Back in June, Apple announced it will cease development of Aperture, its photo editing program aimed at pros and advanced users, in favor of the new Photos app on OS X Yosemite and iOS 8. At that time, Adobe said it was working on a migration tool to help users transition to Lightroom, its own photo editing software, and now the company has made good on its promise.
Adobe has released a plug-in that allows you to easily migrate your photo library to Lightroom from Apple's Aperture and iPhoto. Dubbed Aperture Importer, the plug-in requires Lightroom 5.6 or later, and works on Mac only.
You can use the plug-in to import the following data into Lightroom: Flags, Star Ratings, Keywords, GPS Data, Rejects, Hidden Files, Color Labels, Stacks, and Face Tags, with the last three being imported as Lightroom keywords.
Since adjustments to photos made in Aperture and iPhoto can not be read in Lightroom, the plug-in will import both the original images and copies of the images that have adjustments applied.
In addition, Adobe is also offering Aperture users who subscribe to its Creative Cloud Photography plan a free three-month membership to KelbyOne, a photography site offering tutorials on transitioning to Lightroom, as well as several Lightroom training videos. The offer is only available in the United States, Canada (excluding Quebec), Mexico, and the United Kingdom, and ends November 28, 2014.