Aperture Library is full

My Aperture Library is full and I have just bought a G Drive. What is the correct way of making sure I am transferring all my photos to this external drive and creating space on my MacPro?
Many Thanks

Then you have a Managed Library.
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit Aperture
2. Copy the Aperture Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching Aperture. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

I was getting messages that my Aperture Library was full, so I updated to Aperture 5.3.1. When I open it, I'm asked to update my library. When I select that option, I'm told that my library is full. Now I can't access my library at all. What should I do t

Hi all,
I was getting messages that my Aperture Library was full, so made an appointment at my closest Mac store, but have to wait 2 days. They advise you to update saoftware before coming in, so I updated to Aperture 5.3.1. When I open it, I'm asked to update my library. When I select that option, I'm told that my library is full. Now I can't access my library at all. What should I do to access my library? Do I have to uninstall 5.3.1 and reinstall an older version?
Another problem I have recently encountered ... all the up and down scrollers on various screens have disappeared. They reappear fleetingly when I use my up and down arrowa, but I can't always catch them. How do I get my scrollers back?

Thank you so much for your patient guidance and screen captures.
You are welcome.
My external hard drive is properly formatted for Aperture, so I am currently copying my Aperture library to it. That will take hours since it is copying 101 GB.
o.k.
I understand that I need to clean some space on my internal hard drive and reformat the Aperture library to get back in operation.
You need to upgrade the Aperture library to be used with Aperture 3.5.1. That will happen automatically, when you first double click the copied lirary to open it in Aperture.
I'll also need to back up my external drive with a new external drive if I make space on my internal drive by removing some photos from there and store them on my current external drive.
What do you use for backup? If you are using TimeMachine it is better to have only the Time Machine backup on the Time Machine drive . In that case would I put the Aperture library and other data on a new drive and keep the old drive for backup.

Aperture library volume full

I have received this message "there is not enough free space on your aperture library to import selected items" I do not know wwhy there is not enough space when I have the library on a separate hard drive in the computer. Please help.

I had one occurrence on my Quad, but under 1.0.1/10.4.5 as I recall.
I emptied the Trash, and then I ran Disk Utility/Repair Permissions and some permissions were reset. The problem has not recurred. So, unknown if it was coincidental, whether closing Aperture and reopening was the solution. However, I now routinely run Disk Utility/Repair which mostly gives me a thumbs up, but occasionally does reset a/some permissions.
The Quad is 2x500Gb in a RAID 0 configured as two spanned partitions. Aperture's library was on the Alpha partition, was 145Gb in size and which had around 200Gb of free space. Vault was on a 300Gb external firewire drice.

What is the best way to move an aperture library from one full drive to an external drive?

Just want to make sure I move my existing Aperture library on my internal drive (which is full) correctly to an external drive that has plenty of space.
Thanks for the help!

As I use a MBP with limited internal drive space, my approach is to have the image files on an external drive, while leaving the library itself on my internal drive. The library takes up about 80GB while the images are closer to 1TB.
The library always contains 'Thumbnails' of the images which it shows in place of the disconnected image files.
This means I can still open the library even when the external drive is not attached, and I can still do keywording and rating and organising and so on.
I also maintain 'Previews' for my best images. Previews are like thumbnails but larger in size and can be shared with other apps, so I can still use and share these copies of the images, again even while the external drive is not attached.
I don't like the idea of having the actual library on an external drive connected to a laptop (although I have done so from time to time without issue). There's always a chance it can become accidentially disconnected (kids, pets, etc) and if this happens while using Aperture it can corrupt your library. A corrupted library can be repaired with Apertures first aid tools, but it's better to avoid it in the frist place when you can.

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

You'll get better performance if you use a Firewire hard drive (especially if you buy a 7200 RPM drive). Firewire's IO speed is significantly faster than USB 2. USB 2 has a theoretical max speed of 480 Mbps except that it has extremely high over-head. The fastest speeds you can typically get are about 300 Mbps. Firewire, on the other hand, has very little overhead. The fastest speeds you can get are very nearly 800 Mbps. You will typically be constrained by the maximum read/write speed of the drive, not the speed of the I/O on the Firewire bus. Now if you had one of those nice shiny new Macs with the Thunderbolt I/O and a Thunderbolt drive (Light Peak) ... I think they alter space and time so that your data arrives before you know you want it.
Also... unless you want to buy a solid state drive (very expensive), try to keep your hard drives from becoming much more than about 60% full if you want great performance. A nearly "full" hard drive is, on average, only about half as fast as the same hard drive when nearly empty.
USB 2 will work perfectly fine... just not as fast.
Also... it's much safer to move the entire Aperture library than to "relocate masters". Your images must be managed. You can Aperture manage them, or you can manage them. But someone has to manage them. If you "relocate" them so that they are no longer stored inside the Aperture library then you'll need to work out a system of how you decide to organize things and it's critically important that you don't start moving files around or deleting things without Aperture's knowledge. If you do, you'll break the links to your masters and start having problems with missing masters. If you have Aperture manage the library then you don't need to worry about any of that stuff.... it's safer.
Do make backups (use the Aperture Vault or use some other backup program, but make sure you back up your work if you care about it.) There are only two kinds of hard drives in the world: (1) those that have failed and (2) those that are going to fail. There are no exceptions to this rule. Hard drives are cheap. Backup software is built into Aperture and into your Mac.

Aperture 3 stated library was full

Been using Aperture 3 about a year. On vacation and loading picture I've been taking. I just tried to load some pictures and it said the library was full. After a power off/on, I can no longer run Aperture 3. It looks like it is launching, says it is loading the library, then just quits with no errors. I have 28G free on my internal drive (Mac Book Pro, 512G SSD, 8G ram). System is one year old.

Don't look up "done". I was using that to refer to Images that you are unlikely to be applying further adjustments to. The major differences between Images with Managed Masters vs. Images with Referenced Masters is that with the latter your Masters must be on-line in order to apply Adjustments or export Versions (though you can still export the Previews).
My workflow includes converting from Managed to Referenced the Masters of Images older than 45 days. 45 days is about as long as I am likely to need a Master with me on my MPB, which is my main computer. All the Referenced Masters are stored on a 1 TB external drive at my studio.
Such a set-up may be of use to you. Though the particulars will depend on your workflow, I'm comfortable strongly recommending that you familiarize yourself with the use of Referenced Masters and begin to migrate some of your Image's Masters to an external drive.

Aperture Library Full

I'm getting the following message when trying to import images (into Aperture3) from a folder on my desktop:
"There is not enough free space on your Aperture Library volume to import the selected items. It is estimated that you need at least 241MB of free space."
I'm not very Apreture savy, but I have tried the following:
Tried setting the "Store Files" to "in the Aperature Library" "in current location" and a folder on my desktop setting. All render the same message noted above
Deleted my Aperture Library folder; started Aperture to create a new library folder; got the same message noted above.
Checked my HD space avaiable, it has over 1TB remaining
Check Library size in Finder under home/Pictures/Aperture Library it indicates no size for the library
Any ideas?
Stu

Lex/John:
Thank you for your guidance. It allowed me to fomulate the correct search phrase and stumple upon this proceedure which, although from the Aperture2 manual, also worked in Aperture3:
To change the location of a library file:
1 Quit Aperture.
2 Locate the Aperture Library file in the Pictures folder on your hard disk and move it to the new location in a different folder or on a different hard disk.
3 Open Aperture and choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-Comma (,).
4 Click General in the Preferences window, if necessary.
5 Click Choose under the Library Location option.
6 Navigate to the new location of the library, select it, and click Select.
7 Quit Aperture and then reopen it.
When you reopen Aperture, it accesses the library in the new location.
found it here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=25265.0
Stu

Backing up and Restoring a large Aperture library

One of our departments is looking to backup their Aperture library (170 Gb and growing). They would like to do an initial backup of everything, and then incrementally from that point. We tried using Retrospect it backed up fine although it took about 30 hours to do it, but when we tested the restore after the full back up a good portion of the photos were inaccessible.
We then backed up a small portion of the library and then tried a restore and all the photos are there.
Any suggestions?
Does Vault allow for incremental backups?
Thank for any help
Denny

I simply copy Aperture Library file (approximately 76 Gb) on an external Hard disk (FW800).
Time of copying approximately 1 hour.
Thus backup copy works perfectly. I have one more Mac and Aperture (MacBook). I once a week copy Aperture Library file on MacBook, it as reserve working station for me, and also on some photos session I take MacBook with myself. Aperture (witch backup library from iMac) works on it fine.

Having trouble backing up Aperture Library to an external hard drive

I'm using a brand new 27" imac and simply trying to back up my Aperture Library from my finder menu to my external drive. My Aperture Library currently is about 65gb. The file starts transferring (takes about an hour), and about 2/3 of the way through it, I get an error message that states "The operation can’t be completed because an item with the name “Aperture Library” already exists." The operation stops, and the file size of my Aperture Library on my external drive ends up about 45mb approx, only partially transferred, so not a full backup. Happens every time. I have deleted everything and reformatted my external drive and still get the same message. When I try to create a vault and back it up on my external drive, I get an immediate error that states "The new vault could not be created because the file system of the destination volume is unsupported". Any ideas how to address this? All I really want to do is have an off-site backup of my full Aperture library.

You will have this problem using that format, the Library needs to be on a disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You can reformat the drive. Or you could try creating a disk image formatted correctly and putting the library on that, then storing that on the MS format drive.
Regards
TD

New to Aperture - Library vs Reference files

I'm coming to Aperture from Picasa, which replicated and managed my folder structure as it appeared on my hard-disc, which was nice.
Am I better off importing images into my Aperture Library, or managing the folder structure how I want and just having Aperture work with the reference files?
I'm not a pro-photographer, just a pretty basic user, so will not have loads of large raw image files. What's the benefit of using the Library over using Reference files? I've tried Google-ing but everything I've found just addresses folder/project management within Aperture.
If I use the reference option, can Aperture manage my photos on my hard-drive in the same way Picasa could (ie if I moved a photo from one folder to another in Picasa, it also moved on my drive)
Thanks

Hi TxH,
Welcome to the user-supported Aperture discussion group.
I'm coming to Aperture from Picasa, which replicated and managed my folder structure as it appeared on my hard-disc, which was nice.
If you use Aperture for even a little while, you'll realize that the structure of your photos in your hard drive is not as important as how you organize them in Aperture, especially when you start making albums, which merely contain a pointer to the image in your library. You can have a picture in many albums, but your library (and therefore hard drive) only contains it once.
Am I better off importing images into my Aperture Library, or managing the folder structure how I want and just having Aperture work with the reference files?
That's a matter of opinion. Some people are very opinionated that using referenced files is the only way to go, some are opinionated the other way. Sometimes there really is a better solution for you depending on what you are doing.
What's the benefit of using the Library over using Reference files? I
You will find loads of conversation if you search this discussion group for "managed" and "referenced".
You will always have a library. Your managed pictures will live in the library and you won't have direct access to them through Finder (and you should not want direct access to them for the most part). Your referenced pictures live wherever you tell Aperture to take them from, but the bookkeeping parts of the Aperture library/database are still stored in the Aperture library package.
Benefits of managed include: you don't worry about where the files are; Aperture backs them up if you use its vaults; they are always with you.
Benefits of referenced include: you know exactly where the files are; your Aperture library is significantly smaller than if all your photos were in the library; you can find them with Finder if that's important to you (and a lot of people think it's important to them but then realize they only think that because they're really not using Aperture to its full potential).
If I use the reference option, can Aperture manage my photos on my hard-drive in the same way Picasa could (ie if I moved a photo from one folder to another in Picasa, it also moved on my drive)
Yes. I've never used Picasa, but Aperture allows you to "relocate" your photos in order to manage their external directory structure. You can also choose to "relocate" a managed master to make it referenced.
nathan

Restoring aperture library from an external hard drive?

I have a major issue with my aperture library. It crashed completely and it turns out that the back up I have on my time machine was corrupted because of a hard disk error. I found this out after buying a new mac and while trying to migrate the old library to the new mac. I kept getting error message -36.
The situation is now as follows:
- I have the full Aperture library on an external hard disk that I recovered from my crashed mac
- I can acces and copy the indivial pictures via the master folder, but cannot copy the entire library. If I try this it give me an error (-36)
- I can see the individual photo files via (click, 'view content'), and can copy them in groups, but not as a whole. It turns out that If I try to copy the master folder, there are some corrupt images there and the copy exercise then quits automatically. It does not allow me to delete the corrupt images.
- when i try to restore the the library via aperture (so opening it with aperture) it keeps saying that my 'permissions' are not set correctly.
Does anyone have an idea to copy the library (24gb worth of photos) without having to go in and copy group by group eliminating the corrupt files?
There must be some way to rebuild the library on my new mac, from the hard disk, as I can see and access the individual pictures?
Thanks!
Alco
- My old mac ran on Snow Leopard.

+the problem is this, almost every time i start my imac, launch itunes and then play a track purchased from an old itunes account, it keeps asking me to authorize that account. even though i have had previous macs containing itunes content on this old account, it has always played with no issues at all. now then... to try and remedy this, i first of all uninstalled itunes COMPLETELY and reinstalled. this seemed to do the trick but after a few days, it all started again.+
Did you unauthorize your old Mac and authorize this one? You only get a maximum of 5 machines, so maybe you're past that or haven't authorized the new one - to do that, open iTunes, click on Store in Menu. Now, there should be two options: authorize or de-authorize this computer. Click on authorize and report back with whatever message you get.
+on to my second issue, Aperture. the app works fine except, like itunes it constantly asks me to enter the serial number from the box. please note that this is a legitimate copy purchased from the apple online store and i used it for about a year on my old macbook pro with only having to enter the serial during the initial installation.+
The Aperture SLA states that you can install it on two computers - a desktop and a laptop. I don't know if there is any protection embedded in the DVD (if you've already had it installed twice), but if the issue persists, I'd contact the Apple store (since you said that is where you bought it) and ask - or, if you're covered by warranty, simply call Apple. Or, if not, make an appointment at your nearest Genius Bar and get answers there. It is perfectly legal to install it again as long as it no longer exists on the old machine - and I don't think it has anything to do with hardware, sounds more like a glitch. Oh, and have you tried to install it fresh, enter the serial, open it to see if it works and then copy over the library?

Can I slim down the size of the Aperture Library by moving the Preview files elsewhere?

Hi all,
I have an Aperture library of almost 20,000 photos, dating back to around 2007. Almost all the master images are stored on an external drive (backed up of course), with only my recent and 'in progress' masters being stored in the library itself. Previously I have had my library split up into one library for each year, with the older years libraries being stored on the external drive where the masters are, in order to keep the size of my 'current' library down. So my current library, stored on my internal SSD, contained only photos from this year and last year, and only a few of the masters for these images. Confusing? Sorry!
Now, I recently decided to consolidate the libraries into one huge library, because it was annoying to have to switch between libraries to find older photos when I wanted them. I did this, leaving all but the recent masters on the external drives (referenced). I thought that the size of the main library would remain reasonably sized, since there were no extra masters being moved into it. However, the library has grown massively - up to over 70GB, which is huge when you consider it's on a 128GB SSD which is also my startup drive.
I'm pretty certain the reason for the huge size increase is that the Previews for all the older images are stored in the Library file, rather than anywhere else. This makes sense - they are previews, they're supposed to be able to be viewed with the external drives disconnected. So my question is this. Am I able to change the location of the preview files to be on my OTHER internal hard drive (non-SSD, much larger), so that they're still available without the external drives, but are not cluttering up my startup drive. And, if not, what should I do!?
Thanks a lot

Glad it worked, but permit, if you will, some observations:
-- Bloated Previews are a known Aperture bug, which came and went within a few updates in Aperture 3. Getting them back to the proper size is simply a elegant step to take.
-- A Preview set to your largest screen size and a quality of 6-8 should be all but indistinguishable from the Master at 72-100 dpi screen image. (Not print resolution.) I REALLY doubt you are going to loose any quality.
-- While using a symlink to stick the Previews on a HD is clever, it may also defeat the whole purpose of using your SSD. Previews are read a lot and are, I suspect, used for all adjustments at less than full resolution. (N.B. I could be VERY wrong on this.) Thus, depending on the amount of RAM on your Mac, you could end up reading and rereading your Previews over a slower link and doing this a lot. You own use will quickly determine if this is an issue or not.
I have blathered on, at length, about what I think matters for size and speed here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/17959625#17959625. Some of this may be of use.
I went through a lot of these issues when I tried to fit everything on a 128 GB SSD, so I know some of the issues you are facing. As I noted before, you really only need a Library (minus most Masters) of about 30 GB and that is with large, high quality Previews.
I actually took the SSD out and stuck it in an ancient MacBookPro (in preparation for a trip to Blighty this summer) and have not noticed a huge drop in Aperture speed. (I do miss the speed of applications launch, restart, however.) One thing that I did find that made a small, but nice difference, was keeping all of the Masters on a separate, dedicated drive. Once defragged, etc. that was very fast. Don't know if you could achieve the same results by partitioning a larger drive, but it might well be fun to find out.
DiploStrat

How to use iMovie with Aperture Library from an external drive?

Hey,
Some problems:
1. My first video, I stored the project on my own laptop and used the library from the HD. This seems to give some problems, but I now figured out I have to consolidate the media etc. so now my files don't get missing after unplugging the harddrive. I figured it would be a better idea to make all new projects on the HD, so I have everything in place all the time. BUT. look at the picture: there seems to be something wrong with the way iMovie recognizes the aperture library: i'ts not listed in the events library under the HardDisk (named Passport) but under my own drive... ??? (+ I don't understand the idea of events when I have my aperture library: Do I need to make events for all projects I make? how is this possible when the library is not in the correct position?)
2. I made a movie, but I'm unable to export a large/high quality version of this project. That's why I want to move my project to the HD and then open it on my partners Mac Book Pro to make a good export. Unfortunately, his macbook doesn't recognize the files and the files can't be opened in iMovie... (files stay gray and unclickable)
To sum it all up:
I want the best way to work with this set-up: mac book air, external drive with all my files and iMovie. And I want to be able to open the project on a different computer to make high quality exports.

First thing that comes up with videos in your 'picture' library is the videos are always under the full control of the picture library program. Which means Aperture is the keeper and master, and it decides what will be displayed in iMovie's Event Library. If Aperture is having difficulties sometimes it cannot or will not display the videos you are storing there.
Right now, I think the problem is your Aperture Library is on the internal Mac HD, not the external. You would have to move Aperture's Library to the external HD (along with all the pictures and videos). Then try to add the videos back into a project.
In extreme cases I have recommended moving the videos out of the picture library and re-importing them into iMovie Event folders to let iMovie manage it.

I am in Aperture 3, editing from raw, getting bouncing ball every few edits. i created a new aperture library to see if this would help. it does not. i have to force quit to keep working. I shoot alot as my work.. this is making the process take lon

I am in Aperture 3, editing from RAW, i get a beachball every 5 or so edits, so have to force quit to keep working.
I created a new aperture library to see if that would remedy the situation.. it does not.
Very time consuming.. can anyone help? ami doing something wrong? looked for software updates on my computer and did not fine any for aperture.
any ideas? Thank you

How much RAM, how full is the hard drive, and what computer? 8 GB RAM is recommended, and I also recommend that you do not upgrade to OS 10.7 Lion at this time.
HTH
-Allen

How do I see my pictures that are in my aperture library in finder? I would like I be able to select photos in finder when I am making photo books online without having to export them first from aperture jinto a new folder. Is there any way to view

How do I see my pictures that are in my aperture library in finder? I would like I be able to select photos in finder when I am making photo books online without having to export them first from aperture jinto a new folder. Is there any way to view and download my pictures directly from finder?

SamanthaR22 wrote:
How do I see my pictures that are in my aperture library in finder? I would like I be able to select photos in finder when I am making photo books online without having to export them first from aperture jinto a new folder. Is there any way to view and download my pictures directly from finder? [Emphasis added.]
The digitization of data has introduced a complexity to our interactions with it that we continue to struggle with. "Picture" and "Photo" now mean different things in different contexts. In this case (and in general) defining our terms clearly is the first step towards understanding what we are trying to do. Understanding is the path that allows us to do it.
All pedantic, but please stick with me here .
You record a set of instantaneous data with a camera.
That data is processed by your camera and saved to a file.
The file format is usually either RAW or JPG.
You transfer those files to your computer, and you import them into the program Aperture (often in one operation).
From each camera-file imported, Aperture creates a record in its database (called, imho unhelpfully, a Library) and an Image that you see in the Aperture Browser and Viewer.
Aperture links the Image and the imported file.
The imported file is called, within Aperture, an Original.
Every Image has an Original.
The Image is not the Original. The Image is what you see in Aperture.
The Original is a file that is stored on your computer.
You can make changes to an Image.
Aperture calls these changes Adjustments.
Adjustments are saved to another file attached to the record in the database. Let's call this file the Changes File.
Aperture uses these two files attached to the record in the database to create the Image.
Image = Original + Changes File.
The Image is not a file.
Because the Image is not a file, it cannot be shared with other programs. It exists only inside of Aperture.
In order to share an Image with another program, you must first create a file of the Image.
You do this by exporting Images ("File ▹ Export ▹ Version" is the command in Aperture; should be, imho, "File ▹ Export ▹ Image").
You may ask, "Why all the complexity? Why doesn't Aperture save Images as files?" The answer is simple: Images can require less — and in many cases very very much less — storage space than files of Images. Rather than save a full-size file for every Image, Aperture saves only instructions on how to make that full-size file. The gain in storage efficiency is huge. The trade-off is that although your Images are always available to be made into share-able files, you must create those files when needed (which you do by exporting selected Images).
Here is your question reworded with more precise terms:
SamanthaR22 might have written:
How do I access Images in my Aperture Library in the Finder? I would like I be able to select files in the Finder when I am making photo books online without having to create them by exporting Images from Aperture into a new Finder folder. Is there any way to view and download my Images directly from the Finder?
No, there is not. Images exist only in Aperture, and are not accessible for use in other programs. You must create, for each Image in your Aperture Library, a new file outside of your Aperture Library in order to use it with another program.
Aperture does allow you to create and save within your Library share-able files of your Images. These files are called Previews. You specify the file parameters in Aperture Preferences on the Previews tab. These files are available to other programs via the OS X Media Browser. These files are what you get when you drag selected Images out of the Aperture program and drop them on another program or on your desktop (which is part of the Finder).
HTH.
—Kirby.

Aperture Library is full

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