Unified library worth the upgrade for iPhoto/Aperture

Question

Unified library worth the upgrade for iPhoto/Aperture

I have still iPhoto 8.2. Haven't upgraded because everything was working fine. Bought Aperture awhile back because my iPhoto library is huge. (+20K).

Basically I find a nice neat ending point around 2011 and stopped using iPhoto and started using Aperture. This is how I keep track of what program to open and use with what photos. Pre-2011 is iPhoto. Post-2012 is Aperture. I found out some time ago that Aperture and iPhoto could play nicely together but that I would have to upgrade iPhoto to do this.

Should I?

Am I correct in understanding that upgrading to the most recent version of iPhoto will move my current iPhoto collection into a library that can be read by Aperture?

I'm currently running Aperture 3.4.5

Also... should I then keep the iPhoto library separate or do I merge it into Aperture altogether?

Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on May 18, 2014 3:08 PM

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Answer 1

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léonie

Level 10

194,647 points

May 18, 2014 3:45 PM in response to chrystalschronicles

The newer iPhoto versions, since iPhoto 9.3 are using the same library format as Aperture.That makes it not only possible to use both programs on the same library, it also makes the iPhoto libraries easier to maintain with Aperture. I find t very convenient, that I can use Aperture for my old iPhoto libraries and improve the edits and taggings in Aperture, and that I occasionally can use iPhoto on my Aperture library for things, that Aperture cannot do. See my User Tip here:

Keep iPhoto - It May Come in Handy!

And some support documents:

Using the Unified Photo Library

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

Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries

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Answer 2

May 18, 2014 4:27 PM in response to léonie

Thanks for the response.

Do you actually recommend merging the libraries or just upgrading so that the iPhoto library is accessible with Aperture?

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

194,647 points

May 18, 2014 4:34 PM in response to chrystalschronicles

Do you actually recommend merging the libraries or just upgrading so that the iPhoto library is accessible with Aperture?

It will depend on how you want to use your libraries. If you need to search both libraries -Aperture and iPhoto frquently, because you want to make albums with images from many different years, then it would be easier to have ons single library. i am finding myself frequently creating albums, where I need to search all my photos.

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