time to switch from aperture to lightroom

[dchalfon]

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i've been thinking about switching from aperture to lightroom since the release of LR4.

 

this week, after a huge workaround to simply create a blurb photobook, and some toughts about what is happening with apple, the question was raised in my head once again.

 

so i saw this article:

Aperture vs. Lightroom. It is, unfortunately, an easy call… | Chuq Von Rospach, Photographer and Author

 

is not that i am completely unhappy with aperture, it is about the next years... adobe is a software only company and really focused on imaging. apple is making some much money elsewhere that is hard to believe in a real world situation their management will have focus on a pro photo app.

 

but i know it is a time consuming task, and that i will miss my edits on dngs.

 

anyone else on the same boat?

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[Lightwrangler]

I took that decision much earlier, after having seen what Apple did with FinalCut. This company is not to be trusted with software development, they focus too much on the consumer and what they see as "ease of use". Lightroom is a great tool that has been continually improved.

 

Mike

[Indina]

How do you handle a x,xxx.xx image library when switching?

[snooper]

Have everything well organized under Aperture. As I don't do lots of post-processing on the shots, it was really fine and well integrated.

 

Unfortunately, Aperture does not handle M Monochrom DNGs.

 

So basically, no other choice than downloading LR4 which comes with the MM. For the time being I did not import all of Aperture library into LR, and I keep both softwares alive.

 

Difficult to compare the philosophy behind file system, but LR is worth the trial for the processing tools. The downside of it is you are tempted to use all available tools, and you realize that in a few clicks you are already far from the original file. It feels strange not to recognize your own pictures

 

But no choice for MM users... Until aperture can handle all of the DNGs ?

[dchalfon]

i've downloaded LR4.1, and also a 30 day trial on adobe revel.

 

first impression was really bad. LR4.1 has bugs while i try to change from the library to development modules and also cannot export to revel. too bad.

i will give it another try, but i don't want to waste time fixing and deleting system files so the app can run properly.

 

:-((

[nggalai]

Note: the “you” in this posting is supposed to be a third-person “you”, not directed at Indina specifically.

 

How do you handle a x,xxx.xx image library when switching?

 

It depends on your previous workflow and the amount of image editing you tend to end up with inside a RAW processor.

 

Moving the catalog often isn’t that hard; just make sure all your keywords, ratings etc. are written out to XMP or DNG. Lightroom (and MediaPro, and pretty much any other DAM) will read this information. Should you be a heavy user of Albums you could import one album at a time into Lightroom, or write the album titles into keywords and import the entire library in one go. (Use a specific nomenclature when going with the second option; e.g. a _ as the first letter for album-keywords to make it easier to later reconstruct the albums in Lightroom.)

 

Certain fields vary between photo catalog software; make sure to check out where e.g. “Event” or “Model” or “Client” metadata ends up with a move to a different DAM such as Lightroom.

 

What’s impossible to move: edits. If you don’t edit heavily this isn’t a biggie, though. Just keep TIFF or JPEG versions of your Aperture-edited files in case you need the exact same look again. Edit your legacy files in Lightroom as/when needed and fall back to the JPEGs if necessary. Personally I keep TIFF/JPEG copies of all my files for backup purposes anyway.

 

So basically you have three options to keep your edits while moving to Lightroom:

 

1. Keep Aperture on your macs and start working with Lightroom. Whenever you need older photos again open Aperture and export the photos in question.
   
2. Export your whole Aperture catalog to full-res TIFF/JPEG and archive these “finished” files in a second Lightroom catalog, in iPhoto, in a different DAM application, or …
   
3. … add them to your main Lightroom catalog that also includes the old RAW/DNG originals, then stack the JPEG/TIFF versions with the RAW originals.
   

 

With tens to hundreds of thousands of files the third option will bloat your catalog. If we’re talking some 5000, 6000 additional files Lightroom won’t have any problems.

 

Prior to moving, make sure you evaluate how often you a) really need older files, with the exact same look as two, three years ago, and c) editable. Depending on your findings, moving to a different RAW processor / DAM is very easy or nigh unfeasible.

 

Personally, I seldomly need to edit “old” files and can go with the baked-in edits from my then-RAW processor of choice. Far more important for the way I work is I find the images when needed, i.e. keeping meta-data in place is a must.

 

But I don’t need a “look” I made in Lightroom 1.4 inside CaptureOne or Aperture, or Lightroom 4, for that matter. Chances are, if it’s an important file, I’ll reprocess it anyway as RAW software have matured considerably over the past few years …