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Apr 12, 2001
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Earlier this year, Apple announced that it was ending development on Aperture in order to work on an upcoming Photos app for OS X that will replace both Aperture and iPhoto.

At the time, Adobe, the company behind popular photo editing software Lightroom, promised to make a tool to allow Aperture users to import their photos into Lightroom 5, and today Adobe released its Aperture Import Plugin for Lightroom 5.

The free plugin, which can be downloaded from Adobe's site, will make it simple for Aperture users to migrate their libraries into Lightroom, a task that takes quite a bit of time to do manually. It is available only for Mac users and requires Lightroom 5.6 or later.

lightroomplugin.jpg
Using the plugin, Aperture users can import the following data into Lightroom: Flags, Star Ratings, Keywords, GPS Data, Rejects, Hidden Files, Color Labels, Stacks, and Face Tags.

Color Labels, Stacks, and Face Tags are imported as Lightroom keywords, and because adjustments to photos made in Aperture can't be read into Lightroom, the tool will import both original images and copies of images with adjustments applied.

Former Aperture users who sign up for Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan (priced at $9.99 per month) will receive a free three-month membership to photography site KelbyOne, which offers a number of tutorials on transitioning from Aperture to Lightroom and several Lightroom training videos.

The now-discontinued Aperture has long lagged behind competing software like Lightroom for Adobe, and as its last major version update came in October of 2013, it is no surprise that Apple has opted to abandon the software. Apple has offered a final update to Aperture to allow it to run on OS X Yosemite, but plans to stop development after that.

Though Aperture is no longer being updated, early screenshots of the OS X Photos app and information from Apple representatives suggests that some of Aperture's professional-grade features might make it into the upcoming Photos app.

Article Link: Adobe Releases Plugin to Help Aperture Users Transition to Lightroom
 

Populism

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2014
193
3,080
Queue the angry, disproportionate responses from the top 10% of Aperture users.
 

FieldingMellish

Suspended
Jun 20, 2010
2,440
3,108
Adobe'd gotten too expensive for the casual user with its subscription plan. It's as financially ignominious as a cable company.
 

poematik13

macrumors 65816
Jun 5, 2014
1,396
2,046
I used to use Aperture but the user interface was so gross and 90's and fcp 7-ish that I stopped. Adobe apps are not much better.

they really need to make a photo editing app that has the same interface as FCP X. The screens of the new Photos app looks like it, but I'm skeptical about how in-depth the controls are despite Apple saying it will satisfy former Aperture users

----------

I gave Lightroom a try when the bad news about Aperture was announced, but I just cannot find my way around in LR, it feels so bloated and unorganized.

Thats basically every Adobe program.
 

FasterQuieter

macrumors 6502a
Feb 21, 2008
817
1,909
I was just writing a long reasoned response about how I wasn't angry with Apple, just dissapointed that adjustments to 1.5TB worth of photos may not be compatable with future software. And how I didn't like Lightroom. Then Safari crashed on my phone and I lost it all. Now I am hopping mad at Apple. Damn!
 

michelepri

macrumors 6502a
May 27, 2007
511
61
Rome, Paris, Berlin
Thanks, but no thanks, Adobe.

I'm sticking with Aperture until it actually stop working.

Why would anybody want to do that?

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I gave Lightroom a try when the bad news about Aperture was announced, but I just cannot find my way around in LR, it feels so bloated and unorganized. I guess I will have to sign up for a course on LR.

For now I'm using Aperture and enjoying it while it's still working.

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I think it's reasonable to be angry/disappointed over this and 10% of Aperture users will be quite allot of people I would imagine.

Lightroom is a much better software but with a horrible interface.
 

furi0usbee

macrumors 68000
Jul 11, 2008
1,790
1,382
Aside from Flash, which I only "allow" to run for sites that do not support HTML5 video, I would NEVER install another Adobe product on my computer. The only third-party plugin I had was Silverlight for Netflix, but with Yosemite I won't need that.
 

kurosov

macrumors 6502a
Jan 3, 2009
671
349
I used to use Aperture but the user interface was so gross and 90's and fcp 7-ish that I stopped. Adobe apps are not much better.

they really need to make a photo editing app that has the same interface as FCP X. The screens of the new Photos app looks like it, but I'm skeptical about how in-depth the controls are despite Apple saying it will satisfy former Aperture users

----------



Thats basically every Adobe program.

Anything other than the superficial differences in interface between aperture/fcpx would make no sense at all because they are for fundamentally different purposes.

If anything i'd say the new photos app UI is based on the aperture full screen UI, which I really liked and spent most of my time in. I find both light rooms UI and workflow to be far worse than aperture.

I'm still hoping for either the pixelmator folk to release an aperture replacement or for apple to buy them out and use the team to build some apps to compete with adobe's stranglehold on the market. Pixelmator still isn't up to photoshop levels of functionality but it's significantly faster and has a more mac native interface.

Why would anybody want to do that?

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Lightroom is a much better software but with a horrible interface.

Because as nice as new features are, workflow is far more important and Lightroom is a nightmare to work with. aperture 3 was perfect for the job years ago and hasn't lost any functionality so as long as it still works i'll be using it over lightroom.
 

joueboy

macrumors 68000
Jul 3, 2008
1,576
1,545
So where is the Photos app? I installed OSX Yosemite last name night. I got an update on Aperture then I remember about the Photos app. All I got is an iPhoto app I would like to try it so I can make decision if I'm moving to Aperture.
 
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macjoshua

macrumors 6502a
Mar 4, 2011
524
624
Nashville, TN
So where is the Photos app? I installed OSX Yosemite last name night. I got an update on Aperture then I remember about the Photos app. All I got is an iPhoto app I would like to try it so I can make decision if I'm moving to Aperture.

That new photos app for Mac isn't coming until next year, if I remember correctly.
 

Populism

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2014
193
3,080
I always thought that was "cue", because something is preparing and not lining up.

I think you are right. Thanks for correction.

And while on this tangent, I once heard it say that with regard to the word "queue," it appears it has four more letters than necessary.
 

eroxx

macrumors 6502a
Jul 27, 2010
801
1
How does this importer treat projects and albums? If it will separate them, I will be happy!
 

BJMRamage

macrumors 68030
Oct 2, 2007
2,751
1,285
this isn't bad...But I am sticking with Aperture and then check out Photos.

I am able to make a lot of adjustments within the Photos App on the iPhone. obviously this is limiting and not to the scale like Aperture but perhaps on desktop those options will exist.

I don't like the Simple "Favorite" for photos. I liked the 1-5 STAR Scale. this allowed me to digest easier and chunk things off. 3+ stars went onto Shutterfly. 1 was a delete, 2 was look it over and decide. 5 was the great stuff (well, great at the time).

I still use Aperture because it works. I might like new features but don't need them right now.
 

jettredmont

macrumors 68030
Jul 25, 2002
2,731
328
In the 16 months between Apple announcing this and their ending support for Aperture Adobe came out with this in month number 4. How is that "too late?"

Because that 4 months allowed people time to explore other options before making an impulse decision (including: let's stick with Aperture until Photos comes out, then include that in the options list). There are just better tools out there than Adobe's lineup for many non-professionals, and without the ongoing subscription costs. So, Adobe missed out on the "panic" switchers.

In any case, it was always the smart thing to do: unless you have a compelling need to have the same workflow a week from now as you will 16 months down the road, wait this out and see what is available when Aperture stops being a viable product. You chose Aperture over Lightroom for a reason, and that reason likely wasn't Apple's breakneck speed of updating it. See what Apple offers going to Photos, and if that isn't better than Lightroom (or the myriad competitors), consider switching vendors.

The main thing to remember is that Adobe absolutely refuses to import any Aperture changes (maybe isn't able to, maybe just doesn't think it has to). Apple Photos at least in theory might. That's enough to keep me on the fence waiting for Photos to come out and mature a bit before jumping either way.
 

courtneych

macrumors newbie
Mar 5, 2009
4
1
Plugin Not Installing

It may be a moot point, for the Adobe forum is full of complaints that the plugin will not install.
 
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