IPhoto vs. Lightroom vs. Aperture?

I'm pretty new to digital image editing. One of the reasons I actually bought a Mac in the first place was for the ease of getting digital images onto the Internet, with maybe a little bit of editing (cropping, some minor color adjustment mainly). I use the .Mac/MobileMe service for storage after I saw how easy it was to get photos off the camera with iPhoto, tweak them a bit, then upload them to the Internet with iPhoto's Share feature.
Now that I've been doing that for a while, I'm starting to get interested in maybe taking things a bit further. I'd like to be able to do a bit more with some photos than what it seems is possible with iPhoto, such as blemish removal, greater control over color adjustments, etc.
I have been using iWeb to give me better online photo albums than iPhoto's simple Gallery feature, but even iWeb seems very limited with how the templates can be customized.
So I've started to wonder what my other options are. Of course I know the grand-daddy of image editing is Adobe Photoshop, but I'm not ready for the price tag or learning curve, not yet, anyway.
From what I can tell, Adobe Lightroom is basically like iPhoto, being a photo management and minor editing, only with more features and more that it can do compared to iPhoto. Is that assessment correct? Additionally, it also has a publish to web feature, like iPhoto, only even more customizable than what I can do with iWeb, is that also correct?
And from what I also understand, Apple Aperture is basically Apple's version of Lightroom?
Can Lightroom publish photos and albums to the Internet as easily as iPhoto? Including to a .Mac/MobileMe account?
If I were to get Lightroom or Aperture, would I still need to use iPhoto for anything anymore, or would the new program be a complete replacement?
Message was edited by: Justin J. Rebbert

To get an idea of the benefits of Aperture and Lightroom you might visit the DAM (digital asset management) forum and see what they say about those applications over there.
The DAM Forum
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

Similar Messages

Merge two iPhoto libraries into an Aperture library for my Macbook Air

Hey,
I've searched around a bit for this but can't seem to figure out how to to it.
I'm trying to manage my ~140GB photo library on my Macbook Air which has 128GB of HDD. On top of that, you can imagine that most of that 128GB is filled with system stuff.
My objective is to keep most of my library offline from the Macbook Air, but still keep it all together.
I kinda went "all-in" with iPhoto a few years back to organize my photos so gave up on Aperture. I'd always wanted to move to Aperture or Lighroom but the migration appeared to be a complete disaster. Now with "transparent" compatibility it seems like a no brainer to get the best of both worlds.
I thought that Aperture allowed you store files on external hard drives but still have "thumbnail" access to them even when the drive wasn't connected. Or did I misread that? (Is that Lightroom?)
Anyway with the new update I thought that I could merge my available iPhoto libraries into one Aperture library that I could always have access to, while offloading the actual photos somehow to an external HDD.
This would be a real winner for me. It seems tho that an iPhoto library stays an iPhoto library. So while merging might be helpful for someone with a big hard drive, it's completely useless for me as if anything, I need to split. Or create more. Or some other form of adding complexity.
Any ideas here?

Figured this out on my own.
Make a backup of everything - Aperture seems to require rebuilds and stuff and stories abound of "things going a bit wrong."
Did you make a backup? If you don't want to or can't, I wouldn't do this. After all, it's your photos!
Setup your Aperture library on a USB drive.
Update iphoto to the newest version. Open all your libraries in iPhoto to update them. This may take awhile depending on library size.
Import whatever iphoto libraries you have to Aperture. This make take awhile (hours!) - if your stuff is more than say 25 gigs I'd recommend setting it up for overnight.
Once everything is in Aperture - check its all working right. Then go ahead and maybe make another backup
Then migrate your photos out of the library. This takes all the originals and stores them elsewhere, called "offline". Once they're there, you can't move them around, so pick a good spot!! This also takes forever.
Once this is done your Aperture library should be smaller and just copy it to your MacbookAir
I'm still working on this as it looks like something went funky and I have to rebuild my thumbnails, another overnight processing thing. Like I said, keep a backup But I have a slimmed down Library on my Macbook Air now which is what I wanted.
This whole thing is kinda a mess and while it's feasible Apple hasn't made it easy. There's also some crazy stuff Aperture does with thumbnails and "previews" so that they take a bunch of space up (in my case almost as much as my photos), so you might have to work with that.
The guy at Apertureexpert.com is a genius.
Check out this post for more on slimming your Aperture Library:
http://www.apertureexpert.com/tips/2010/1/20/reducing-library-sizedramatically.h tml
Edit:As a side-note I put some HTML in my message and it looks like it isn't used in the forum - why does Apple bother having the formatting tools if they don't work? Kinda like the close-door button on an elevator?
Edit2: Haha it shows up in the answer but not in the normal thread. Strange, eh?

How to import photos from iPhoto to Lightroom?

Hey Guys, How do I export photos from iPhoto to Lightroom? I deleted them from the SD Card so I cannot import them directly to Lightroom. Im using a mac so its all very confusing for me. Please help me., Hey Guys, How do I export photos from iPhoto to Lightroom? I deleted them from the SD Card so I cannot import them directly to Lightroom. Im using a mac so its all very confusing for me. Please help me.

To simply import the original files is quite a simple process.
Locate the iPhoto Library (default is your Pictures Folder). Right click on it and select "Show Package Contents".
Locate the Masters folder and drag it onto the Lightroom icon or an open Library window. This will invoke the Import command.
Be sure "Include Subfolders" is checked.
Now you can import all the original files.
If your goal is to maintain structure of the Events it gets a little more tedious. Drag the event onto the Lightroom icon or the Library window. Once imported you can group them into a Collection Name that mimics the Event.
Repeat with other events.
With the impending demise of iPhoto and Aperture, I suspect Apple may be working with Adobe to develop an automated process that will also maintain metadata that was added in those programs. If you can wait a while, it may be worth it.

OK to use both iPhoto and Lightroom?

I have a late-model 27” iMac (Lion) with all of my many thousands of photos stored and organized in iPhoto with the help of iPhoto Library Manager. For editing my digital images I have not used iPhoto but rather Photoshop Elements (currently Elements 10) as an external editor. I have investigated use of Aperture for managing and editing my photos, but my research indicates that Lightroom is a better program. Therefore, I prefer to use Lightroom. So here’s what I’m thinking of doing:
1. Leave all of my existing photos in iPhoto and continue to edit them using Elements as an external editor.
2. Install Lightroom and designate that all new images imported into my iMac go into Lightroom.
3. Edit and manage all new images with Lightroom using Elements as an external editor to perform those editing
functions that Lightroom cannot do.
Is this a workable arrangement? Are you aware of any problems with such a setup? I‘d like to avoid being hit with any big surprises! I would appreciate feedback, especially from anybody who has tried this or a similar method.
Bob

Old Toad,
Thanks for responding.
Please re-read my post. I never said that I intended to use Lightroom to edit photos that are in my iPhoto Library. On the contrary I said that my thought was to continue to use Elements for editing the images in my iPhoto library.
My purpose is to avoid having to move all of my existing photos from iPhoto to Lightroom. I have reviewed some online tutorials on what's required to move photos from iPhoto to Lightroom, and it appears to be a long, involved, and tedious task, particularly if thousands of photos are involved as they are in my case. It's not a job that I would look forward to.
Bob

How do I migrate photos from iPhoto into Lightroom 5?

Okay. I've got all my photos organised in iPhoto, but I've seen the writing on the wall about Apple discontinuing iPhoto.
So I've taken out a subscription for Creative Cloud 2014 including Photoshop & Lightroom 5.
My question is:- How do I migrate all my photos including organising them into Events / Collections from iPhoto to Lightroom 5?
I've seen a tutorial that recommended downloading a free trial of Photoshop Elements 12 to use that as a sort of 'missing link' between the two apps, but it didn't work in that it didn't keep my photos organised in Events / Collections. I just ended up with a load of esoterically generically named folders which made no sense.
Surely there must be a way, shouldn't there?

Have you tried some of the online articles?
e.g. http://lightroomsolutions.com/articles/migrating-from-aperture-to-lightroom-where-do-i-beg in/

Does anyone know how to take photos from IPHOTO into Lightroom?

does anyone know how to take photos from IPHOTO into Lightroom?

Because Apple has dropped "Aperture" and is switching users away from "iPhoto" to a new photo application called "Photo" so that they are more fully integrated with the Yosemite 10 and the iOS 8.3 going forward there are some instructions how to import photos into Lightroom without losing to much metadata or other information. Go under Lightroom help and follow he instructions.

Migration from iPhoto to Lightroom 3 for Apple OS X 10.6

Dear all
This question refers to the Apple version of Lightroom.
Do you know any way of migrating all RAW, tiff, jpg, etc. files from iPhoto to Lightroom 3beta while conserving the original format? Ideally the migration should replicate also the iPhoto folders in Lightroom folders, so that I don't have to recreate the order pre-existing in iPhoto.
Many thanks
Mõmmibeebi

Not correct at all - please see my previous response to a similar post.
Although you may want to check my work - I don't know a thing about iPhoto - I'm assuming the iPhoto directory structure is also a disk directory structure, like Aperture can be - is that correct? Or is it a figment of iPhoto's imagination, so to speak - if so, disregard everything I said in this post and the other one too.
Rob

Lightroom and Aperture problem

Help! I have both Lightroom and Aperture installed on my computer. I should have never installed both because neither one now works right. I think I need to uninstall Aperture but I am afraid to because Lightroom doesn't seem to be importing pictures correctly! Help me please!! I have over 4000 pics that need to be downloaded off of my camera disc! Also, if I uninstall Aperature, will iphoto still function?

You got a mess on your hands -- don't worry, happens to all of us.
1. Choose one or the other, but not both. Either LR or Aperture. If you have to, play a bit with each. But once you commit, commit all the way and _don't use the other_.
2. Find, isolate, and quarantine your digicam "negatives". Where they are is anybodies guess. Figure it out, for Aperture and for Lightroom. Separate them from these programs. Group them together. Back them up.
3 Export all "developed" images. If you already know which program you are going to use, export only those developed in the other program.
4. Once you have selected to work with either LR or Aperture, import all digicam files and all previously-developed-files into the program you selected.
I have no idea why you LR pics are pixilated, but I would ignore it for now. You have bigger problems, all caused by an un-flowable workflow.
HTH.

Migrating from iPhoto to Lightroom...

Hello,
I've now reach 5-years/15,000 images of wildlife/nature photography. iPhoto just no longer cuts it at this size. I'm on the fence between Lightroom and Aperture but right now the selling point for Aperture over Lightroom is that fact that I can migrate my rankings and tags from iPhoto into Aperture, while I don't think this is possible (ie. migrating them into Lightroom). Does anyone have any advice (other than starting from scratch and re-ranking/re-tagging the last 5-years worth of shoots)?
Thanks,
Kristin.

Rather than importing all your iPhoto files to Aperture, I'd caution you to simply reference the odd folder or two for each demo program, and then perhaps experiment with importing iPhoto masters (rather than the reference approach) for Aperture. It's not clear whether Lightroom can read Aperture files, or vice versa. So before doing an entire conversion to either one, why not play with both demos with a (very limited) subset of your photos? This way you can examine exactly what happens without being locked into a particular solution.
(BTW there is an excellent video about Aperture and iPhoto somewhere in the Apple site -- they suggest managing iPhoto images by reference rather than by importing the masters. See it and you'll understand the issues.)
FWIW I did try both and ended up with Lightroom. Aperture has a beautiful, clean design and more intuitive file management. Lightroom has a cluttered, modular design with less fully featured file management but exceptionally intuitive image editing capabilities. Also Lightroom runs like greased lightening by comparison to Aperture, which starts to beachball and stutter once you're on your third slider adjustment. Also, Aperture quits frequently -- in fact, I installed it on two machines, and in both cases it crashed immediately after opening it!
Lightroom is much more stable and has never crashed for me, and I'm banging around on it quite compulsively these days!
That said, while I have a 10,000 iPhoto image file I never bother tagging and rating and so on -- I just did the file folder thing. So choosing one app over another, for me, was not a function of my prior investment in the database. That said, if I HAD taken the time to tag and rank within iPhoto, I'd be absolutely committed to Aperture rather than Lightroom! That is a LOT of time invested, and Aperture is a great program.
One thing is certain: Aperture likes a speedy system. I tried it on my MacBook Pro and it was MUCH faster than on my 1.87 core duo Mini. But it was still not the most stable application on the block -- not by a long shot. Also while I loved the Zen-like simplicity of the interface, I found it Zen-like in other ways too -- as in "inscrutable." Besides being very complex (NOT a program to just start fooling around with, imho, unless you don't mind things like loupe tools that simply will NOT go away!) it also features extremely tiny and incomprehensible icons. You can click on them a dozen times and still not remember what they are just by looking at them. Kind of like "is that a spider? Or maybe a centipede?"
I really wanted to love Aperture, I did. Because I use Lightroom I still have to import albums into iPhoto to view them on Apple TV, for example, whereas Aperture albums can simply be browsed right within iPhoto and also selected for play on Apple TV. Plus I am an unapologetic Apple fangirl and want to paper my walls with Apple -- and only Apple -- software! But I could not get over the instability of Aperture.
As for Lightroom, well in many ways you already know how to use it. It is an exercise in simplicity and intuitiveness.You can start fooling around with it right away without your head starting to hurt!
Tough decision. Bottom line: try out Aperture (on your quad core 3 gig MacPro with a honkin graphics card!) and see what you think. Then try Lightroom. Feed each program just a small set of photos, just to keep things simple and not lock yourself into either until you decide.
Let us know what you decide to do!

Importing strategies between iPhoto and Lightroom 5

During the installation process, Lightroom imported the 5,000 or so photos from my iPhoto library into Lightroom's Ircat catalog. Going forward, I'm planned to organize my photos much better with key words, metadata, etc. Also, I just bought a new camera and plan to take both RAW and JPEGs. So does it make sense to create a second catalog for those images from iPhoto, or somehow, segregate them creating two folders within only one catalog? In addition to understanding the best strategy, I need to know how to do this. Finally, although I use Time Capsule to safely back up my computers, I wanted to get some advice regarding to pros & cons for using an external hard drive to store my images when using Lightroom 5 (i.e., does it make sense using a another drive with a library of 5,000-10,000 images, etc.)?? Cheers

If disk space is the primary you could buy an awful lot of external HD space for the price of Lightroom and run your iPhoto Library from an external disk.
Are you shooting Raw?
For my money - and I realise that it's not - you only get half the value of apps like Aperture and Lightroom (and Aperture is about $100 cheaper btw) if you're shooting jpeg. These apps are designed to make life easier for Raw shooters, and act as large scale digital asset managers. While these apps will still work on jpegs of course, it's a bit like using a Humvee for the school run. It'll do it, but there are more effective uses for a Humvee
IPhoto, Lightroom and Aperture are all designed as Digital Asset Managers - They all work to preserve your original file. While the last two work somewhat differently than iPhoto neither represents a significant space saving in practice.
If you must overwrite your files, then don't use a DAM application. Just use a photo editor like Photoshop or Graphic Coverter. The latter is great value and has some photo management built in, too.
Regards
TD

Can I export photos from iphoto to lightroom?

can I export photos from iphoto to lightroom?

Not very knowledgeable on iPhoto are we?
The problem with iPhoto is it copies and or moves all your photo into it's database structure which is just a pain
It moves nothing. It can copy, or reference the images.
Even Picasa is better then iPhoto as it actually displays RAW images.
As Keith says, iPhoto work with every format that the OS supports - in other words all the same ones as Aperture.
iPhoto doesn't even support Adobe DNG format.
Going for 0/3 ?
As for migrating from iPhoto to Lightroom: Apps like iPhoto2Disk or PhotoShare will help you export to a Folder tree matching your Events.

How do I move the photos in iPhoto to Lightroom ?

How do I move the photos in iPhoto to Lightroom? Thanks, I am a novice to Lightroom.

To access your Mac iPhoto images for use in Photoshop and Lightroom
1. In the Finder, navigate to Users > [user name] > Pictures > iPhoto Library.
2. Control-click (Right-click) the iPhoto Library file and choose Show Package Contents.
3. A Finder window opens that shows the contents. The Masters folder (or called Originals folder) contains all of the photographs that are in iPhoto.
Photoshop cannot access this folder, but if you make a duplicate of the folder, the dupe will be accessible -- so:
4. Control-click (Right-click) the folder named Masters (or Originals) and choose Duplicate.
5. Drag the duplicate folder which is named "Masters copy" or “Originals copy” from the iPhoto Library Finder window to the Desktop.
6. Open images in Photoshop or Lightroom from the file on the desktop.
or
7. Rename the folder and move it elsewhere (probably to the Pictures folder), if desired.
Then access the files in the folder via Lightroom and Photoshop

DAM I need to evolve (Lightroom vs Aperture)

I have been quite reluctant to change my photo workflow due to my hardware limitations, but now that Im getting a new Macbook Pro new doors are opening for me. So, Id like to change from my current workflow into Lightroom or Aperture. I have looked quite heavily into Aperture, but wanted to make sure I cover all the basis before choosing a solution and who better than Lightroom users to comment on Lightroom!
My Current Workflow:
Ok, my current workflow revolved around using iView Media Pro to sort, catalog, and caption images. I then use Photoshop to adjust and batch/export images for clients. I use the finder to download CF cards (just drag them to folders organized on the hard drive). I then import those folders into an iView catalog. Oh yeah, Im using iView Media Pro v1.5.7 (really old one) which is super fast and ignores all the RAW files (which for me was a benefit). Once inside iView I used the Batch Rename feature to change the file names... I remove the camera specific tag (in my case LG4Y) and replace it with the shooting date and a card number (20081025_1).
I then go through the photos and tag the keepers (I give them a color label). After I have sorted through the images I copy the tagged images to another folder on my computer for additional processing (this is once place the non-destructive adjustments will be great). I then batch run a photoshop action (scale, sharpen, etc.) on this folder. Once the action has been run, I create a second iView catalog with only the keeper images.
In this second iView catalog I will do my captioning. One of the features that I really liked at iView was the ability to create custom metadata fields (ex. Race Series, Track, Driver, Team, Car, Number, etc.). In the number field I put the car numbers for each photo. I then sort the photos by number and batch caption all of the photos for a given car with the driver, team, etc. at one time. These captions are then exported to an Excel file for importing into a web database.
Once the weekend is over I move the original files from my laptop to a desktop/server. One of the nice things about iView is the ability to search the catalogs without the associated images needing to be on the computer.
Things I need:
1. File importing and management: Im planning on using the software to import the photos from CF cards. I would like to rename the files on import (so need the ability to replace LG4Y something I enter for each card). I also plan on letting the software manage the images, but will also need to move the photos off of my laptop and onto my desktop/server. I plan on using the laptop for the main source for the library and only use the desktop for storage.
2. Image sorting and ranking: I think both pieces of software have what I need here. I do welcome comparisons in this are if people have them. Are both programs equally capable and speedy at the process?
3. Metadata: This is the most time consuming part of my current workflow. Unfortunately, because the majority of the captions are image specific I cant just batch caption on import. I really need the ability to create custom metadata fields. If these fields can be embedded into the images (or included in sidecar files) all the better. I also need the ability to quickly sort/search by these custom fields so I can add fill-in the other fields. Next, I need to be able to paste the fields across multiple selected images. Lastly, I need to be able to export the metadata into an txt/Excel file for integration with a web database.
4. Any other really cool things that I should be using or doing differently? So often I get close-minded on what Ive been doing... and dont see other things that I could be doing.
Wow, if you made it this far I give you a round of applause! I am planning on using both the trials, so should get a feel for both pieces of software. Thank you all for info.
-Todd...

1. Both programs do this fine. They both have elaborate rename tools that you can already apply at import or after import. Aperture hides the actual file structure a little more but can be used in the same way. They have more of a "iTunes"-like approach to file organization. I'd also point you towards Bridge, which is part of Adobe's creative Suite and does file organization more like a file browser than a database as both Aperture and Lightroom do.
2. They are both quite good by now. The latest version of Aperture has an amazing quick browse method for very quick initial selection that has to be seen to be believed. It uses the previews in the RAW file or the previews you have generated and just flies through. In my opinion, Lightroom is slightly more flexible in general.
3. Very comparable. I love Lightroom's spray paint for metadata, but Aperture is quite comparable. However exporting the files for external integration will be tough. There is a great plugin for Lightroom called
LR/transporter that will do this, or you can use database tools on your database file, but neither program does this natively.
4. If you go for either of these programs you might want to give up on trying to control the filenames/locations etc. too much. Just let the programs take care of it and use collections/projects and metadata integrated with searches to organize your files, just like you would in iTunes. This is a new paradigm for lots of people but it is very liberating and far more flexible than a harddisk/folder based organization paradigm.

I'm new to Lightroom. Struggling with downloading from iPhoto to Lightroom. Pls help??

I have installed Lightroom@ on my mac. Trying to import photos which are saved in iPhoto. Have found your link which says I need to create a master copy and copy to my desktop, which I'm in the process of doing, but: (1) it says it will take 11 hours! (2) do I have to do this every time I want to access recently added photos to iPhoto?? Basically, I'm trying to find the quickest and most efficient way to transfer my photos from iPhoto to lightroom. Pls advise. Thanks. Heidi

No, you do this one time only
By the way, if you're going to use Lightroom, you wouldn't add new photos to iPhoto, you import them into Lightroom.

How to import a book from iPhoto 9.2 to aperture 3

Can I import Projects (Photobooks) from iPhoto 9.2 to Aperture 3? I have all my library on iPhoto and I would like to be able to transfer it completly to Aperture. Some advice would be great, since I am new to Aperture, Thanks!

You can't do this.
Regards
TD

Quality concerns when creating a book in iPhoto from images in Aperture

I use Aperture but I still like the ides of creating books in iPhoto as their styles are more suitable to, such things as, holiday photo albums than the styles offered in Aperture. The approach I use is to open iPhoto, use the 'Show Aperture Library' facility, drag and drop the images into iPhoto, and then create a book in the normal way in iPhoto.
The concern is that the imported images into iPhoto are just small jpegs. The original in Aperture may be a 8MB RAW image whereas the imported image into iPhoto, for the purpose of book creation, may just be a 500KB jpeg. This surely must have an effect on the quality of the printed images in the book. Any views, please.

John,
Unless you get the little yellow exclamation mark triangle warning when you put the photo in the book. you should be ok. If not, you may have to recreate the preview for those images back in Aperture. I believe the previews are all that are used in the book. I just had a book printed through Aperture and had no problems with the default half size previews.

IPhoto vs. Lightroom vs. Aperture?

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