Aperture Import like Lightroom

[M@lew]

I'm giving Aperture 2 a try and it seems alright at the moment. One thing that's bugging me is when you import though. When I import into Lightroom I import by date being 2008-03-03 for example. Lightroom picks up the date of the photos taken and imports them accordingly. Also, I tag groups of pics I take with a batch tag on import to save me from doing it later on.

Is there any way to replicate this in Aperture? I'm more so concerned about the way to organise things as I have 14k+ photos organised in that date format and if I decide to stick with Aperture for now I'd like it to be able to write like that too.

I already know that I can import using a custom folder name but that would require be to manually type in the date of each group of shots and I don't always have pics from the same day on my card.

 

[OreoCookie]

I'm not quite sure what you want here. Aperture has always automatically renamed my photos this way: Year-Month-Day at Hour-Minute-Second (something like this). You can choose different naming schemes in the Import dialog (just above the time zone controls). You can tag photos immediately, too. Choose Metadata > IPTC Extended, for instance, that gives me my favorite tags. You can customize the fields that are supposed to appear, too.

In IPTC Extended, I can edit location, country, object, etc. Select the images you want to import, apply the keywords, add autostacking (by time), if you like and click in Import. Presto. BTW, that hasn't changed at all from Aperture 1.5.6 (well, as far as I can see, at least).

 

[M@lew]

So you can have your Aperture library set up in the format 2008-03-04?

Also, I've found out the metadata problem. Turns out my Macbook's 13.3" screen doesn't play well with Aperture and it won't let me scroll down to see the metadata input.

 

[OreoCookie]

So you can have your Aperture library set up in the format 2008-03-04?

Yes.
I name the projects `2008.03.04 - short description' by hand and my pictures are automatically names according to date/time. That isn't new to Aperture 2.0, though.

Also, I've found out the metadata problem. Turns out my Macbook's 13.3" screen doesn't play well with Aperture and it won't let me scroll down to see the metadata input.

That sucks. I haven't used Aperture on a MacBook …*sorry. Plus, I have an external screen, too.

 

[M@lew]

Ah yeah I was more so referring to naming the folder automatically with the data structure, rather than the actual photos themselves.

 

[OreoCookie]

Oh, ok.
I'm not aware that this can be automated. I've never missed this, as a matter of fact, I prefer naming my projects myself.

You could make smart albums, but then again, you'd have to create such an album for each day.

 

[ChrisA]

Again and again I see that for many people it is hard to move away from the metaphor of "folders inside folders". Desktop computers have used this metaphor for 20 years now and I notice that Apple is leading the way in trying to get away from it. Yes it is easy to understand that a file lives inside a folder and folders live inside bigger folders but that is to restrictive it you have a very large collection of files.

A better way is organize files is to use what I call the "Parking Attendant Metaphor". You just hand your key to this guy and he puts your car "who knows where" and you don't worry about it. Later when you need the car he finds it and brings it to you.

Aperture and iPhoto and iTunes all work like the Parking Attendant. Your files are in "who knows where" and when you need the ones that were shot on March 2nd you ask for them. There is no need for a folder called "March 2nd". This solves the problem of when say you want to find a photo of Sue Smith taken in San Francisco, CA about 10 years about (or was is 8 or 12 years ago? Better to just ask the parking guy to get it for you than to look in a thousand or so dated folders

 

[Eauboy]

A better way is organize files is to use what I call the "Parking Attendant Metaphor". You just hand your key to this guy and he puts your car "who knows where" and you don't worry about it. Later when you need the car he finds it and brings it to you.

But what happens when/if you no longer choose to use that particular product?

I'm evaluating Lightroom these days. (I'm on a windows system, so I can't check out Aperture). Previously, I used Adobe Photo Album. While Lightroom does have an option to import from Photo Album, there's no guarantee that if I ever find a superior alternative to Lightroom that it will do a proper import. I'd hate to have to start from scratch with my photos all in one physical folder with no other identifying information. So, as I bring in new photos, I'm obeying the existing folder structure I set up years ago.

I guess the bottom line is I'm an old command-line guy who still finds comfort in a bit of organization which transcends any particular product.

 

[M@lew]

If I was always with Aperture I would let it reference the photos, but since I have been using Lightroom for almost a year now I have my shots in folders.

 

[Roquist]

Long time passed...

Hi, I ran into this here after searching for tip how to import pix into dated folders.

It is not complicated as I found out myself: 1) use referenced files, that is pictures are stored outside the Aperture library, 2) have the import set to Subfolders: Image Year/Month/Day.
then if you import pictures, they are put into a custom specified project in the Aperture library but ALSO into dated folders in the computer wherever you defined (Pictures in my case).

Dated folders and dated filenames are the ONLY reliable way of storing / structuring data. Time is the only thing that is universal and you won't forget about. March 2002 will always be March 2002. My brother's wedding will be a "wedding" in Lightroom, "brother" in Aperture and NOTHING in Finder. keywords are nice but not bullet-proof.

For cases when you import large legacy libraries (from Lightroom) without keywords and/or you just want to have your pictures accessible independently from Aperture (like from Finder or any application not talking to the Mac Media Browser) and still structured, this is it.