Importing from Aperture - import button greyed out

[danielb39330729]

hi , I'm a late adopter i guess

just signed up for my lightroom cc package . When I use the plug in it analyses my aperture library fine. Determined size , number of images etc, yet import button remains grey out . I backed up catalogue as per warning even though it was empty ... nada

anyone actually know what the issue is ? Similar questions crop up in the forums but no one seems to ever answer them!

[Kanikas]

Moving to Photoshop Lightroom​

[danielb39330729]

Thanks ... I think . New to forum . Were you directing me to right place or moving my post to right place ?;)

[danielb39330729]

Ps . I am using iMac with latest OS X . shoukd have been most recent version of aperture also

[Rob_Cullen · Accepted solution]

For a detailed answer to your question- 

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

(yes- your post was moved to the Lightroom discussions)

[MKAP10]

The problem is, the import button remains greyed out.  I am having a similar problem - in Plug-in Extras, the Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plugin button that the "where do I begin" tutorial directs us to use is greyed out.  According to the plugin manager, it is installed.  I've tried this on my new MBP running 12.4, and on my old MBP which is running 10.14 mainly to keep Aperture running.  On both machines, the button is unavailable. Clues would be much appreciated.

[Rob_Cullen]

Read the updated HelpX notes, May 17 2021, on Migrating to Lr-Classic from Aperture:

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

And specifically this foot-note:

In June 2014, Apple announced the discontinuation of development of Aperture. Since then, Apple has released five major macOS updates. For technical reasons, Aperture will not run in macOS versions after macOS Mojave. To know more, see this Apple documentation.

I am not a Mac user so you may need further advice from someone who has experienced a change-over.

[MKAP10]

As others have pointed out, that help file is kind of erroneous at this point - the import from Aperture function that they are describing simply doesn't work.  The button is greyed out.  The footnote about Aperture being discontinued doesn't help - we are all aware of that.  That was the whole reason why we wanted to import from Aperture in the first place: Aperture is no more.  In the end, I concluded that the only thing to do was import all photos from Aperture and then reimport them all into Lightroom (Classic, in my case).  

But Rob, I don't mean to sound like an ingrate - thanks much for trying to help, really.  I do think that Adobe needs to step it up and address this issue though - either explain why the button doesn't work, or get rid of it, but don't leave it there as a grey dummy button to taunt us, and remove the help files that tell us that it works.  It doesn't.

[MKAP10]

(Correction: EXPORT from aperture and import into lightroom)

[NK25011300t75d]

MKAP10: Absolutely correct!

What kind of company ships a product with an advertised feature that simply doesn't function? Either you fix the bug, or you say hell with it, and delete the feature altogether!

Adobe's failure to do either, and their technical support's inability to contact me or provide accurate information, are both disheartening.

[NK25011300t75d]

I'm not sure why the answer below is listed as a "correct answer" when it doesn't address the question at all! It points to an article that someone wrote which doesn't touch upon your question.

I, too, have the same problem. New installation fresh out of the cloud of Lightroom CC on a Monterey iMac. I try to import an Aperture library (even a tiny 150MB one) using the plug in, and the "Import" button remains greyed out. Fiddling with all the options does nothing.

Apparently Adobe doesn't actually operate a help service anymore - you're just supposed to post here and hope someone in the "community" answers?

[Rob_Cullen]

The 'Correct answer' was given in 2017- That is FIVE years ago! Things have changed.

I do NOT know that you CAN migrate an Aperture Library directly to Lightroom.

The Helpx article only mentions Apple PHOTOS- ie. NOT Aperture.

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/lightroom-cc/using/migrate-apple-photos-library.html

99% of online videos are for migrating Aperture to Lightroom-CLASSIC (or its earlier versions when called "Lightroom" or "Lightroom CC"- Not the 'Cloud' version.)

Hopefully a Mac user may provide an answer, but I suspect you may need to Export your images from the Aperture library and then Add/Import these exported files into Lightroom.

Adobe DOES operate a help service- It is by a Chat. Be Signed in to this forum, allow cookies in your browser and use this link to chat-

! Contact Customer Care

[NK25011300t75d]

Lightroom Classic is advertised as having Aperture import capabilities. I'm not talking about Apple Photos at all here.

There's a plugin for it, as shown here. And, as the original poster said, the "Import" button is permanently greyed out, no matter what you do for the various options. And, as I noted, the "correct answer" does not address the original poster's actual question.

As for the help service - they've done a fantastic job of concealing that fact! Thanks for the link. I had a look around and eventually went through the "virtual assistant". Hopefully someone can help.

[MKAP10]

I feel yer pain!  But exporting and then importing lets you make a clean break with Aperture, and doesn't leave you worrying whether the plugin that doesn't work was reliable in moving all of your photos.  It's a pain, but I feel more confident about it having done it myself than I would be if I just left it to a plugin.

[NK25011300t75d]

Thanks, MKAP10. I could indeed manually import all the files. The problem is the amount of extra labour for processing hundreds of thousands of photos. Specifically the work required in sorting out the duplicate images (Aperture makes TIFF files for edited versions of RAW images), the fact that catalogues are lost, and the fact that star ratings are lost, is not something I relish!

[MKAP10]

I feel yer pain.  I have "only" about 60,000 images to worry about, and not too much editing that I'm invested in.  I have two ideas: first, I wonder if any of the earlier version of LR Classic had a functioning Aperture import button?  If you have an older mac around with some 10.14 or 10.15 still running, maybe check an old LR Classic from back when it worked.  I assume it must have worked at some point.    (I thought of this idea only after I had exported and reimported my entire library.  But like I said, I have "only" 60,000 images.

The only other thing I can think of would be trying to at least embed some catalog info as keywords?  The star ratings from Aperture do come through with the images, along with a lot of metadata.  Maybe you can leverage the metadata to preserve at least some of your previous work.  Good luck, and let us know if you find out anything interesting from Adobe.

[NK25011300t75d]

Thanks to the comment from Rob Cullen about Adobe's chat support, I contacted their help service. The response was:

..."you need to do it manually, no plug ins will work on it. The only way is to save it to your computer and then import the files."

When I asked why Lightroom Classic is billed as being able to import Aperture files, why it ships with a specific plug-in module entitled "Import from Aperture Library...", and why the help pages for Lightroom Classic say that it's possible to import from Aperture using the plug-in, I was told they were going to escalate the question.

Fascinating responses!

[Rob_Cullen]

@NK25011300t75d  Well Chat wasn't much help for you!

But I am beginning to think that the Chat answer (Manually Import) is the only way., painfull I agree!.

Several links to "Migrating" indicate you need Aperture running to "verify" the Library, and set options for "Managed" or "Referenced".  As you are on Monterey OS you cannot install Aperture. Do you still have Aperture App active and running in your system? Without Aperture the migration may not be possible.

Apologies that I mentioned "Apple PHOTOS App" earlier- I was then under the assumption that your reference to "Lightroom CC" indicated you were using the 'Cloud' version of Lightroom (and not Lr-Classic.)

I note also you only have 42870MB of available space- this may not be sufficient to migrate with the Plugin- your "hundreds of thousands" of photos.

I would be pleased if you can eventually report a satisfactory result from your efforts.

[NK25011300t75d]

"I note also you only have 42870MB of available space".

I don't. I have an 8TB drive available. That number is not correct, and another way in which Lightroom Classic is not functioning.

[Sam251940285naf]

I'm also hitting this problem. I just moved to a new machine with Monterey, coming from a machine running Aperture on Mojave. I did the recommended prep (all referenced files, full-size previews, etc) prior to the move. Now I've installed Lightroom CC and I'm trying to run the Aperure import plugin. I point to my Aperture library and set the options I want, but the "Import" button remains greyed out. Very frustrating. 

[Rob_Cullen]

TBMK There is no functionality to Import a catalog from Aperture!  The Lightroom 'Import' function is only for the more recent Apple PHOTOS App (ie. NOT Aperture.).

Hopefully another 'Mac' person can help with advice for you. It may be that you can only Add/Import the files to Lightroom.

[Sam251940285naf]

In Lightroom Classic, under File->Plug-in Extras, there is an "Import from Aperture Library..." choice. So, it may be broken, but it is clearly an intended capability.

Adobe even has a help document: "Migrate photos from Photos or Aperture to Lightroom Classic": https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/migrate-photos-aperture.html

[NK25011300t75d]

Presumably you mean Adobe Lightroom Classic, right? Because it's billed as being capable of importing Aperture libraries, even though it doesn't. Adobe Lightroom (not Classic) doesn't have the import Aperture plugin.

Adobe Support called me back at 2 am, despite a) me telling them the timezone I'm based in, and b) asking them to provide support over email and not phone. So I'm not closer to being able to figure out if there's any kind of workaround.

[Sam251940285naf]

Yes, I'm using Lightroom Classic. So, the plugin is there. I just can't click "Import" once I invoke it.

[Rob_Cullen]

Try this link for info-

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209594#lightroom

It may be necessary (with MacOS later than Mojave) to Migrate the Aperture Library to a Mac PHOTOS library first, then use the Lr-Classic tool to migrate to Lr-Classic.

Wishing you success.