Aperture Question: No Masters

Hi,
I'm hoping someone here can assist.
It seems I don't have the masters of a lot of my photos that I am able to see when I launch Aperture. I'm hoping I can still use the photos, since I can visually see them on the screen, just not the masters. Yet everything I try to do I get the response that I'm unable to complete that without the masters.
Is there a solution?
It seems like the originals were deleted
Thanks!

If the masters are truely missing you will be limited in what you can do. What you are seeing in Aperture are the previews Aperture created of the masters.
You canot do any adjustments or export the images if the masters are missing. You can drag the previews out of Aperture. This will give you a jpg file the quality of which will depend on how the preview settings were when the preview was created.
How were the originals deleted? How about backups? It is possible that the missing masters might still be found on your system, if you supply more information on what happened we might be able to help you get them back.
good luck

Similar Messages

Aperture/iphoto missing masters

I'm praying that someone can help me. I use iPhoto and Aperture both. I have about a 60GB library that hold approaximately 22,000 images. I run my programs on the OSX Drive which is an 128GB SSD and I store the photos on a separate internal 750GB 7200 drive.
The problem recentlty is that about 12,000 masters appear to be missing. In the browser view in Aperture I get the little yellow triangle with with the exclamation point inside. Most of the missing master appear to be from 2009 and earlier but I do have some masters from they period 2000-2010.
If I click on the "show package contents" of the library folder and go to the master folder the only years that are showing is 2011, 2012 and 2013. Nothing from all prior years despite the fact that I can see the preview, high quality in almost full screen in Aperture.
WHAT I DID NOTICE is that if I look at photos from 2010 in Aperture that HAVE the master available, the bottom bar of the photo when I click on it says "From MobileMe". If I click on one with the master missing (the little yellow triangle) it says "iPhoto Original".
All I know is that I want my master's back. They are almosty ALL photos of of my kids.Can anyone help? I've tried all rebuild/repair options in iPhoto and Aperture. I'm almost certain I didn't delete the masters. I don;t have a time machine backup. I did have other backups of the library but when I go to those, I have the sam issue, tons of missing masters even in the backup.
I'm worried that I am totally screwed and I'm heartbroken. I can still see the photos which is what I don;t get. I guess in the worst case I can go through and do shift-cmd-4 and take screen captures of any critical photos.
I'm wondering if someone can help me. Is there some way to batch reproduce the masters from the data that I do have? It's not just a thumbnail---it's a high quality image. Have I some how created versions and deleted orginals? Can someone--anyone help me?

Lots of questions here. Mac version 10.8.2 Aperture Version 3.4.3. I previously used iPhoto so that library existed first. THen I switched to Aperture. The only surviving library is the one with the missing masters. It's been a while but I believe that this was the original iPhoto library and when Apple gave us the capability to interchangably use the library in Aperture or iPhoto, I just began to use this library principally in Aperture. In other words I just opened Aperture and pointed it to the old iPhoto library.
Some of the missing images were published on Mobile Me (yes I have those masters). I don;t still have a copy of iDisk but the photos would not ALL be there anyway. I am missing about 13,000 masters--almost all the "old" photos that existed in the original iPhoto Library.
I've tried locating the referenced file to no avail. I can't see the master in the lower pane.
If you cannot find the master image files anywhere on your Mac, but still see the images in Aperture's browser, you can at least save the previews of your images - just drag the image versions in question from Aperture's browser to a folder on your Desktop. That will save jpeg files of your images. These will not have the original quality of the master image files, however.
Regarding this method---yes that is what I've done and re-imported the files (about 25,000) into a brand new library but I am missing the high quality versions of the 13,000 masters. What's REALLY interesting here is that this new library (a blend of about 50/50 high quality images and the lower quality images that don;t have masters) is about 30GB. The library that is showing the missing masters with the arching arrow and the yellow triangle with the exclamation point is more than 60GB. This would SEEM to indicate that the masters of all 25,000 images are there somewhere!!
Thanks for taking the time to help me. I really want to recover these things.

IPhoto to Aperture Questions

I currently have over 17,000 photos in iPhoto. I really need something more to organize my photos. I have downloaded the trial version of Aperture and have imported my iPhoto library (referenced).
What are the advantages/disadvantages of referenced vs managed? I imported mine as referenced but I am thinking that I should import them as managed and then delete the iPhoto library once I get Aperture up and running. I would then use Aperture for my photo management and abandon iPhoto.
Other wise if I leave the photos in Aperture as referenced, can I use iPhoto and Aperture? example; if I import photos from my camera into iPhoto; do I then have to import them into Aperture? Picaso, I believe, scans the photo library for new photos; does Aperture do this so that I can use both?
Thanks Gary

Hello Gary,
Managed and referenced Libraries both have their advantages:
The big advantage of a managed library is that to the finder it is just one single archive folder, that easily can be copied or moved. And you do not have to keep track of your master image files, Aperture will do that for you. A managed library is perfect, as long as you do not run out of disk space on your drive.
The advantage of a referenced library is, that you can separate the master files from the Aperture library and you can move them to an external drive, when your Aperture Library gets to big to be kept on the internal drive. However, that makes the master file accessible by the Finder, and you might be tempted to proccess them outside Aperture without going thru Aperture. This way, you can easily corrupt your Aperture LIbrary.
You were asking, if you can share your iPhoto images with Aperture by leaving them inside iPhoto:
That will be risky on the long run. You can store the master files in iPhoto, but that would be pointless, for you must not process or edit or modify the Aperture masters in any other way then by going thru Aperture. Otherwise Aperture will loose the connection between the master files and the edited versions of the masters.
If you still want to keep some images in iPhoto, you can use the iPhoto Browser in Aperture to read your iPhoto Library, and to import recently added images, but adding images to iPhoto will not automatically add them to your Aperture Library.
If you still have questions, go ahead and ask more. I am sure, others will add to this post.
Regards
Léonie

A few Newbie Aperture questions - Help much appreciated!

Hi All,
I have just purchased Aperture and only played with it for a few hours - I'm really stunned with how great it works (especially for the price).
I got a 550d for Christmas and I wanted to take my photos to the next level there are a couple of behavioural questions I'd like cleared up if possible!
1. When I import files from my Camera I use Image capture, import them to a folder on my NAS drive and then import the ones I want to edit/keep into Aperture, Am I right in assuming that Aperture keeps these files in it's library and I do not need to keep the originals on the NAS drive?
2. Aperture is an editing / image browsing application, when I edit a photo how can I view the original version? How does Aperture store the file as two photos or one big file? - I ask because I had edited a photo and wanted to email the Original and the edited version to a friend so he could check them out, I used the email button but I could only get it to mail the edited version. Even when I pressed 'M' to show master and clicked mail it still attached the edited version. The work around I had was to remove all edits and click mail and then just redo them - but it would be nicer to be able to share originals and edited photos, I understand for browsing though having Aperture show you're edited photos only is enough.
3. Regarding Photosteam (I have an iPad which it's cool for) - When I import items do they go straight onto Photostream? Can I import items and later selectively add to photostream? and finally If I take a picture with my iPad it shows up in photostream but if I save an image from Safari or mail on the iPad does it also go to photostream?
4. When I edit a photo does the edited changes get reflected on photostream?
5. When I edit a photo do I have to save it? I seem to be able to just edit and close Aperture and my edits are auto saved? I assume you can't mess up an Original photo because you can always undo the non destructive edits, but can you undo the edits and exit Aperture and then later redo the edits on the same photo - does it keep a history of edits?
Thanks a million for all the help,
Regards,
John

You've made a good start!
Am I right in assuming that Aperture keeps these files in it's library and I do not need to keep the originals on the NAS drive?
Yes. On import, unless you tell it otherwise, Aperture copies the file into the Library. It is then called a "Master". Aperture features non-destructive editing: your Masters are _never_ altered. Keeping your Masters on NAS is not supported. Don't forget to back-up.
Aperture is an editing / image browsing application, when I edit a photo how can I view the original version?
"m" toggle the view from Master to Version. You can easily create a new Version from the Master, and view your original and your adjusted Version side-by-side. Many novices do this, but gradually abandon the practice and just use the "m" toggle as needed.
How does Aperture store the file as two photos or one big file?
It's a bit tricky. Aperture stores the Master and never alters it. Aperture creates a _text_ file of instructions on how to alter the Master. This text file is called a "Version". What you see is an Image created on-the-fly by applying the instructions in the Version to the Master. It is only when you need a share-able image-format file that you create one by exporting the Image.
it would be nicer to be able to share originals and edited photos
Use "File→Export→Master" to make a copy of your original to email.
Photosteam
Don't know.
When I edit a photo do I have to save it? I seem to be able to just edit and close Aperture and my edits are auto saved?
Don't worry about "Save" in Aperture. Aperture is a database. Databases automatically save all changes. You do not save adjustments you make in Aperture. There is no "Save" function.
I assume you can't mess up an Original photo because you can always undo the non destructive edits, but can you undo the edits and exit Aperture and then later redo the edits on the same photo - does it keep a history of edits?
(Edits in Aperture are called "Adjustments".) Aperture always applies your adjustments in a fixed order. This order is shown in the order of the Adjustment Bricks on the Adjustments tab of the Inspector. You can turn any Adjustment on or off by checking the box at the top left of the Brick (one of the reasons I keep my Inspector to the right of my Viewer/Browser is to have these more readily accessed). You can alter the settings of any Adjustment at any time. The Bricks on the Inspector _are_ your history. Since they are always applied in a fixed order, there is no reason to keep a list of the Adjustments you make in the order you make them.
You can collapse or expand each Brick, and you can collapse all of them by "{Option}+clicking" one of the disclosure triangles. You can add or remove Bricks from your default set. Any time you use a Quick Brush, a Brick is added (or activated).
(Added) Screenshot of my current default Adjustment Bricks:
Good luck. It's a fabulous program.
Message was edited by: Kirby Krieger -- typos, small clarification, screenshot added.

Trying to rebuild aperture library using Masters

I have been having a problem with my photos for months now. Some have disapered and some have just gone crorupt. Made an appointment at the genuis bar and they told me i need to rebuild the library using the masters file on my back up drive. I attempted to do this and all it does is keeps on crashing. Does anyone have any tips as it is now doing my head in

then go in to my external hard drive and find the masters folder.
Is that a Time Machine backup or a copy of your Aperture library? Or a folder with the original master files?
If it is a Time Machine backup, did you restore the "Masters" folder from your backup or drag it over? A TimeMachine backup needs to be restored.
I have managed to import some photos into a newly created library but would like to get all my photos back.
I have then left it to move the Photos but nothing seems to happen and when you right click on the aperture icon on the desk top it says appliction not responing and has an option to force to quit.
This looks like something in the Masters folder cannot be processed.
If you have enough space on you internal drive, create two new Aperture libraries - one for testing and one as the final version.
Open the test version in iPhoto, if you have iPhoto, and the final version in Aperture, so you can have bth libraries open at the same time.
Import only small sets of images at once, 100 images or so.
First import the 100 images into the test library in iphoto, and if that succeeds without hanging, import them into your Aperture library.
Continue to test this way. If iPhoto starts to hang, try to identify the image or video that cannot be processed, and remove it.

Aperture 3 Referenced Masters on a Network Drive

I purchased a Synology Disk Station as my network attached storage solution. I was hoping to have my iTunes media and my Aperture referenced masters on the RAID-enabled network drives. I have had nothing but trouble with iTunes referencing media (extremely slow) so I gave up. Now I am attempting to relocate the Aperture masters to the network drive. According to this article, http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3252 I should definitely not be moving my images to the network drive, as the drive must be formatted as Mac OS Extended, but the Synology Disk Station volumes must be formatted as FAT32. Meanwhile, I did try to relocate some images. One problem I have is that if another user logs in to my iMac before me and mounts the network volume named Sally, when I log in and mount the network volume, the volume name is not the same, it is Sally-1, and Aperture cannot find the referenced masters! I imagine this would happen with any network drive when multiple users are logged into the Imac.
It seems like I have a gigantic network brick that I may be able to use as a glorified Time Machine backup drive, or is there something I can do about this? How does one have networked Mac OS drives? Connecting a drive to an Airport Extreme the only way?

Re iPhoto on a NAS:
Still trying to solve this.
iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos. Simply a NAS is not a suitable home for an iPhoto Library.
Workaround: Make a dmg formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and put the Library on that and store it on the NAS.
I think I have to mirror the iTunes solution above,
This involves having iPhoto reference the files on the NAS with the Library on your internal HD or some other volume. I strongly suggest that you don't do that. Unlike Aperture, iPhoto has no tools to reconnect with lost masters (Originals in iPhoto) so should anything go wrong you'll find yourself re-connecting each individual photo in the Library with its Original +one by one+.
but figure out which folders to move
You would need to recreate your Library as a Referenced Library.
Regards
TD

Aperture, versions unavailable masters

Greetings,
What I have done.. It has been a while working with aperture.
I started to reorganize my photos after a couple of years.
I had a library saved on an external hard-disk and I opened it. But I'm not able to export the photos.
This is in the right, bottum corner:
Trying to export I get this message:
I have no clue where the "masters" are and if I actually still have them... Can I restore or have it back "fully"?
Any help is most welcome!! Thank you in advance.
This is the version of aperture:

The masters would be the original photo files, either .jpg or RAW from your cameras. Since Aperture cannot locate them you must have used referenced masters. This simply means that each version points to some external folder for the original file. What you see in Aperture is just a small jpeg saved in the Aperture database. You need to look through your disks to find the original photos. You could use Spotlight and enter the filename for one of the missing photos. You can reconnect referenced images to their masters. See your Aperture help.

Aperture cannot locate masters

I upgraded to Aperture 3 a while back. I thought everything had gone well until recently. I have gone into the library and realized that almost all of my photos have a little exclamation point next to them saying the master cannot be located, and because of this I cannot do anything with the photos.
What I do know, is my library is close to 20 GB and when I upgraded from version 2, all of my photos had been consolidated to be kept within the Aperture library.
So what is going on? And what do I need to fix this and not lose a lifetime of photos? The only photos not showing the warning are those that I copied and pasted a folder into the PHOTOS folder on my mac, in other words, anything that wasn't a part of the Aperture library. I see a lot of talk about going into the program and relocating the masters and then having Aperture find the rest on its own, the problem with this is that I am 100% certain Aperture consolidated everything I had. I never used an external drive either.

Have a look into your Aperture library.
Ctrl-click the Aperture library, select "Show Package Contents" from the pop-up menu, and in the Finder window that will open, look into the "Masters" folder.
You will see folders organized by the date of the import session, not the capture date.
Are your missing master files still in your Aperture library?
Regards
Léonie

RAW plus JPG in Aperture Question

I am new to using RAW and have been reading and experimenting to understand. I have a couple of questions that would help me along.
First, what I think I understand so you can tell me if I am wrong: When I import RAW images from my Nikon D40 to Aperture and the Nikon software, the colors on some of them look significantly different, even shooting without in-camera adjustments. I assume this is just, different converters, different results. When I apply in-camera adjustments (such as increased saturation), the effects show up in Capture NX, but not in Aperture. I understand this is because Aperture is reading the RAW information without the adjustment information, while the Nikon software applies the adjustment information. Finally, I could shoot without in-camera adjustments and then apply them in Capture NX and get pretty much the same result.
All right so far I hope. Please tell me if not.
My questions:
1 - is exposure compensation a camera adjustment that is built into the RAW data, so that it will affect every RAW converter, or is it a post-RAW adjustment that is ignored by Aperture.
2 - When I shoot RAW+jpg, I see two images (the RAW and the JPG) in the Nikon transfer software and in iPhoto, but only one image to import in Aperture. On import, Aperture is telling me that it has the RAW file. What happened to the jpg? Does it use it as the preview or does it ignore it?
3 - If you tell me that Aperture is using the jpg as the preview, does that mean that it might look different from the RAW file, since the jpg was generated with the camera's RAW converter?
Thanks. I know this is a lot to read, but I spent a fair amount of time experimenting and reading and still have these questions.
-Tom

Is there a way to just look at the master jpg without creating a new version from it?
It may sound silly but creating a new version from the jpeg and then undoing this is one of the better solutions (once you have created that version, you cannot get rid of it without either deleting the underlying jpeg master or using the undo functionality).
The other solution is you use the Quick Preview mode. If you don't have previews generated by Aperture (or if you delete them for the project in between), Quick Preview will show a smaller jpeg (~ 1MP) that is embedded in every raw file. This big thumbnail, created by the camera, will have the same rendering as the full-size jpegs produced by the camera (but might have a different compression setting).

Photo loaded into CS4 from Aperture question

In Aperture I wantt to take an NEF into CS4. So I choose Edit - open in CS4. Aperture makes a PSD file and opens CS4. All well and good.
I thought now once in CS4 if I selected Convert To Smart Object I could then click the little icon created what is now Layer 0 and Camera Raw would open and I could edit in Camera Raw? Is this not the case?
If I drag an NEF file onto the CS4 icon in my Dock, CS4 opens and I'm in Camera Raw first. I was hoping to access Camera Raw at times as above though.
I hope this is clear?
Thanks all.

If you really only want to import only one image from iPhoto to Aperture, and if you have Aperture 3.3 and iPhoto 9.3 then you can open Aperture and iPhoto at the same time on their respective libraries and simply drag the image in question from the iPhoto Library to the project in Aperture.
However, this will not import the full resolution raw originals but full resolution high quality jpeg previews; if jpeg suffices, you can do this, if you temporarily need a single image only. Also, your captions and keywords will not be imported. Usually you will want to import the original with all your edits and tags, then it would be best to merge the libraries as TD explained.
For one image to import from iPhoto, you could use the command "File > Reveal in Finder > Original" in iPhoto to show the original master file in the Fider window. Then drag this File into the Aperture window. This way you will be importing the master.
Regards
Leónie
Message was edited by: leonieDF added reveal original file

Aperture 2: Corrupts Masters on Export !!!

Hello:
This is serious stuff ! While evaluating Aperture 2 just found this issue. If you are using an external application (like Photoshop) to further adjust your images you might be in trouble.
My setup: MacBook Pro 2.2, 4GB RAM, Aperture 2, Photoshop CS3.
Aperture "External Editor File Format Preferences": PSD, TIFF: 300dpi (does not matter)
Images: RAW from Canon 40D and EOS Digital Rebel
Steps to reproduce:
1. Select any image
2. Hit "ShiftCommandO" to edit it in external editor (Photoshop CS3 in my case)
3. Make any adjustments and "Close and Save"
4. Make sure the new master in Aperture is created and your adjustments are applied
5. Select this image and do "Export Master" ("ShiftCommandS")
6. Open Exported Master in any editor and you will see that it has "COLOR HORIZONTAL LINES" across the image
Export Version is working fine. All masters inside Aperture 2 itself are fine. It happens only when you do "Export Master".
Also noticed that in addition to that it also:
1. Removes Lens Model metadata from EXIF
2. Changes the original image date to "Today" (mostly for psd) or "Date image was taken -10 hours" (usually for tiff). Can not figure out yet what is the logic behind it.

It is getting more interesting:
I was trying to export the same tiff several times (i tried with psd and it exhibit the same behavior) and every export creates different type of corruption. Please take a look:
http://gallery.mac.com/odetinin#100116
On a very rare occasion the exported file looks fine. It took me more than 20 attempts to achieve this.

Bug: Aperture exporting JPEG masters incorrectly

I have a new Aperture library with 76 JPEGs in a project. The average size of each JPEG is ~500 KB. When I look at the list, I see all the file sizes I expect to see. When I peek in the Masters directory on the filesystem within the Aperture library, I see what I expect to see.
So, with Aperture 3.2.1 and Lion 10.7.2, I select all the JPEGs using Cmd-A, and then I type Cmd-Shift-S to export the masters. I expect this to be a file copy from what I see in the Masters directory to the target directory.
However, what actually happens is that between 1-4 of the JPEGs end up with a *ridiculous* size. Instead of the expected 534 KB for one image, what gets exported is 1.8 *gigabytes*. This happens to a different number of JPEGs each time, and to different images each time.
Essentially, I cannot trust "Export Masters..." at all. These gigantic files it outputs aren't even viewable as JPEGs.
What could be going on here?
Thanks,
John

I'm frustating about how Aperture give RAW+jpg pairs and once imported is not easy to select one of the two files depending on the case. I read recently a good solution, you can import Both as masters(RAW and JPG) and select AutoStack(⌥⌘A)
with a short time span (0:02) and Aperture will import the two masters of each photo, and later you'll be free to use one of them. And you can reject manually all the RAWs that you don't want to store.

Converting large referenced Library to Aperture 3--must masters be on-line?

Is it necessary to have the masters for an Aperture 2 Library on-line during the Library conversion process from A2 to A3? I don't plan to reprocess any projects during the initial conversion, and would prefer to leave my Masters drives off while converting.
Thanks in advance.
Gordon

From my experience, I upgraded with a lot of masters offline, I would say that you can do this - But you will open the door to some potential problems. I ran into issues with aperture continually trying to process offline masters, starting over at 0 everytime you relaunch, issues with thumbnails needing to be rebuilt...
I would definitely say you are on the right path to not "reprocess" automatically during conversion - as you can always opt-in to it later.
Also, since you already have a referenced master library this is how you should upgrade:
0. Rename aperture to "aperture 2"
1. Install aperture 3
2. Create a new blank Library in aperture 3 on the fastest most unfragmented disk you have available. (Preferably a separate disk than where your aperture 2 library is).
3. Use File->Import Library to leave your v2 library in tact and copy its contents into a new aperture 3 library. If anything goes wrong, you will have your v2 library in tact and can go back to it if you please.
4. You can switch between aperture 2 and 3, but you each app will overwrite each others preferences everytime you launch...

Aperture 2: Migrate masters to DNG

Hi,
since Aperture 2.0 offers much improved DNG support, I'd like to migrate from CR2 to DNG. Is there any way to migrate masters while keeping the albums derived from a project intact?
I would hate to recreate all the album selections I've made.
Thanks,
Jan
Side note: With CR2 images, Aperture 2 shows the minimal/maximal focus length of the lens used, but not the maximal aperture, with DNG images, it's the other way around. Preview, on the other hand, shows the complete lens specification in the EXIF data. Funny.

No way to migrate your RAW files in-place from CR2 to DNG.

Where does Aperture store PhotoStream Masters

I had PhotoStream enabled for some time Lion, until I realized it wasn´t very clear what was happening with my photos, and was breaking my import workflow. I then disabled it. Now, when I try to import photos from my iPhone, it thinks some of them are duplicates, since they were imported with PhotoStream. But the PhotoStream folder has disappeared from Aperture. I´m trying to manually import photos and I´m trying to figure out which ones were imported with PhotoStream so that I can import those manually. Does anybody know where those photos are stored, or a list of them. I´ve found some in the trash that I didn´t throw, but I´m hoping to find some sort of list detailing which ones were imported with photostream and when. Any help would be much appreciated.

All your PhotoStream imports should be tagged with the keyword "Photo Stream", once they have been imported. While they are still waiting to be imported, you can recognize them by the metadata tag "Project Path" set to "Photo Stream".
So a smart album or a search with the rules
keyword is Photo Stream or
Project Path is Photo Stream
should find them all.
Regards
Léonie

Aperture Question: No Masters

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