Adobe publishes how-to guide for migrating from Apple's Aperture to Lightroom

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Mac Software edited November 2014
Taking advantage of Apple's decision to discontinue both Aperture and iPhoto in favor of the upcoming OS X Yosemite app "Photos," Adobe on Monday released a quick reference guide to migrating image files from Apple's program to Lightroom.



The guide, titled "Making the Switch from Aperture to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom" (PDF link), outlines a step-by-step process by which current Aperture users can migrate photos and projects from Apple's app to Adobe's subscription service.

As Aperture's imaging engine is different than Adobes, the guide recommends exporting original images with metadata intact and TIFF versions of the file before importing both Lightroom. The process is a bit clunky, but it works.

In June, Apple announced it has stopped development of Aperture and iPhoto ahead of the debut of its new Photos app, set to see release with iOS 8 this fall and on OS X Yosemite in 2015.

For its part, Apple said existing Aperture users will be able to migrate their libraries over to Photos for OS X, but with a limited toolset, professional photographers may find the forthcoming "prosumer" app unacceptable.

Adobe pounced on the opportunity to capture pro users moving away from Aperture and immediately announced work was being put into a Lightroom migration solution. With the new system in place, those thinking of switching to Adobe's services now have an official route

Adobe has been aggressively building out its Creative Cloud suite for OS X and iOS, the most recent addition being a suite of apps for mobile that includes Lightroom for iPhone.

With the migration guide, Adobe is pushing its Creative Cloud Photography Plan, which includes Lightroom for OS X, on the Web and mobile, in addition to Photoshop CC for $9.99 per month. A 30-day free trial is also available.

More comprehensive Creative Cloud subscriptions include the Creative Cloud Complete plan for $49.99 per month, the Creative Cloud Student and Teacher Edition for $19.99 per monthand the Creative Cloud for teams complete plan for $69.99 per month.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 70
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member
    I'll wait to see how Photos shapes up and where it's going before even thinking about using an Adobe product ever again. Pixelmator and Acorn are getting better every day and iDraw does as much vector drawing as I need to do for a whole lot less money.
  • Reply 2 of 70
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    It's worth remembering the Lightroom is still available for a one-off fee as a boxed product. You don't need a CC subscription to use it.
  • Reply 3 of 70
    ebcdicebcdic Posts: 5member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rob53 View Post



    I'll wait to see how Photos shapes up and where it's going before even thinking about using an Adobe product ever again. Pixelmator and Acorn are getting better every day and iDraw does as much vector drawing as I need to do for a whole lot less money.



    My thoughts exactly.  I'll wait for the new Photos before I look at any Adobe product.

  • Reply 4 of 70
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rob53 View Post



    Pixelmator and Acorn are getting better every day . . .

    That's odd. It seems to me I've had many of updates/additions to Aperture (other than performance, not much I was hoping for, like say lens correctioncapability.) But I only remember one big update and one minor one for Pixelmator in that time. Don't get me wrong. I like Pixelmator, but it doesn't seem to have been updated very much. I suppose one could say that since it takes good advantage of Apple's core software features, every Apple update gives Pixelmator a nice update bump too.

  • Reply 5 of 70
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    I still like my iPhone Photos app plug-in idea. It would take Continuity to a whole 'nother level.

    (I'm on mobile and don't know how find my original post.)

    A quick explanation:

    I initially thought Apple discontinued Aperture to merge the iPhone app and Mac app together. Inviting third party developers in on the fun(think iOS 8's open Photos app).

    This would basically give the customer a HUGE range of options customized for THEIR OWN needs. Some people just need filters, some need stickers and others need specific advanced photo effects.

    The best part? The iPhone extensions/plug-ins/3rd party software extend %100 to your Mac Photos app.
  • Reply 6 of 70
    midwestapplefanmidwestapplefan Posts: 116member
    Aperture is not dead yet. You can still buy it on the App Store for $79.99. After you've bought into the Adobe stuff, you'll have paid more than Aperture before 9 months have gone by. Then you'll keep paying and paying and it never stops. Not a way of business I personally want to support.

    Adobe wants people to switch before they stop to think. But the truth is Aperture will still be OK to use for at least a couple of years. In the mean time there are alternatives to Adobe that don't require a subscription and will save a boat load of money. acdsee pro is just one. You buy the product and get a lifetime license.

    Don't hit the panic button yet. Adobe wants you bad now before you find a good alternative. But time is on the photographer's side and taking a wait-and-see attitude will serve most of us best.
  • Reply 7 of 70
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    Aperture will continue to work in Yosemite. What's the problem? If you want "new and improved" on the box, just get Adobe Lightroom: Adobe is the king of feature stuffing. Just look at the new Flash! It even tries to change your default browser when you update Flash on Windows.
  • Reply 8 of 70
    inklinginkling Posts: 772member
    Sigh, any mention of Adobe seems to bring out the subscriptions-over-my-dead-body crowd. Maybe buying is best for them, but it isn't for me.

    I've got a Creative Cloud subscription and I'm delighted with it. I use Adobe's apps to make a living and it's easily worth that monthly cost to get updates quick rather than wait for those drawn-out 18-month upgrades. If I save a couple of hours a month, I've more than paid for the cost. That I easily do.
  • Reply 9 of 70
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DESuserIGN View Post

     

    That's odd. It seems to me I've had many of updates/additions to Aperture (other than performance, not much I was hoping for, like say lens correctioncapability.) But I only remember one big update and one minor one for Pixelmator in that time. Don't get me wrong. I like Pixelmator, but it doesn't seem to have been updated very much. I suppose one could say that since it takes good advantage of Apple's core software features, every Apple update gives Pixelmator a nice update bump too.


    I checked out Pixelmator's Support/Updates page and found the following: ( I bought it at version 1.3.1, December 11, 2008)

    http://support.pixelmator.com/updates

    Pixelmator 3.2 Sandstone (Released on May 22, 2014)

    Pixelmator 3.1 Marble (Released on January 23, 2014)

    Pixelmator 3.0 FX (Released on October 22, 2013)

    Pixelmator 2.2.2 (Released on October 14, 2013)

    Pixelmator 2.2.1 (Released on September 24, 2013)

    Pixelmator 2.2 (Released on May 09, 2013)

    Pixelmator 2.1.4 (Released on December 14, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.1.3 (Released on November 8, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.1.2 (Released on October 9, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.1.1 (Released on September 18, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.1 (Released on August 09, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.5 (Released on June 12, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.4 (Released on May 17, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.3 (Released on April 24, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.2 (Released on February 21, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.1 (Released on November 22, 2011)

    Pixelmator 2.0 (Released on October 27, 2011)

    Pixelmator 1.6.8 (Released on July 21, 2011)

    Pixelmator 1.6.5 (Released on February 8, 2011)

    Pixelmator 1.6.4 (Released on January 11, 2011)

    bunch more all the way back to:

    Pixelmator 1.0 Firestarter (Released on September 25, 2007)

     

    Is this enough updates? Their update page is very long.

     

    Exclusive new Mac Pro support: Pixelmator 3.1 Marble takes advantage of the new Mac Pro’s incredible power and speed with its dual-GPU support. This means that just about any edit you make, you will experience remarkably smoother and more fluid performance.

     

    Is Lightroom coded to make use of the Mac Pro's GPUs? (I didn't check, this is a question for people.)

  • Reply 10 of 70
    wprowewprowe Posts: 33member
    I followed the instructions to test transferring a sample of images from Aperture to Lightroom. The purpose was to see whether the IPTC data did in fact transfer over correctly. In my test, I tried raw, PSD, TIFF and JPG originals. Here are the results of my test.

    [LIST]
    [*]NEF (raw) and PSD XMP sidecar files correctly transferred all of the associated IPTC data.
    [*]TIFF XMP sidecar files transferred no IPTC data. The sidecar file had all of the IPTC data. Lightroom did not read it.
    [*]JPG XMP sidecar files transferred the IPTC author field. No other IPTC fields were imported. The sidecar file had all the IPTC data.
    [/LIST]

    So the sidecar XMP files don't seem to be imported property for TIFF and JPG files, but work fine for PSD and raw files.
  • Reply 11 of 70
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rob53 View Post

     

    I checked out Pixelmator's Support/Updates page and found the following: ( I bought it at version 1.3.1, December 11, 2008)

    http://support.pixelmator.com/updates

    Pixelmator 3.2 Sandstone (Released on May 22, 2014)

    Pixelmator 3.1 Marble (Released on January 23, 2014)

    Pixelmator 3.0 FX (Released on October 22, 2013)

    Pixelmator 2.2.2 (Released on October 14, 2013)

    Pixelmator 2.2.1 (Released on September 24, 2013)

    Pixelmator 2.2 (Released on May 09, 2013)

    Pixelmator 2.1.4 (Released on December 14, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.1.3 (Released on November 8, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.1.2 (Released on October 9, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.1.1 (Released on September 18, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.1 (Released on August 09, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.5 (Released on June 12, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.4 (Released on May 17, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.3 (Released on April 24, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.2 (Released on February 21, 2012)

    Pixelmator 2.0.1 (Released on November 22, 2011)

    Pixelmator 2.0 (Released on October 27, 2011)

    Pixelmator 1.6.8 (Released on July 21, 2011)

    Pixelmator 1.6.5 (Released on February 8, 2011)

    Pixelmator 1.6.4 (Released on January 11, 2011)

    bunch more all the way back to:

    Pixelmator 1.0 Firestarter (Released on September 25, 2007)

     

    Is this enough updates? Their update page is very long.

     

    Exclusive new Mac Pro support: Pixelmator 3.1 Marble takes advantage of the new Mac Pro’s incredible power and speed with its dual-GPU support. This means that just about any edit you make, you will experience remarkably smoother and more fluid performance.

     

    Is Lightroom coded to make use of the Mac Pro's GPUs? (I didn't check, this is a question for people.)


    That's marvelous. "Enough" is a relative term, I suppose. An update is pretty irrelevant if one doesn't know about it.

    I'm on on 3.1 "Marble" which was the first big update I was notified of since I bought the software about 2 years ago (probably around 2.1.) I wonder why no other updates were pushed to me via Software Update?

  • Reply 12 of 70
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member
    suddenly newton wrote: »
    Aperture will continue to work in Yosemite. What's the problem? If you want "new and improved" on the box, just get Adobe Lightroom: Adobe is the king of feature stuffing. Just look at the new Flash! It even tries to change your default browser when you update Flash on Windows.

    That's not exactly a stamp of confidence from Apple. Photos isn't out yet. When it is I guarantee the second or third minor Yosemite update renders Aperture incompatible ( for no actual technical reason). Photos and Aperture will not coexist except for a cursory short period. Otherwise no Aperture user would ever bother with Photos.

    Migrating before that time makes perfect sense.
  • Reply 13 of 70
    tyancytyancy Posts: 85member
    Does Adobe publish a guide on how to convince them to reintroduce permanent licensing?
  • Reply 14 of 70
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DESuserIGN View Post

     

    That's marvelous. "Enough" is a relative term, I suppose. An update is pretty irrelevant if one doesn't know about it.

    I'm on on 3.1 "Marble" which was the first big update I was notified of since I bought the software about 2 years ago (probably around 2.1.) I wonder why no other updates were pushed to me via Software Update?


    I get them via Software Update. I changed to the App Store version with 1.6.4 January 2011. I don't do any updates automatically. I don't know of a way to find all the updates I've installed for each application so I posted a forum comment. 

     

    I know this post has nothing to do with Aperture or Lightroom so I'll stop my comments.

  • Reply 15 of 70
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    If Lightroom had Apertures Auto Enhance (very best I've seen), White Balance (skin tone option), non-destructive workflow, color overlays when brushing, etc this would be a lot easier to swallow.

    Lr's lens correction and water marking does help.
  • Reply 16 of 70
    bobbycobobbyco Posts: 1member
    "For its part, Apple said existing Aperture users will be able to migrate their libraries over to Photos for OS X, but with a limited toolset, professional photographers may find the forthcoming "prosumer" app unacceptable. "

    REALLY? When did Apple say the tools would be limited. Maybe many are drawing that conclusion but Apple never said that.

    When you buy a new Mac at Apple you can pre order it with Aperture installed. It's still in the MAS. Not a dead end.
  • Reply 17 of 70
    blazarblazar Posts: 270member
    I will be willing to bet that for most consumers, the new photos app will not only be more than enough, but will also be a more coherent way to keep photos synchronized with less confusion. As far as editing features, i find these getting simpler and simpler to use for most practical uses.

    As for photographers... I guess we will have to see.
  • Reply 18 of 70
    justbobfjustbobf Posts: 261member
    The trouble with migrating to Lightroom is that only the original or the modified file will follow. Many, many of my photos have adjustments to them. Both iPhoto and Aperture save the original and the modified version of the photo. (Apparently Aperture saves the modified version as non-destructive instructions only.) If I understand this correctly, migrating will only bring over the original or the modified version. (Perhaps this does not pertain to RAW files.) So, this will not do for me. I'll wait and see what Apple has in store. Their brief presentation showed some potentially very exciting features. Apparently, the software will try to make several common adjustments at once, but will have toggle arrows to allow access to the individual adjustments and finer control. Very exciting to me!
  • Reply 19 of 70
    yoyo2222yoyo2222 Posts: 144member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jlandd View Post





    That's not exactly a stamp of confidence from Apple. Photos isn't out yet. When it is I guarantee the second or third minor Yosemite update renders Aperture incompatible ( for no actual technical reason). 

    Very cute but let's see. I've tested iMovie 6 (HD) on Yosemite beta and it works fine. iMovie 6 was released in Jan. '06 when we were still using OS X 10.4. Don't panic.

  • Reply 20 of 70
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DESuserIGN View Post

     

    That's odd. It seems to me I've had many of updates/additions to Aperture (other than performance, not much I was hoping for, like say lens correctioncapability.) But I only remember one big update and one minor one for Pixelmator in that time. Don't get me wrong. I like Pixelmator, but it doesn't seem to have been updated very much. I suppose one could say that since it takes good advantage of Apple's core software features, every Apple update gives Pixelmator a nice update bump too.


    As shown they make a lot of basic updates. I wouldn't expect much in feature updates due to the staffing limitations imposed by their retail price targets. Overall I don't see the problem. You don't need overly complex tools to create most things, and if you do something generic and out of the box is often the wrong thing.

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by aplnub View Post



    If Lightroom had Apertures Auto Enhance (very best I've seen), White Balance (skin tone option), non-destructive workflow, color overlays when brushing, etc this would be a lot easier to swallow.



    Lr's lens correction and water marking does help.



    Making a bunch of little tools is just sloppy. What they need is slightly more intuitive color handling, in which case you could implement things like the white balance skintone option to your own liking with your own presets. I don't understand your concern about non-destructive workflows. they have that. All it means is that the work is unrasterized. Beyond that nothing is non-destructive.

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