Merging iPhoto library into Aperture in the new Aperture 3.3?

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Level 2

176 points

Merging iPhoto library into Aperture in the new Aperture 3.3?

Having trouble merging my (one) iPhoto library into Aperture. The idea is to merge both the iPhoto library and the Aperture library into a "single, unified Aperture library" that iPhoto can also read (new feature as of Aperture 3.3 and iPhoto 9.3).

The tech note for doing it is here:

Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5296

Summary

If you have Aperture 3.3 or later and iPhoto 9.3 or later, you can use Aperture to merge multiple iPhoto libraries together to create a single unified library with all your photos. You can then continue to use the unified library in both iPhoto and Aperture.

To merge the libraries:

Open Aperture 3.3 or later.
Click the File menu and choose Library > Switch to Library > Other/New. Use the library selector to choose one of the iPhoto libraries you'd like to merge.
Choose File > Import > Library
Select one of the remaining iPhoto libraries you wish to merge.
Repeat steps 3-4 for each additional iPhoto library you wish to merge.

I've followed steps 1 & 2 (BTW I had already opened the iPhoto library in 9.3 and closed it as recommended), but step 3 - when I "Choose File > Import > Library," I just get a standard open file dialog, and the iPhoto library is grayed out. Not too surprising, considering that this is the library that's already open in Aperture.

So, import is not possible.

Anybody done this? It appears to me that the documentation is faulty...

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jun 12, 2012 5:23 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 12, 2012 7:50 AM in response to Kim Hill1

I have exactly the same problem: grayed out and hence inaccessible iPhoto library. I did the upgrading of iPhoto library after moving to iPhoto 9.3.

Any assistance most welcome.

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Answer 2

Clem

Level 3

701 points

Jun 12, 2012 7:55 AM in response to Kim Hill1

Hi Kim,

The first library you open will act as a base, or primary library, into which all other libs will be merged. Since you opened the lib you can't imprt it into itself. :). Pick your second or third lib and import those to merge with the first.

Or am I misreading what you did above? Please post back and we can get ya sorted.

Cheers

Clem

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Answer 3

Jun 12, 2012 8:05 AM in response to Kim Hill1

4. Select one of the remaining iPhoto libraries you wish to merge.

As clem noted you open the first iPhoto library in Aperture and then combine any other libraries. If you only have one library then you're done.

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Answer 4

Kim Hill1 Author

Level 2

176 points

Jun 12, 2012 8:21 AM in response to Clem

The first library you open will act as a base, or primary library, into which all other libs will be merged. Since you opened the lib you can't imprt it into itself. :). Pick your second or third lib and import those to merge with the first.

Or am I misreading what you did above? Please post back and we can get ya sorted.

I followed Apple's steps exactly as written (which I suspect is the problem). I opened Aperture with my normal Aperture library (step 1). Next, I followed steps 2 & 3. I had the result I reported above...

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Answer 5

Jun 12, 2012 8:24 AM in response to Kim Hill1

Please read step 4. It specifically tells you to open your remaining iPhoto libraries.

Do you have any other iPhoto libraries to open apart from the one you switched to?

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Answer 6

Kim Hill1 Author

Level 2

176 points

Jun 12, 2012 8:28 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Please read step 4. It specifically tells you to open your remaining iPhoto libraries.

Do you have any other iPhoto libraries to open apart from the one you switched to?

There are no "remaining iPhoto libraries." Just one iPhoto library.

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Answer 7

Jun 12, 2012 8:59 AM in response to Kim Hill1

Ok if you only have one iPhoto library and you want to merge that into an existing Aperture library these aren't the instructions for you.

The instructions state:

you can use Aperture to merge multiple iPhoto libraries together to create a single unified library with all your photos.

So this is how you combine multiple iPhoto libraries together.

To combine one iPhoto library into an existing Aperture library do:

Make sure the iPhoto library had been opened in iPhoto 9.3

Make sure the Aperture library has been updated by Aperture 3.3

Open Aperture and the library as you normally do.

Go to File->Import library and select the iPhoto library you want to merge.

Follow the instructions on screen.

Note as this is all very new I highly recommend you have backups of both the Aperture and iPhoto libraries before doing this.

regards

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Answer 8

Jun 12, 2012 9:01 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Also in my case, there is only one iPhoto library (as stated, greyed out). The icon for this library is a blank (page); not as in the case of the Aperture Library, the relevant (Aperture) icon.

If I go to 'Get Info' for the iPhoto Library, it shows me as the default application to open it: Terminal. The size is: 1.07 GB (I have only 380 photos in iPhoto).

If I go to 'Get Info' for the Aperture Library, it shows me as the default application to open it: Aperture. The Aperture Library is empty. The size of the libarry is: 145 MB.

Perhaps this info helps?

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Answer 9

Jun 12, 2012 9:10 AM in response to Dirk Blink

Have you opened the iPhoto lbrary in iPhoto 9.3?

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Answer 10

Kim Hill1 Author

Level 2

176 points

Jun 12, 2012 9:17 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

If this is the case, then the tech note is ambiguous to the point of being useless.

It suggests that you can "create a single unified library with all your photos. You can then continue to use the unified library in both iPhoto and Aperture."

For context, see the companion tech note:

Aperture 3.3: Using a unified photo library with iPhoto and Aperture

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5260

There's a lot of talk about using a "unified library," but now I'm unclear about whether this even means one photo library (total) across both Aperture & iPhoto, or if it means just pulling all your iPhoto libraries together.

If this is just a matter of "File > Import > Library" in Aperture, then we've had the same command for a long time - which allowed us to import an iPhoto library into Aperture, whereupon iPhoto images were just assimilated into Aperture, and if you got rid of your source iPhoto library afterward, you would lose any iPhoto organization.

Maybe the difference is that with 3.3, importing an iPhoto library into Aperture embeds/maintains native iPhoto information within the Aperture library, such that if you point iPhoto at your Aperture library, it looks as if your iPhoto images were still in a standard iPhoto library.

Are you suggesting simply importing your iPhoto library into Aperture?

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Answer 11

Jun 12, 2012 9:24 AM in response to Kim Hill1

Look this is really a bad time to be debating the worth of Apple's tech notes 😉

The note you read is for combining multiple iPhoto libraries into one using Aperture. I suppose it is aimed at a user who has multiple iPhoto libraries and just now bought Aperture and wants to combine them all and use Aperture.

In your case if you have been using Aperture and have an Aperture library you want to combine an iPhoto library into follow the instructions I gave above.

Keep in mind if this iPhoto library was the library you imported into Aperture at some point in the past you'll probably going to have duplicates.

And as I wrote above as this is all extremely new please make sure you have working backups of both libraries.

regards

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Answer 12

Kim Hill1 Author

Level 2

176 points

Jun 12, 2012 9:51 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Frank Caggiano wrote:

Look this is really a bad time to be debating the worth of Apple's tech notes 😉

Well, you know, it isn't for the sake of debating Apple's tech notes' worth — it's because it will be impossible to answer this question without understanding where Apple's documentation is clear — and where it's misleading.

Earlier, you said:

Open Aperture and the library as you normally do.

Go to File->Import library and select the iPhoto library you want to merge.

If my latest theory is correct, this will fail, because your iPhoto images will lose their iPhoto-specific information (albums, etc.) once they're in the Aperture library. They'll simply become Aperture albums, independent of iPhoto.

My latest theory/working assumption at this point is that there's actually no such thing as a "unified photo library." What there is — is a "unified photo library format," such that you can open an iPhoto library within Aperture, and vice versa, and do work that will be preserved across your sessions.

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Answer 13

Jun 12, 2012 9:57 AM in response to Kim Hill1

If my latest theory is correct, this will fail, because your iPhoto images will lose their iPhoto-specific information (albums, etc.) once they're in the Aperture library.

As of 3.3 ad 9.3 there is only one library structure. Even if you never open an iPhoto library in Aperture once it is opened in iPhoto 9.3 it will be in this new unified format.

As of 3.3 and 9.3 there is no longer any sense in talking about an Aperture library and an iPhoto library, there is just one library, a photo library, that both program can read and interpret as they wish.

It doesn't matter if you never open a library you have now that is only being used with iPhoto, once you open it with iPhoto 9.3 it will be modified into this unified format.

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Answer 14

Kim Hill1 Author

Level 2

176 points

Jun 12, 2012 10:38 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Frank Caggiano wrote:

As of 3.3 and 9.3 there is no longer any sense in talking about an Aperture library and an iPhoto library, there is just one library, a photo library, that both program can read and interpret as they wish.

That seems easy enough if you were starting with just one library. But if you start with both an Aperture and an iPhoto library, ideally you want them unified into one, but depending on how you start, the process seems unclear. Certainly, you can import iPhoto images into Aperture, but it's unclear how you could retain all your iPhoto information after there's nothing left but the Aperture file.

In my case, I imported my iPhoto images into Aperture years ago- and I don't even remember how exactly I did it. Aperture sees the images as referenced files within the iPhoto library package. iPhoto has been able to open the iPhoto library anyway, and they have worked independently.

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Answer 15

Jun 12, 2012 11:07 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Frank,

Doing a Show Package on the converted Aperture Library, and the converted iPhoto library does not reveal an exact common structure. In the package of the Aperture Library there remains a Masters folder (this is Managed Lib), while in the iPhoto Library package there is both an Originals folder, and a Masters folder, with the Originals folder being an alias pointing to the Masters folder. That was true in the prior iPhoto version.

Ernie

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