Moving current iPhoto library to the Aperture library

Hi!
When I installed Aperture, I imported the pictures from iPhoto, but I left the "original" files in the iPhoto library (that was one of the options).
Now I would like to move those originals permanently to the Aperture library, and delete the iPhoto library. I don't want to have duplicates in iPhoto, since I won't use that software anymore.
How can I do that?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Gus

Just curious if your metadata path points to the iPhoto library (see my post right after yours)? Does it really think the iPhoto version is the master, or did it make the new Aperture copy the master?
If the latter, you might just put the iPhoto one on a hard disk or other storage media, as a copy of your original images/iPhoto library (then delete from hard drive). Sense of security to be able to go back to square 1 if a catastrophe occurs.
Message was edited by: Tobman

Similar Messages

I just noticed that I can no longer select photos out of my finder that are located in my Aperture/Iphoto Library. I used to be able to attach photos to my gmail out of the aperture library in the finder and for some reason, no longer can.

I just noticed that I can no longer select photos out of my finder that are located in my Aperture/Iphoto Library. I used to be able to attach photos to my gmail out of the aperture library in the finder and for some reason, no longer can.
I can't access these images except to go into the applications.
Also, I'd like to import my iphoto library into aperture, and move aperture library to an external drive. I tried the import first, but there wasn't enough space. Then I tried copying over the aperture library onto the external drive but it failed bc it said file was in use.
As it is, I only have 50gb left on my imac, and the aperture library is 150gb. Also, I have over 10k images in both libraries combined and there are tons of duplicates that need to be sorted, and hopefully not messed up because I've organized most of them.
So in short, I need to know how to do the following:
-select photos in finder in aperture/iphoto libraries
-move aperture library to live on external drive
-import iphoto library into aperture library
-eliminate dups but maintain organization
-moving forward i need a better workflow so that I import images from camera, and can organize right away into albums rather than creating projects by default and then creating albums so essentially the photos are in 2 different places, even tho they are referenced
-live happily ever after
Thanks in advance for any support you can offer!!

If you're using apps like iPhoto or Aperture then they replace the Finder for managing your photos. The point is that you use the (many) options available via these apps for the things you want and need to do with the Photos.
So, simply, you don't select the photos in the Finder. I'll append the supported ways to do this - which are faster and will yield the current version of your Photos - to the end of this post.
-move aperture library to live on external drive
Managed or Referenced Library? Managed -
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit Aperture
2. Copy the Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching Aperture. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Referenced - relocate your Masters first.
These issues are covered in the Manual and on this forum hundreds of times.
-import iphoto library into aperture library
FIle -> Import -> iPhoto Library? Have you done this already? If so are you trying to move the Masters to Aperture from an iPhoto Library? Or Consolidate them?
-moving forward i need a better workflow so that I import images from camera, and can organize right away into albums rather than creating projects by default and then creating albums so essentially the photos are in 2 different places, even tho they are referenced
You can't. Every photo is in a Project. They’re the basic building blocks of the Library.
You might want to spend a little time with the manual or the video tutorials. I'm not sure you've grasped the app you've purchased.
The following is written for iPhoto, but about 97% works for Aperture too.
There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto/ APerture: You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics. This is what you use to attach your shot to your GMail
(Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)
You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
There's a similar option in Outlook and many, many other apps. If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto/ Aperture.
If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.
If you want to access the files with iPhoto/ Aperture not running:
For users of 10.6 and later: You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation which will give you access to the Library from your Services Menu.
Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.
or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser

Aperture and iPhoto should use the same library

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

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

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

I recently moved my Aperture Library file to an external hard drive. Can I now create a vault to be saved on my Time Capsule for the Aperture library on this external hard drive?

I recently moved my Aperture Library file to an external hard drive. Can I now create a vault to be saved on my Time Capsule for the Aperture library on this external hard drive?

One thing to bear in mind, if you are using Time Machine on your Time Capsule and have it set so the TM backup includes your external drive, you will effectively be backing up your Aperture library twice on the same drive, once with Time Machine and once with the vault. This isn't a problem unless you start to run out of space.
Another thing to note, vaults on network drives used to be flaky (i.e. not really supported) and required workarounds to be able to use them. I'm not sure if this has changed, but I just managed to create a vault on my TC ok.

How can I slim down the aperture library?

Hi,
My aperture library grew a lot. Is there any way to slimmed it down, without erasing content? I am talking about recreating previews with less quality or smaller size, deleting old thumbnails (I read that even if you delete a picture from the library, Aperture won't delete the thumbnail).
Does anybody knows any tricks about how to do that?
Thank you very much for your answers!
Gus

Easy. Switch to Referenced-Masters Library with Masters on external drives.
More complete explanation:
First make a Vault to an external drive as backup.
Then from within Aperture:
File Menu--> Relocate Masters. Choose external hard drive(s) and direct Aperture to move the Masters to those drives. Give it plenty of time depending on how many Masters are being moved. The Library remains on an internal drive, only the Masters get moved.
Next back up the drive that the Masters were relocated to, because now you have a Referenced Masters Library so Masters are backed up (once) separately from the Library Vault backups.
In the future back up originals (once) on external drives prior to import into Aperture or any other images app. I cannot overstate how important that is, and various manuals, texts, etc. present workflows that skip that critical step. Also back up the Aperture Library using Aperture's Vaults, which are designed for that purpose.
A complete Referenced-Masters workflow follows. Note that for image security reasons Aperture is not involved until the end of the process:
• Create a folder ("abc") for the incoming images. Easiest is to create the folder on the external hard drive where the Masters will permanently live, but Referenced Masters can be temporarily on the laptop's internal drive, then moved later as described above. I initially put Masters referenced on my MBP internal drive, then after backup and editing I use File Menu--> Relocate Masters to move the Masters to a permanent external drive location.
• Connect a card reader with the camera card in it. The camera card should show on the desktop. If it does not show, restart the Mac with the reader and card still plugged in. You can of course use the camera directly in this step, but I do not recommend it. Obviously cameras like the iPad2 do require direct camera-to-computer uploading.
• Drag the contents of the card's image folder(s) to the abc folder that you previously created on the hard drive.
• Review the abc folder contents to be sure they all copied properly.
• Software-eject the camera card.
• Physically disconnect the camera card reader from the Mac. This step is important to help avoid all-too-common human error.
• Again review the abc folder contents to be sure they are indeed all there (because stuff happens sometimes...).
• Back up the abc folder contents on to another drive.
• Review the files on the backup to be sure they all copied properly.
• At any time after but not before the previous step you can reformat the camera card in-camera. Do not delete images on the card using the computer.
• Start Aperture.
• Import the images from folder abc into Aperture, selecting "Store Files: In their current location" on the right-hand side of the import window (important!). Note that the Library remains on an internal drive, only the Masters are on externals.
HTH
-Allen Wicks

Can you move the aperture library without losing images?

my library is defaulted to imac..
but can you house it on external drive..I know, yes, as a referenced library.
but I already have some [lots] images in library.
can I move the library and maintain contents?
also..
once you import into library, is the original image in folder it was in before? or it's deleted?
just trying to see what will work best for my needs?
as I sometimes travel/live in 2nd home and just carry external drive
thanks for input/suggestion

Menu>File>Vault
Creating what Ap[erture calls a 'Vault' seems like the easiest way to do it.
Here is the complete Help section on backing up your library.
QUOTE:
As you begin working with Aperture, it’s important to perform regular backups of your photos. Using the Aperture backup system, you can create backups and update them whenever you wish. Aperture tracks your backups and indicates how up to date your most recent backup is. In the rare event of equipment failure or an unforeseen catastrophe such as a fire or weather-related damage, you can easily restore the entire Aperture library onto your computer or a new computer.
You set Aperture to back up a copy of the library to a designated storage area called a vault. For safety and redundancy, use external hard disks to hold your vaults. You can create as many vaults as you deem necessary.
When you back up your photos, Aperture makes a complete copy of the library in its current state. If you remove items from the library, those items are removed from the backup when it is next updated.
All originals for managed images, all versions, and all metadata, previews, and adjustment information associated with your photos are backed up. The versions, previews, and metadata associated with referenced images are also backed up in the vault.
Important: Referenced images’ originals are not backed up in the vault with the library. Because the originals for referenced images are stored outside of the library, you must manage the backup and archiving of them yourself.
A typical backup system used with Aperture might look like the following:
This system backs up the Aperture library to two vaults stored on external hard disks. You routinely back up the library on one external hard disk. You use the second hard disk as a backup that you keep offsite. You can then rotate your onsite external hard disk with the offsite hard disk to keep all your vaults updated.
To set up your Aperture backup system, you need to do the following:
Determine the number of vaults you need. For example, do you need one for routine backups, one for weekly backups, and one for offsite storage?
Determine the number of hard disks you need for routine backups.
Determine the number of hard disks you’ll use for storing backups offsite.
Connect your hard disk drives to your computer.
Open Aperture and create the vaults you need, assigning a hard disk to each vault.
Update the new, empty vaults with copies of the Aperture library.
Disconnect one of the vault hard disks and take it to an offsite location for safekeeping.
When planning the amount of storage space you’ll need, estimate the amount of disk space needed to hold your existing digital images (photos you plan to import into Aperture) and the amount of space you might need for new projects. For example, RAW images typically require 8 to 25 or more megabytes (MB) of disk space per file. Estimating the number of photos in a typical project and the number of projects you usually create in a year, you can make a rough estimate of what might represent a year’s storage space.

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?

Tiger's desktop/screensaver not seeing all of the aperture library?

Hi Folks,
i'm on tiger 10.4.11 and aperture 2.01 - when I look into the desktop/screen saver part of sys. prefs, my aperture library only shows folders until a certain date - it doesn't show my entire library.
The AP library is reference managed with all files residing on my macpro (ie. not on an external which is turned off). I've rebooted and tried running onyx to clean the system, but still a no go.
Any ideas? I saw another post with a similar issue, but that was relate to leopard and I think related to iphoto 08 (i'm running iphoto 06.06 - the other post said to create a blank iphoto library to see if that makes a difference).
Thanks in advance for reading.
Cheers,
Keebler

Keebler,
Is it possible that you had previews turned on at one point, and then at your mystery time (after which you cannot select Aperture projects from the screensaver) you turned Aperture previews off? Check Preferences => Previews in Aperture.
nathan

How can the Aperture Library grow when I delete images (incl Masters)?

When I delete pictures from an 'album or project' the Aperture Library increases in size - even when I specify to delete the Master image and all versions. This happens even after the trash is emptied.
Can anyone shed some light on this - thank you!
George.
dual G5 Mac OS X (10.4.10) 3GB - 2x160GB SATA

Ian - I was working on some albums and when I started the process, just out of curiosity I looked at the size of the "Aperture Library". Did not really jot down the number of the byte count. After deleting a buch of rejected images (I did have the second monitor window open showing the Aperture Lib size) and noticed that the library appeared to have increased. Not having been sure of my memory and number recollection, I deleted a whole album and the size was up by several 100 KB.
Just to give you an example - after having moved the 23.5GB Ap Lib to a safe place, I imported 4 different projects. 3 of the projects contained the images which were owned by me the last project contained the images which were owned by 'root'. The size of the Library went from about 170KB to 82MB. I deleted 4 images in one of 'my' projects and the Lib size went from 82 MB to 103.4MB. Deleted and additional 6 images in the same project and it was now down to 100MB. I then deleted an additional 15 images (originals owned by root) and the size went down to 86.5MB. Quit Aprture, the Lib size showed 84.1MB, proceded to empty the trash (which contained the 25 images) and the size now was 82.9MB. This is not a big deal, 900KB, but why and why the wild changes?
When I went back to read the Aperture manual, on page 55, it states that removing "Albums" does not delete the master image nor its other versions. When I delete a "project" the size of the Library does get reduced.
I guess, I have to be careful "when" I examine the Library size - and maybe I have answered my own question - Thank you all for your input -
dual G5 Mac OS X (10.4.10) 3GB - 2x160GB SATA

HT4914 My wife and I both have iPhones and iPads. Can we both have access to the same iTunes Match library or do we have to have separate subscriptions? Our devices are synced to the same computer and we currently download titles from the same library.

My wife and I both have iPhones and iPads. Can we both have access to the same iTunes Match library or do we have to have separate subscriptions? Our devices are synced to the same computer and we currently download titles from the same library. We both use separate apple id's on our devices.

You need to reconfigure your phone for use with your Apple ID. I suggest you restore yours as new then reconfigure it with your information and Apple ID. Be sure to disable Find My Phone, if it's enabled, before proceeding.
Locked Out, Forgot Lock or Restrictions Passcode, or Need to Restore Your Device: Several Alternative Solutions
A
1. iOS- Forgotten passcode or device disabled after entering wrong passcode
2. iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Wrong passcode results in red disabled screen
3. Restoring iPod touch after forgotten passcode
4. What to Do If You've Forgotten Your iPhone's Passcode
5. iOS- Understanding passcodes
6. iTunes 10 for Mac- Update and restore software on iPod, iPhone, or iPad
7. iOS - Unable to update or restore
Forgotten Restrictions Passcode Help
iPad,iPod,iPod Touch Recovery Mode
You will need to restore your device as New to remove a Restrictions passcode. Go through the normal process to restore your device, but when you see the options to restore as New or from a backup, be sure to choose New.
You can restore from a backup if you have one from BEFORE you set the restrictions passcode.
Also, see iTunes- Restoring iOS software.

I have imported my I photo library into Aperture. all the old i photo events are now in the aperture library showing number of photos but when clicked none display. I can see the photos if i run the cursor over the project. Help please.

I imported my i photo library into aperture.
I can see the i photo events in aperture library as events with the number of photos in each event.
When you click events in the aperture library no photos appear although if you roll the cursor over the event icon it show the photos. If you click on the event either on the event icon or in the library no photos appear.
Help

Check, if you have any filters set. The search fields in the Insector panel and the browser should be showing "All items" or "Showing All".
The Browser search field could be set for each project and album individually, so you have to check it for each project.
Regards
Léonie
For example: The projects count shows "20 items", but the browser is empty, because the project's filter is set to show only rejected items.

I am changing to a larger hard drive on my Mac. Can I copy the Aperture library from my backup disk running Time Machine without loosing anything?

I am installing a larger harddrive on my Mac. Can I copy the Aperture library from my backup disk running Time Machine without loosing anything? I am getting help migrating everything else on to the new harddrive, but since copying the 350Gb Aperture library takes a lot of time, I am planning to do that part myself.

I found the following information on Time Machine help about restoring Aperture library from TM
Restoring Your Aperture System
If you buy a new computer or use another system at a different location and want access to the Aperture library, you can install Aperture and then transfer the library from your vault (on your backup disk) to the other computer. If you experience equipment failure or other unexpected events, such as fire or weather-related damage to your equipment, you can easily restore the entire library to your new computer from a backup disk.
HideTo restore the entire library from an external backup disk
Restoring Your Aperture System
If you buy a new computer or use another system at a different location and want access to the Aperture library, you can install Aperture and then transfer the library from your vault (on your backup disk) to the other computer. If you experience equipment failure or other unexpected events, such as fire or weather-related damage to your equipment, you can easily restore the entire library to your new computer from a backup disk.
HideTo restore the entire library from an external backup disk
If you buy a new computer or use another system at a different location and want access to the Aperture library, you can install Aperture and then transfer the library from your vault (on your backup disk) to the other computer. If you experience equipment failure or other unexpected events, such as fire or weather-related damage to your equipment, you can easily restore the entire library to your new computer from a backup disk.
HideTo restore the entire library from an external backup disk
Connect the hard disk drive that contains the most up-to-date vault to your computer and open Aperture.
Choose File > Vault > Restore Library.The Restore Library dialog appears.
Choose the vault you want to use to restore your library from the Source Vault pop-up menu.If the vault doesn’t appear in the Source Vault pop-up menu, choose Select Source Vault from the Source Vault pop-up menu, navigate to the vaults location in the Select Source Vault dialog, then click Select.
Click Restore, then click Restore again.

In iMovie, I can't see my iPhoto videos in the event library. Why ? this is after updating to 10.7.4

in iMovie, I can’t see my iPhoto videos in the event library. Why ? this is after updating to 10.7.4
also, if I want to use a picture in my movie, it says 'Open iPhoto to see photos from your iPhoto Library in this list.'
It never use to do this.

JimHdk,
thanks for your reply, but why I could wtach the videos on land mode using the ios 6 and why I can't watch them using this new ios 7 on land mode?
i give you the name of the videos : BJJ OPEN GRD, BJJ THROWS 1, BJJ THROWS 2, BJJ ChoKes, BJJ SWEEPS,
I work with this, I study watching the videos, and please, I need to resolve this,
thanks JimHdk for you help and cooperation

How do I view folders in the aperture library through finder?

How do I view folders in the aperture library. If I look in my pictures I have the applibrary there but can't access it. If I click on it it opens Aperture and I can't find a way to find the info throught aperture either.

You can browse the contents of your Aperture Library from the Finder, but better do not change anything inside.
To look inside the Aperture Library package
Reveal the package in the Finder,
right-click or ctrl-click it and select "Show Package Contents" from the pop-up menu.
You will see a folder with subfolders containing the masters, previews, and thumbnails.
The iLife Applications will let you browse the Aperture Library through the MediaBrowser, that is much safer.
Regards
Léonie
P.S. If your Aperture Library is referenced, not managed, you can view the master image files by selecting the image in Aperture in the Browser or film strip, ctrl-clicking it and selecting "Show in Finder".

Moving current iPhoto library to the Aperture library

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