Aperture 3 + iPhoto + Lightroom 4 = Intimidating Process

[Rm.237]

For someone like me that is. And that's why I've turned here for some advice. So here is what I am trying to do and my thought process for trying to do it. I have all of my photos and videos in Aperture 3. About a third of those photos are in iPhoto as well. I am going to be switching from Aperture 3 to Lightroom 4. When I do my plan was just to ditch Aperture 3. I have heard that the process of moving photos from Aperture to Lightroom can be difficult. Since all of the photos in Aperture are primarily personal family photos and videos (no editing) my thought process was just to move the photos from Aperture to iPhoto so I can still easily manage my Photo Stream and any other aspect of needing iPhoto to play nice with my iOS devices. Not to mention if my wife wanted to view photos on my computer she would have a much easier time of doing so in iPhoto as opposed to Lightroom 4. So want I am setting out to do is move my library from Aperture to iPhoto. With the current updates and the sharing features I am confused on how to do this as my end goal is to be rid of Aperture and NOT to have it coexist with iPhoto. That way when I start using Lightroom 4 I am essentially doing so from scratch and can still manage my old library in iPhoto and be able to import new photos to either program as I see fit. So this all sounds good in theory to me but again I am having a hard time in knowing how to switch form Aperture to iPhoto to only trash Aperture and then start using Lightroom with a clean slate. I am also open to any suggestions to the contrary. Thanks in advance!

[whiteonline]

What you want to do is merge your iPhoto and Aperture libraries. Do this in Aperture - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5296

[Rm.237]

Originally Posted by whiteonline

What you want to do is merge your iPhoto and Aperture libraries. Do this in Aperture - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5296

In looking at these steps it just seems like I would be combining the library for the sake of Aperture. Not to only have iPhoto. How am I doing this wrong?

[James Craner]

Originally Posted by Rm.237

In looking at these steps it just seems like I would be combining the library for the sake of Aperture. Not to only have iPhoto. How am I doing this wrong?

This will merge all the photos in both Aperture and iPhoto into one consolidated library. The just stop using Aperture, all your photo's will now be in iPhoto.

However not sure what happens if you currently have duplicated photos in both separate libraries - might need to check for duplicates after the merge.

Edit : Looks like someone sells a program to check for duplicates called Duplicate Annihilator. Make sure you have a valid backup before making any changes though!