Start Using Photos Question

[mic j]

Can I start using Photos without importing my Aperture photo library?

At this point, I feel like I would like to start using Photos to store my iPhone photos but not my dSLR images but not sure this can be done and I don't want to click on that app and start the setup process until I am sure it will leave my Aperture images alone.

If I decide, at a later date, that I would like to import my Aperture images into Photos can that be done?

 

[HarryPot]

You can keep them separate with no problem. Just turn off iCloud in Aperture so you don't end with duplicates in Photos and Aperture.

As for later on importing your Aperture Library. This is not possible. You can create a new Photos library from an Aperture Library, but you cannot import it to an existing Photos library.

What I did was have one library for my past photos that where in Aperture. And a new one from now on.

 

[mic j]

You can keep them separate with no problem. Just turn off iCloud in Aperture so you don't end with duplicates in Photos and Aperture.

As for later on importing your Aperture Library. This is not possible. You can create a new Photos library from an Aperture Library, but you cannot import it to an existing Photos library.

What I did was have one library for my past photos that where in Aperture. And a new one from now on.

Thank you for that info. Let me ask a followup. I understand that when I take a picture with my iPhone would be uploaded to Photos. If I take a picture with my dSLR, how do I get that into Photos. Does Photos Import from a SD card attached to my Mac or what?

 

[HarryPot]

Thank you for that info. Let me ask a followup. I understand that when I take a picture with my iPhone would be uploaded to Photos. If I take a picture with my dSLR, how do I get that into Photos. Does Photos Import from a SD card attached to my Mac or what?

Yes, when you connect a SD you can import directly to Photos.

I've been using Photos for some time now, after using Aperture for many years. Aperture is/was a much better application, but for personal/hobby use, I've found Photos to be an adequate replacement. Hopefully in a near future we get improvements, specially in the DAM area.

 

[mic j]

Yes, when you connect a SD you can import directly to Photos.

I've been using Photos for some time now, after using Aperture for many years. Aperture is/was a much better application, but for personal/hobby use, I've found Photos to be an adequate replacement. Hopefully in a near future we get improvements, specially in the DAM area.

I have also been using Aperture since it was introduced. But the reality is, someday it will not work with an OS X release...who knows when. But right now, my wife and I use our iPhones a lot when on vacation and for those "casual photos" I would like to try and use Photos so that we can access them on our various hardware. Eventually, I can see moving to something besides Aperture but need to see where it goes with plugins and 3rd party apps (Pixalmator, Affinity Photo, etc.). Right now I am in no hurry to change for my dSLR images. But someday, it will have to happen. That's the source of my post here...exploring moving but not jumping in with both feet. Thanks for your help.

 

[mic j]

My wife made a good suggestion as an alternative to what I proposed I do above. Her suggestion is to just setup Photos using our Aperture library as Photos just copies the images from Aperture to Photos. After a while, if we decided we didn't like Photos, we could just go back to using Aperture (at least until it won't work anymore). Sounds like a plan to me! Any additional thoughts on this approach that not make it a good option?

 

[HarryPot]

I don't think that is how it works. When you import an Aperture library you create a new Photos library that won't be in sync with Aperture, after the initial import both libraries will act as independent and completely separate libraries..

I'm not 100% sure about this, but almost =)

 

[sandcastle]

I don't think that is how it works. When you import an Aperture library you create a new Photos library that won't be in sync with Aperture, after the initial import both libraries will act as independent and completely separate libraries..

I'm not 100% sure about this, but almost =)

Yup - my understanding too. The problem is any changes you make, or photos you add, in "Photos" won't be added to the Aperture library. You'd then have to export all the new ones from Photos to Aperture (which you can do) if you wanted to "go back". You'd also then have to reapply somehow any edits, albums, metadata etc. changes you'd made in Photos to you Aperture library too...

 

[mic j]

Yup - my understanding too. The problem is any changes you make, or photos you add, in "Photos" won't be added to the Aperture library. You'd then have to export all the new ones from Photos to Aperture (which you can do) if you wanted to "go back". You'd also then have to reapply somehow any edits, albums, metadata etc. changes you'd made in Photos to you Aperture library too...

To make sure I understand, if I have an image in Photos and edit it in someway (brightness, saturation, etc) and at some later date I want to ditch Photos and go back to Aperture (or LR or Capture1, etc), if I Export the modified image back to whatever DAM I chose the edits will not also be exported?

I did not expect that working while working with Photos my Aperture library would be updated with Photos images. Sort of looking just to shelve Aperture while exploring Photos...but if I decided to go back, I would like to be able to take anything I did in Photos and move those images (with their modification) into Aperture. I don't think I'm talking about a whole lot of Photos images. Shouldn't take too long to get a feel for which system I would like to continue with. I guess I would have to be careful not to edit old Aperture images that had been transferred to Photos.

I am just looking for a way to try out Photos with as little risk as possible. I've heard so much negative and positive about it that it makes me a little nervous to just jump in. Aperture meets my needs pretty good as I don't work on any platform but my MBP, but my wife uses iPhone, iPad and MBP. Photos would make it nice for her to be able to access everything no matter which platform she happened to be using.

 

[HarryPot]

I'm curious, how many photos do you usually take (with your dSLR) per month? And do you dedicate a lot of time to photography as a hobby?

Back when I took a lot of photos per month and invested also a lot of time in photography I would have never given Photos a try. But now that I take fewer photos, and mostly only of family, I'm enjoying Photos and its simplicity to keep everything in sync and being able to share easily my photos with my family.

Most of the negative comments come from Aperture users that expected a replacement, when Photos is not really meant for professionals or serious hobbyists.

 

[mic j]

I'm curious, how many photos do you usually take (with your dSLR) per month? And do you dedicate a lot of time to photography as a hobby?

Back when I took a lot of photos per month and invested also a lot of time in photography I would have never given Photos a try. But now that I take fewer photos, and mostly only of family, I'm enjoying Photos and its simplicity to keep everything in sync and being able to share easily my photos with my family.

Most of the negative comments come from Aperture users that expected a replacement, when Photos is not really meant for professionals or serious hobbyists.

I take very few dSLR photos right now and my wife uses her iPhone exclusively. Just like you, I used to do a lot of "serious" photography but not much now. However, in the future, I hope to return to it. I know Photos will be fine for my wife as she does very little manipulation of the images, a crop here and enhancement there, sort of thing. And for me right now, I think the same thing.

So here is my plan: Split our combined Aperture library into mine and hers. Transfer her Aperture library to her MBP. The both of us create separate Photos libraries, importing our individual Aperture libraries into it (of course, with the understanding that any Aperture and Photos are completely unconnected and any manipulations in Photos will not occur in Aperture). If...at some future point, I feel the need to go back to more prosumer type of DAM, I can just transfer my older Aperture images into it (if it's not Aperture) and decide at that type if I want to transfer any of the Photos images into it as well. Any gotcha's with this approach?

 

[HarryPot]

Sounds good. I'm sure you will find Photos to be a good solution.

There are rumors that Affinity is working in a DAM, taking into account their usual development times, maybe to come out in around 1.5-2 years. And since they only make apps for OS X (at least for now), I'm sure if we are to ever have a good Aperture replacement, it will come from them.

 

[mic j]

Thanks for your help. I actually was a beta tester for Affinity Photo and purchased it after release. I don't use it much but felt it was a good app to have around and support them. Would love to seen them develop a DAM.

 

[Moakesy]

There are rumors that Affinity is working in a DAM, taking into account their usual development times, maybe to come out in around 1.5-2 years. And since they only make apps for OS X (at least for now), I'm sure if we are to ever have a good Aperture replacement, it will come from them.

Affinity do have one in the pipeline, but sounds like you guess at timeline is accurate..

https://affinity.serif.com/forum/in...select-and-organize-images/?hl=dam#entry77190

 

[robgendreau]

Just a tip.

In terms of transitioning FROM photos, should you have to do so in the future, it's easier IMHO if you reference images in Photos rather than use a managed library. Aperture can then reference the SAME image, since both work in a way that doesn't alter the "master" image. Of course you'd have to export any edited image from Photos, but then Aperture could just import that export from say the same folder.

Unlike Aperture, Photos just doesn't have the same tools for manipulating metadata, exporting, etc as Aperture, so moving from it could be more difficult.

And look at PowerPhotos; it allows you to merge and search across Photos libraries.