Best way to use both Iphoto & Aperture....

[raz32]

I have all my photos (about 7K) in Iphoto including 1.5K of those being RAW files. I recently purchased Aperture for obvious reasons.

My question is this: How should I handle the migrate over to aperture? Should I move all the files from Iphoto including projects etc? Should I reference them? Should I start completely fresh in aperture (no projects) and then move only worked on files into a fresh iphoto library for easy viewing, publishing, facebook (I use all these features in Iphoto - I wish they would just include them in Aperture as well - then I wouldn't need Iphoto)

The bottom line is: I like the way my photos are organized in Iphoto and am struggling to see the reason to move over everything in Aperture because many I will never work on. But I hate the idea of moving back and forth not really know what is what, what's been worked on, etc. I want it to be well organized. I'm also learning photoshop and wondering how this all fits in to the workflow as well.

Hopefully this makes sense - any advice is much appreciated!

 

[ChrisA]

FIrst step before you mess around is to backup the iPhoto library and but the backup copies some place safe.

OK now you can try some experiments to find out what you like

The first thing I would recommend is to use Aperture's "Import iPhoto Library" feature. Do that and actually move the files into Aperture (not referenced) and then delete the iPhoto Library (You do have redundant backups that are not connected to the computer right?)

When Aperture imports the iPhoto library it makes a folder (an Aperture folder, not a Finder folder) called "iPhoto Library" and inside are all your photos organized just like they were in iPhoto with the albums, events and so on all there.)

 

[toxic]

just move everything to Aperture. there are plugins for Aperture if some function isn't built-in.

 

[raz32]

just move everything to Aperture. there are plugins for Aperture if some function isn't built-in.

What kind of plugins? Facebook? Itunes? Is there a way to sync photos to an iphone via aperture? or do I have to keep moving things back to iphoto and then doing it through itunes?

 

[raz32]

I've done this already and it seems fine but I keep finding myself wanting to go back to Iphoto to upload to facebook or my iphone, publish to .mac etc - .... I guess I'll just have to manage both all the time (what I'm trying to aviod) ????

FIrst step before you mess around is to backup the iPhoto library and but the backup copies some place safe.

OK now you can try some experiments to find out what you like

The first thing I would recommend is to use Aperture's "Import iPhoto Library" feature. Do that and actually move the files into Aperture (not referenced) and then delete the iPhoto Library (You do have redundant backups that are not connected to the computer right?)

When Aperture imports the iPhoto library it makes a folder (an Aperture folder, not a Finder folder) called "iPhoto Library" and inside are all your photos organized just like they were in iPhoto with the albums, events and so on all there.)

 

[wheelhot]

I've done this already and it seems fine but I keep finding myself wanting to go back to Iphoto to upload to facebook or my iphone, publish to .mac etc - .... I guess I'll just have to manage both all the time (what I'm trying to aviod) ????

Well yeah, me too but here is the trick, since you will use Aperture as your primary photo management/global editing, import all your photos into the Aperture library like what ChrisA said then in iPhoto there is this function called Show Aperture Library under File, If Im not mistaken what it will do is either reference the photos or just import in Aperture previews (which is much smaller then the real image size).

But lets hope Apple will incorporate iPhoto Faces, GeoTagging and Upload to Flickr/Facebook in the future :|

 

[Roy Hobbs]

What kind of plugins? Facebook? Itunes? Is there a way to sync photos to an iphone via aperture? or do I have to keep moving things back to iphoto and then doing it through itunes?

The iPhone can sync with Aperture or iPhoto

 

[ThunderRobot]

Everyone's workflow is different, but I do this;

• I store all of my photos on an external firewire 800 harddrive.
• I reference them in Aperture, but keep the aperture library on my MBP, - this means previews are always available on my Mac, even if the external hdd isn't attached.
• In iPhoto I use the 'show aperture library' function to drag some selected libraries into iPhoto (copy items to the iPhoto library turned OFF) - these will reference the images stored in Aperture, meaning if I edit an image in Aperture the changes are reflected in iPhoto.

This allows me to use the iPhoto 09 functions (facial recognition, places, etc) for the more 'family friendly' shots whilst my serious photography remains solely in Aperture.

Hope that made some kind of sense.

More tips here.

I have all my photos (about 7K) in Iphoto including 1.5K of those being RAW files. I recently purchased Aperture for obvious reasons.

My question is this: How should I handle the migrate over to aperture? Should I move all the files from Iphoto including projects etc? Should I reference them? Should I start completely fresh in aperture (no projects) and then move only worked on files into a fresh iphoto library for easy viewing, publishing, facebook (I use all these features in Iphoto - I wish they would just include them in Aperture as well - then I wouldn't need Iphoto)

The bottom line is: I like the way my photos are organized in Iphoto and am struggling to see the reason to move over everything in Aperture because many I will never work on. But I hate the idea of moving back and forth not really know what is what, what's been worked on, etc. I want it to be well organized. I'm also learning photoshop and wondering how this all fits in to the workflow as well.

Hopefully this makes sense - any advice is much appreciated!

 

[pit29]

Everyone's workflow is different, but I do this;

• I store all of my photos on an external firewire 800 harddrive.
• I reference them in Aperture, but keep the aperture library on my MBP, - this means previews are always available on my Mac, even if the external hdd isn't attached.
• In iPhoto I use the 'show aperture library' function to drag some selected libraries into iPhoto (copy items to the iPhoto library turned OFF) - these will reference the images stored in Aperture, meaning if I edit an image in Aperture the changes are reflected in iPhoto.

This allows me to use the iPhoto 09 functions (facial recognition, places, etc) for the more 'family friendly' shots whilst my serious photography remains solely in Aperture.

Hope that made some kind of sense.

More tips here.

That's how I do it as well. The only thing that is missing is having Aperture's newly added images automatically show up in iPhoto as well...

Or is there a way to do this?

 

[Mishutka]

There is an applescript available from Devarshi Shah at http://web.me.com/devarshi/Miscellanea/Aperture_iPhoto_Sync.html

However, this is still awaiting an update for iphoto 09

 

[shutterstation]

You can see your iPhoto library from Aperture and viceversa, so you have several options. For example:

1. You could leave all your current photographs in iPhoto, but have them visible through Aperture. Then just import into Aperture from now on.

2. You could import your entire iPhoto library into Aperture automatically (from Aperture, go to File>Import>iPhoto Library) and then either just use Aperture, or reference them when in iPhoto. (iPhoto can see the Aperture library)

3. You could create a hybrid system. Some photographers use iPhoto for family pictures, holidays, etc. and Aperture for commercial/artistic work.

If you're worried about exporting to Flickr/Facebook/Smugmug/etc, there are free plugins that do that very well. You can find most in the Apple Aperture Resource pages. You can also find a free Flickr export plugin here, and a free Facebook export plugin here.

I keep all my photographs in Aperture now and rarely use iPhoto. The organizational features of Aperture make this extremely easy.

 

[ManhattanPrjct]

When Aperture imports the iPhoto library it makes a folder (an Aperture folder, not a Finder folder) called "iPhoto Library" and inside are all your photos organized just like they were in iPhoto with the albums, events and so on all there.)

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I am at this spot and have a question that may be germane to my situation.

I like to keep use my iPhoto library as a massive database, and then pull images directly from the Library to make Albums, Smart Albums, etc., knowing all along that if there's an image that didn't make the cut, I can still find it in the "All Photos" area of the Library.

I presume when you let Aperture import directly from iPhoto, your albums stay intact, but what about the rest of the images that are uncategorized (not in an album)?

 

[88888888]

Ok I'm about to get aperture 2.0 too.
I have 18 gigs of photos in iphoto, but I probably will only import my dslR shots to aperture. When i import the dslr photos does that mean I will end up with two copies of the same file?
So i should delete the ones on iphoto right?