me.victor
Level 1 (9 points)
Photography

Q: can I use both photos and aperture on my iMac

I have been using Aperture for a long time, but recently it is acting strangely, it seems logical that I should start using Apple Photos. But, not sure if I will like it. Can I have my library on both at the same time so that I might evaluate Photos?

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Apr 27, 2016 5:07 PM

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me.victor

Q: can I use both photos and aperture on my iMac

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Apr 27, 2016 5:31 PM in response to me.victor
    Level 10 (311,446 points)
    Apr 27, 2016 5:31 PM in response to me.victor

    Yes. Note that changes made in Photos won't be reflected in Aperture, and ones made in Aperture will only carry over if the library is reimported.

     

    (141887)

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Apr 27, 2016 7:56 PM in response to me.victor
    Level 10 (84,027 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 27, 2016 7:56 PM in response to me.victor

    No

     

    You can migrate your library from Aperture to Photos but that gives you two totally separate libraries with no connection - nothing done in either affects the other - they can not use the same library - for info on the migration How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support

     

    LN

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Apr 28, 2016 2:43 AM in response to me.victor
    Level 10 (105,183 points)
    iLife
    Apr 28, 2016 2:43 AM in response to me.victor

    As Niel said, you can use both applications independently. They do not interfere, because each of them have a separate library.

     

    It is a good idea to keep Aperture working, while you are exploring Photos, before you burn your bridges and take the jump.  In the long run, it will be cumbersome to keep two DMAs running and maintained. As Larry pointed out, changes in the Aperture Library and the Photos Library are not reflected in the other library.

    Only one library can sync with iCloud, so My Photo Stream can only stream to the Aperture lIbrary or the Photos Library.

    But during the migration and for the access to older Aperture libraries it will help to have both applications available. You may want to use Aperture to prepare your libraries, split or merge libraries, batch change titles and other metadata.

     

    You can easily move photos between Aperture and  Photos libraries:

    • If you want save photos from Photos to your Aperture Library, use the item "Add to Aperture" from the Share menu in Photos.
    • if you want to import Aperture photos into Photos,  use "File > Import".  Your current Aperture Library will be visible in the "Media" section of the File Chooser panel.

     

    So you can use Aperture without problems alongside with Photos, while you are preparing the migration to Photos or trying to make up your mind, which application you want to use in the long run.

     

    You may want to look at these links, if you have not seen them:

  • by me.victor,

    me.victor me.victor Apr 29, 2016 9:50 AM in response to me.victor
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Photography
    Apr 29, 2016 9:50 AM in response to me.victor

    Thanks to all for your replies, they are helpful. I appreciate lèonie's expansion, I don't want to 'burn my bridges' so I will keep both. At this time I just want to see how much I like (or dislike) Photos. Thanks again.