Participant

Answered

Importing from Aperture - import button greyed out

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
August 22, 2017
7 replies
9104 views

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!

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Rob_Cullen

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)

J

John277724480rsy

Participant

I faced the same problem and paniced a bit when the advertised LR function didn't work. I know an article was flagged as the "correct answer" but the only correct answer I see (other than migrating manually) is the tip from @johnrellis to use the Avalanche tool. I did, and it worked like a champ! It cost me $45 (with holiday promo code) but that's a bargain compared to the time and stress associated with the manual approach (especially since I no longer had a running copy of Aperture). Of course we shouldn't have to do any of this if the advertising function worked but we can't change that, nor does Adobe seem interested.

P

Peter2733374533x9

Participant

I also need to migrate a huge Aperture library into Lightroom Classic - and the button in the plug-in is greyed-out. Still no solution to the problem?

johnrellis

Legend

The built-in Aperture/iPhoto Plugin has always been very buggy, and Adobe has never acknowledged the bugs, much less fixed them. You could use the manual ("old") migration method described here:

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

or you could use the Avalanche program, which will preserve all your metadata and edits. Lots of posts in the LR forums from satisfied users, and their support appears very responsive. It costs $40, but how much do you value your time and your photos?

P

Peter2733374533x9

Participant

Thanks - yes, I'm now into the 'old' migration procedure. Then I wanted to migrate my photos in Apple's Photos App (the update substitution for iPhoto). In the threads above it appeared that at least the Adobe plug-in works seamless here - but no. I get the message that the library is 'no iPhoto' library. So in this instance, too, Adobe is of no help?

S

Sam251940285naf

Participant

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

Community Expert

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.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .

S

Sam251940285naf

Participant

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

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NK25011300t75d

Participating Frequently

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

Community Expert

@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.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .

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NK25011300t75d

Participating Frequently

"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.

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NK25011300t75d

Participating Frequently

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

Community Expert

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

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .

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NK25011300t75d

Participating Frequently

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.

D

danielb39330729Author

Participant

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

Rob_Cullen

Correct answer

Community Expert

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)

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .

MKAP10

Inspiring

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.

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.