# Moving Photos from iPhoto 8.1.2 into LR CC



## Suzanne015 (Jul 20, 2016)

I am doing this backwards, I will post info after these questions as this is really tricky iPhoto stuff, and you need to understand the older version of iPhoto- 8.1.2. I have found a way to import iPhoto 8.1.2 into LR CC keeping edits and "Event structure" of iPhoto if this helps anyone. I have some basic questions first though...

I can do a batch change on “Description” in iPhoto, is there any way I can pull this into LR, it does not seem to go into “Caption”.  Is there something I have to do on Metadata Presets? Remember I am not going the “Export route” as then I lose my edits, but just copying the "Original Folder" and "Modified Folder" from within iPhoto to the desktop. 

If I can’t get "Description" into LR is there any merit doing batch changes on "Description" in my iPhoto Library before I import - I can’t seem to find it on the Modified or Original pictures copied from the iPhoto library?

I am still deciding about where to store my main Library - I have done a full back up of my iPhoto libraries which is cloud based. I can pull all the photos into “Photos” after upgraded my iMac to OSX to El Capitan, or just keep them in s separate LR catalogue from my new photographs.  Any things I should think about? I definitely will not have enough space for the photographs to be stored twice on my machine.


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## Suzanne015 (Jul 20, 2016)

The next installment - this procedure has driven me insane, but I think I have cracked a way to import my 30+k photos into LR, keeping the album structure from iPhoto, but also keeping the edits I have already done on many photographs. 

My situation is I have iPhoto 8.1.2 on a Mac which is still stuck on OS 10.6.8. I can’t upgrade my OS software until I have solved the problem with transferring iPhoto photos to LR CC.  I will lose all Event Structures once I have imported to the new Photos. It is impossible for me to upgrade my iPhoto 8 to the iPhoto 9 version now, just too complicated with what is available/ allowing me to do etc...so I have given up on this path. 

I have been able to “test run” this situation as I have a laptop with El Capitan and LR CC installed, but of course iPhoto will not work on this now. 

The LR plug in does not work very well for me as I wish to import the Modified pictures as this represents a lot of past work. If I need an Original I can always go to a back up and find the original picture. The Plug in and various other solutions work for later versions of iPhoto than mine. 

This is how I have solved my problem...

Very simply - 

Find the Original and Modified files hidden in the iPhoto library.
Copy separate folders to the desktop, keeping the folder structure in each set of files.
Import the Modified files into LR - imports in mimicking Event structure via folders
Keep Event structure by then adding keywords for folder to reflect Event names 
Merge all folders into one folder of all Modified pictures. 
Then take Original files, import into LR to again mimic iPhoto folder structure
Label with keywords as above and then pull into one folder for all “Originals”.
Now, take the “Modified Folder” and move all the photos from the “Originals Folder” into it. It will find the duplicates and not import these, so instead of just modified files, you will now have unique Modified and Original files “i.e., if they have not been modified”.  Extra original files can be deleted as stay in the Original Folder. All pictures should have keywords which allows you to then re move pictures by creating Folders to mimc your previous Event structure.  
I will try and type more detailed instructions to help other people who may be in the same situation as me.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jul 21, 2016)

Well done Suzanne. Sounds like you're off to a good start.


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## Suzanne015 (Jul 23, 2016)

DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS  sorry this is so long.....but goes through in real detail.


I am still new to this, so I would appreciate any feedback  on the following method from all you experts out there. I have decided that I wish to have the edits and events as close as possible to that in iPhoto.  If someone would have given me these instructions, it would have saved me months of heartache so I hope I can help someone else.  Please let me know, as I don’t think I am the only person in this situation. 

I havn’t really addressed the issue of “where to store/ copy/add photos” so you will need to consider this carefully.

Firstly, find the iPhoto Library that you wish to transfer to LR. 
Right click on the library, and “Show Package Contents”, a finder window comes up. 
Find the “Originals” Folder, right click, “Copy Originals”.
Go to your desktop, “Paste Item”.  Depending on the size of your folder, this may take some time to copy. The folder should maintain the folder hierarchy which you need. Name this folder something memorable, especially if you have more than one library. So that it is easier to understand...I will call this 20_7_Originals.
Find the “Modified” Folder, right click, “Copy Modified”.
Go to your desktop, “Paste Item”.  So that it is easier to understand...I will call this 20_7_Modified.
I am probably going to consider saving these two folders to an external hard drive as my back up for this particular library. 
Open up your Lightroom. I, so far, have saved these folders under the general Pictures folder. I have not made a Collection as I do not want to sync it, this will now really be for reference for me alone. But please, if anyone has suggestions, let me know why it is a good idea to make a Collection. I am still new to this. 
Click on Folders on LHS - Macintosh - Pictures - Right Click, Create Folder inside Pictures, name something relevant e.g.. 20_7_Final Test.
Press Import on lower LHS
Navigate on LHS to find “20_7_Modified”, may be on external source of desktop depending. 
When press on this folder all photos should come up. Make sure ALL photos are selected. At this stage I will put “Modified” in keywords on RHS, if all same year, or anything else, could add this.
Destination - make sure tick Organise *By Original Folders*.  This is very important. I have also chosen the template Date-Filename for File Renaming. 
Then find the Folder you made to accept these pictures by navigating on RHS - in this case - “20_7_Final Test”. 
Press Import, the pictures load up slowly - all with “Modified” as marker in keywords. 
Go through each of the folders on the LHS in pictures and assign keywords to reflect your events e.g.: 2010, Borneo: 2012, Indonesia etc. Make sure you highlight ALL the pictures within each folder, and check that you have added the keywords to each picture - this will be difficult to replicate later if you don’t do it now. Now is also the time to add star ratings as well. 
Highlight each folder, select all pictures in each folder and drag and drop into the parent folder - in this case “ 20_7_Modified”. You need to select inside a picture to “grab” them, if you select the grey box it will not select the pictures.  A box comes up saying “Moving Files on Disk” -  click Move as this is what you want to do. 
Select any empty folders (with 0 count in) using Ctrl-Select on a mac, right click - Remove..this tidys up as you go along. 
You should have one folder now (called 20_7_Modified) which contains all your edited pictures, and keywords assigned to reflect the events they have come from. 
Now you are going to import the Original Photos...it may be easier to make a new file before you start. Right click on parent file (20_7_Test), Create folder inside......., I will call this one 20_7_Originals.
Follow from Step 10 to 19 again, but this time do the procedure with the Originals file...in this case 20_7_Originals.However, in the keywords we will add “Original” as we add keywords to reflect the events. This time it should be quicker as the keywords should come up after the first one or two letters.
So at the end of this you will have one folder now (called 20_7_Originals) which contains all your original pictures (including those of original pictures), and keywords assigned to reflect the events they have come from. 
Now comes the clever bit - the idea is to highlight the Original Pictures, and import them into the Modified pictures. Any Original where there is already a Modified picture will NOT import as it does not allow double ups. 
Select all your Original pictures - in 20_7_Originals - and pick them up and drag and drop into your Modified Folder (20_7_Modified), Moving Files on disc, Move...it then finds files already there and a box comes up - Error While Moving Files...file already exists at the destination (number).  Check if this looks OK and press OK. 
You will be left with a certain amount of pictures in your Original File. At the moment I have deleted these, but you may wish to save them, or import them as well into the Modified Folder. 
*I made the decision to only keep the Modified pictures as they represent a lot of time and previous work. If I need an Original, I can find it by the picture filename on my “back up” files which are kept elsewhere. Any originals which have not been edited are also kept. *
So in my case, I then delete the Original Folder and contents (20_7_Originals). I do this by highlighting the pictures and selecting  “Delete from disc”, as I do not want to store them, tidying up by removing the empty folder. 
Last step, my Modified folder is not the parent folder, so I select all the pictures in 20_7_Modified and drag and drop into the parent folder - 20_7_Test. Remove the empty Modified folder. 
The final stage is now to re-make your events (if this helps you).  However all your pictures will be in one folder, they have keywords which mimic the events.  You can select out by keywords, select all, and drag and drop into a new folder to mimic your previous Event structure within iPhoto. 
Select out by highlighting the parent folder, select bar at top - Text/ keywords/ contains words/ “event name”. The new folder cannot be “within” this parent folder..perhaps file  according to year e.g.: 2010 Events, Borneo. etc.
All done.

GOOD LUCK!!


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## Victoria Bampton (Jul 23, 2016)

You've done a great job. There are a couple of things I'd also consider.

With the modified photos, personally, I'd add -edit or suchlike to the filename, and import them into LR along with the originals of the same photo, and then automatically stack by capture time so the original was kept with the modified one but hidden in a collapsed stack, so it was easily to hand, but YMMV.

And when it comes to the folder structure, I'd probably suggest using a very simple dated folder structure, and then using Collections to mimic your previous Event structure.


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## Suzanne015 (Jul 23, 2016)

Thanks Victoria for your suggestions. Obviously a bit difficult for me to "plan" structures when I have not really used the system in great detail yet. 

I did consider whether to put Modified/ Original in the label or caption, but not sure if this is a good idea or not. I'm a bit worried about space as well, hence the idea to only import the modified files at this stage. By the way not sure if I mentioned I am considering using the date - filename structure when import photos. 

Can you explain to me the advantage of using "Collections" as opposed to "Folders"  Will it take the same space - is it just like an Album was in iPhoto?

Since these photos (roughly 2005 to present) are going to be referred to occasionally, would it be an idea to put them all in a separate LR Catalogue, and have my "working catalogue" for photos I import from now on?

Thank you.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jul 23, 2016)

Yes, you've got the idea. Folders reflect your folders on the hard drive. Collections are virtual groupings, so the same photos can be in multiple different collections without being duplicated on the hard drive.

I'd keep everything in a single catalog, if I were you. It's much easier to manage!


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