How to reload Aperture libraries?

hi:
I mistakenly deleted some Aperture 2.1 files which erased all the past projects.
Question - how to re-link the old libraries to the new install?
thanks for any advice
regards
Mark

Hello Mark,
could you please clarify your question a little bit? I am not sure I understand you fully.
What do you mean by "reload Aperture libraries"?
I mistakenly deleted some Aperture 2.1 files which erased all the past projects.
What kind of Aperture 2.1 files did you delete? Did you delete Aperture 2.1 library packages and now the projects inside these libraries are gone? Or did you delete your old Aperture 2.1 application? Or did you delete files that are referenced by your Aperture 2.1 libraries?
Question - how to re-link the old libraries to the new install?
If your problem ist that you restored older Aperture libraries and want to open them with a newer Aperture version, then the libraries need to be upgraded to the newer version. This usually can be done by double clicking the library to open it in the new version. After upgrading the older libraries cannot be read by the older Aperture version, however. Also upgrading may take some time.
How are you restoring your libraries or missing files? Do you have a vault or atime machine backup, or a backup on an exteral disk?
Post back, if I misunderstod your question.
Regards
Léonie

Similar Messages

How do I consolidate multiple iPhoto libraries on multiple machines into a single Aperture libraries?

Hullo all,
I run a smallish studio at a University, and I have inherited multiple Macs (2 Powerbooks, 2 Mac Pros) running multiple OS (2 on Mavericks, 2 on 10.7) and multiple versions of iPhoto. These have been used for photo and video work over the years, and each has its own stash of content, project files, etc. In an effort to organize, I wish to consolidate all the various iPhoto and Aperture libraries into a single library. I have a 16TB Pegasis RAID available via Thunderbolt to hold the material. Can anyone tell me the best way to go about this? My background is 20 years production work in film and video and I am rather new to still photo work and as such, do not know much about maintaining archives etc.
If I read correctly from other questions, I need to update all versions of iPhoto to be the same, establish the library on the Pegasus, then export all the files to that library? Is this correct? I am not sure I can update all computers to the current version (one is a late 2009 MacPro) Is there any easier way to do it? I am happy to purchase software if that makes the process easier.
Cheers! Thanks for any info!

iPhoto does not support to merge libraries into one.
The utility iPhoto Library Manager can merge libraries -
download here: iPhoto Library Manager
If you have access to Aperture, you can also use it to merge your libraries (see: Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries), but if you need to buy a tool, iPhoto Library Manager would be the more economic solution, and it is a must-have with iPhoto anyway.

I have several iPhoto and aperture libraries... i want to get to one iPhoto library keeping only the latest photos. How can I do this?

Okay... I made the mistake of creating duplicate Aperture libraries because I decided I wanted to only use Aperture - then the news that Aperture is no longer going to be developed. I then confused myself and created duplicate iPhoto libraries (I can't even remember why anymore). At one point or another I have edited pictures in all of them and have no idea which pictures were edited. I just want to have one iPhoto library with the most recently edited photos and remove all the duplicates.
What is the best way to do this?
And... after doing all that, I need to keep backups of my photos on an external drive. What is the best way to do this?
iPhoto version 9.5.1
Thank you so much for any advice you can provide!

You can merge libraries into one with Aperture 3.3. or later.
Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries
In merge-mode it will only keep the photos from one of the libraries.
And you can use Aperture to export partial libraries containing only the selected albums, projects, etc.
If you need to keep projects (books, calendars, cards) when merging your libraries, use Aperture and not iPLM:

How do I continue to have access to my various Aperture libraries (~1.5 TB) for future use?

I am a professional photographer and run a small business. I have used Aperture since its inception and now have ~1.5 TB of photos in various Aperture libraries spanning several years. How do I preserve all of this work so that i don't lose access to it when Aperture finally dies?
Brad Moore
Brad Moore Photography

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), Server
Which version of Aperture are you running? If you have upgraded to Aperture 3.6, you will be able to open all Aperture libraries with the new Photos.app. Aperture libraries and Iphoto Libraries can be migrated losslessly to Photos.
Aperture 3.6 will soon no longer be available for purchase. If you need to upgrade, do it soon.
Since Photos does not have all editing tools Aperture had, you may want to migrate to other professional applications, Lightroom, Capture One Pro. But there is no lossless migration path.

With10.6 constantly have to reload my libraries. How can I get past this?

Since I downloaded 10.6, I constantly have to reload my libraries. After that, I have to restore my ipads/ipods. This takes up to 7 hours each time. How can I get past this? 10.5 never did this.
Winbox XP w/ external itunes library. iPads and iPods.

The current build is 10.5.2. If you are running a beta version you should discuss any issues you have with it in the appropriate tester's forum.
tt2

How do I sync my iPad with multiple Aperture libraries?

I have an Ipad2 and use Aperture 3 with multiple libraries. iTunes only allows me to sync with the 'current' library (the one most recently opened in Aperture) which is a pain, as I sometime lose all my photos off the iPad if I've been using a different library. Is there a way around this?
Thanks!
Jan-Peter

There is a work around but it requires more manual effort from you.
Instead of syncing your iPad to Aperture or iPhoto, choose to sync it from a folder.
First create a new folder somewhere on your HD and then export versions from your various Aperture libraries to your folder. You'll need to manually manage this folder. For example, if you want something deleted from your iPad, you'd need to delete it from this folder. Adding new items to your Aperture library won't automatically update to your iPad until you export them to this folder and sync your iPad.

Can i combine aperture libraries?

i have aperture running on three different machines and i wondered if there is a way to "combine" the three aperture libraries into a new library. how do folks use aperture with a desktop and a laptop for syncing work from the feild?
thanks,
glenn
MacPro Mac OS X (10.4.7)

i have aperture running on three different machines
and i wondered if there is a way to "combine" the
three aperture libraries into a new library. how do
folks use aperture with a desktop and a laptop for
syncing work from the feild?
Well the unit of export is a project - most people moving between laptop and desktop migrate projects between the two.
You can combine libraries. the easiest way I would say would be to go into finder and right-click on each Aperture library to say "Show Package Contents". Then copy projects out of two of the libraries into the third. Copy only folders and .approject files, but do NOT copy the folders Aperture.aplib and "Built-in Smart Albums".
Then when you restart Aperture is will see the projects copying into the main one, and import them all. Of course I think it goes without saying that you'll want to back up that library before you start copying other things inside of it... this process should be faster than exporting and importing projects though, and is OK for the larger task of combining this library. Also I would say that either all librarys should have been converted by 1.5 or none of them, don't do it if the libraries are a mix of versions.

What's the best way to merge, restore or reconstruct iPhoto and Aperture libraries to resolve images that are not found/offline?

Hey there, Apple Support Communities.
To start, I'm working on a MBP Retina 15" with a 2.3GHz i7 processor and 16 GB of RAM. 10GB free on a 256GB SS HD. Attached are two external HDs - one 1TB Western Digital portable drive from 2011, one 2TB Porsche LaCie non-portable drive from 2013; both connected via USB. All photo libraries in question are on the external drives.
I have Aperture 3.5.1 and iPhoto 9.5.1. I prefer to work in Aperture.
The Issue(s)
Over the years, I have accumulated a number of iPhoto libraries and Aperture libraries. At one point, I thought my WD drive was dying so I purchased the LaCie and copied all libraries over the the LaCie drive. (Turns out, there's probably an issue with my USB port reading drives, because I can once again see the WD drive and occasionally I can't see the LaCie drive.)
So now I have old version of some libraries on the WD drive, and new versions on the LaCie drive.
When I was moving things, I ran the software Gemini to de-dupe my iPhoto libraries. Not sure what effect that may have had on my issues.
In my main Aperture library and in some iPhoto libraries, I get the image-not-found badge or exclamation point. I've dug through the hidden Masters folders in various libraries to find the original image. In some cases, I have been able to find the original image, sometimes in a different version of the iPhoto library.
My Question(s)
1. For Aperture libraries that have missing originals, is there some magical way to find them, or have they just disappeared into the oblivion?
2. For iPhoto libraries that have missing originals and I have found the original in another iPhoto library, what is the best way to proceed?
3. Are there quirks to merging iPhoto and Aperture libraries (by using the Import->Library) feature that I should be aware of?
TL;DR: Too many iPhoto and Aperture libraries, and not all the original pictures can be found by the libraries anymore, though some originals still do exist in other libraries. Steps/process to fix?
Thank you! Let me know if you need add'l info to offer advice.
With appreciation,
Christie

That will not be an easy task, Christie.
I am afraid, your cleaning session with Gemini may have actually removed originals. I have never used this duplicate finder tool, but other posters here reported problems. Gemini seems to replace duplicate original files in photo libraries by links, and this way, deleting images can cause the references for other images to break. And Aperture does not follow symbolic links - at least, I could never get it to find original files this way, when I experimented with this.
1. For Aperture libraries that have missing originals, is there some magical way to find them, or have they just disappeared into the oblivion?
You have to find the originals yourself. If you can find them or restore them from a backup, Aperture can reconnect them. The reconnect panel can show you, where the originals are supposed to be, so youcan see the filename and make a Spotlight search.
For iPhoto libraries that have missing originals and I have found the original in another iPhoto library, what is the best way to proceed?
Make a copy of the missing original you found in a folder outside the iPhoto library. You can either open the iPhoto library in Aperture and use "File > Locate Referenced file" to reconnect the originals, or simply reimport them. Then Lift&Stamp all adjustments and metadata to the reimported version.
See this manual page on how to reconnect originals: Aperture 3 User Manual: Working with Referenced Images (the paragraph: Reconnecting Missing or Offline Referenced Images)
Are there quirks to merging iPhoto and Aperture libraries (by using the Import->Library) feature that I should be aware of?
References images will stay referenced, managed will remain managed. You need to unhide all hidden photos in iPhoto - this cannot be done in Aperture.
and not all the original pictures can be found by the libraries anymore, though some originals still do exist in other libraries. Steps/process to fix?
That is probably due to Gemini's replacing duplicate originals by links, and your best cause of action is to fix this before merging the libraries. Reconnecting can be done for your iPhoto libraries in Aperture.

Do not understand how to manage multiple libraries in iTunes

Hope to learn from you!
What I am trying to achieved?
Using the proper procedures as described in "iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder" - I have succesfully moved my iTunes library to an external hard disk. So, I can play from this HDD when it is connected. That's good. I have trashed this library from the internal disk.
I want to keep a smaller iTunes library in my laptop - so I can play music without having the HDD connected. I do not need to keep this library in sync with the external main HDD - but, it is fine if it is.
So, I created a new iTunes in my laptop and named it "iTunes Laptop". I will "option" launch iTunes and select this library. In the "advanced" preference pane - both these "Keep iTunes Media folder organised" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" are ticked.
Now, when I copy music from CD to this "iTunes Laptop" - it will copy to this folder "iTunes Laptop>Music" AND to the 'iTunes Media" on the HDD.
But, I can play the copied music on the "iTunes Laptop" ONLY when the HDD is connected - but, the music files arte in BOTH the "iTunes Laptop>Music" AND "iTunes Media" on the HDD!
Does anyone understand what I have done correctly to achieve my objectives stated above? Or, what is your ways to doing something similar?
Kind regards.

You're welcome, Rob.
Thanks again for your prompt advice. Is there any way to merge libraries?
There is not yet a simple, lossless way to merge libraries. It would be better to merge all iPhoto Libraries into one before migrating them to Photos.
You have two options:
Merge the iPhoto Librariess with Aperture, if you have a compatible Aperture version. See: Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries
Merge the iPhoto Libraries with iPhoto Library Manager before migrating. But you would need the full, paid version: See: http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/Help/merging%20libraries.html
If you want to store the libraries in iCloud Photo Library, you could alternately upload one library after the other by opening it as your main System Photo Library and enabling iCloud Photo Library, This would result in a merged Library in iCloud, but your Faces data would not download again.
And would cause a lot of network traffic and you would need an advanced storage plan for iCloud to store a large library.
iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ
The lossy option is to export all photos from the libraries to be added and to import them to iPhoto.

Combining Aperture Libraries on a MacBook Pro and an External Hard Drive

Hi all,
I'm hoping that you might be able to help me with a little advice!
Having taken the plunge and recently invested in a MacBook Pro, I have a couple of questions regarding use of the iPhoto/Aperture library.
I have already invested in Aperture for its' advanced editing features - which is great so far. However, the MacBook is the 13" retina with 512GB of storage - and, whilst still quite large, I'm worried that I'll quickly run out of storage as I do take rather alot of photos! So far, I've only imported my library from my iPhone and it tells me that I've already filled 20GB with photos (and I only had about 6GB of photos on my phone so I'm not sure what's happened there).
On my old non-Mac computer, I have approximately 250GB of photos which I'm reluctant to copy onto the MacBook for fear of instantly bogging it down by clogging up half of the memory. Ideally, what I would like to do is import the pictures (so I can still see them and still have a 'hard copy') so that they're in iPhoto - and then export the entire iPhoto library to an external hard drive (I've read about having it in the 'journaled' format so that should be OK). The EHD would then be regularly backed up.
However, for times when I'm away (eg, on holiday and fancy doing a bit of photo editing if I've got a couple of hours free), I don't much want to have to lug the hard-drive round with me.
Would it be possible to keep the "main" iPhoto library on the EHD - and then just import albums into it (from the MacBook) at regular intervals. For example, if I go away for a fortnight and come back with 14 new albums, can I merge these 14 albums with the iPhoto library stored on the EHD? I've read that Aperture can manage multiple libraries - but I'm not sure if it's designed to be used in this way...
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
Thanks,
James

James,
the title of your question is saying "Aperture", but in the body you are asking about iPhoto libraries.
Have you previously worked with iPhoto and are considering to switch to Aperture?
Would it be possible to keep the "main" iPhoto library on the EHD - and then just import albums into it (from the MacBook) at regular intervals. For example, if I go away for a fortnight and come back with 14 new albums, can I merge these 14 albums with the iPhoto library stored on the EHD? I've read that Aperture can manage multiple libraries - but I'm not sure if it's designed to be used in this way...
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
Aperture and iPhoto now share a unified library format. If you are having the latest version of iPhoto and of Aperture, both applications can open and update each others libraries.
Aperture 3.3: Using a unified photo library with iPhoto and Aperture
If you have multiple iPhoto libraries, you can easily consolidate them into one library, that could reside on an external drive.
if you want to use Aperture while on the road, with the external drive disconnected, you could export a small, partial aperture library from your main library with the projects you are currently working on, an later merge this working set back into your main library. That is, what I am doing when on vacation, and I'm only taking my MacBook Pro with me.
Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries

Add both iPhoto and Aperture libraries

Can I upload both my iPhoto and Aperture libraries to Photos (after the initial install). I found out after installation that I could have used the option key to import multiple libraries. But after initial install, I cannot seem to add a library, just individual photos.

Photos cannot merge libraries. It just can switch between libraries, when you hold down the options key while launching Photos.
You could use Aperture to merge your iPhoto Library into the Aperture Library (see Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries).
This would require compatible Aperture and iPhoto versions.
After merging both libraries with Aperture launch Photos with the alt/options key held down and select the merged library. Photos will create an upgraded copy of the library. Now you can delete the previous Photos library and enable the new library as Photos System Library in the Photos Preferences > General.
Are you using iCloud Photo Library with Photos? With enough storage you could try to merge the libraries in iCloud, but uploading from several libraries will not preserve the faces.

Find, mix and have several aperture libraries opened?

I had a harddisk break, so I am now with a new disk, same machine, but with backup files stored from Apple on my disk.
Problem, where to find my old aperture library. I did start at new when I had my new machine this year. January I think. And then I have an old library file too, from the older machine from 2008, that one I got. Afraid to do something wrong here, what to do?
Is it possible to mix two libraries in aperture? Its so sad if I have lost all the work with building the libraries from this last year. Think I will call in and ask where to find. Because its only showing the one library I had at first. Not the second. At least I can not find it on the backup search.
Thankfully I had backuped the photoes on an external harddisk. Put it up that way when I transfer the images to aperture.
Hope for some good ideas here.. thanks. And how should we backup aperture really? Hope the developers give us a good solution in next version:)
Tove

I had a harddisk break, so I am now with a new disk, same machine, but with backup files stored from Apple on my disk.
Tove, was your backup a full time machine backup? Or did you have parts of your system excluded from backup?
Problem, where to find my old aperture library. I did start at new when I had my new machine this year. January I think.
What is your Aperture version? The answer to your questions will depend on your system version and Aperture version.
Have you searched using the Finder? Open any Finder window and type ⌘F.
Then press the "+" button to add a search rule. Set it to "Kind" "Other" and enter "Aperture Library".
That should list all Aperture Libraries on your system, if you set the scope of the search to "This Mac".
This screenshot is done in Snow Leopard, it would look a bit different in Lion or Mt. Lion:
Do you remember, in which folder you stored your Aperture library? By default the libraries are located in your Pictures folder. Or did you have it on an external drive?
Is it possible to mix two libraries in aperture? Its so sad if I have lost all the work with building the libraries from this last year. Think I will call in and ask where to find. Because its only showing the one library I had at first. Not the second. At least I can not find it on the backup search.
You can merge two Aperture libraries by importing one into the other.
And how should we backup aperture really? Hope the developers give us a good solution in next version:)
Aperture Vaults will backup the library and create archival backups. Time Machine is very good now for backing up the current version, as long as you do not exclude the Aperture Library from the backup locations. A clone of the drive with the aperture library is a good backup. The important thing is to check the backups, if they are current and working, before something happens and to have more than one backup. I had it happen, that a power failure crashed my mac while I was doing the backup, and both - mac and backup drive were unusable afterwards.
Regards
Léonie

Merging of multiple aperture libraries into one master library

Over the years, due to limited disk space on my Mac, I ended up having now 3 aperture libraries in 3 separate external hard drive, totaling between he 3 libraries over 2TB of photo storage. I just purchased an additional 4TB external drive (my 4th external hard drive from Lacie) to put ALL my separate Aperture libraries into ONE (1) master Aperture library. I would like to know if anyone could help me with a set of step by step instructions to MERGE my 3 separate Aperture libraries into ONE (1) MASTER library on my newly purchased 4TB external drive. I've looked online and found several articles dealing with merging libraries from multiple computers. I tried them all and was NOT able to do what I would like to do. PLEASE, if any of you have done what I would love to do or knows how to do it, I would appreciate your help. A step by step instructions regarding how to do it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much! Robert

Thanks Kieby,
This is what I did: 1.) File/Swith to Library/Other/New To create a new Aperture library which I called MasterAperture Library. The new library was created on my new 4TB external driver.
2.) I then CLOSED Aperture and re-opened it using my default Aperture library located on my Picture folder (Aperture Library).
3.) I did: File/Export/Project as new Library. I chose my external hard drive with the filename: MAsterAperture Library, EXPORT.
The first time I did that nothing happened, I still had an empty MasterAperture Library files without any pictures.
Then I did the same thing thing, except this time, I high lighted my first Projects and went down to my items on my albums and then CTL-H so everthing would be high lighted (ALl my projects and all my albums). Then I did step 3 to the MasterAperture Library and I was able to get the MasterAperture Library as an image copy of the content of the Aperture Library located on my Pictures folder.
Then another problem came up, when I tried to replicateduplicate the same steps outlined above to merge my other 2 remaining libraries, I could NOT do so because the process, at that time, told me that the file MasterAperture Library already exists and if I were to continue, the content of MasterAperture Library will be replaced. Of course this is not wantt. I would like to be able to MERGE the contents of the 2 or 3 remaining libraries that I have currently located in different external drive/locations into the file MasterAperture Library located on my 4TB external drive, and do so, if possible, without too many duplications (if possible, because if I have to remove duplicated projects/albums/photos later, I am willing to do so)!. By the way, I've read the Aperture userguide more than once and have tried the approaches suggested in the guide without succes yet. Thanks again for your kind help. Regards, Bob

Moving Aperture libraries while keeping iMovie project video links intact.

I am in the process of moving my Aperture libraries off my internal drive to an external drive. The problem I found is that by do so, my iMovie projects that were using video clips from the Aperture libraries now have broken source links. I have all my video clips managd by Aperture, not referenced.
The way I moved the libraries was simply drap the library files to the new desitination. I can see the original clips in iMovie's event library after the move and thumbnails are generated; but my project links are not updated.
My question is that is there a proper way doing this correctly so my iMovie project links are still intact after the move? Thank you in advance for your helps.

I have exactly the same question as the OP. I've been into digital photography for a while, and have been using Aperture for a short time, but have JUST started to shoot some video for fun. Video goes into my Aperture library, but I'm just using iMovie to mess around with the video. I export short clips to YouTube for the family to view. Eventually, I'll put these projects on DVDs and I know I'll have to delete them from the Aperture library for space reasons.
How are people handling this? Should I just move the video directly to an external hard drive, for example?
Thanks.

How do I fix librarIES ?

I have Aper 3.1.1 (newbie). I don't know how I did this but more importantly how do I fix it?
Some how I have 2 Aperture Libraries. They are both on external hard disks (which is where I want IT, my Aperture (one, single, newest) Library).
They are:
ApLib 14.26GB, modified yesterday 2/20, on Iomega 1TB HD
ApLib 14.63GB, modified 2/15, on Iomega 2TB HD.
I want only one ApLib and I want it on the Iomega 2TB HD.
Should I just erase the ApLib on the 1TB disk? but it was just modified yesterday; I assume it is the more uptodate library. The library now residing on the 2TB disk is out of date, right?
But that is where I want my single, up-to-date Aperture Library to be.
Can someone tell how to get out of this "monumental" mess, please? TIA

I selected Import Library. Aperture then asked if it should Merge or Add the library (coming from my 1TB HD). I selected Merge. It looks like I have doubled most of my images. Otherwise, the ApLib looks to be intact.
I then dragged the (good, desired) library from the 1TB HD to the 2TB HD and did a replace of the older library there.
Closing Aperture and taking the 1TB HD off line, when I re-opened Aperture I got a window which said it could not locate the library but gave me a list of my Aperture Library(s) including the one I wanted on the 2TB HD. (I since deleted the library from the ITB disk, and am using it as backup for Aperture and some other files.)
Everything appears normal and as I want it (with a lot of duplicates).

How to reload Aperture libraries?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for