Can Apple Aperture edits be migrated to Adobe Lightroom?
Asked 7/1/2014
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I'm moving from Apple Aperture to Adobe Lightroom and want to keep working on existing projects. Metadata migration is documented, but what about the image adjustments made in Aperture? Can Aperture export its edits in a form like XMP, or is there any realistic way to convert those adjustments into Lightroom settings? If not, what is the best practical workflow for preserving my edited photos when switching?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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In June 2014, TechCrunch reported that Adobe are "committed to helping interested iPhoto and Aperture customers migrate to our rich solution". ArsTechnica, quoting TechCrunch, have a slightly different spin on the situation, saying that Apple's developers are "working with Adobe to work on a transitionary workflow for users moving to Lightroom".
Presumably as part of this work, Adobe released their Aperture Importer in October 2014. While this notes that "adjustments to photos made in Aperture and iPhoto can not be read into Lightroom", I suspect if Apple and Adobe working together on a project can't do it, there isn't likely to be a solution available in the near future.
Originally by user11371. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user11371
12y ago
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In practice, no: Aperture’s adjustment settings do not migrate to Lightroom, and Lightroom’s Aperture importer does not bring those edits across. Aperture stores edits in its library/catalog, and there isn’t a usable XMP-style export that Lightroom can translate. More importantly, the adjustment models in Aperture and Lightroom don’t map one-to-one, so a converter is not a realistic solution.
The practical workaround is to preserve your finished Aperture look by exporting edited versions as high-quality files, ideally 16-bit TIFFs, then import those into Lightroom. Many photographers also keep the original RAW files alongside the TIFFs: the TIFF preserves your Aperture-rendered result, while the RAW lets you re-edit from scratch in Lightroom if needed.
So the best workflow is usually:
- Keep your existing Aperture library/projects for reference.
- Export important edited images as 16-bit TIFFs.
- Import both TIFFs and originals into Lightroom if you want maximum flexibility.
- Start new work in Lightroom going forward.
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