fluffy

Q: Moving photos between libraries on different computers

Hi, the main reason I upgraded to Aperture from iPhoto is because I have a MacBook that I use when I travel, and a Mac Pro at home. I keep my photo library on said Mac Pro.  When I'm traveling I will import all of my photos from SD card onto the MacBook, do a bunch of edits there, and then export the project as a new library, which I then import on Aperture on the Mac Pro. This way I can continue to refine the non-destructive edits before exporting the final album to the web.

 

However, it looks like Photos doesn't have this capability, or if it does, it's not advertised very well. Obviously Apple wants me to switch to using iCloud Photo Library, but that gets really expensive with the amount of photos I have (300GB+ at this point).

 

But, Aperture has been end-of-lifed, and it's also stopped working reliably (for example, it won't even see my SD card or iPhone when I plug them in), so I'm worried that I pretty much have to switch to Photos sooner rather than later.

 

Thus, my obvious question: is there a way to do something similar with Photos that I was doing on Aperture? Any way to merge all or part of one system's library to another system's library?

Mac Pro (Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), PreSonus FireStudio Project

Posted on May 23, 2015 12:58 AM

Close

Q: Moving photos between libraries on different computers

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 23, 2015 1:34 AM in response to fluffy
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    May 23, 2015 1:34 AM in response to fluffy

    Thus, my obvious question: is there a way to do something similar with Photos that I was doing on Aperture? Any way to merge all or part of one system's library to another system's library?

    No, Photos does not support to merge libraries. You can switch between libraries by holding down the alt/options key while launching photos.

    And merging libraries in iCloud does not really work fully. When you upload to iCloud Photo Library download into a different library, some Metadata like Faces will not transfer, also books, calendars, etc, see:   Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support

    And it will be a waste of bandwidth.

    It would be easier to keep separate Photos libraries and to use a tool like PowerPhotos to browse the separate libraries, see this link:   Fat Cat Software – PowerPhotos

     

    Right now iPhoto is even lacking features that iPhoto had. It does not yet support large libraries well, because it is lacking batch edit or batch changing tools, nearly no metadata overlays, limited sorting options, and nearly no brushed adjustments, just the retouch brush. See:   Photos vs iPhoto:  Features and Capabilities

    I'd wait a bit with the migration, to see, if Apple will be adding updates with improved features.

    But, Aperture has been end-of-lifed, and it's also stopped working reliably (for example, it won't even see my SD card or iPhone when I plug them in), so I'm worried that I pretty much have to switch to Photos sooner rather than later.

    Have you updated to Aperture 3.6?  Aperture is still working well for me.

    At least, it should show you the devices when plugged in. Check the settings in Aperture's Preferences > Import > When a camera is connected open ..

    Check the same in Image Capture.

    After upgrading to MacOS X 10.10.3 you need to confirm again, that you trust your Mac.

    • Connect the iPhone to USB.
    • Launch iTunes.
    • Unlock the iPhone and confirm to always trust the Mac on iPhone.

     

    We tried to add some scripts to make batch changes possible -   have a look at the User Tip section:   Photos for Mac

     

    I also wrote an Aperture user tip on how to prepare an Aperture Library for the Migration to Photos:

     

    Notes on Migrating an Aperture Library from Aperture to Photos for Mac

     

    Updating to Aperture 3.6 After the Release of Photos

  • by fluffy,

    fluffy fluffy May 23, 2015 1:54 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 23, 2015 1:54 AM in response to léonie

    léonie wrote:

     

    Thus, my obvious question: is there a way to do something similar with Photos that I was doing on Aperture? Any way to merge all or part of one system's library to another system's library?

    No, Photos does not support to merge libraries. You can switch between libraries by holding down the alt/options key while launching photos.

    Switching libraries isn't useful for me, unfortunately - I want to have a single library with all my stuff in it, rather than a library per vacation or whatever.

    Have you updated to Aperture 3.6?  Aperture is still working well for me.

    At least, it should show you the devices when plugged in. Check the settings in Aperture's Preferences > Import > When a camera is connected open ..

    Check the same in Image Capture.

    After upgrading to MacOS X 10.10.3 you need to confirm again, that you trust your Mac.

    • Connect the iPhone to USB.
    • Launch iTunes.
    • Unlock the iPhone and confirm to always trust the Mac on iPhone.

    Yep, I've done all that. When I plug in my iPhone or SD card, Aperture will launch - but the connected device doesn't show up in its Import tab, no matter what I do. I've also verified all of the photo sync settings for the iPhone over in iTunes, and made sure that Image Capture, iPhoto, Aperture, etc. all show the 'import with Aperture' option.  Running latest Aperture and Yosemite and so on.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 23, 2015 2:02 AM in response to fluffy
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    May 23, 2015 2:02 AM in response to fluffy
    but the connected device doesn't show up in its Import tab, no matter what I do

    Does it show in Image Capture or Photos in the Import panel?

  • by fluffy,

    fluffy fluffy May 23, 2015 2:06 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 23, 2015 2:06 AM in response to léonie

    Well, this is interesting - if I launch Image Capture, then it appears in Aperture, and lets me import from Aperture normally. But only if Image Capture is running. Bizarre.

     

    I haven't tried launching Photos because I don't want Photos to migrate my dang Aperture library. And now when I do launch Photos it gives me an error about how it can't find the Photos library,a nd gives me an option to open some other library (which I don't have one of). Oy, what a mess.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 23, 2015 2:17 AM in response to fluffy
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    May 23, 2015 2:17 AM in response to fluffy
    Switching libraries isn't useful for me, unfortunately - I want to have a single library with all my stuff in it, rather than a library per vacation or whatever.

    Photos is far from Aperture in its capabilities. If you have all photos from a large Aperture library in one single Photos library  it is hard to navigate. The library is structured automatically into moments by data and location, but there are no tools to edit the locations, and also no batch changing for dates to assign useful dates to scanned photos. There are no lists of photos to browse quickly the metadata or metadata overlays for keywords, captions, filenames.  I just migrated an Aperture  library with a selection about 40000 photos to Photos, but to find anything in this library I have frequently  to fall back on Aperture. First find it in Aperture to find search strings that are applicable in Photos and then search the photo in Photos. For a large library it is too inconvenient, that we can see the photos in the browser, but too few metadata to go with the photos.

  • by fluffy,

    fluffy fluffy May 23, 2015 2:18 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 23, 2015 2:18 AM in response to léonie

    Yeah, I definitely don't want to switch to Photos. I just want my dang Aperture import to work again.

  • by fluffy,

    fluffy fluffy May 23, 2015 2:32 AM in response to fluffy
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 23, 2015 2:32 AM in response to fluffy

    Okay, uninstalling and reinstalling Aperture seems to have done the trick for now.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 23, 2015 2:39 AM in response to fluffy
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    May 23, 2015 2:39 AM in response to fluffy

    If just the devices do not show in the Import panel, but are recognised, try if removing the preference files will help:

    See Frank Caggiano's user tip:   Aperture UI issues

    I just want my dang Aperture import to work again.

    If the above does not suffice, It will require a bit of systematic trouble shooting.  Narrow down the problem. Is it caused by

    1. Your current Aperture Library?  Test this by using a different Aperture library, Create a new library for testing.
    2. Some settings in your user account? Test this by launching Aperture from your Guest account and trying to import there.
    3. If it is happening in any account and a system wide issue, try to find out, if it is hardware or software related.  Try different cards, work your way through:   Get help with Aperture 3 - Apple Support Trouble Shooting Basics
  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 23, 2015 2:40 AM in response to fluffy
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    May 23, 2015 2:40 AM in response to fluffy
    Okay, uninstalling and reinstalling Aperture seems to have done the trick for now.

      Then cancel my previous answer Great.