How do I find old Aperture files to extract to new Macbook Pro?

[MacLover2011]

I updated to a new MacBook Pro 16 inch MacOS Catalina. I still have files from my old Adobe Aperture app that ran on my iMac 2011 Mac Sierra computer.
What steps should I take to

1: Find the old Apple Aperture files?
2: Extract those old Aperture files?

Thanks

 

[IWT]

May I just clarify something, please.

If you're talking about the Aperture app, it has nothing to do with Adobe. It was, and is on older Operating Systems, an Apple product. If you are truly talking about an Adobe product, it must be under another name. So, we need to be clear on that point.

On the assumption that you meant Apple's Aperture app, it is 32 bit and will not work with macOS Catalina. This was announced well over a year ago when users were advised about all 32 bit apps. In the case of Aperture, users were advised to import it into Photos app as a separate library - which I did. It was relatively easy to do. The trickiest part was preserving all the metadata. Apple support guided me through the process.

As you appear to have Aperture running on an iMac, you can upgrade as far as Mojave (if the iMac will take it) without any loss of function. Or you can stick with macOS Sierra.

Whatever you do, you can't "Extract" the "old" files and get them to work on macOS Catalina.

Sorry, but that's the way it is.

Ian

 

[RavingMac]

There is an APP on the APP Store (it used a Flour Sifter for an icon, Silent Sifter as I recall).

Way simple to use, you drag and drop the Aperture library package into the APP and it spits out your photos. I used it several years ago when I transitioned to Lightroom. That was several years ago, so I have no idea how it works today.

Vector 15 – Moving from Aperture to a Simple Folder Structure

 

[IWT]

A very nice find, RavingMac. And it may well serve the needs of the OP. It is 64 bit so should work with macOS Catalina.

It certainly wouldn't help me, but then I used Aperture in a very different way from most folks, I guess.

My entire library is of medical imaging, based on disease, category, presentation, key findings etc. One single case might have 3, 4 or more subcategories as the imaging proceeded.

Silent Sifter would arrange all the images by date which would be useless for me as the date of my cases is irrelevant - and I'd lose most/all of the carefully added metadata for each case and its subcategories.

It is possible to retain the entire library structure as it currently is when importing into a new library in Photos app. I did have help from Apple Support who guided me through the process.

Nonetheless, your find is likely to be beneficial to most people and thank you for your diligent research.

Ian

 

[MacLover2011]

There is an APP on the APP Store (it used a Flour Sifter for an icon, Silent Sifter as I recall).

Way simple to use, you drag and drop the Aperture library package into the APP and it spits out your photos. I used it several years ago when I transitioned to Lightroom. That was several years ago, so I have no idea how it works today.

Vector 15 – Moving from Aperture to a Simple Folder Structure

Thank you for this suggestion. I appreciate it.

 

[rens51]

Dear members,
Building on the comments above on Aperture.
I have upgrade to MacOS Catalina., now 10.15.7 on my MacBookPro 2017, 13" .
In the past I have used Aperture and I did migrate the Aperture files to Apple's Photos.
That worked ok, although I notice lots of duplicates in Photos (and Luminar 4) that I still need to sort through.

When I run Gemini2 or CleanMyMacX to search for duplicates I receive suggestions to DELETE all Aperture files and the Aperture program.
This would indeed free up lots of space on my HD.
My question is if this could result in original photo file loss OR are the master photo and video files safe in Photos/ iCloud after the migration. So can I delete the Aperture files and program without risk of data loss.
Thanks, Rens

 

[MacInWin]

Rens, part of the answer depends on HOW you imported these files into Photos. If your option (as set in Photos Preferences, General is to copy the files into Photos, the images are now in a database in Photos. Here is an image of the setting:


If that is NOT checked, then the Photos database just has a pointer to the file, wherever it was at the time of import. If you move or delete the file, Photos won't have the image at all. If the item IS checked, then when you imported the image it was stored in the database, as I said, with a unique long numeric name. I don't know how CMMX finds duplicates, but Gemini2 should not see those imported files as duplicates of the originals because of that internal renaming of the image files inside the Photos database.

So, your question was

if this could result in original photo file loss OR are the master photo and video files safe in Photos/ iCloud after the migration

The answer is, "it depends."

In addition, clearly any image NOT imported to Photos at all is at risk of being lost with no other copy anywhere.

 

[IWT]

@rens51

I had the same difficulty as you. I had been using Aperture since its inception and, recognising that it would not be supported beyond macOS Mojave, I enlisted the help go Apple Support by telephone.

They talked me through what, in the event, was a very straightforward integration with Photos app.

The crucial thing was to create an additional library within Photos and import Aperture into that.

The only disappointment was that some of my metadata was lost in the process; but all the images were created in the new library. My requirements are unlikely to be representative. My Aperture library contained multiple layers of metadata relating to each image.

So, the questions I have to put to you are:

Was your Aperture library transferred into your existing Photos library or did you create a second library within Photos to accommodate Aperture?

If the former, it is very easy to determine that all is well by opening Photos and confirming that the images from Aperture are there.

If you created a second Photos library to receive your Aperture library (which incidentally is the better option), then you need to hold down the Option Key whilst clicking on the Photos app and it will list all your Photos libraries. Choose the Aperture library from the list.

Once you have confirmed that your Aperture images are in Photos (by either method), you can delete the original Aperture library - indeed you can delete the Aperture app completely.

Being a very, very cautious person, I copied the Aperture library to an External Hard Drive (EHD) before taking that step - just in case.

I hope this helps. It would be rather nice to hear how you transferred your Aperture library to Photos - integrated or new library.

Don't delete anything till we and you know that all is safe.

Ian

 

[rens51]

Rens, part of the answer depends on HOW you imported these files into Photos. If your option (as set in Photos Preferences, General is to copy the files into Photos, the images are now in a database in Photos. Here is an image of the setting:
View attachment 32706

If that is NOT checked, then the Photos database just has a pointer to the file, wherever it was at the time of import. If you move or delete the file, Photos won't have the image at all. If the item IS checked, then when you imported the image it was stored in the database, as I said, with a unique long numeric name. I don't know how CMMX finds duplicates, but Gemini2 should not see those imported files as duplicates of the originals because of that internal renaming of the image files inside the Photos database.

So, your question was The answer is, "it depends."

In addition, clearly any image NOT imported to Photos at all is at risk of being lost with no other copy anywhere.

THANK YOU Jake.
It seems I'm safe! I will try to remove one of my Aperture files, and hope for the best...
Rens

 

[rens51]

@rens51

I had the same difficulty as you. I had been using Aperture since its inception and, recognising that it would not be supported beyond macOS Mojave, I enlisted the help go Apple Support by telephone.

They talked me through what, in the event, was a very straightforward integration with Photos app.

The crucial thing was to create an additional library within Photos and import Aperture into that.

The only disappointment was that some of my metadata was lost in the process; but all the images were created in the new library. My requirements are unlikely to be representative. My Aperture library contained multiple layers of metadata relating to each image.

So, the questions I have to put to you are:

Was your Aperture library transferred into your existing Photos library or did you create a second library within Photos to accommodate Aperture?

If the former, it is very easy to determine that all is well by opening Photos and confirming that the images from Aperture are there.

If you created a second Photos library to receive your Aperture library (which incidentally is the better option), then you need to hold down the Option Key whilst clicking on the Photos app and it will list all your Photos libraries. Choose the Aperture library from the list.

Once you have confirmed that your Aperture images are in Photos (by either method), you can delete the original Aperture library - indeed you can delete the Aperture app completely.

Being a very, very cautious person, I copied the Aperture library to an External Hard Drive (EHD) before taking that step - just in case.

I hope this helps. It would be rather nice to hear how you transferred your Aperture library to Photos - integrated or new library.

Don't delete anything till we and you know that all is safe.

Ian

Ian,
I created separate files, see screenshot and even duplicates when I doubted if the file was complete.
I now have to sort out the mess I created
Maybe thats where the duplicates come from....
So is there a prefered way to merge the files?

And deleting the Aperture files from Finder (and the Aperture program) seems to be safe?
Thanks, Rens