Should I move from iPhoto 11 to Aperture?

I've been using iphoto for probably around 7 years. During which time I've experienced a couple of catastrophic library corruptions but was able to restore from backup. The most recent of which was today!
For me the safety of my photo library is probably the most important thing on my computer.
I'd like to hear opinions if it's a good idea to move to aperture. If I do it will be for photo organization and tools rather than photo editing. I do have a copy of Elements 10.
Thanks for the opinions in advance
Steve.

Impossible to say, really.
Believe it or not but iPhoto 11 uses the same database engine as Aperture 3, so it should be equally robust. It is certainly true that there are a lot less of the "Oh No iPhoto Lost All My Photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" type posts on this forum - and a lot less exclamation marks too - but then it's reasonable to infer that many of the users here are more experienced users than on the iPhoto forum. That may account for the difference.
Aperture is a much more powerful app than iPhoto and there is a learning curve. The opportunities for organising are more varied and flexible, but also more complex. It's much much better with Referenced Libraries.
Aperture is geared to the Pro shooter who shoots high volumes and probably Raw. If you're shooting Jpeg and low volume it may be overkill. If you're a serious hobbyist it definitely has value. If you're taking snaps of the kid's birthday party to send to GrandMa it may be overkill. So it really depends on the kind of photographer that you are.
The best thing to do is to download the free trial -
http://www.apple.com/aperture/
import a few hunderd images and explore. The tutorials here
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/photos/aperture.html
are well worth a look too.
Regardless of which you choose you will always need a good back up - or several...
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

Planning to move from iPhoto to Aperture

I want to move everything over to Aperture.
Will it be possible to copy my iPhoto library and then delete iPhoto without complications such as when I sync/photostream from my iPhone?
Will Aperture launch automatically instead of looking for iPhoto?
Any reviews from those who've done this are appreciated. iPhoto is fine for most but I need a pro solution.
In the opinion of those who've used Aperture for a while, is Apple consistenly patching and adding features?
Thanks,
Charlie

Aperture and iPhoto now share the same unified library format, see:
Aperture 3.3: Using a unified photo library with iPhoto and Aperture
or
Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries
So you can simply launch Aperture on your existing iPhoto Library - select the library in the Finder, ctrl-click it; from the pop-up menu select "Open with" and set it to "Aperture".
I would not delete the iPhoto Application however. It might come in handy one day. Only iPhoto can show you the managed original image files inside the library package, or you may want to view one of your older books and other print products. You may accidentally have hidden an image in iPhoto and need iPhoto to reveal it again.
The PhotoStream is tied to the library, and you will be able to use it with Aperture as well.
I moved from iPhoto to Aperture and did not regret it. I found the Aperture developement much more conservative than for iPhoto, but that is my personal view.
Regards
Léonie

Will iWeb work with Aperture 3 if I move from iPhoto to Aperture?

I currently use iPhoto, and have an iWeb site. Is there any reason that iWeb and my published site would not continue to work if I import all of my iPhoto library into Aperture 3 and then stop using iPhoto? I am considering moving from iPhoto to Aperture. Thanks!

You're welcome bobio.
I assume you are talking about the sidebar, and if so I don't know the answer to that one. Your Events get converted to Projects which are actually more flexible than Events in iPhoto. A Project contains all of the pictures from your event, but they can also contain Multiple Albums and Folders and Sub-Folders. My website has shots of things I've grilled or smoked arranged by categories: Beef, Pork, Lamb etc. So my iPhoto side bar was manually sorted to reflect the same folder structure I had in iWeb's side bar. Once my import was complete, I created folders again and dragged my new Projects(formerly Events) into the new folders. I just looked and there a sort by pop-up but it has only choices of "by kind" (Projects, Albums etc.) or "Manual". So if they don't come in that way you are going to have to manually sort them in chronological order. But the main window that displays the thumbnails of the Projects can be sorted chronologically. So if you need to sort the sidebar, display the thumbnails by date and then this will help you with the order you will need to create in the sidebar by dragging the Projects around.
Once you have made absolutely 110 percent sure your photos were imported successfully, I would delete the iPhoto library. You could always play it extra safe and export it to a DVD(s). You should keep the iPhoto app around if you use the calendars or cards features. At this time Aperture only does Books. I do a calendar every year. This year I exported the photos I wished to use out of Aperture and imported them into iPhoto to make the calendar.
The other thing you may want to consider is what to do about edits you've made in iPhoto. One reason I switched to Aperture was to save disk space. For photos that originated in Aperture, there is one copy of the photo in it's library-this is called a Master. When you do an edit it is called a Version. Aperture keeps a text file with a list of instructions for what to do to that photo to accomplish your edit for this Version. So you can make lots of Versions of a photo and make lots of edits and the library size doesn't grow much at all, because there is still just one Master. In iPhoto when you make an edit the original is retained as is, and iPhoto creates a second copy of the photo which is what you edit. Because of this differing approach your iPhotos Events, which are now Projects in Aperture, will contain two copies of every photo you ever edited in iPhoto. The original unedited version and the copy which was the final results of your edits. If you are happy with these edits and won't ever want to go back, you can delete the originals. I spent quite a bit if time deleting these duplicate photos in all of the imported projects. Aperture does add keywords to help you tell which is which: "iPhoto Original" and "iPhoto Edited". Also remember to empty the Aperture trash (found in the Aperture Menu).
Good luck with the transition. You've got a bit of tedious work ahead of you, but the end results are well worth the efforts. I am so happy I made the change.
Jim
http://web.me.com/jmahoney
Message was edited by: Jim Mahoney

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.

I have Iphoto library in Aperture. Can I move the projects from iPhoto to aperture project by dragging?

I have Iphoto library in Apeture. Can I move the projects from iPhoto to aperture project by dragging (within the apeture program)? Is this making a duplicate of all the photos? It seems to work?? It then leaves my Iphoto library in apeture empty. I would like to do this just to reorganize the photos between the two. I feel that I may have doubles and would like all pictures of one year in same project in Aperture instead of going between both.

Tell us more, please. I am not quite sure, what you want to do and how you are using Aperture and iPhoto?
Which versions of Aperture and iPhoto are you using?
Do you have separate photo libraries for Aperture and iPhoto, or are you opening your iPhoto libraries in Aperture?
I have Iphoto library in Apeture.
Did you import an iPhoto library into Aperture? And now you are seeing a section "iPhoto Library" in the Aperture projects list in the Inspector?
Events and albums you imported from iPhoto (Import > Library > Some iPhoto Library) will be imported as Aperture projects and albums, and they will behave exactly as other Aperture projects and albums.
Can I move the projects from iPhoto to aperture project by dragging (within the aperture program)? Is this making a duplicate of all the photos? It seems to work?? It then leaves my Iphoto library in apeture empty.
You can drag images from any project in Aperture to other projects and that will move (not duplicate) the images and all its versions to that project. And when you drag all images from the project to another project, the remaining project will be empty and can be deleted. (Caution: Photos that you have hidden in iPhoto will not be visible in Aperture. If you are not sure, if you have hidden photos, open the library again in iPhoto and unhide all photos).
I feel that I may have doubles and would like all pictures of one year in same project in Aperture instead of going between both.
There should be no problem with moving all photos from the same years to the same projects. You can also drag projects in "Projects" view on top of each other. That will merge them.
You could also define smart albums in Aperture to search for images taken at a specific period of time:
File > New > Smart album:
Then, in the Smart Settings HUD, click "Add Rule" and add a Date or Calendar rule.
For example, to find all images taken in 2010, use a rule "Date > Capture Year is > 2010"
To search for Photos taken at a specific date or at several dates, use a "calendar" rule. This way, you do nat have to type the date, but can pick it from a mini calendar.

Move existing Aperture photos (from iPhoto) to Aperture's library's library

Hi,
I recently moved from iPhoto to Aperture. I did something wrong tho, since now most of my photos in Aperture are still in iPhoto's library (all of these show the "iPhoto Original" keyword).
I want to have them all in my Aperture's library, but I put many time on Aperture's organization and don't want to have to import all from the very beginning. Is there any way I can move those files still in iPhoto's library folder to Aperture's library? I plan to uninstall iPhoto after that, that's why I want all photos in Aperture's library.
Thank you

If the image is shown in Aperture, the image is in Aperture's Library.
The question is, where are the Master files on which the images in your Aperture Library are based. (The keyword "iPhoto Original" tells you nothing about the location of the Master.)
Right-click an image. Does "Show in Finder" appear in the pop-up menu? If so, then your image has a Referenced Master (Referenced Masters are located outside the Aperture Library (the image is in the Library and has a pointer to its Master which is outside the Library)). If not, your image has a Managed Master (the image, the pointer, and the Master are all inside the Aperture Library.
You can filter for images with Referenced or Managed Masters. Also, most of the default Metadata Overlays include a Badge which will show you which images have Referenced Masters (as well as the status of the Master).
Since you (seem to) want to have all of your images' Masters be Managed (= inside the Aperture Library), simply select all images and execute the command "File→Consolidate Masters". You can confirm that this has been done by using a Filter set to show all images with Referenced Masters. It should show no images.
Once all of your Masters have been consolidated into your Aperture Library, you can safely delete your iPhoto Library. You can also uninstall iPhoto is you wish.

Failed import from iPhoto to Aperture - what's the best solution?

Hello
After some years of using iPhoto I recently upgraded to Aperture 3.2.2. In connection with that and before opening Aperture, I bought a new external hard drive and moved my iPhoto library to it, following Apple's instructions on how to move an iPhoto library to a different drive.
When I opened Aperture and was given the option to import my iPhoto library (of some 30,000 images), I chose, because I thought it was safer, to allow Aperture to access the images in my iPhoto library as referenced images rather than to store them in the Aperture library.
Unfortunately, the import was incomplete. I decided to try to import again, in the same way, to see if that would result in my having all of the iPhoto images. The re-import was also incomplete. Worse than that, although I had told Aperture not to import duplicates, it imported for a second time many of the images that it imported the first time. I now have in Aperture two separate large but incomplete iPhoto libraries.
After this, I learned that before using an external drive with Aperture I should have formatted it to Mac OS Extended, which I had not done. Other research I have done suggests that a surprising number of people have significant problems in trying to move iPhoto libraries to Aperture, but I have not found a case that addresses my problem.
My idea now, subject to any advice anyone can give me, is to move the iPhoto library back to the Mac's hard drive (there is enough room, but little spare), delete everything on the external drive, format the external drive to Mac OS Extended, re-organise some of the iPhoto events, 'delete' the 'contents' of the Aperture library (without affecting of course the contents of the iPhoto library) and try again (possibly by importing the iPhotos this time on an event by event basis).
Is this a good idea? If so, I would be grateful for any suggestions about how to take these steps. In particular, the step of deleting the contents of the Aperture library without affecting the iPhoto library. Are there other better ideas? If so, what?
Thanks very much in advance for any help anyone can offer.

My idea now, subject to any advice anyone can give me, is to move the iPhoto library back to the Mac's hard drive (there is enough room, but little spare), delete everything on the external drive, format the external drive to Mac OS Extended, re-organise some of the iPhoto events, 'delete' the 'contents' of the Aperture library (without affecting of course the contents of the iPhoto library) and try again (possibly by importing the iPhotos this time on an event by event basis).
If there is nothing in your Aperture library that you need to keep, that is a good strategy.
But some suggestions:
Before you move your iPhoto Library from its current location (which will render the Aperture library useless, because it is referencing inside iPhoto), check if you accidentally have imported any images as managed into Aperture: create a smart album with the rule "File status is managed" at the top level of the library albums. This way you will see, if you have any images only in Aperture, that need exporting, before you delete the library.
Also right now the best option to import from iPhoto into Aperture is by importing complete libraries, not single iPhoto events or albums. If you import Libraries, Aperture can combine the iPhoto Originals and the edited versions into "Master-Version" pairs and save considerable space. This is only possible by importing the complete library, for more deatails see this recent thread:
Correct Answer Re: Aperture Loses iPhoto Edited Images
I advise against referencing the masters inside iPhoto, for it is risky. If you open iPhoto and accidentally edit or modify the referenced master in any way, then the reference will be broken. It would be safer by far to create a backup copy of your iPhoto Library and to import the image files into Aperture or to relocate the imported files as referenced masters somewhere else, after you imported them.
Post back, if you have more questions.
Regards
Léonie

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

Moving from iPhoto to Aperture

I just purchased Aperture. I have been using iPhoto for a few years. Several months ago I downloaded the trial Aperture version. Thus, on the menu on the left, I see hundreds of photos labeled in the Aperture trial library folder and thousands under the iPhoto folder. All of my "master" photos are in my iPhoto library currently. Before I move all iPhoto photos/files to Aperture, should I delete everything from the Aperture folders first (i.e., the Apple trial library and all of the folders previously copied in from iPhoto when I was using the Aperture trial)? I don't want to have duplicate and triplicates in my Aperture library, just one master copy of all my photos? Also, should I move the files to Aperture or keep them in their current folders, which I presume are under iPhoto?
Thanks!

If your trial period was months ago I'd guess that nothing in the Aperture trial library is very current.
If that's the case I'd recommend you just start fresh when you download Aperture and start using it for real.
regards

Migrating from iPhoto to Aperture

My iPhoto library has 3,700 pictures, which causes the application to run slowly. Can Aperture do a better job of handling that many pictures? Also, should I import my pictures from iPhoto to Aperture, will the comments and titles move over too?
Thanks!

Comments and titles are preserved. Check out the following thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=939438&tstart=90
This points to an free seminar that answers questions related to iPhoto and Aperture and migrating from one application to the other.
- Joe

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?

Migration from iPhoto to Aperture

Hello,
I just moved from iPhoto to Aperture. I did the migration described here : http://www.apple.com/aperture/iphoto-to-aperture/how.html but it failed at the last step.
I choosed “Consolidate Masters for Library” and I get this error message (sorry it's in French).
Are you able to help me ?
Thanks,
Wistiti

It appears that the error you are getting is telling you that the selection does not have any referenced masters. This can only mean that when you imported your iPhoto library into Aperture you choose to move or copy the masters into aperture.
As a test go to the Library tab of the Inspector, select the Photos icon near the top of the list. Go to the right hand side of the window. Click the dark magnifying glass:
Select the Add Rule pulldown and add File Status to the filter. Select Managed this will show you all the images in the library that are managed. You can also select Referenced to see all the images that are referenced.
If the files are already managed you don't need to do anything else.

Trying to switch from iphoto to aperture 3

I am in the process of moving photos from iphoto to aperture 3. Because I am out of memory i have backed up my iphoto library and aperture library to an ehd. My aperture library had many duplicates and was incomplete so after backing everything up I deleted all projects and picture files in aperture, emptied all trashes and want to begin moving iphoto library over. I still have no memory...ARGHHH. can someone help me please?

Hard Drive space, but now it seems that Aperture is still deleting files. My Apertrue trash says that there are 1564 files to be deleted, but it continues to run and fill the macbook trash. I am finally gaining some free space.
Any recommendations on how to switch to Aperture. Should I import the whole library or just one project at a time?

When importing photos from iphoto to Aperture....

When importing photos from iphoto to Aperture 3 it shows two versions of each image. One is original and one is iphoto edited. It shows this for every picture even if it was never edited in iphoto. Has anyone ever experienced this? Is so, what image should I use to edit in iphoto?

This is asked and covered a lot here, a search of the list will bring up numerous other threads covering this. Also the More Like This box on the right side of the page will show you other posts on this topic.
This post, Duplicates when importing from iPhoto is the most recent example.
Briefly iPhoto took even the most trivial change to an image as an edit and created a new image. The most common reason for this is rotated images.
As for which image of the two you want to keep, that's entirely up to you. If there is really no difference between the two then you can keep either it makes no difference.
The thread I linked to above will explain how to use Aperture's filters to gather up all of one or the other.
regards

Viewing quicktime movies from iphoto 08

I just upgrade to Snow Leopard, I use to be able to view quicktime movies from Iphotos in Leopard, now if i click on the movie nothing happens, From Quicktime doesnt seem to want to open my library where the movies are located. These are small video max 30 secs from my digital camera?

If I upgrade to iphoto 09 will this problem go away?
No. Not if you don't install Quicktime 7 Player from the Snow Leopard install disk. You can do a custom install and select the Quicktime 7 Player as the only item to install. That should fix the issue.
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 versions) 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. There are versions that are compatible with iPhoto 5, 6, 7 and 8 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. 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: The new rebuild option in iPhoto 09 (v. 8.0.2), Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup" makes this tip obsolete.

Should I move from iPhoto 11 to Aperture?

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