4 Replies Latest reply: Apr 30, 2012 2:44 PM by nycvelo

iPhoto->Lightroom import: Automating collection creation

nycvelo 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-beyond/

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.

1. Re: iPhoto->Lightroom import: Automating collection creation

johnrellis Apr 28, 2012 11:19 PM (in response to nycvelo)

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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2. Re: iPhoto->Lightroom import: Automating collection creation

nycvelo Apr 29, 2012 3:52 PM (in response to johnrellis)

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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3. Re: iPhoto->Lightroom import: Automating collection creation

johnrellis Apr 29, 2012 4:09 PM (in response to nycvelo)

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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4. Re: iPhoto->Lightroom import: Automating collection creation

nycvelo Apr 30, 2012 2:44 PM (in response to johnrellis)

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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iPhoto->Lightroom import: Automating collection creation

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