iPhoto/Aperture import - terms & desired features

[Stephen]

I hope that this thread will help PSU and other users (including myself) who wish to transition from Apple's iPhoto or Aperture to Photo Supreme (PSU).

Do other people here sometimes have trouble remembering terminologies? I know that I do, so to explain my goal, here is a short glossary.

Preface.
My Aperture handbook has fallen behind the bookshelf, so in this preface, I am guessing a few terms. Aperture has the facility to 'import' images from iPhoto, i.e. doubling the size of the database, thus creating two independent applications which will then no longer talk to each other OR alternatively it can 'reference' the iPhoto database. My databases are called iPhoto Libraries and are managed, i.e. one huge file (package) per database. I also import all images into iPhoto first before using Aperture for the bulk of my work. Aperture has a useful plug-in to upload images to Photoshelter, which is very useful, but I will not discuss that here. My libraries are incidentally on external drives to make them future proof.

Now to the other terms used and an explanation of my goals. My prime interest lies in those points with a *

iPhoto's left hand column shows among other things:

LIBRARY:
- Events (Aperture calls them projects)
- Photos
*- Faces (empty in my case)*
- Places (empty in my case)

RECENT
*-Trash*

*EVENTS (Aperture calls them projects)*
in my case a long list which can be hidden and usually is. This is a name you can choose when importing new images. It is a field I always use to help identifying shots and can be used later (in Aperture at least) to batch-change IPTC data. It speeds my workflow tremendously.

*ALBUMS*
in my case a long list which can be hidden. Albums have two versions. Either a smart album can be used to automatically collect several images according to selected criteria, or an album can be created manually. I use this to sort images for editing and making my final choices. These become my archives of the best shots.

PROJECTS (Aperture calls them iPhoto print projects, presumably only if the Aperture database is referenced to iPhoto). I have used this for creating online books for printing or more commonly, selections of images to create PDFs (with or without 'captions') for customers. A useful tool.
a list

SLIDESHOWS
- a list. I once used this to create slideshows with audio. Usually for personal purposes, but also for work.

*** These are points I wish to address, in chronological order, NOT order of importance. I am seeking solutions for these. ***

Faces.
iPhoto and Aperture have the ability to activate this feature. I don't want it and it is switched OFF. Nevertheless when importing, PSU picks all faces from group shots and creates additional images. This can explode the number of images in the database and I don't want it. I realize that some people do, but I cannot discover how to deactivate it.

Trash.
This is an application internal trash and PSU will import any images there, so users must empty this trash before importing. One must also empty the system trash before importing, as iPhoto/Aperture appear to remember what had been there.

Events (Aperture calls them projects)
These are very useful 'headlines' or 'placeholders' for sorting. Their information can be used to manually or batch update the descriptions and/or IPTC fields at a later date.

Albums
As I have invested hundreds (or thousands) of hours creating these 'best shot selections', I wish to be able to keep them when I move 100% to PSU.

Sorry for the length of this posting, but it might save some time in ping-ponging.

[Hert]

Stephen, Are you looking for equivalent term in PSU? If so,

LIBRARY = Catalog labels, though Catalog Labels are hierarchical and its use is broader than what you mention here for Aperture's library
EVENTS = Catalog Labels (the Event section
RECENT = PSU doesn't have this concept. Maybe you can use Image Basket for that(?)
ALBUMS / PROJECTS = Portfolios
SLIDESHOWS = This is a very odd one in Aperture/iPhoto as a "slideshow" is not typically an organizational aspect of an archive. In PSU you can use Image Basket for that (if you need it)

[Hert]

Trash.
This is an application internal trash and PSU will import any images there, so users must empty this trash before importing. One must also empty the system trash before importing, as iPhoto/Aperture appear to remember what had been there.

PSU will import all albums that are stored in the database. The "Trash" is stored in Aperture as an album and hence will be imported.

[Stephen]

[quote="IDimager"]Stephen, Are you looking for equivalent term in PSU? If so,

Yes, thanks, but in particular I am trying to import the Event (Aperture calls them projects) names with the appropriate images.

Also, I would like to import the Albums (portfolios)

Thanks

[Hert]

If you've ran the Aperture conversion then the groupings can be found in CATALOG->by Portfolio

[Stephen]

If you've ran the Aperture conversion then the groupings can be found in CATALOG->by Portfolio

By Aperture conversion do you mean by clicking "data> import from Aperture"? In which case does this do something differently during import than the big import button top left?

[Hert]

the Import button is doing a import of the files and reads all the metadata to the catalog, optionally renames etc. Aperture isn't storing the Albums to the metadata and so that info won't return.

The Import-Aperture will import the Aperture database to the PSU database. Info from the database will be copied to the PSU database, that includes the albums.

What you need to do to get the most info returned:
1. if you're using a referenced aperture database then change that to a non-referenced (managed) database. A referenced database holds all the images in the Apple Library package and so your images are locked in. You'll need to get them out first.
2. Start with a new PSU catalog
3. import Aperture
4. When finished, select all files and read the metadata from the file to the catalog (right click on thumb-Metadata-Read metadata from file). Depending on your volumes, this will take a while...good to start it before going to sleep
5. When finished importing the metadata, select Tools-Built missing thumbnails and previews (again a time consuming task)
6. Stop using Aperture as a management tool because you shouldn't run the import twice.
7. from now on use the. Import button to import (and optionally copy) new images

Hope that helps

[Hert]

Heres some info about changing an Aperture Library from referenced to managed...hope that holds some useful info:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3127108
https://thephotosexpert.com/forum/chang ... C7f02IaySM

[Stephen]

@idimager
Many thanks for the detailed steps.

Firstly, I must correct myself. My libraries are managed, i.e. one huge file per library. However, they are saved as iPhoto libraries as opposed to Aperture libraries. Aperture just 'references' the libraries and can read/write as normal. I have edited the wording of my original posting.

If PSU works then it will save me lots of time, but if it doesn't then just the opposite.

My Library 1 has 41,000 images with 1,000 projects and library 2 has 15,000 images with 350 projects, growing daily, so I am testing with other tiny libraries.

I just did a test "Import from Aperture" from a tiny test library with these results:

From 7 original images PSU created 16! Hmm, possibly each edit? I hadn't thought about that yet.
It imported the album correctly, but not the smart album (I can live with that).
- There was NO dialogue box which enabled renaming and/or other options. It is important that I can rename on import, as I could when using the "Import to catalog" button with a previous test.

"Stop using Aperture as a management tool because you shouldn't run the import twice."
If it works then I will have not need, but I need to be sure that the procedure detailed above will not destroy the currently functional Aperture as I will want to continue using it as a reference tool.

I have considered outsourcing this task but I know that I can expect "Why don't you use LR, PM or whatever". In the end I will be using PSU on a daily basis which is why I am investing so many hours to figure this out. However, PSU appears to be so powerful and I'm struggling with the user interface.

Many thanks.

[Stephen]

Another long report which hopefully will result in a solution (see conclusion after test 3) but also help future users trying to accomplish the same.

Results of another test from a custom made iPhoto/Aperture library using the "Data" > "Import from Aperture" command:

. Albums are created with the correct names
. Existing albums are destroyed
. Camera Exif data is transferred to the "Info" pane in the right hand column
. User entered Meta data like description, keywords, city, country and copyright data are not transferred to the "details" pane in the right hand column

I therefore conclude that the "Data" > "Import from Aperture" command is:
1. For one time use only (only ever import ONE database)
2. Destructive - on the PSU side, as existing albums disappear
3. Will not transfer keywords + other user entered Meta data, only camera data
4. Images cannot be renumbered on import
5. Your existing library needs to be set-up (what ever that might entail) and imported before you start using PSU on a daily basis for importing new shoots.

This is my conclusion and I do not wish to annoy anybody or point any fingers. I hope that I am wrong and would be delighted to hear that I have made a mistake. My tests importing from a memory card were more successful, but naturally there were no albums set up and no user entered Meta data.

Test 2 from a different custom made iPhoto/Aperture library using the large "Import to catalog" button top left:

. New albums are not created
. Existing albums are not destroyed
. Camera Exif data is transferred to the "Info" pane in the right hand column but not on all images
. User entered Meta data like description, keywords, city, country and copyright data are not transferred to the "details" pane in the right hand column. Again this was inconsistent. Only the image where data had been manually entered showed it in this pane. In the case of those image where data had been entered in Aperture via the "batch change" function, it was not transferred.
. Files were renumbered with the date as a prefix.

I therefore conclude that the "Import to catalog" button command is:
1. Repeatable
2. Non-destructive - on the PSU side, as existing albums remain
3. New albums are not transferred
4. Inconsistent transfer of keywords + other user entered Meta data and camera Exif data
5. Images can be renumbered on import

Test 3 First I downloaded the Aperture Exporter* dot com tool and converted a test database into a standard flat file structure. *It only costs CAD15 and there is a trial available.

In this case the "Data" > "Import from Aperture" command would not work. I imported to PSU using the large "Import to catalog" button top left:

. New albums are not created
. Existing albums are not destroyed
. Camera Exif data is transferred to the "Info" pane in the right hand column on all images
. All Meta data like description, keywords, city, country and copyright data are transferred to the "details" pane in the right hand column. This was consistent.
. Files were renumbered with the date as a prefix.

So my final conclusions after several hours work on a Saturday are:

The first method would be best, but only if the following steps can be accomplished first:

1. There is an automatic way to transfer the Meta data like description, keywords, city, country and copyright data into the "details" pane in the right hand column. I hope this was a user error on my part.
2. Both of my Aperture libraries are merged beforehand
3. I then do transfer and pray
4. Only afterwards can I start using PSU on a daily basis. Meanwhile I will be duplicating work because Aperture does not support the RAW files on my new camera and I need to download and process them somewhere. I will use Capture One, but the work will need to be duplicated.

Does anybody have a solution to number 1. in the last section please? Many thanks in advance.

[Hert]

2. Destructive - on the PSU side, as existing albums disappear

That is incorrect. When you import to PSU then the *already existing converted Aperture albums" will be replaced with that of the last import. That's not the same as "existing albums disappear".

3. Will not transfer keywords

Erm, check the CATALOG->By Category. There will be an Aperture top level category that contains the converted catalog structure

None of your tests follow the steps that I outlined.

[Stephen]

SiteAdmin: "1. if you're using a referenced aperture database then change that to a non-referenced (managed) database. A referenced database holds all the images in the Apple Library package and so your images are locked in. You'll need to get them out first."

@SiteAdmin. So I think what you wanted to say is that the starting point must be a referenced database where each individual file is saved separately in normal Finder folders. (You incorrectly stated "non-referenced").
Was is obvious? Maybe to a software engineer who is familiar with importing third party databases, but not necessarily to somebody new to PSU who besides that, also discovers 3 different methods to import.

So I have now converted the Aperture database to referenced, followed all of your steps (as I did all of my previous tests) but it still does not work. The files are imported, but not the albums and only 1 image out of 5 had the descriptive meta data. No photo ratings and no colour codings.

Please point me to the datasheet "Importing from Aperture", as I am sure that other people will be wanting to do this too.

I would be grateful for detailed instructions from anybody.

[Hert]

The files are imported, but not the albums

Not the Albums? but you previously reported that an "Import from Aperture" would create the Albums. My steps also tell you to run the "Import from Aperture" and so the Albums should appear.

and only 1 image out of 5 had the descriptive meta data. No photo ratings and no colour codings.

If you followed my steps the PSU will import metadata from the files. What's not in the file can't be read either. Maybe Aperture needs to be told to write metadata to the files? I always assumed that Aperture does write metadata to files....after all, that's the whole purpose of managing images.
If Aperture doesn't write metadata to files then you're locked in and convicted to using whatever Apple comes up with as the successor of Aperture. Again, I can't imagine that it doesn't...maybe you need to explicitly tell Aperture to do that?

[Stephen]

During Import from Aperture. Does anybody know how to extract the project names from an Aperture database and add them to one of the meta fields, like the description for instance?

[Hert]

Is the project name stored as metadata in the file by Aperture? If so then it should be very easy to copy that to any other meta field.