Converting from Aperture? Not working as advertised....

[MKAP10]

Hi folks,

I am trying to move a very large aperture library over to Lightroom Classic.  I know there is supposed to be a plug-in for this, and I found the Plug-in Extras in the file menu, but the Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plug-in tool that is recommended is grayed-out and unavailable.  Yet the plug-in manager says that it is installed.  Anyone know why this isn't working?

I've also seen some chatter on the discussion boards that this plug-in doesn't work so well, especially for large libraries.  And then there is the suggestion to use Avalanche, a third-party app which looked great until I saw the price tag of $119 if you want to convert more than 100 masters.  I don't think so.  So, what is the best way forward here?  Doing this manually is going to be a massive pain - there are 48,000 files in this 500 GB aperture library. 

Thanks for any clues or suggestions!

-mk

[JohanElzenga · Accepted solution]

When I moved from Aperture to Lightroom a long time ago, I had a 100,000 images library. The Lightroom plugin didn't even existed yet, so I had to do it manually. It's not that bad if you make a good plan before you start, just time consuming. Basically you export all images from the library if you do not have a referenced library already. If you want to preserve your metadata, then export the raw files with IPTC metadata, and write metadata to RGB files. It's a very long time ago that I did this, so don't ask me for exact details like which Aperture menus to use for what.

[MKAP10]

That seems to be the best option - and the most transparent. (And nothing else is working!)  I'm exporting the original files to folders, with the IPTC data, and will try importing into lightroom.  Even if I don't end up liking lightroom, at least I'll have the files in a reasonable format again going forward.  

I'm a longtime Apple cult member....but I will be holding a grudge about the way they pulled the plug on Aperture. 

[GoldingD]

This method not working?

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/migrate-photos-aperture.html

[MKAP10]

Right, that method is not working. The iPhoto/Aperture Import Plug in that they are going on about is grayed out for me, and the import from aperture option just spins the beach ball, forever. I’m using the manual method of exporting and then importing all of my originals. Will lose albums and such, but all my files will be safe in a platform that will probably not be discontinued anytime soon.

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[johnrellis]

"I saw the price tag of $119"

That's for Avalanche Unlimited, which converts from seven source app formats to three target app formats.  Avalanche for Lightroom, which converts from six app formats (including Aperture) to Lightroom only, costs €59 ($63).  

In addition to actually working, fast (unlike the Adobe LR plugin), Avalanche converts your Aperture edits into LR edits, which you can't do with the manual method.

"Doing this manually is going to be a massive pain"

This article provides a good step-by-step, making it less painful:

http://lightroomsolutions.com/articles/migrating-from-aperture-to-lightroom-where-do-i-begin/ 

[MKAP10]

In the end, I decided that the manual export method was the best.  Exported everything from Aperture in batches, put them on a fresh hard drive in an organized way, and assimilated all into Lightroom.  Time consuming, but very satisfying in the end!