Migrating from Aperture to Lightroom

Before Apple retires Aperture, learn how to migrate your Aperture images and metadata to Adobe Lightroom.

Lightroom and Aperture are both very popular image editing and management tools for photographers. However, Apple will retire* Aperture in 2015, and many users are already thinking about jumping ship to Lightroom. This course covers the basics of managing the move to Lightroom, covering what's different from Aperture, why you should switch now, and how to migrate both your images and metadata from one library to the other. Authors Scott Bourne and Rich Harrington recently transitioned over 400,000 images from Aperture to Lightroom. So take a tip from the pros. Watch and learn how to execute the move properly now, and you'll save yourself time and headaches when you're ready to pull the trigger.

*Aperture will be replaced by the new Photos app.

Introduction

• Welcome

1. Why Switch to Lightroom

• Cross-compatibility

2. Major Differences between Aperture and Lightroom

• Library vs. catalog
• Managed vs. referenced files
• Adobe Camera Raw

3. What Is Your Migration Approach?

• Two parallel paths: Preserve existing and start new
• Bake adjustments and import new files
• Preserve organization and metadata, and redevelop

4. Preparing to Move

• Checking the integrity of your library
• Backing up your library
• Build to a fresh drive
• Installing Lightroom

5. Relocate Your Originals/Masters

• Moving from a managed system to a catalog system
• Are you using a referenced or managed library?
• Using the Relocate Originals (Masters) command
• Choosing a subfolder approach

6. Exporting Adjusted Images

• Why won't your adjustments migrate to Lightroom?
• Baking adjustments
• Choosing the right file format

7. Exporting Metadata

• What is IPTC metadata?
• What will travel
• Write IPTC to originals (masters)
• Writing sidecar (XMP) files
• Reviewing the export process

8. Working with Lightroom

• Exploring the Lightroom workflow
• Adding images to a catalog
• Adding metadata
• Searching with filters
• Editing essentials
• Which Aperture plugins work in Lightroom
• Adobe migration tools
• Using collections

9. Moving an Aperture Library to Lightroom

• Ensuring the photo library is fixed in Aperture
• Updating Aperture previews
• Choosing the Aperture library to transfer to Lightroom
• Updating Adobe Lightroom
• Importing an Aperture library into Lightroom

Conclusion

• Wrapping up