Moving from iPhoto to Lightroom
One of the nicest non photo-related aspects of Lightroom is its ability to library files without moving them to a new location. If you have an iPhone or especially an AppleTV then you will know how great it is to be able to sync photos directly from your iPhoto / Aperture library.
A number of photograph friends have cited this as a reason for using iPhoto or Aperture over Lightroom yet a solution is relatively simple.
It is possible to share the original photos (i.e. the ones straight from the camera imported into iPhoto) with Lightroom following this relatively simple process :
1. Access your Photos in iPhoto
Right click on your iPhoto library (users/photos/iphoto library) and select “show package contents” this will open a new finder window showing a series of folders.
The iPhoto icon is really a large folder containing your photos, meta information and revisions. You are not doing any damage to your photographs or even your iPhoto library by opening the package in this way.
2. Make Alias
Locate the ‘Contents’ folder, this should contain subfolders listing the various years for which you have photos. Right click on this folder and select “Make alias” you can call it whatever you want.
Now drag this alias file to your desktop or documents folder. We have to use the alias file as Lightroom is unable to open the iPhoto package.
As you will have to repeat the process if you add new photos to your iPhoto library it is worth keeping this alias file in your documents folder.
3. Import
Back in Lightroom click on the File Menu and import and then locate this alias file. Lightroom will take you through the next steps. I opted to keep the photos in their current location to avoid duplications wasting disk space.
This can take some time depending on the number of photos in your iPhoto library. Note that the two applications don’t work together i.e. adjustments you make in Lightroom will not appear in your iPhoto library.
Links:
More From AngelinaRoberts
AngelinaRoberts Recommends
- How to Be Green (U.S. Green Technology)
- From Data to Wisdom (Piplzchoice)
Did you like this post?
Please Pass it On!
June 9, 2010 at 7:46 am | Hugh Ross
Hello David,
No it does not. I think I see what is going on here. When you right click on “Show Package Contents” for an iTunes Library a number of files and folders are revealed. This article directed me to make an alias for the folder titled “Contents.” That may have been correct on earlier versions of iPhoto but it is not correct on the current version. Photos are stored in one of two folders: (1) Originals and (2) Modified. Originals are photos as they are originally imported into iPhoto. If you modify the photo either in iPhoto or a photo editiing program the modified version (with the same file name) is saved to the folder titled Modified. What one would have to do is make an alias for both of the folders. The problem then is that you will be importing files with the same name into Lightroom (the original and the modified). One may be able to get around this problem by first importing the photos from Originals in to Lightroom and only after importing the files fro Modified. When the modified one is important you will be asked if you want to replace the other file with the same name. If you replace the original with the modified you will have the latest (modified) version of he file but you will lose the original. There is no perfect solution here, this is one of the problems of Lightroom compared to Aperture.
June 9, 2010 at 6:25 am | Angelina Roberts
Hi Hugh, when you double click the alias file does it take you to your iPhoto master images ?
June 9, 2010 at 5:14 am | Hugh Ross
I just purchased Lightroom 3 and attempted to use your method to import photos from my iPhoto libraries (I have them organized into about 6 sub-libraries and switch between the libraries using iPhoto Buddy). I made the aliases as you suggest, put them in a folder called iPhoto Library Aliases and then opened Lightroom-3.
If I use the method of import you mention in your article (open Lightroom, click on File, click on Import (now called “Import Photos…”) the folder that contains the aliases shows up but the actual alias files in the folder do not show up.
When I open Lightroom-3 I am prompted to “Click the ‘Import’ button to begin. There is an Import button at the lower left of Lightroom’s space). If I click on the Import button at the lower left corner of LIghtroom the alias files are visible but when I highlight one of them I get a message that says “no photos found.”