Aperture backups

What is the best way to keep back ups of thousands of pictures in external hard drivers used in several computers

Been requested as a new function. It ca be done through Automator and Applescript as Aperture is very open to these tools, but it's not baked in. We'd like it to parse across several DVD's (fit to DVD then o to next vs. spanning any individual file) and an indexing function similar to reference images on import.

Similar Messages

Access denied to Aperture backup on external drive. When I hold the comman key adn open aperture to acces a remote drive I receive the message "There was an error opening the database for teh library "/Volumes/VERBATIM HD/Aperture Library BU.aplibrary".

When I attempt to open an Aperture backup on a remote drive using the Command key when opening Aperture., I receive the message-
How do access these files?

How do I copy the libray onto another drive? Drag & drop? Can I put it onto my iMac drive without loosing the Aperture files already there?
yes, you can drag the library to your internal drive. if it has the same name as your current Aperture library rename it or drag it to a different folder.
I followed the instrucitons when formatting the drive, although I would not rule out an operator error
You can see the name of the file system on the drive, when you select the drive in the Finder and press the key combination ⌘I (for File > Get Info). The file system will show in the "General" brick of the Info panel.

Will Aperture backup to a vault with daisy chained external hard drives

I am moving my Aperture library to a 6TB external drive. I want to back that up to a disaster drive consisting of 2 g-drives daisy chained, one 2TB and the other 4TB.
Will Aperture recognize the daisy chained drives as a single drive and backup the Aperture library to these drives as a single vault?

Caveat: answering your question requires one to make lots of assumptions, any one of which might change the answer. I do not know if Aperture would do so or not but personally I would not recommend it.
Note that daisy-chaining is simply a method of connecting drives; the drives themselves each remain fully independent. One needs to build a RAID array to combine independent volumes, and that is usually best done with fairly identical drives rather than with a 4TB and a 2TB.
I strongly believe that unless one is a true mass-storage expert very large Managed-Originals Libraries should be avoided. IMO far preferable is to instead use Refererenced-Originals Libraries.
Databases invariably perform better in numerous ways when smaller.
-Allen

Concerned about Aperture backups vs. iPhoto backups

Hi All,
I've just installed Aperture 2.0 and after reading a lot of the posts here regarding the superior way that Aperture handles files compared to iPhoto, I wanted to start using Aperture for everything regarding organizing my photos.
I have a couple of concerns/questions though...
1) After importing my iPhoto library into the Aperture library as managed masters, I see that I can't actually access the originals/masters inside the Aperture library via Finder. When I right-click on the Aperture Library and choose Show Package Contents in Finder, I see the albums and events, but I do not see any of the actual photos.
This concerns me regarding backups... even if I use the Vault feature in Aperture, I wouldn't have access to the actual masters outside of Aperture. If I want to migrate to a different photo cataloging/editing app later, can this be done?
With iPhoto, I can access the originals when I need to AND they get backed up with Time Capsule or any other system backup.
2) I've read a lot about Aperture's non-destructive editing being a strength... Isn't this the case with iPhoto as well? In Finder, the iPhoto library contains a folder called "Originals" and one called "Modified"... the Original folder contains the masters and the Modified folder contains copies of the masters to which I've applied edits. Wouldn't this be considered non-destructive as well?
3) Given these two above points, I'm considering starting over and importing my iPhoto library in Aperture as referenced files. My two concerns here are this:
a) What are the draw backs, if any, of doing this? Won't I get the same benefits using Aperture with referenced files?
b) If I add new photos to iPhoto after I've imported the library into Aperture as referenced files, I'm assuming they won't show up in Aperture, right? I guess the alternative is to just open up the iPhoto library in Aperture and not import anything... anything I'd be missing here with regards to Aperture's superiority over iPhoto?
Thanks so much for any answers and advice. I appreciate it.
Rick
Message was edited by: rickdeet
Message was edited by: rickdeet

rickdeet
Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
1) After importing my iPhoto library into the Aperture library as managed masters, I see that I can't actually access the originals/masters inside the Aperture library via Finder. When I right-click on the Aperture Library and choose Show Package Contents in Finder, I see the albums and events, but I do not see any of the actual photos.
a: The Library structure of Aperture is quite different. Yes the files are there, but they are inside further packages. Each approject is in itself a further package file, and it contains - among other things - the actual files.
Now this opens several lines of possibilities. 1: I post a lot on the iPhoto forum and I always advise users to use a Managed Library. iPhoto’s abilities with Referenced Libraries are poor. This is not the case with Aperture. It has very strong abilities with Referenced Libraries, so much so that many folks recommend them as default.
That said, if you prefer the managed library, then backing up the Library Package does exactly that. Just like iPhoto, you get everything.
If you want to migrate to a different application, well, frankly the right way to do that is to export the images - same as iPhoto. But that said, if you get inside the Library and then the projects, there are your Original files. Just a single extra layer away.
2) I've read a lot about Aperture's non-destructive editing being a strength... Isn't this the case with iPhoto as well? In Finder, the iPhoto library contains a folder called "Originals" and one called "Modified"... the Original folder contains the masters and the Modified folder contains copies of the masters to which I've applied edits. Wouldn't this be considered non-destructive as well?
Yes and no... Aperture works very differently from iPhoto. As you point out, in iPhoto edits are carried out on a copy of the Original and saved as the Modified version. However, this modified version is a generation down - and therefore more compressed - than the Original. That said, with the Non Destructive feature of iPhoto 08 and later, you’re never more than one generation away from the Original +if you edit in iPhoto only.
Aperture works very differently. There is no Modified Version. When you edit an Original in Aperture your decisions are recorded in the Database and applied to the pic live as you view it. The only time a new file is produced is when you go to use it - email it, print it, whatever...
Given these two above points, I'm considering starting over and importing my iPhoto library in Aperture as referenced files. My two concerns here are this:
a) What are the draw backs, if any, of doing this? Won't I get the same benefits using Aperture with referenced files?
Do you mean “Won’t I get the same benefits using iPhoto with Referenced Files? IF so, the answer is no. And if you ever have to re-attach the masters to a iPhoto Library, then you can set aside the weekend to do a lot of clicking.
There are no drawbacks with using a Referenced Library in Aperture. If the numbers of photos you process are very large there are distinct advantages to doing so - masters stored on multiple disks for instance.
b) If I add new photos to iPhoto after I've imported the library into Aperture as referenced files, I'm assuming they won't show up in Aperture, right? I guess the alternative is to just open up the iPhoto library in Aperture and not import anything... anything I'd be missing here with regards to Aperture's superiority over iPhoto?
Why would you import to iPhoto is you’re using Aperture? A much better workflow would be to import to Aperture and then share the Aperture Previews with iPhoto. But no, the relationship between Aperture and iPhoto is not dynamic. They don’t read each other’s Libraries as they change.
Aperture’s superiority over iPhoto is down to much better file management controls, much better processing tools with more more fine control over them, much better everything to do with processing photos.
iPhoto has better slideshows and it has Calendars.
Regards
TD

ILife Like Aperture Backups?

I have been searching the forums here and elsewhere to get a good answer to the DVD backup issue.
Is there a DVD backup process like iPhoto for Aperture (i.e. it backs up to a DVD, and when you insert the DVD you get a read-only copy in the interface... in iPhoto it works VERY well).
The only two options I see are having individual project "packages" through the "Export Project" function... and save them to DVD... or of course the direct Vault to DVD option should the vault be small enough.
I just dont know of any 3rd party options to make this a bit nicer... and I am sure it will still be a long while before Apple understand and implements a solution.

Been requested as a new function. It ca be done through Automator and Applescript as Aperture is very open to these tools, but it's not baked in. We'd like it to parse across several DVD's (fit to DVD then o to next vs. spanning any individual file) and an indexing function similar to reference images on import.

Aperture backup strategi - file system compatibility

Hi all,
I am beginning to run out of space for a managed library so I'm starting to look for alternatives. Currently I have a managed library, with a vault on another disk on the same computer. This vault is then mirrored to another computer (Linux) via rsync. This seems to work fine.
The solution I'm thinking about it to skip the vault and mirror the library + referenced files directly, while Aperture is not running of course.
The question that arises is whether Aperture does/needs anything "nonstandard" in it's files - resource forks for example. The file names inside the library are a bit weird but within specs for a Unix filesystem so that isn't as problem, but I would hate to have to recover a library and then discover that all the files are "disconnected" because of some minor change that occurred during backup/restore...
Anyone with experience of this (mirroring libraries to a non-Apple filesystem and restoring it)?
PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 GHz, 2GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.8) ATI Radeon 9650

OK,
I actually tried this myself instead. I created a new Library, imported a project into it to get some photos with metadata and versions, etc. The masters were relocated to outside the library. I then copied the library to and from a Linux server with rsync, and moved the masters to the file server as well.
After opening Aperture again and reconnecting the masters, all seemed well.

Aperture backup question

I have been spending the last 3 days migrating from iPhoto to Aperture. I left the 15k photos I had in the iPhoto Library and have referenced them via Aperture. I have spent multiple hours organizing the Projects and Folders in Aperture so I finally have a hierarchy that makes sense. Here are my questions:
1) Should I have moved the Library from iPhoto to Aperture? What are the pro's/cons to that move? I left them in iPhoto because my wife likes that application and I want to make sure she can easily view photos, but will move them to Aperture if it resolves question #2.
2) How do I make sure that if my system crashes I do not have to reorganize all the Projects and Folders again? I back up my iPhoto Library, but how do I make sure my hierarchy is not lost? Will simply backing up the Aperture Library cover me, or do I need to do something else to make sure I do not need to go through this again?

"you will also want to backup the aperture library file as it contains all the "directions" for image adjustment ..."
Does this mean that it will also back up the "structure/hierarchy" even if the photos are in the iPhoto library? I am terrified of losing all the organizational work I have been doing. I am backing up the Aperture Library as part of my back up, but nto sure if it is actually protecting the hierachy since the photos are not in it.
Is SuperDuper that much better than the Apple "Backup" program?

Missing Aperture backup in Time Machine

I had my hard drive crash and when I went to restore from my (quite recent) time machine backup, my Aperture library was 6 months out of date. (other files were backed up correctly) I watched Time machine run and it seemed to copy quite a bit of data, but now it just isn't there. In fact, my Aperture library wasn't backed up 4 consecutive times. Has anyone seen this? Is there a chance that Time Machine stuck the files in a funny place? I'm running Aperture 2.0 and OSX 10.6.8.   I can't find any references to this behavior online.
I found in the time machine .Backup.log the following:
Processing preflight info
        Space needed for this backup: 36.4 GB (9549853 blocks of size 4096)
        Preserving last snapshot /Volumes/Mac Time Machine 2/Backups.backupdb/jamesn79’s MacBook Pro/2011-09-26-222008.inProg\
ress/97779DE0-4BF1-4C82-9C04-E3403DD8CECD
Finished processing preflight info
Copying items from "Macintosh HD" (mount: '/' fsUUID: CC0C6A2D-40B3-39C9-A13A-6A9A4AEBA8E5 eventDBUUID: 719862A1-BE22-4F11-AF30-B\
423A6C7E541)
Finished copying items for "Macintosh HD" (mount: '/' fsUUID: CC0C6A2D-40B3-39C9-A13A-6A9A4AEBA8E5 eventDBUUID: 719862A1-BE22-4F1\
1-AF30-B423A6C7E541)
Time elapsed: 39.445 seconds
        Copied 691 items (58.6 MB)
Gathering events since 93102217.
Needs new backup due to change in /Users/jamesnaegle/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/p02oa9kq.default
Some filesystem changes made during the course of the backup may not be accounted for. Still busy after 2 retries.
Which seems fishy since it calculated it needed to backup some 36 GB but finished in under 40 seconds.
Any ideas? Thanks!
James

System files and applications were excluded from the backups. You can't do a full-system restore. You have to reinstall OS X, reinstall all your third-party software, and restore your user files in the time-travel interface.

Aperture Backup Vault and Library

My main Library of Aperture on my main HD is 120GB and my backup Vault on my external HD is 116GB. Do I want to "replace the contents of my Vault with the contents of my Library"? Unfortunately I also have on my external HD another another OS with a tiny library that is tiny 2 GB, how do I know which library Aperture is talking about? In the Aperture GUI my Vault show only 22GB. Confused, please help. No libraries show up on my GUI Aperture window so what should I do? and why don't the vaults match in size?
I'm on a Mac with Snow Leopard 10.6.4 and Aperture 3.0.3

Hi Joe.
Every Image has a Master. The Master is the file that you imported into the Library. If the Master is stored in the Library, it is a Managed Master. If the Master is not stored in the Library -- it is stored elsewhere on your system -- it is a Referenced Master.
You can easily filter for either. In the Filter HUD, add the Rule "File Status" and select "Managed" or "Referenced" from the drop-down settings.
(Added the following paragraph.)
Thus to find all Images which have Managed Masters, use the above filter on your "Photos" container at the top of the Library tab of the Inspector. To convert them to having Referenced Masters, select them all and execute "File→Relocate Masters".
New Masters created by Aperture when you use the "Edit with {External Editor}" command or the "Edit with Plug-in" command should be stored in whatever Finder folder holds the Master of the Image. IOW, when Images with Referenced Masters are edited with the external editor or a plug-in, the new Master should also be Referenced, and should be located in the same Finder folder as the Master of the Image that was selected for editing. Is your system behaving differently? This is easily checked by using either of the commands and then using "{right click}→Show in Finder".
Message was edited by: Kirby Krieger

Howto restore deleted files/photos from aperture (backup =time machine)

Hi there, I'm following up on a thread I posted under 'time-machine' discussion forum (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12158758#12158758)
Problem: I incidentally deleted some photos that shouldn't have been deleted. I'm using 'time-machine' and wonder how can I restore those images?
As I recall, there is one file (as in database) for aperture that store all photos init. Is there a 'trick' to get yesterday's file and resurrect the lost photos?
Thanks for any pointers.

Adriana
are the files in the Aperture trash?
Do you use the vault feature of Aperture or just Time Machine?
If you only use Time Machine the files will be in there, get back to us on the first couple and if it is only Time Machine some one here can step you through how to retrieve the files.
Tony

Aperture Hanging in Books

I upgraded to Leopard a few weeks ago and was using Time Machine and included Aperture backups while Aperture was running. I've since read that there's a problem with this, so I stopped Time Machine backups of my Aperture Library.
But now, every time I try to edit text on a page of a book, Aperture hangs. If I type 25 characters, for example, it will lag behind... showing one character every 5 MINUTES or so until it catches up with my typing... which would take about two hours for the 25 characters. I have to force quit. I've tried restarting and repairing permissions. No help.
Do I have a corrupt library? If so, what do I do? I have 3 vaults, all created in the last day or two.

Delete Aperture, open App Store > Purchases and download Aperture. This should fix your issue

Can you move the aperture library without losing images?

my library is defaulted to imac..
but can you house it on external drive..I know, yes, as a referenced library.
but I already have some [lots] images in library.
can I move the library and maintain contents?
also..
once you import into library, is the original image in folder it was in before? or it's deleted?
just trying to see what will work best for my needs?
as I sometimes travel/live in 2nd home and just carry external drive
thanks for input/suggestion

Menu>File>Vault
Creating what Ap[erture calls a 'Vault' seems like the easiest way to do it.
Here is the complete Help section on backing up your library.
QUOTE:
As you begin working with Aperture, it’s important to perform regular backups of your photos. Using the Aperture backup system, you can create backups and update them whenever you wish. Aperture tracks your backups and indicates how up to date your most recent backup is. In the rare event of equipment failure or an unforeseen catastrophe such as a fire or weather-related damage, you can easily restore the entire Aperture library onto your computer or a new computer.
You set Aperture to back up a copy of the library to a designated storage area called a vault. For safety and redundancy, use external hard disks to hold your vaults. You can create as many vaults as you deem necessary.
When you back up your photos, Aperture makes a complete copy of the library in its current state. If you remove items from the library, those items are removed from the backup when it is next updated.
All originals for managed images, all versions, and all metadata, previews, and adjustment information associated with your photos are backed up. The versions, previews, and metadata associated with referenced images are also backed up in the vault.
Important: Referenced images’ originals are not backed up in the vault with the library. Because the originals for referenced images are stored outside of the library, you must manage the backup and archiving of them yourself.
A typical backup system used with Aperture might look like the following:
This system backs up the Aperture library to two vaults stored on external hard disks. You routinely back up the library on one external hard disk. You use the second hard disk as a backup that you keep offsite. You can then rotate your onsite external hard disk with the offsite hard disk to keep all your vaults updated.
To set up your Aperture backup system, you need to do the following:
Determine the number of vaults you need. For example, do you need one for routine backups, one for weekly backups, and one for offsite storage?
Determine the number of hard disks you need for routine backups.
Determine the number of hard disks you’ll use for storing backups offsite.
Connect your hard disk drives to your computer.
Open Aperture and create the vaults you need, assigning a hard disk to each vault.
Update the new, empty vaults with copies of the Aperture library.
Disconnect one of the vault hard disks and take it to an offsite location for safekeeping.
When planning the amount of storage space you’ll need, estimate the amount of disk space needed to hold your existing digital images (photos you plan to import into Aperture) and the amount of space you might need for new projects. For example, RAW images typically require 8 to 25 or more megabytes (MB) of disk space per file. Estimating the number of photos in a typical project and the number of projects you usually create in a year, you can make a rough estimate of what might represent a year’s storage space.

What is the best way to consolidate Aperture and iPhoto libraries onto an external drive? I am just starting out and not used to Aperture filing system.

I would like to use the drive as storage/aperture backup rather than use it to back up my whole Macbook. Would like to keep the majority of the photo files on the ext. drive and be able to add files there directly. BUT, when workng in aperture would like to be able to select some from the ext. drive and work them on the laptop directly without having to have the ext drive attached.
So do i, have the aperture library path mapped to the ext drive, and then import the iphoto library? and then how do i add additional from the camera? Or, do i move everything together (imported iphotos and new from camera) in Aperture on the Macbook first, and then transfer that library to the ext drive?
For the life of me I can't figure out how to do this in a way that seems logical. Vaults? Masters on ext drive, versions on the macbook? Consolidating libraries? The endless possible answers are baffling me.
Thanks for any help!

Kirby Krieger wrote:
Hi Shane. Not much in the way of thoughts - - but fwiw:
How is the drive attached?
Can you open large files on the drive with other programs?
Are you running any drive compression or acceleration programs (some drives arrive with these installed)?
Can you reformat the drive and try again?
Hi Kirby,
I attached the UltraMax Plus with a USB cable. The UltraMax powers the cable so power is not an issue. I can open other files. Also, there is 500GB of files on the drive so I cannot re-format it. Although, I noted I could import the entire Aperture Library. However, I do not want to create a duplicate on my machine because that would be defeating the purpose of the external drive.
Thanks,
Shane

Want to swap internal 120GB hard drive with 500GB but retain Aperture Lib

I am still on Aperture 2 but want to upgrade to Aperture 3. Current Aperture lib has grown to over 40GB. My laptop is starting to get generally slower and I feel that I have a lot of HDD fragmentation that I have not resolved yet. My internal HDD is 120GB with only 19GB now available. I do a monthly backup to an external 500GB drive using Time Machine. No other backups performed nor do I do any Aperture backup including vaulting. My laptop is roughly 3 years old.
I have not used any kind of defrag software. I have been reading about iDefrag which gets a lot of praise. But my understanding is that to use it, you need to have a lot of disk free space to copy files to temporarily. Below is what I plan to do and I am asking for opinions as to whether it is practical.
1.) Purchase another 500GB portable external drive.
2.) Divide new drive in 2 partitions; bootable 300GB and 165GB (remainder is used in formatting).
3.) Copy my entire internal 120GB hard drive to bootable 300GB partition as a full system backup.
4.) Start Aperture.
5.) Vault my entire Aperture 2 library to non-bootable 165GB partition.
6.) Stop Aperture.
7.) Have Apple technician swap out internal 120GB drive and replace it with a new 500GB drive.
(Data will not be copied from old drive to new drive by Apple tech.).
8.) Boot the reconfigured laptop from the 300GB external drive.
Q1.) Is it possible to boot from an external drive with no data on the internal drive?
9.) If yes, copy the 300GB drive to the new internal 500GB drive. (Maybe format 500GB first?)
Q2.) Will the copy put in place all previous software e.g. Aperture, etc. on new drive.
Q3.) Will I be able to start Aperture and retrieve images without accessing 165GB partition?
Q4.) If I can not access my Aperture library images after the copy, can I restore the library
from the vault operation in step 5?
10.) Upgrade to Aperture 3.

Hi metoymi;
Personally I don't like your plan. Even with two partition on a single drive all of your eggs are in a single basket. The most like disk problem is disk failure which will wipe out both partition on the single drive.
I know it is more to carry but I would suggest that you at least consider putting the old drive in a portable shell and using that for your vault instead. At least that way a disk failure is only wipe out half of your data.
Allan

Error Message - "Aperture cannot access this library"

I'm using OS 10.5.7 and Aperture 2.1.3. I recently had an error message pop-up when I try to start Aperture that says, "Aperture cannot access this library. To use this library, make sure its file permissions are set correctly." Unfortunately, I can't seem to open up my library. Any ideas how to fix this or what is wrong? Thanks

Hello,
attached I would like to report how the problem solved.
1. I had 63 Minute Call to Apple Support and we are tring some things. Finally I Spend spend 1 day for testing.
2. Testing procedure:
A) I exported each project step by step
B) Than I deleted all appr. 50 projects in Aperture Library.
C) After that I Imported each project to Aperture back.
Result: 2 Project was corrupted, one of it was going well after export/import procedure how ever but the second ones error was constant appearing if I try to import it. The project consisting of 512 jpg files in total appr. 500MB.
The solution for this project:
I moved this jpg´s to waste bin und imported it from waste bin to Aperture again into a new project. Than I tested it again(Export/import) and it was fine.
For final check I delete my Aperture backup und start a new one.
Than start a compleate restoring from that last backup.
Every thing was fine, all project include albums or books are ok.
The pictures in the corrupted project was not imported by Aperture, they was created on a PC system(XP). Maybe that was the reason for the problem.
A friend sad, that windows use not the agreed standard for jpg´s.
I don´t know. So I´m happy all my books are back that is imported for a wedding photographer.
Have fun
bernhard66

Aperture backups

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