Ziatron

Q: How to utilize PowerPhotos to migrate from Aperture to Photos

We are currently running Yosemite and Aperture. We have about 10 Aperture libraries, some of the libraries have around 6000 images.

 

We have the Photos app on our Mac but are not using it yet.   What workflow should we follow to upgrade to El Capitan and migrate from Aperture to Photos using PowerPhotos.

 

I have been advised that we should first upgrade to El Capitan.   But I don’t know how to utilize PowerPhotos to help us with this migration.

 

I read the below on the PowerPhotos website.

 

"If you have a lot of existing iPhoto or Aperture libraries that you want to migrate over to Photos, PowerPhotos will help automate your migrations so you don't have to spend time babysitting this lengthy process.”

Posted on Apr 20, 2016 9:04 AM

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Q: How to utilize PowerPhotos to migrate from Aperture to Photos

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  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Apr 20, 2016 9:18 AM in response to Ziatron
    Level 10 (84,617 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 20, 2016 9:18 AM in response to Ziatron

    That is a good question for FatCat (authors of PowerPhotos) support or studying  chapter 7 of their manual - https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/Help/table%20of%20contents.html

     

    LN

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 20, 2016 10:08 AM in response to Ziatron
    Level 10 (106,888 points)
    iLife
    Apr 20, 2016 10:08 AM in response to Ziatron
    We have about 10 Aperture libraries, some of the libraries have around 6000 images.

    do you want to migrate the libraries separately?  If you want to merge the libraries, do it while you are still having aperture. It is the last chance to merge libraries losslessly.

  • by Ziatron,

    Ziatron Ziatron Apr 20, 2016 10:24 AM in response to léonie
    Level 4 (3,930 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 20, 2016 10:24 AM in response to léonie

    do you want to migrate the libraries separately?

    No.

     

    I want to keep my 10 libraries separate.  PowerPhotos talks about how they make migration easier. I don't know if I should install PowerPhotos first, before moving any of my images from Aperture to Photos

     

    "If you have a lot of existing iPhoto or Aperture libraries that you want to migrate over to Photos, PowerPhotos will help automate your migrations so you don't have to spend time babysitting this lengthy process.”

     

    Perhaps the below means I need to install PowerPhotos first?

     

    https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/Help/migrating%20iphoto%20and%20apert ure%20libraries.html

     

    You see, when I switched from iPhoto to Aperture, (because I needed Keywords under thumbnails) you didn't have to migrate anything. Aperture simply used the iPhoto library "as is".

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 20, 2016 10:31 AM in response to Ziatron
    Level 10 (106,888 points)
    iLife
    Apr 20, 2016 10:31 AM in response to Ziatron

    There is not much to do to migrate an Aperture library. You simply drag the Aperture library onto the Photos icon and wait until it finishes. It can take several hours.

     

    What PowerPhotos offers to do is to add all Aperture libraries to PowerPhotos library list and then let PowerPhotos migrate them all at once.

    it will batch migrate them all and you can see the migration status. So if one library migrates successfully it will automatically start the migration of the next library. It does not improve the migrated library, just batch migrates them.

     

    I would migrate the libraries individually, one by one, and test each library after the migration, so I can recognize early, if there is an issue, like lack of storage or the migrated library created on the wrong drive, or similar.

  • by Ziatron,

    Ziatron Ziatron Apr 20, 2016 1:18 PM in response to léonie
    Level 4 (3,930 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 20, 2016 1:18 PM in response to léonie

    I would migrate the libraries individually, one by one

    OK, that doesn't sound hard at all. My ONLY reason for using PowerPhotos is so I can get Keywords under the thumbnails.

     

    So my plan right now is:

     

    1)   Upgrade to El Capitan.

    2)   Starting with my smallest library that I have, drag the Aperture library onto the Photos icon and wait until it finishes.

    3)   Test that library

    4)   Drag my other Aperture librarys onto the Photos icon and wait until it finishes.

    5)   Install PowerPhotos

     

    I do not want to share any of my Photo libraries with any of my iOS devices, what must I do to make sure sharing doesn't happen ?

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 20, 2016 3:02 PM in response to Ziatron
    Level 10 (141,095 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 20, 2016 3:02 PM in response to Ziatron
    I do not want to share any of my Photo libraries with any of my iOS devices, what must I do to make sure sharing doesn't happen ?

    Since only the library that is designated the System Photos Library can share with other devices open that library and make sure none of the checkboxes in Photos' iCloud preference pane is checked:

    Picloudpreferencepane.jpg

    OTsig.png

  • by Ziatron,

    Ziatron Ziatron Apr 20, 2016 2:52 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 4 (3,930 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 20, 2016 2:52 PM in response to Old Toad

    Since only the library that is designated the System Photos Library can share with other devices open that library and make sure none of the checkboxes in Photos' iCloud preference pane is checked:

     

    I think I just learned something profound.  Are you saying that if I have 10 libraries that only one of the 10 can be shared through the cloud ?

     

    If this is the case, I might want to have one library that I do indeed share with our iPhones. I didn't know this was possible.

     

    Designate a System Photo Library in Photos - Apple Support

  • by TheSnapDude,

    TheSnapDude TheSnapDude Apr 20, 2016 2:51 PM in response to Ziatron
    Level 1 (126 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 20, 2016 2:51 PM in response to Ziatron

    When I switched from Aperture to Photos I didn't migrate at all.  Instead I selected each album individually and exported the album photos into folders on my desktop with the album name and Photos had the album name and sequential number...  After an album was done exporting I would import those pictures into Photos and it was flawless.  I kept the GPS and information data on the images too.

     

    It takes a little longer but it is seems well worth it IMO.

  • by Ziatron,

    Ziatron Ziatron Apr 20, 2016 2:54 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 4 (3,930 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 20, 2016 2:54 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    When I switched from Aperture to Photos I didn't migrate at all.  Instead I selected each album individually and exported the album photos into folders on my desktop with the album name and Photos had the album name and sequential number...  After an album was done exporting I would import those pictures into Photos and it was flawless.  I kept the GPS and information data on the images too.

     

    It takes a little longer but it is seems well worth it IMO.

     

    The most important metadata for me is "Keywords" are they working for you as well?

  • by TheSnapDude,

    TheSnapDude TheSnapDude Apr 20, 2016 3:12 PM in response to Ziatron
    Level 1 (126 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 20, 2016 3:12 PM in response to Ziatron

    I didn't assign keyword before, but there might be a option to keep keyword metadata too during export.  Open Aperture, then go to Export...  select it and see what the options are for you. 

     

    I just checked and I didn't see keywords...  just tags with the color options. 

    Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 3.10.25 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-04-20 at 3.10.42 PM.png

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 20, 2016 7:27 PM in response to Ziatron
    Level 10 (141,095 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 20, 2016 7:27 PM in response to Ziatron
    Are you saying that if I have 10 libraries that only one of the 10 can be shared through the cloud ?

    Yes. Only the library that is designated as the System Photo Library can be shared thru iCloud.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 20, 2016 5:54 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 10 (106,888 points)
    iLife
    Apr 20, 2016 5:54 PM in response to TheSnapDude
      After an album was done exporting I would import those pictures into Photos and it was flawless.  I kept the GPS and information data on the images too.

    Why did you export and reimport album by album?  If you migrate an Aperture library the original Aperture  library will be left untouched and Photos will create a new library with all albums, edits, keywords, places. It will be a lossless migration.

    See: How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support

    Exporting and reimporting will break the connection between the edited versions and the original image files and you will have to export twice - once the originals and once the edited versions.It is much more work and needs twice thee storage for your edited photos.