Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 1:00 PM by Joseph Linaschke Understanding the iPhoto 9.3 and Aperture 3.3 Unified Library
There has been some confusion in the comments and forum here about the meaning of the “Unified Library”, one of Aperture 3.3’s top new features. I believe the confusion is coming from, quite frankly, over-thinking this. It’s quite straight forward, so I’ll try to explain it here.
The following assumes you have one iPhoto library, as well as one Aperture library. If you have more than one, then you’ll need to repeat for each Library. If you are only using one of the apps, then this post is largely irrelevant to you, although you may still find it interesting.
The way it was
The iPhoto Library and Aperture Library used to have nothing in common. If you decided to upgrade from iPhoto to Aperture, the process was tedious and fraught with problems. Plus, once you moved to Aperture, there was no way to go back to iPhoto. So, Apple set out to fix the whole process.
What happens when you upgrade to iPhoto 9.3 & Aperture 3.3
Once you update your software (and OS if needed), the first time you launch iPhoto and/or Aperture, the application will tell you it needs to update your Library to work with this latest version. You click Upgrade, and off it goes. If you have a massive Library, this may take some time, but eventually the software will open with your newly updated library.
Aperture upgrade dialog to 3.3
iPhoto upgrade dialog to 9.3
Now you have iPhoto 9.3 running, and you’re looking at the same photos you have always looked at in iPhoto.
And you have Aperture 3.3 running, and you’re looking at the same photos you have always looked at in Aperture. Nothing has changed, as far as your images are concerned.
However behind the scenes, what has changed is the entire internal structure and format of the iPhoto library. The iPhoto library internal structure is now essentially identical to an Aperture library internal structure. Some changes were made to your Aperture library as well. Even the library icons from both applications are now the same. In fact the only way to tell the difference, other then opening the package (don’t do that) is to check the file extension. The Aperture library has a file extension of .aplibrary, and the iPhoto library has no file extension at all (there’s something in the package telling the system what to open it with). [correction: sometimes an iPhoto library will have the extension .photolibrary, but not always — not quite sure why that is]
An iPhoto and an Aperture library, pre-upgrade
The same iPhoto and Aperture libraries, post-upgrade
The way it is
Now that the libraries are upgraded, there are a host of things you can do that you could never do before.
- You can open your iPhoto library in Aperture, work on your photos, then open the library again in iPhoto.
- You can open your Aperture library in iPhoto, work on your photos (or make cards, calendars, etc.) then open the library again in Aperture.
- You can merge your iPhoto and Aperture libraries into one combined library (merging has to be done in Aperture).
- You can merge any number of previous iPhoto and/or Aperture libraries.
Opening a Library in the other application
There are several ways to open an iPhoto library in Aperture, or an Aperture library in iPhoto.
- Right-click on the Library and choose Open With > iPhoto or Aperture.
- Drag and drop the Library icon on the Application icon.
- While launching iPhoto or Aperture, hold down the Option key. This will open a Library chooser. Aperture’s chooser will scan your hard drive and present every library it finds (sometimes it misses a library, so if you don’t see the one you’re looking for, just click Other Library…). iPhoto’s chooser will just ask you to locate the library you want to open.
- In iPhoto or Aperture, while it’s running, you can go to the File menu and choose Switch to Library and navigate to the library you want to open.
Common questions / FAQ
Here are some questions you might ask as you realize the implications of this…
- Q: Will my referenced Aperture library work in iPhoto?
- A: YES. Even though iPhoto doesn’t allow you to create a referenced file system, a referenced Aperture library will read just fine in iPhoto. If you import any images while in iPhoto, they will import as Managed, because that’s all iPhoto can do. However you can later relocate those files using Aperture, and still read them just fine in iPhoto.
- Q: What happens to adjustments added in Aperture that aren’t available in iPhoto, like Curves?
- A: iPhoto will show the results of that effect (meaning, the effect is still applied), but you have no way to control it. You can add or alter other adjustments in iPhoto, and when you go back to Aperture, those adjustments — along with your original Curves adjustment — will all be available. If you revert your photo in iPhoto, then the Curves will be discarded.
- Q: What happens to iPhoto projects, like Cards, that have no equivalent in Aperture?
- A: If you create something like a card in a Library, then open that Library in Aperture, you’ll see it listed in an “iPhoto Print Projects” collection. When you select it, you’ll see a message that “iPhoto print projects can not be edited in Aperture… please open this library in iPhoto”. So to edit it, you simply have to return to iPhoto.
- Q: How do I choose which library I want to open, or where that library should live?
- A: See the section above “opening a library in the other application” to see how to do that. As far as where the library lives, you can put it anywhere you like just by moving it in the Finder. The default location is your home Pictures folder, and unless you have good reason to move it, you may as well leave it there. But you can put it anywhere — even on an external hard drive (putting it on a NAS is not advised).
- Q: Can I open a library in iPhoto and Aperture simultaneously?
- No, and if you try to you will be told you need to quit the other application before you can continue.
Anything else?
If you still have questions, please post them in the comments here, and I’ll update the FAQ as needed.
Joseph Linaschke
If you’re in iPhoto and aren’t sure what Library you’re currently running, or where it lives, you can command-click on the word “iPhoto” in the title bar, and it will reveal the path to your Library, just like command-clicking on a window name will in the Finder.
Command-click on the iPhoto title bar to see the path to your Library
Reader Comments (40)
Nice summary, Joseph. Thanks for the insight!
I just posted a question right around the same time you posted this, so good timing! Here's my question: Who has decided to merge iPhoto and Aperture libraries? Pros and Cons?
Another useful post Joseph. I have a couple of comments:
1. There is an extension for iPhoto libraries. It is .photolibrary. I recalled seeing it in your live training video (@1:43:28 in the youtube version). But when I looked at my library there was no extension. Then I noticed in Get Info that the Hide Extension option was enabled and greyed out for my iPhoto library. I created a new iPhoto library and the extension appeared.
2. iPhoto sort of can do referenced libraries although there's not much control over it. There's a preference setting in iPhoto (iPhoto->Preferences->Advanced "Importing: Copy items to the iPhoto Library") Once you've imported a photo as referenced there doesn't seem to be a way in iPhoto to reconnect or consolidate it like Aperture can.
3. iPhoto now has File->Switch to Library... This seems new. I never saw it before.
Actually, a little known feature of iPhoto for some time now, and still present in the current update, is that you CAN make iPhoto work as a referenced library. It's tucked away in iPhoto Preferences > Advanced, a checkbox option for "Importing: Copy items to the iPhoto Library".
By default, it is checked, meaning you have a normal iPhoto "managed" library (using Aperture nomenclature), with all photos copied into the package. However, UNcheck that box, and iPhoto does NOT copy (or move) the photos, but leaves the originals in their current location, only creating references to them, essentially the same as Aperture does when it creates a "referenced" library.
That said, the ability to actually use the feature did not seem to be nearly as fully developed in iPhoto as it is in Aperture. For example, to my knowledge, there was no obvious or easy way to tell WHICH photos in your iPhoto library were only linked as references, as opposed to embedded as managed files. Therefore, keeping a mix of managed and referenced photos in iPhoto could be an organizational challenge.
BTW, I watched your recent Google+ live presentation, LOVED it! Fantastic job! You have a new follower.
UPDATE:
Haha, Thomas! We must have posted at virtually the same time! I'll leave my (more or less redundant) comment above intact...well...just 'cuz I worked so hard on it. :)
Thanks for the corrections guys, I updated the post.
-Joseph
I use both iPhoto and A3 now, but used to use only iPhoto from versions 6 to 11. As stated above we've always been able to have a referenced library, but after trying it once or twice I really hated it. It was very confusing and very easy to break the link between iPhoto and the folders where the photos were stored. Once the link was broken it was impossible to fix, or at least I could never figure it out. I had to delete whole libraries b/c of that problem. I prefer managed libraries though and that's all I use in A3.
Thanks for this great post, Joseph. Now that I understand how sharing works between the two apps, I now have to decide if I can live with the monotone icons in the Library list. I love it just the way it is now in the old version. In fact, it was these colorful icons that made me choose A3 over LR3 way back when. I'm very visual.
Hi
Would this get round the sharing the library between different users issue. i.e. would I now be able to use aperture 3 in my user profile and then my wife be able to use the same library in iPhoto under her user profile without having to move the library to an external drive with 'ignore ownership/ permissions' set?
Many thanks
Jon
I'm wondering what this update will do to AppleScripts I have that need access to the library. I'm afraid I'll have to rewrite parts of them...
BTW Jon, Although I haven't tested this with the new libraries I'm pretty sure what you want is not (directly) possible. Your wife will still need to have read and write access to the library in order to use it. Furthermore anything added to the library will have her default permissions, meaning you'll not be able to adjust anything she has put in there. Basically wrecking the library. That said, it is possible to use Aperture (and thus iPhoto nowadays) with multiple users, without using the 'Ignore ownership' flag. This requires the use of ACL (basically 'extended permissions') and a trip to the Terminal though.
When editing in iphoto, iPhoto would make a second copy of the photo file, thus bloating the file size. Is this still true or has iPhoto gone to Aperture's non-destructive method?
thanks
John,
As Rutger says, you still need to keep the library somewhere that you can both get to it. You can't get to something inside of one person's user folder from outside of it, unless it's in the Public folder, or in the Shared User folder, although I've still seen permissions issues show up there. I think the best bet is still to keep the library on an external drive with "ignore permissions" enabled.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
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Frank,
Great question! I will test and update the FAQ.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
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Three obvious questions.
(1) Even though (hopefully) one only converts the Aperture Library once, it would be useful to be able to estimate how long it might take, say per 100 GB or 1 TB of library (or per 10K images). Any estimates at this point?
(2) If this change restructures the Library, does it also change the vault structure? I.e. should one expect a full Vault operation the first time after converting the Library?
(3) Are earlier vaults consumable by Aperture 3.3 if one has to restore?
Frank,
I'm actually not sure what's changed there. I created a new iPhoto library and imported just one RAW file so it'd be easy to track. I created a new library for iPhoto 9.2.3 and one for iPhoto 9.3, and in both edited the photo, then opened the package to inspect.
In both cases, there was a preview JPEG of the edited version, and only the one original RAW file. There was no TIFF file, which is what I recall happening in earlier versions of iPhoto, but I could be wrong about that — it's been ages since I poked around in an iPhoto library.
So I guess the answer is no, there is no duplicated file — but there wasn't before this upgrade, either.
If I'm missing something let me know. It's a good question.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
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Dave,
(1) no estimates that I've seen but I let my 160k Aperture library run overnight and it was done in the morning.
(2) Presumably yes. Recommended procedure is to run the Vault prior to the 3.3 upgrade, then upgrade, then create a new Vault with 3.3. Once that's successful, trash the old Vault. However there have been reports of problems updating Vaults, so don't let that be your only backup (as it never should be, anyway). I outlined the steps in my newsletter yesterday; if you didn't get it, you can catch up here and be sure to subscribe for future mailings.
(3) Excellent question. I would hope so. I will test.
-Joseph
Dave,
(3) YES, it does work. You will get a message that's a little scary at the end of the recovery process, where it says "Unable to restore from selected vault" [screenshot] and that a relaunch is required, but as soon as you quit and relaunch Aperture, it updates the library. So basically Aperture 3.3 is building an Aperture 3.2 library from the Vault, and then can't read it, so you have to relaunch to get the upgrade dialog.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
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Joseph,
Again, great article, just what I was looking for--but one question. Rather than having two fairly redundant photo libraries, I merged iPhoto into Aperture and now only use the Aperture library as the only library for both Aperture and iPhoto. Is this a good idea (I am the only user) or should I always have two separate libraries? I deleted my iPhoto library.
Thanks for all your great tips on the new Aperture 3.3 and iPhoto 9.3.
Bill
Bill,
That's absolutely fine. That's precisely what points 3 and 4 are under "the way it is" above.
-Joseph
I'd like to ask Frank's question again in a slightly different way.
I've never used Aperture. My core iPhoto problem is data file bloat. I'm down to the last 2GB of free space on my little 11" Air and things are getting desperate, despite splitting the libraries up and moving the non-core ones to an external drive.
If I install Aperture 3.3 and convert my iPhoto libraries to Aperture format, will the new libraries be smaller? That is, will the conversion get rid of all the intermediate files that got created when I edited my shots? (I do a LOT of editing.)
Thanks. Great site BTW.
Tony,
Tough question — I don't know without trying it out and I don't have a large, heavily edited iPhoto library to test it on.
But you shouldn't need to go to Aperture to find this out. Just upgrading it to the latest iPhoto library format will alter the library, so you'll have your answer there. However you shouldn't even try to do this with only 2GB free space. Move the library to an external drive with plenty of free space to do the upgrade. You can then move it back, and hopefully it will be smaller.
All that said, if you're that low on space, you should consider moving to Aperture and working referenced (keeping your masters on an external drive). I too have an 11" MacBook Air, and I don't keep anything more than an active traveling library on there.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
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These are all great tips, but I'm having a different problem. I've tried several times to upgrade the Aperture library, but it stops completely at 93% for at least 10 hours. I've forced quit and tried again several times but nothing.
Michael,
I had similar problem with my database before however didn't have any problem with upgrading to 3.3.
What I did to fix my database was to delete all the previews and then when I forced to recreate them (Option + right click) it crashed on some pictures. Then I went project by project to identify which pictures were causing problems. When I found them I just reset all the adjustment and since then everything works fine for me. I've tried rebuild but this didn't help. It might be a time consuming exercise but worth to do it. By the way my database is over 130GB.