7 Steps to Switching from Aperture to Lightroom

1. Understand Catalogs

Think Card Catalog at the library. It doesn’t have books in it. It just keeps track of where they are and what the books have in them. It also knows any changes you make.

It’s most like your Aperture Library except it can’t hold the pictures.

2. Understand Folders

Folders in Lightroom are just your computer’s folders that Lightroom knows about, because at some point you imported them into Lightroom. You could have:

imported them in place “Add”

copied them into the folder “Copy”

moved them into the folder “Move”.

For Copy or Move, since they are going in a new folder, Lightroom takes the chance to add some folder based organization by creating day based folders for you. Moving pictures around once they have been imported is easy, just drag and drop between folders.

3. Understand Collections

Since Folders actually contains the photos themselves, Collections is where you’ll have to have all your useful organization customization. You’ll do your heavy lifting here if you want a lot of customization of your files.

Think of Aperture’s Albums and Smart Albums.

4. Know where your pictures are

Lightroom shines here because in the Library module the “Folders” portions is 100% describing actual folders on your computer. Try importing and studying the options.

Know where your Aperture pictures are. Are they inside the Aperture application or referenced?

5. Utilize this website and my video

Go to this website  and follow the instructions.

I made this video to get you through it.

6. Know what you get

Lightroom features:

• Works in the same color space as PS
• slideshow highly customizable
• slideshow has repeat button!
• lens presets
• digital print proofing
• clunky video editing (better then none)
• better community support for plugins
• iPad integration with Photosmith plugin
• More complete X-Rite ColorChecker Passport integration
• easier to get presets
• brushes customizable
• more case specific brushes (iris’s, teeth, etc…)

Don’t expect to have an easier time going into PS. It’s just as easy as it was with Aperture. Don’t expect having an easier time with the round trip to Premiere Pro. It’s just as 100% useless as Aperture is for this.

7. Know what you’ll be missing

Only on Aperture

• Apple integration (Photostream, iMovie, iPhoto etc…)
• videos in slideshows
• skin tone WB picker
• no retina for slideshow module
• seeing temperature during WB adjusting

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Other Posts on this subject

Previous posts discussed these differences and how it effects someone focusing on pictures and also a separate post discussing how they effect someone focusing on video.  Most recently I wrote about why I’ve finally chosen Lightroom.