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Merging iPhoto and Aperture Libraries - Space not the final frontier

Merging Aperture with iPhoto


Just upgraded Aperture and iPhoto to the latest versions to have a single consolidated library (great update Apple)


My Aperature library is 9.53GB

My iPhoto library is 41.79GB


Why when I try and merge is Calculating disk space saying it needs over 209GB of free space ??

What is going on here ??? and any way to reduce the space overhead ?

Posted on Jun 13, 2012 4:00 PM

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16 replies

Jun 13, 2012 4:56 PM in response to Rich Fenton

I would guess it has something to do with the fact that Aperture (and perhaps iPhoto) uses extra space when upgrading a library.


See the 'Additional Information' section at bottom of this page:


http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2518


If the process were to make hidden copies of each library as a backup, as well as hidden copies being worked with and some overhead; that may account for such a large amount of space being needed.


We saw this problem occur for a number of users going from AP 2 to AP 3 and also from AP 3 to AP 3.2 if memory serves. Some users copied their libraries to a larger external drive while upgrading and then copied back, but I am not sure what that would do with both an Aperture library and an iPhoto library merge.


If no users post with certain knowledge of the issue, you might want to contact Apple on this one. 😉

Jun 15, 2012 4:02 PM in response to mattalexcohen

I'm having a REAL nightmare with this... I've ended up creating a new iPhoto library and then opening the containing folder for the aperture library and copying stuff back in and manually workign thru it YUK YUK YUK


One thing I did notice is there is a load of data swamped up in the iPod Cache directory which can be deleted and may alleiviate your problem


Wish I never went to Aperture and stayed with iPhoto

Jun 15, 2012 6:39 PM in response to Rich Fenton

Why when I try and merge is Calculating disk space saying it needs over 209GB of free space ??

What is going on here ??? and any way to reduce the space overhead ?

Are your Libraries referenced? During the conversion Aperture probably needs temporary storage for the images in high quality lossless format.


I found that not so much temporary storage will be required, if you upgrade the libraries before you try to merge them:

  1. Open your main Aperture Library in Aperture 3.3 and rebuild it in Aperture 3.3 before you merge the libraries.
  2. Open the iPhoto Library in Aperture and rebuild it in Aperture before merging it into the Aperture Library.
  3. Then open again the main Aperture Library and merge the iPhoto Library into it using "File > Import > Library"


To force to open your iPhoto Library in Aperture 3.3. launch Aperture and select "File > Switch to Library" from the main menu bar. or ctrl-click the iPhoto Library and select "Open with > Aperture" from the pop-upmenu.


To rebuild the Library hold down the cmd-option key combination (⌘⌥) while you double click the library.


Post back, if you still need so much disk space after this.


Regards

Léonie

Jun 16, 2012 8:11 AM in response to Rich Fenton

I'm back up and running - first I tried to manually copy the libraries to consolidate them but that got horribly screwed up with missing referenced files...


I ended up restoring back to a Vault (taken before I started this sorry mess) and then tried the upgrade process again - this time it worked and seems to have consolidated both my libraries into one and is accessible from iPhoto and Aperture (which is where i wanted to get too)


Only weird thing I notice now is the Faces DB has a lot of blank entries in the thumbnails but I performed a rebuild on this and when I mouse over them they seem to come back.... Whole sorry episode hasn;t changed my opinion of Aperture in that it's not a Apple Quality Product - the only feature worth my time in future is Vaulting which ironically in this instance saved me... backup flatters restore matters

Jul 8, 2012 4:42 AM in response to Rich Fenton

I've also discovered this problem, but unfortunately don't have an up-to-date, pre-update vault from which to restore from.


I have a 15G iPhoto library that I am trying to merge with a 49G Aperture library (granted, most photos are duplicates, but until now, that's been my only easy option) and when I try to merge as per the instructions, I'm informed that I need 4 Terabytes of disk space to do so. Which is, well a little excessive I would have thought.


I have deleted all iPhone movie files, emptied both trash folders, rebuilt both databases and I'm still finding the same issue.


If the above is anything to go by, am I best to create a new vault now and restore from that, or go back with Time Machine to before I upgraded the Aperture library, restore the old Aperture library, create a new vault, then restore today's Library from that new (old) vault and manally re-add the photos added in the meantime?


Sounds like a bit of a silly way to do things.


I'm guessing it would be easier to try and identify which photos are in iPhoto that aren't in Aperture, import those by themselves, and use the Aperture library in iPhoto from here on?


Anyone else remember the good old days when Macs 'just worked'?

Jul 8, 2012 4:59 AM in response to Craig Hockley

One thing that worked for me, was to convert the iPhoto Library into an Aperture Library before importing:

  1. I opened the iPhoto Library to be merged in Aperture,
  2. and then I selected all Library items at once and exported the selection as a new Aperture library.


This was very quick, and when I imported this converted library into Aperture not much space additional was required.

Merging iPhoto and Aperture Libraries - Space not the final frontier

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