Aperture to Photos migration

[chiefsilverback]

The time has finally come to make the switch from Aperture to Photos and I'm having an issue...

I've run Aperture with referenced masters, keeping the ~25GB library file on my system SSD and storing the 250GB+ of masters on an external HDD? Given that Photos can't support referenced masters I just purchased a 500GB SSD which I've installed in an external USB3 enclosure.

From what I've read, the process to migrate an Aperture library is to drag it/open it into Photos and the app will do the rest, creating a new Photos library in the same location as the existing Aperture version. To this end I've moved the Aperture library to my new 500GB volume, but when I drag it to Photos the new Photos library creates itself on my system drive which is only 240GB in total size.

Any ideas how to force Photos to create a new library on a specific drive?

 

[robgendreau]

Photos can reference images. Just uncheck the "copy into" option in its preferences.

I dunno about drag and drop. I just use option-open and select the library. Like this: https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/how-to-transfer-photos-from-iphoto-to-photos/

 

[KittyKatta]

A few years ago I felt it was time to let go of Aperture and finally move my personal library to Photos. It was a disaster. Lots of broken links, failed edit transfers and Photos software that was 9000 steps backwards. I tried my best for a few weeks but ended up just going back to Aperture and saying "I'll try again when Apple finally gets Photos to feel like a modern photo editing app". Obviously, that never happened and my photo library lives on a 2012 MacBook Pro where I can't upgrade the OS or else I'll lose a decade of work.

To be honest, this is probably the biggest problem I have with Apple. They simply don't care about their legacy. They created an absolutely amazing Photo Editing app with Aperture but just killed it and did nothing with its remains.

Anyway, the only advice I can give is to back up your Aperture library somewhere safe because (from my experience) moving to photos just wasn't worth the downgrade.

 

[chiefsilverback]

Photos can reference images. Just uncheck the "copy into" option in its preferences.

I dunno about drag and drop. I just use option-open and select the library. Like this: https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/how-to-transfer-photos-from-iphoto-to-photos/

You can't use iCloud Photo Library if you don't let Photos manage the masters...

I started breaking my Aperture library into smaller chunks, exporting a year at a time as full libraries with managed masters on my new external SSD. Dragged the first one onto the Photos icon and it started creating a new Photos library in the same location. No idea why it didn't do that the first time?

On a tangent, but I can't do the Option-open option because my Logitech K750 Mac keyboard doesn't play nice. Seems like there are a few owners/users with the same issue, it doesn't register the option key when trying to open an application???

 

[Analog Kid]

I've spent the weekend trying to figure out how to get my 130k image library into Capture One/Media Pro.

I'm realizing that the longer I wait, the more dicey this whole thing is going to get.

One trick worth knowing: In Aperture you can search for images that have adjustments applied. My first step was to export all of those as PSD and PNG so that, worse comes to worst, I've at least frozen my edits.

 

[chiefsilverback]

I've spent the weekend trying to figure out how to get my 130k image library into Capture One/Media Pro.

I'm realizing that the longer I wait, the more dicey this whole thing is going to get.

One trick worth knowing: In Aperture you can search for images that have adjustments applied. My first step was to export all of those as PSD and PNG so that, worse comes to worst, I've at least frozen my edits.

My guess is that's more of a challenge, at least Aperture to Photos is somewhat automated, Photos will read the Aperture library, all the edits etc... and move them across.

Now I just need to use PowerPhotos to merge the libraries into one!