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Small exported images after migrating from Aperture to Photos

Finally getting around to moving on from Aperture. I have a 500GB Aperture library with all my DSLR RAW files from over the years. I want to simply convert it to a Photos library so I can go back and access them again in the future if needed. I went ahead and opened the library (well, a copy) in Photos and it chugged away for 5 or 6 hours. FInally I was able to see my photos. I wanted to be sure the files seemed OK and exported correctly to I exported a few random ones as a test. The resulting exported images are much smaller than they should be for some reason, and I cannot figure out why.


Here's the info from Photos about a particular image. It says that the dimensions are 3456x5184:


When I export the photo I am using full size, maximum quality for JPEG:


But here is what I end up with, an image only 683x1024:


Any idea why this is happening or how to fix it?


Mac OS 10.14.6

Photos 4.0

Aperture 3.6


Thanks,

Sean


Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Aug 6, 2019 8:17 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 6, 2019 9:13 AM

As a test launch Photos with the Option key held down and create a new, test library. Import some photos and test to see if the same problem persists during export. Does it? (This tells us if the problem is limited to your current library or is more wide spread)


If it does then boot into another user account on your Mac and repeat the test above. Any changes?


Lastly, if necessary, boot into Safe Mode and test your original library again. Then reboot normally.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing.


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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 6, 2019 9:13 AM in response to Sean C. Carter

As a test launch Photos with the Option key held down and create a new, test library. Import some photos and test to see if the same problem persists during export. Does it? (This tells us if the problem is limited to your current library or is more wide spread)


If it does then boot into another user account on your Mac and repeat the test above. Any changes?


Lastly, if necessary, boot into Safe Mode and test your original library again. Then reboot normally.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing.


Aug 6, 2019 10:54 AM in response to Sean C. Carter

You seem to be exporting the edited version in Photos. As a test, select the same photo, then export it with "File > Export > Export unmodified Original". Does this export the full-sized RAW file?


If yes, then you may need to revert the photos to the original version, that are exporting the edited versions as small previews. After I migrated my Aperture Libraries to Photos, I had to revert all images to the original file, that had brushed adjustments applied. The edited versions did not migrate well.



Aug 12, 2019 4:42 PM in response to léonie

Hi léonie, It looks like you have nailed it. I have been playing around with new libraries, RAW files that were present in the problem library, edited photos from that library, newer RAW photos that I use with Lightroom, etc over the last week. The problem photos are always ones that were previously edited in Aperture. It seems you are correct that the migration does not bring with it those edits very gracefully, but at least they do come over so I can see what I did to them previously (end result-wise anyway) Luckily in my case, I long ago exported all of these edited versions, and they already live in my system photos library / iCloud. My Aperture library remained as an archive of sorts. I doubt that I will need to go back and export already edited files ever again (well, never say never), but at least in the rare case that I need to get in there and at them, I know that the originals are intact and I can re-edit them as needed in Photos going forward.

Aug 12, 2019 4:47 PM in response to Old Toad

Hi Old Toad, thanks for your reply. In my various tests over the last week, the only situation that resulted in a smaller-than-expected file was a library migrated from Aperture where a photo, previously edited in Aperture, was exported as the current version. Originals seem to be intact. While not ideal, this is OK for my purposes. My Aperture library served as a archive location for all my RAW files only. I always export the finished product into Photos, which I now contunue to do using Lightroom (partly because Aperture was discontinued but more so because Aperture never understood how to read the RAW files from my current camera. I am reasonably satisfied knowing the originals are all in good shape, and I can store this migrated library away in case I ever need to access those originals again.

Small exported images after migrating from Aperture to Photos

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