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nycvelo
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iPhoto->Lightroom import: Automating collection creation

Apr 28, 2012 2:55 PM

I am looking to import several hundred iPhoto albums into Lightroom 4, with a new Lightroom collection for each iPhoto album. The album names are in the format YYYYMMDD.

 

Is there a method to automate the creation of collections and/or smart collections to do this?

 

I found this excellent post and script for exporting the iPhoto albums:

 

http://labonnesoupe.org/2011/04/03/iphoto-to-lightroom-to-flickr-and-b eyond/

 

The AppleScript mentioned in this post does a flawless job of exporting the iPhoto albums, and it's very easy to import the resulting folders into Lightroom. However, Lightroom's import facility does not appear to support collection creation. I haven't found a programmatic way to create collections elsewhere in Lightroom.

 

Thanks in advance for clues about automating the creation and population of Lightroom collections.

3095 Views   4 Replies   Latest reply: nycvelo, Apr 30, 2012 2:44 PM
 
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  • John R. Ellis
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    1. John R. Ellis,
    Apr 28, 2012 11:19 PM   in reply to nycvelo
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    If you're a programmer, you could use the LR SDK to write a plugin script that creates collections based on the folder structure.  Adobe hasn't provided SDK documentation for LR 4 yet, but there doesn't appear to be many changes from the LR 3 SDK, so its documentation should be adequate.   The learning curve can be a little steep, so expect to spend at least 6 hours, perhaps more, depending on your facility at picking up new programming languages and applications.

     
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  • nycvelo
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    2. nycvelo,
    Apr 29, 2012 3:52 PM   in reply to John R. Ellis
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    Thanks, John. Do you have a pointer to a Mac version of the LR SDK, or a 4.0 version?

     

    The only thing I see on Adobe's site is this link:

     

    http://www.adobe.com/devnet/photoshoplightroom.html

     

    but it's for version 3.0 of the SDK, and then on Windows only.

     

    Thanks again!

     
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  • John R. Ellis
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    3. John R. Ellis,
    Apr 29, 2012 4:09 PM   in reply to nycvelo
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    That download is mislabeled -- the SDK is for both Mac and Windows.  (The SDK is just documentation plus samples.)  As I mentioned, the LR 4 SDK hasn't been released by Adobe yet, but the LR 3 SDK should be good enough.

     
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  • nycvelo
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    4. nycvelo,
    Apr 30, 2012 2:44 PM   in reply to John R. Ellis
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    Thanks, John. LR3 SDK works OK with LR4 on the Mac.

     

    Now, on to that steep learning curve part. . .

     

    Thanks again.

     
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