Aperture to Lightroom
Dec 3, 2021 12:21:22 #
I have 38 thousand photos ( mostly Raw}in Aperture, and am uneasy how to be able to transfer to Lightroom, especially how I am organized in projects and albums.
Has anyone gone thru this transfer successfully? Please list how to do it.
Thank you for any help.
Kurt Bomze
Has anyone gone thru this transfer successfully? Please list how to do it.
Thank you for any help.
Kurt Bomze
Dec 3, 2021 12:29:27 #
...your pics are on your hard drive, I'm assuming. In LR Library module you just need to learn to create collections and collection sets. Once you create a collection, say, you'll use the import button then find the target pics...they'll show up on a grid where you highlight and drag to your chosen collection (which may be in a collection set). Very easy, you can make a bunch of progress in a day...lots of great tutorials out there.
Dec 3, 2021 13:40:34 #
I don't have direct experience. This Adobe Help post gives the process and a heads-up on what is / is not migrated:
https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/lightroom-classic/help/migrate-photos-aperture.html
Reading the 'is not' aspects, I'd do a few experiments and possible some work in Aperture before leaving / migrating:
1. Test the LR import with a small group of images to see how the process actually operations, say just one Aperture album. Inspect what gets created in LR and what edit and metadata from Aperture is lost in the process.
2. If applicable, consider exporting all your edited RAW images as high-resolution JPEGs. Note from the link above, LR can generate JPEG 'previews' from the Aperture edit data. This could be insanely time-consuming inside LR given your number of images (that is, building full-size previews within LR). You might instead build (output / export) the JPEGs from Aperture as actual files and then just 'stack' the images inside the LR catalog. Let this testing / process refinement determine if you instead import to LR with 'minimal' previews.
3. You can use a 'test' LR catalog as target, something newly created and empty that you can delete without worrying about losing any important data.
These are some rather 'technical' ideas. Post some follow-up questions if interested in discussing in detail.
https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/lightroom-classic/help/migrate-photos-aperture.html
Reading the 'is not' aspects, I'd do a few experiments and possible some work in Aperture before leaving / migrating:
1. Test the LR import with a small group of images to see how the process actually operations, say just one Aperture album. Inspect what gets created in LR and what edit and metadata from Aperture is lost in the process.
2. If applicable, consider exporting all your edited RAW images as high-resolution JPEGs. Note from the link above, LR can generate JPEG 'previews' from the Aperture edit data. This could be insanely time-consuming inside LR given your number of images (that is, building full-size previews within LR). You might instead build (output / export) the JPEGs from Aperture as actual files and then just 'stack' the images inside the LR catalog. Let this testing / process refinement determine if you instead import to LR with 'minimal' previews.
3. You can use a 'test' LR catalog as target, something newly created and empty that you can delete without worrying about losing any important data.
These are some rather 'technical' ideas. Post some follow-up questions if interested in discussing in detail.
Dec 3, 2021 13:46:17 #
Dec 4, 2021 07:55:07 #
chasgroh wrote:
...your pics are on your hard drive, I'm assuming. In LR Library module you just need to learn to create collections and collection sets. Once you create a collection, say, you'll use the import button then find the target pics...they'll show up on a grid where you highlight and drag to your chosen collection (which may be in a collection set). Very easy, you can make a bunch of progress in a day...lots of great tutorials out there.
As stated, YouTube has a variety of tutorials. For me and my memory, I have an older Macbook Pro with the video and then I start to do as directed on my MacBook Air. Pausing the video as needed. ...I know.
Dec 4, 2021 08:05:49 #
When I made this move six years ago, I discovered and used "Aperture Exporter" from Blue Pill Software:
https://apertureexporter.com/
It did help make the process a bit more straightforward, but it does take some effort nonetheless.
One thing to realize is that while both Aperture and LR are nondestructive editors, their "recipes" are not compatible. As a result, what Aperture Exporter does is basically generate and export the finished (color corrected, cropped, whatever) images so that LR takes those in along with the raw files. And like Aperture, LR does not "import" actual files but rather the catalog consists of the pointers to the original files as well as the 'recipes' for edits you make in LR.
I hope that makes some sense - I transferred 50K+ images and while I wouldn't want to do it again, I have to say the program did make things simpler.
https://apertureexporter.com/
It did help make the process a bit more straightforward, but it does take some effort nonetheless.
One thing to realize is that while both Aperture and LR are nondestructive editors, their "recipes" are not compatible. As a result, what Aperture Exporter does is basically generate and export the finished (color corrected, cropped, whatever) images so that LR takes those in along with the raw files. And like Aperture, LR does not "import" actual files but rather the catalog consists of the pointers to the original files as well as the 'recipes' for edits you make in LR.
I hope that makes some sense - I transferred 50K+ images and while I wouldn't want to do it again, I have to say the program did make things simpler.
Dec 4, 2021 10:07:41 #
I made the switch in 2014 and at that time, Lightroom had a tool to import an Aperture Library. Unfortunately, it did not import/translate the edit information, only keywords, ratings color pages etc. I just finished a two year effort of editing the catalog of imported Aperture images. What I should have done is export all of my Aperture images as high quality jpg images and import these into Lightroom while retaining the original RAW images for future use should I ever want to re-process an image in Lightroom. That way, the time spent editing in Aperture would not have been wasted.
Before jumping into Lightroom, watch multiple tutorials on how to catalog and arrange your library and pick one that serves your needs best.
Before jumping into Lightroom, watch multiple tutorials on how to catalog and arrange your library and pick one that serves your needs best.
Dec 4, 2021 13:30:08 #
I did this a while ago using a combination of my own method and some YT videos I found. Unfortuatately, I can't remember the exact steps. I had about 25k photos and everything transferred well. From what I do recall...
1. Organize the heck out of your Aperture library. Clean up and assign keywords (can't recall if keywords automatically transfer or if there was something in Lightroom that took care of that).
2. Don't import everything at once. I found that importing to LR one (project? album? can't recall the terminology) at at time was a better way to go.
I do remember that I set up Aperture to have everything referenced (not in library) first. This left me with all my photos very neatly organized in a folder structure on my hard drive.
Can't recall if I used the Lightroom aperture import plug in, but must have because all my keywords came across.
I'm sure you realize that you can't take your edits with you. Use filters in Aperture to create and segregate "output" versions of your edited photos. Bring those across to LR along with your originals. Again, you won't be able to adjust those edits, but you will have an unedited and "final" file.
1. Organize the heck out of your Aperture library. Clean up and assign keywords (can't recall if keywords automatically transfer or if there was something in Lightroom that took care of that).
2. Don't import everything at once. I found that importing to LR one (project? album? can't recall the terminology) at at time was a better way to go.
I do remember that I set up Aperture to have everything referenced (not in library) first. This left me with all my photos very neatly organized in a folder structure on my hard drive.
Can't recall if I used the Lightroom aperture import plug in, but must have because all my keywords came across.
I'm sure you realize that you can't take your edits with you. Use filters in Aperture to create and segregate "output" versions of your edited photos. Bring those across to LR along with your originals. Again, you won't be able to adjust those edits, but you will have an unedited and "final" file.
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