college someday...
    My questions are as follows:
    1) What is the better way for ME to store our photos? Should I be uploading to iPhoto or Aperture? I basically want all of my "master photo images" in the same location in an organized fashion. I am hoping to do this without clogging up my computer. At this point I am thinking at the end of each year I will burn the year's photos to a disk for save keeping. But until then...
    2) Is the "library" the over-arching place where all photos are stored? In general, I am having a hard time following the hierarchy of where my photos are being stored, how to organize them and how to completely delete bad photos.
    3) Can I do everything I can do in iPhoto in Aperture? Obviously I know I can do more but is it as easy to edit/fix up photos?
    I have listened to/watched several tutorials on both programs and have read through many other folks' questions/answers but I am still not sure of what to do.
    I really appreciate any help/advice anyone is willing to give!
    Thanks!

    I'm not a professional either, just a grandma with a love of digital photography who takes lots of photos. We used to live in a motorhome full time, so we had lots of opportunities to take many photos.
    I personally like Aperture better than iPhoto because I like to use some of the NIK software/plugins where I can do the adjusting right in Aperture and don't always have to send the photos to PhotoShop. Also you have a bit more flexibility as to file set ups with Aperture. In iPhoto you don't have as many nesting capabilities. iPhoto is great, but pretty basic.
    I had my photos set up as files on the PC, long before I got my first Mac. So I set them up the same way. I'll try to explain
    In Finder:
    Pictures (in side bar on left in Finder)
    Folder - My Photos
    2nd Folder - by year
    In the year folder I have a folder by date ie: 20000722 (year,month,date) and the photos from that date in there.
    Once I got to using Aperture, I have my years set up as "projects" and the dates set up as "Albums". When importing the whole set of photos into Aperture, it was easy. I highlighted the "library", then did a right mouse click and selected "import folders as projects". That imported the photos into Aperture the same way I have them in finder.
    Once everything is in Aperture, and you have new photos to add, I make an album under the corresponding year and import.
    I do all my photos as referenced and don't duplicate them again, as I have them backed up in a couple of other places.
    IMHO you can't back up enough! Don't wait and do it only once a year! Hard drives have a way of crashing and you'll loose all your photos. Use DVD's, thumb drives, ext. hard drives or what ever works for you. But always back up.
    When I take my photos off of the memory card, I immediately send a copy to the back up external HD. Once the photos are adjusted etc. I make sure I have a copy elsewhere too. Only then do I erase them off of the memory card. Might be a bit redundant, but I'm not about to loose any of my photos. When we lived in the motorhome we were always aware of the possibility of theft or fire. So I got in the habit of taking some time to reduce the size of the photos and keep them on a thumb drive that I kept out of the RV. If anyone broke in or we had a fire, I'd still have the photos. Maybe not the originals or the bigger size, but we wouldn't loose them either.
    If you want more info on non professional filing, send me a PM and I can send you a photo of my file hierarchy . (suemach (at) mac (dot) com)
    Allie

  • Comparing counts after conversion: iPhoto to Aperture

    Well, I just finished a major conversion from iPhoto to Aperture. 47,000 photos and videos in a 303 gigabyte iPhoto Library. It was a long and winding road, and I learned a lot about how to compare counts of photos and videos between iPhoto and Aperture. I hope this information helps someone spend a few less hours on the task than I had to.
    After an iPhoto-Aperture library conversion, the first check you'll probably want to do, to confirm all went well, is to compare the number of photos and/or videos reported from each application. You'll probably compare the overall total, and/or the total for important subgroups (say, all photos keyworded "family".) Here are some things to be aware of:
    - You can run iPhoto and Aperture at the same time, even if Aperture is referencing the photos in their iPhoto library locations. This can make various count comparisons easy. Sometimes though I found the apps suddenly bogged down, and I had to quit one of the two to recover (this was on a 4GB 2.93 GHz iMac).
    - Whether your Aperture "stacks" are open or closed affects the photo count reported by Aperture. If you edit an original photo in iPhoto, in the end all you see is edited photo, the original is preserved but tucked away unseen. In terms of a photo count, you still have just one photo. When this photo is imported into Aperture, it comes in as a 2-photo stack (original & edited). If you stacks are closed, your counts should match; if your stacks are open, Aperture will be higher.
    - Photos "hidden" in iPhoto come in as "rejects" in Aperture (i.e. a rating of "X" on a scale of X,1,2,3,4 or 5 stars). When the search box in Aperture says "Showing All," you are including the rejects in the count (that is, the count appearing at the bottom of the window in browser mode). If it says "Unrated or better," the rejects are not being counted. Make sure you are consistently including or excluding hidden/rejects when comparing numbers.
    - Formats supported by iPhoto but not by Aperture. I have some old (pre-OS X) screenshots in PICT format. Viewable just fine in iPhoto, but they do not get imported into Aperture.
    - Some video formats (in my case, MPEG1 Muxed) are imported into Aperture, but are not playable within Aperture, and do not show up if you filter on File Type = Video (that last part seems just plain wrong behavior).
    - Every count I saw in Aperture included videos, even when the count was labeled "Photos" (e.g. "23,434 Photos"—you'll see this under Projects, if you group by folder)
    - I did have a few items that were *just plain skipped*, with no error dialog, by the import. Scary. But in every case, there was evidence of a problem in iPhoto: I would see a fine thumbnail, but if I tried to open the photo or video, I'd see a gray exclamation point where the photo/video should appear. In every case I successfully found an valid original (in the iPhoto "Originals" folder) and moved it manually into Aperture. Problem is, are you going to try and view every photo you have in iPhoto, checking for exclamation points? I tracked my missing photos/videos down by painstakingly comparing counts in matching slices of time (say, August 2006) in iPhoto and Aperture. When I narrowed a count discrepancy to a set of 100 pics or so, I compared thumbnails between the 2 apps until I found the item missing from Aperture. Not fun.
    I hope this helps somebody. Now that I've made the switch, I have a love-hate relationship with Aperture. Mostly love. But that is a separate post. Aperture is also my first Pro app from Apple, and iPhoto and Aperture make a fascinating case study in contrasting user interface design (freedom from choice vs. options galore). Also a topic for another post.
    Mike M

    Hey, thanks for the comprehensive post. It helped me quite a bit and probably saved me a lot of time; I'm sure it did the same to a lot of people who didn't have an account here as well.

  • Use both iPhoto and Aperture with one library-best practice?

    I'd like to use both iPhoto and Aperture, but have both programs use/update just one photo library.  I have the latest versions of both programs, but was wondering if the optimum approach would be to:
    a)point Aperture to the existing iPhoto library and use that as the library for both programs
    or
    b)import the entire iPhoto library into a new Aperture library, delete the iPhoto library, and point iPhoto to use the Aperture library.
    I should point out that up to now I've been using iPhoto exclusively, and have close to 20K photos in the iPhoto library, tagged with Faces, organized into various albums, etc; if that makes a difference...
    Appreciate any advice!
    Thanks,
    Dave

    Thanks Frank!  I'll try it that way.
    Appreciate the help!

  • Importing masters from iPhoto to Aperture 3 and saving as referenced files on external drive

    I'm making the move from iPhoto to Aperture 3.I'm new to Aperture 3 and want o make sure I am importing and saving correctly. So far, I have imported my library of events from iphoto to Aperture 3. I understand that for the most part, it makes sense to house this library on an external drive as "referenced files" vs within Apeture as "managed files." I'm not clear on exactly how to accomplish this set-up. Is this something I should have set-up when doing the initial import or can I move the files now? Once this is done, when importing new files, how do I import to Aperture 3 but save on external drive?
    Thanks in advance for your help!

    A fabulous answer:
    In the olden days ( ) when hobbyists made their own telescopes from kits, everyone wanted a six-inch lens, and the kit makers shipped six-inch lens blanks.  Which the hobbyists used to learn lens grinding.  Which is arduous and requires skill.  Which the hobbyists didn't have until they'd ground that six-inch blank -- an expensive piece of high-quality material at the time -- into a lumpen flawed approximation of a good lens.  Then the hobbyists would contact the kit makers and ask for another lens-blank, so they could build their telescope.  At which point they would drop the project because the six-inch lens blank cost so much.  And much calumny was rained on the kit manufacturers.
    Now the kit manufacturers wanted to promote a hobby, and make, in addition to telescope kits, money (not calumny), so they together and separately hit upon the idea of supplying the hobbyist with _two_ lens blanks: a four-inch blank, and a six inch blank.  Nobody wanted a four-inch telescope -- but that's not what the blank was for.  The instructions read (I've shortened this part) "Grind the four-inch blank into the most perfect lens you can.  Check it and re-check it.  Now throw it out.  You likely now have the skill to grind the six-inch blank into a useable lens."
    Thus endeth our fable.
    The point, of course, is:  start small and gain skill before committing time and material to a task.  Port just a small sub-set of you photos into Aperture.  Experiment with it.  Try different workflows.  Think about how to best use the containers and organization tools Aperture provides.  Develop a long-term naming convention for files and Projects.  Work out a back-up strategy that is scalable and that you will stick with.  My specific recommendation for beginners is: don't worry about Referenced v. Managed at first.  Make all your Masters Managed.  When you have your four-inch Aperture Library all smooth and even, put the entire thing in the system trash -- and then you can start working on an Aperture Library fit for your photos -- one that will allow you to see far, and clear, for years.
    Good luck.

  • Moving from iPhoto to Aperture with limited drive space

    My biggest concern is the lack of space on my MacBook Air.
    I have already purchased and download Aperture.
    In the Import window I see the "move files" radiobutton and the "copy files" radiobutton under the "Store Files:" dropdown,  but they are disabled.
    As I understand if I just import my IPhoto Library, it will duplicate the files into the Aperture Library, and that wont work since my current library (iPhoto) is way bigger than my freespace in disk.
    Buying external drive is not an option now since I im saving to buy a NAS that will solve my space problems in the near future.
    What i would like to achieve is just to move all my iPhoto Library to Aperture Library. I wont use iPhoto anymore.
    Can someone help me with this? Im really looking forward to use Aperture....

    Hello Richieto,
    I have already purchased and download Aperture.
    In the Import window I see the "move files" radiobutton and the "copy files" radiobutton under the "Store Files:" dropdown,  but they are disabled.What i would like to achieve is just to move all my iPhoto Library to Aperture Library. I wont use iPhoto anymore.
    Set the "storeFiles" selector to "in their current location".
    Have you seen this support article. Moving from iPhoto to Aperture - How to move http://www.apple.com/aperture/iphoto-to-aperture/how.html
    If you follow these instructions, you will import your iPhoto Library by referencing - that means, all images remain in your iPhoto library; your iPhoto Library will remain unchanged, but Aperture references the files in in the iPhoto Library. This will save disk space; your images will be stored only once: Set the "Store Files" selector to "in their current location".
    If you decide to do it this way, make sure you have a working backup of your iPhoto library. Also remember at all times that your master image files now are managed independently by two applications, that do know nothing of what the other app does and are not synchronized. So you must not move the iPhoto library, and you must not delete any images that are shared by both applications. Other than that this way to import from iPhoto will be the best deal, if you need to be frugal with disk space.
    What i would like to achieve is just to move all my iPhoto Library to Aperture Library. I wont use iPhoto anymore.
    Once you are happy with  the way Aperture handles the images you can copy your iPhoto library to a backup location and consolidate the master image files (File -> consolidate) by moving them from your iPhoto Library into the Aperture Library. This will delete them from iPhoto and store them inside the Aperture Library package. Then delete the iPhoto Library after testing that the consolidation was successful.
    I im saving to buy a NAS that will solve my space problems in the near future.
    Just a caution - you should not use the NAS to store the Aperture library - an Aperture library needs to bestored on a local volume formatted MacOS X extended.
    Regards
    Léonie

  • Drag from iPhoto to Aperture

    When in Aperture, I open my iPhoto window and drag and drop photos from iPhoto to Aperture. I would like the files copied into Aperture (rather than keeping the files in iPhoto and merely reference in Aperture). How do I make sure the files are copied into Aperture (so the master file is in Aperture)?

    This is all helpful. When I said I opened the iPhoto window, I meant that when in Aperture I open the iPhoto browser. So, I take it that if I have a RAW in iPhoto that I have made edits to, when I drag and drop from the iPhoto browser then (1) I'll get both the original RAW and the modified version as a jpeg and (2) the file will be copied into Aperture as the master (managed), so if I delete the photo in iPhoto I will still be able to work on it in Aperture.
    For me that creates a nice workflow, as I can shoot RAW, download into iPhoto, sort through and drop into Aperture (from the iPhoto browser) the ones (including original RAW files) I want to keep and work on further (even after doing some preliminary adjustments in iPhoto), then delete and/or move to an external storage device the images I downloaded into iPhoto (given that with RAW I would otherwise quickly consume my laptop harddrive.) See any issues?

  • From Iphoto to Aperture? & Backing up Photos/Movies.

    I am looking to make the move from just Iphoto to Aperture. Not sure why I haven't - why not?
    BUT I also need to decide where and how to store/backup all my many photo's and movies. What do most people do? What is the BEST thing to do for longterm? Nothing feels permanent except printing. HELP ! It's my biggest fear not being able to access all my photos in 20+ years. your advice please!

    How big is your iPhoto Library, and how will you organize your Aperture Library?
    If you are planning to work with a managed Aperture Library (all master files are included in the Aperture Library Package) and the Aperture Library resides on your System Drive, then your regular Time Machine Backup will include all your images as well.
    If you have referenced masters, you need to include the drive that contains the master files into your backup scheme.
    To be on the safe side, you will need more than one backup, stored on different devices, and preferably the devices stored in different places. Also it is highly recommended to make a backup of the original master files right from the card, before you import them into Aperture.
    To create backups in addition to Time Machine: A managed Aperture Library you can backup by copying the Aperture Library Package using the Finder's copy function, or better, by creating a backup with a tool like "SuperDuper", since this program can make incremental backups.
    Also, you could create a vault for backup, but I do not use that any longer, since Time Machine now seems to work o.k. with Aperture Libraries.
    I hope you will get many more recommendations from this forum - the backup workflow widely depends on the size of your library, the organisation of your library, and the extent of safety required.
    Regards
    Léonie

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