Masters in Library vs Referenced files

As I play around more with Aperture today I have another question this time regarding files. What are the pro's/con's of importing masters into the library vs referencing files in the library. I am leaning towards importing masters into Aperture rather than reference because 1)makes it easier to manage photos; 2)easier to backup photo's.
Those that have used Aperture for sometime what method do you use - masters in the library or reference? What are the reasons?
If I have my/a library stored on the external drive what issues will I have if the external drive is not connected to the Macbook?

all you really need to know ...
http://www.bagelturf.com/aparticles/ref/index.html
i also highly suggest that you get this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Pro-Training-Aperture-1-5/dp/0321496620
it is a tutorial, not a manual ... that is where the value is ...
i personally use a managed library ... why, i like the clean neatness of the package ... and sticking them in a package does not worry me at all ... i have several vaults that i keep around ...
with referenced to work on a external you need to make sure that your external is connected ... browse thru this forum and notice how many issues with ref'd images not reconnecting ... to me managed is easier ... but to others, not so much ...

Similar Messages

Backing up library and referenced files

I download my images to an external F800 hard drive and organize them in folders labeled with the dates in which the download took place.
I manage them in aperture as referenced files.
I just got a second external hard drive for back up purposes. What is the best way to back up my library and referenced files?. My external hard drive allows daisy-chaining.
Sorry if this is too simple a question, but before doing something wrong I rather ask.
thanks for the patience and will to reply,
best
Mauricio

Backup the Aperture Library to your new drive using Aperture's Vault feature. Backup the folders of Masters by Finder-copying the folders to the new drive immediately after the folders are created. That should be a nice clean workflow.
Don't forget some type of off site backup to deal with the possibility of fire or theft.
-Allen Wicks

Masters in Aperture Library Using Referenced Files

I use a MBP with an SSD to hold my Aperture 3 library.
I use a G-RAID to store my images and use Referenced Files.
All was good until yesterday, I deleted my Thumbnails to recreate them and remove the orphans.
After restarting Aperture and the processing time to recreate the Thumbnails (AP.Minis, Ap.Thumbnails, and AP.Tinies) I noticed my AP library was huge.
After inspecting the contents, there is now 65Gb worth of Masters, why would these be there since I use Referenced files and why would they have just now shown up after rebuilding my Thumbnails?

Remember:
-- A RAW file cannot be edited. It can only be written in a camera (or scanner, etc.) To be seen, it must be read through a RAW developer. The RAW developer (or converter, if you prefer) can apply changes to the bitstream (called "adjustments" in Aperture) but those changes always live in a separate file, called a "version" in Aperture. EVERY master image file in Aperture has at least one version file. The two are combined, in real time, every time you see a file. Thus questions about the Aperture library becoming corrupted are a bit moot - if you lose your library you will lose your edits. The only way to "save" edits to a RAW file is either adjust it in Aperture (or Lightroom) and let the program combine the two, or convert the file to an industry standard format, like TIFF or JPEG.
-- Aperture uses a "non-destructive" workflow. This means that it never really edits ANY file - not even a JPEG. This avoids the problem of recompressing JPEGS each time they are opened and close. So even JPEGS remain unaltered with your "edits" or "adjustments" being stored in one or more versions.
The only time you need to "save" a file in Aperture is when you need a new file in a specific format to give to someone. Until then, Aperture happily keeps track of your original images (managed or referenced) and the corresponding "edits" which it stores in a version linked to the original image file.
There are many reasons to prefer managed over referenced or vice versa, but fears of database integrity should not be one of them. You are making a lot of work for yourself - put the Aperture Vault on your server and/or use Time Machine. "Exporting" is a terrible way to try to make backups - it will take forever and you will end up with files scattered all over the place, defeating the purpose for which you bought Aperture in the first place.
Hope this helps.
DiploStrat

Issues With Reconnecting Library to Referenced Files

I'm hoping somebody may be able to shed some light on very strange behavior I'm currently experiencing with Aperture. Before I continue let me say ahead of time that I've already run a Repair Permissions, Repair Database and a complete Rebuild Database on the Library. That said here is what's happening.
My workflow consists of Importing all images via Aperture, as referenced files, on to a small, external hard drive. When I return to my studio I manually copy the folder of images, from the small external drive, over to my desktop hard drive. The next step is to Import the Field Library to my desktop MAIN library. Once the Field Library is Imported into the MAIN Desktop library I then highlight all the images and select File>Locate Referenced Files. Though I've done this hundreds of times in the past, it's currently not working on some files. Here's where the very strange behavior comes in.
When the Locae Referenced Files window comes up I see the image in the top pane that I want to reconnect. In the bottom pain I navigate to the drive the image now lives on, I find it and it too appears in the bottom window. So far all seems to be fine, except when I tried reconnecting, Aperture went through the process but didn't actually reconnect. I retried several times but after the first try to reconnect the Reconnect & Reconnect All buttons is grayed out.
Ok, so what the heck is going on? I start reviewing the Metadata of each image while still in the Locate Referenced Files window. The file numbers are exactly the same but the time stamp on each image is different. Why I have no idea. I plug in the original mini field drive with all the images that Aperture Imported to check the Metadata on the field drive. Sure enough it's identical to the Metadata on the Desktop drive which means it's different from the Aperture Library on the orignal drive Apertue saved it to as well. But what's even more interesting is that the minute the mini hard drive is plugged in, Aperture sees it and reconnects the images automatically, even though the potential issue of the metadata timestamp being different is the same on both the mini field drive and my desktop drive.
In summary, when Aperture wouldn't connect the images that were on the desktop drive I thought I found the reason; a discrepancy in Metadata. But when the original drive was plugged in, the same files had the same discrepancies yet Aperture found them fine.
None of this would be a probelm if Aperture had the ability to FORCE RECONNECT. The images are exactly the same except for some minor metadata descrepencies that I have no idea how they got changed and I really don't care about. But............. how the heck am I going to get these fiels reconnected without a Force REconnect option. Any ideas out there?

William is right - use the provided tools.
. Never once could it not find the images once I took it and showed the exact path to where the images were newly located. So what happens if that drive ever fails completely and I have to replace it with a totally new backup?
There must be something wrong with your external drive, if reconnect is not working. I had never, ever trouble to reconnect the originals after copying or cloning a drive, when I restored a mac from my backup.
Check the filesystem on your field drive, if the file system is MacOS Extended (Journaled).

Aperture 3 doesn't see Network Drive that holds masters of referenced files

Hi
I created a new referenced library with about 35000 images and for the few days it worked fine. The Referenced files are located on a Drobo that is connected to My Mac OS X server. I connect to it Via AFP.
About 2 days ago, I opened the library and the library does not see the referenced files. When I choose a file and select 'Locate referenced Files from the File menu, the locate window pops up and it shows the Drobo as being offline, even though I have mounted it, and outside of Aperture, I can access it and use it - it is definitely mounted. the "Mount" button is greyed out in the Locate referenced files window, and when I select the file using the file browser in this window, which I am able to do even though Aperture Shows the Drobo as Offline Volume Status section above, the "reconnect button remains greyed out.
I have rebuilt the library, rebooted the server, unmounted and remounted the Drobo, and no matter what I do, it does not see the referenced files.
Can anyone help me recoonect these files?

I am having the exact same problem in Aperture 3.0.2. Aperture says that 529 files in a particular library are "offline" when they are on a mounted volume. The external volume on which they reside is very much ONLINE despite the fact that Aperture says it is offline.
In fact that same volume shows up in the bottom half of the window that pops up when you select the files in Aperture and choose "Locate referenced files". I was able to successfully reconnect several thousand files by simply navigating to the files that Aperture identified as "offline" in the bottom window. But these 529 (out of a total of 4266) won't reconnect and in the bottom window the pixel dimensions for the file I'm trying to reconnect are missing. If I navigate to the files in the Finder the pixel dimensions are shown. I was able to reimport some of the so-called "offline" files on the "offline" volume. There were originally 572 that would not reconnect, and I reimported 43 of them, leaving me with 529 that should be connected, but aren't.
Last week I spent several hours on the phone with the tech support team at Apple, but they so far have been unable to help me solve this problem. I could just reimport the files, but then would have to lift and stamp adjustments for all 529 files and get rid of the "offline" masters. One of the tech support people was going to research whether it might be possible to somehow do a "force reconnect", but hasn't gotten back to me about this.
The external volume on which these files reside is an OWC Qx2 which is a 4.5 GB Raid 5 connected via firewire 800. In addition to being completely accessible outside of Aperture, I have run Disk Utility on it, and it verifies.
I am hoping that Apple will come up with a fix for this problem soon.

Importing masters from iPhoto to Aperture 3 and saving as referenced files on external drive

I'm making the move from iPhoto to Aperture 3.I'm new to Aperture 3 and want o make sure I am importing and saving correctly. So far, I have imported my library of events from iphoto to Aperture 3. I understand that for the most part, it makes sense to house this library on an external drive as "referenced files" vs within Apeture as "managed files." I'm not clear on exactly how to accomplish this set-up. Is this something I should have set-up when doing the initial import or can I move the files now? Once this is done, when importing new files, how do I import to Aperture 3 but save on external drive?
Thanks in advance for your help!

A fabulous answer:
In the olden days ( ) when hobbyists made their own telescopes from kits, everyone wanted a six-inch lens, and the kit makers shipped six-inch lens blanks. Which the hobbyists used to learn lens grinding. Which is arduous and requires skill. Which the hobbyists didn't have until they'd ground that six-inch blank -- an expensive piece of high-quality material at the time -- into a lumpen flawed approximation of a good lens. Then the hobbyists would contact the kit makers and ask for another lens-blank, so they could build their telescope. At which point they would drop the project because the six-inch lens blank cost so much. And much calumny was rained on the kit manufacturers.
Now the kit manufacturers wanted to promote a hobby, and make, in addition to telescope kits, money (not calumny), so they together and separately hit upon the idea of supplying the hobbyist with _two_ lens blanks: a four-inch blank, and a six inch blank. Nobody wanted a four-inch telescope -- but that's not what the blank was for. The instructions read (I've shortened this part) "Grind the four-inch blank into the most perfect lens you can. Check it and re-check it. Now throw it out. You likely now have the skill to grind the six-inch blank into a useable lens."
Thus endeth our fable.
The point, of course, is: start small and gain skill before committing time and material to a task. Port just a small sub-set of you photos into Aperture. Experiment with it. Try different workflows. Think about how to best use the containers and organization tools Aperture provides. Develop a long-term naming convention for files and Projects. Work out a back-up strategy that is scalable and that you will stick with. My specific recommendation for beginners is: don't worry about Referenced v. Managed at first. Make all your Masters Managed. When you have your four-inch Aperture Library all smooth and even, put the entire thing in the system trash -- and then you can start working on an Aperture Library fit for your photos -- one that will allow you to see far, and clear, for years.
Good luck.

Can't import referenced masters into Library

I've used referenced masters for years, since Aperture 1. Now I'm trying to import, and I get the error "Insufficient disk space". Here are the details
OSX 10.7.5
Aperture 3.4.1 (Just updated)
Current RAW Folder                              110 GB
Current Aperture Library                         9.9GB
Free space on startup disk                    13.3 GB   (not a lot, I know)
Space required (according to aperture)     3 GB
Folder I'm trying to import                         19.4 GB
Camera Nikon D7000, files NEF format. No previous problem with this camera.
If 100GB can be represented by 9.9 GB in the Aperture library, why does it want 16.3 GB to import 19.4 GB?
I have "Store files in their current location" selected in the Import pane.

Gil I think there are a couple of basics you need to come to grips with.
Assuming your Aperture library is on your start up disk and that you only have 13GB free, DO NOT PLACE ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS DRIVE, until you clear out some space adding more files to this drive is only asking for trouble.
So Aperture.
100GB is represented by 9.9GB, yes, Aperture has created previews of the referenced files and has a database to describe them = 9.9GB, 100GB of master files/images still reside on the other drive though.
The folder of files you are trying to import, 19.4 GB, you say you are now using a managed file workflow, that being the case Aperture now copies the files into the library, so there is no way that 19.4GB will fit into 13.3GB, plus there will then be an additional 1-2GB, based on 110GB=9GB, of space required by Aperture.
I hope this makes sense.
Moving forward, get youself two external drives, have you library, managed or not, along with any referenced files on one drive, the other drive use for your back up.
Tony

How do I Move Library and not referenced files?

I would like to move the library from my external HD to my internal laptop hd so I can look at the thumbnails of my shots while on the road. I want to keep the referenced files on the external HD. How can I achieve this?

russxdrums wrote:
I would like to move the library from my external HD to my internal laptop hd so I can look at the thumbnails of my shots while on the road. I want to keep the referenced files on the external HD. How can I achieve this?
It sounds like your current setup is using *referenced masters*. If this is the case then you can just move the Aperture library over to your internal disk. As the masters haven't moved Aperture should be able to find them without any intervention on your part. If Aperture can't find the masters then you'll need to run *File->Locate Referenced Files...* to reconnect them.
If your current setup is using *managed masters* you will need to turn those into referenced masters. Whether you do this before copying the library over to the internal disk isn't critical, unless you're low on space on the internal drive. If you copy the library over before turning the masters into referenced masters you'll need enough disk space to whole library.

Locate referenced files for whole library?

Hello,
I have a referenced library (internal drive, iMac) with Masters (on an external drive). I made a back-up duplicate (finder copy) of that Masters volume, on another drive. Now I'm working from that duplicate copy of "Masters" (same name, spelling, as original "Masters", on a separate external drive).
How do I reconnect all 60,000 referenced files (from the duplicate "Masters" drive) with my library (on the iMac). I know how to do them one file at a time from the Aperture library (File > Locate Referenced Files) but can not figure out how to reconnect everything in one or two easy clicks.
Help!
Thanks!
Patrick

Select a batch of images, and go into +Locate Referenced Files+ - just the same as doing one at a time. Match up one image from your batch with the file and then, instead of hitting the <Reconnect> button, hit the <Reconnect All> button.
Do a small batch initial until you get the hang of it, and then make a bigger selection and go and have a cup of tea...
Here's an [earlier description|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11334896#113348 96] I gave of this process with some background details of how I handled it first time around.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Gary

Change all referenced files in Aperture for entire library?

Hi experts...
All my Aperture files are on an external HDD and I had to copy everything over to a new drive recently. The old drive was called "photos", the new drive is called "My Passport". Without thinking about it, I made the new directory structure a bit different. On the old drive, my structure looked like this:
Volume = photos
File Path = photos/year/month/name_of_project/original_files.NEF
On the new drive, the structure is like this:
Volume = My Passport
File Path = year/month/name_of_project/original_files.NEF
When I started poking around in some of my projects, I found that Aperture told me that the originals were either missing or offline. I figured out how to reconnect all the originals in a given project - but I've got several hundred projects and reconnecting everything is going to be tedious and time consuming.
Is there a way (either through the program or via a script) that I can tell Aperture, essentially..."hey, for all the images in my library where the master used to be on drive 'photos' at <filepath>, they're now on drive 'My Passport' at <same filepath name except for top level directory>."
Alternatively, if I rename my new drive to "photos" and then put all the 'year' folders under a directory called 'photos', will Aperture be able to find everything magically?

A HA!!!!
I believe that did the trick. Aperture is chunking through all the referenced files now and reconnecting them...so I wait. But I'm pretty sure this will work, now that I think about it.
Once all the images are done reconnecting I'll come back and mark this as "correct answer". Thanks!

Referenced files, remember library and albums

Something has happened with my Aperture 3.0.3. I have a couple problems.
I get the "Which library do you want Aperture to use?" dialogue almost every time I start Aperture. It doesn't remember which one I used last time anymore.
I can't select multiple files in the "Locate referenced Files" dialogue anymore. I can only select one and klick "Update Selection in Browser". Why can't I select multiple files anymore?
Sometimes when I try to select one smart album two or three other albums get selected instead.
Nothing happens sometimes when I try to delete an album.
Sometimes Aperture adds (1) to the name I enter even if there's no album with that name.
Now, after my last Rebuild Database I have four smart Albums with exactly the same name.
I have tried to Repair Permissions, Repair Database and Rebuild Database a couple ot imes, but it doens't help.
I'd appreciate if someone can help me with this.

More news:
Aperture doesn't remember where I want my referenced saved anymore so I had to enter the path every time I import files.
I dont get black arrows when I update my Vaults. They change from red to yellow or remain yellow. They should turn black when my vault is updated.
I have the same problem on two computers.
I have verified disks and permissions. It didn't help.
I have reinstalled Aperture on one of my computers. It didn't help. It just got worse. I can't even start Aperture anymore.
PLEASE help me! I'm out of ideas. What else can I do? The only thing I know now is that I can't start Aperture. I'm not too happy about that.

How to copy referenced files into iPhoto library

I have a mixture of referenced files and copies in my iPhoto library. I changed now the preferences to always copy files when importing new photos. But, how can I copy the old referenced photos into my library (they are all over the place)? Is there anything like "Copy all files to the library"?

csmun
Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
But, how can I copy the old referenced photos into my library (they are all over the place)? Is there anything like "Copy all files to the library"?
I'm afraid there isn't - you'll need to do it the hard way I'm afraid.
What might help is to go into the Library/Originals folder and examine the aliases there. Right click on an alias and select 'Show Original' A finder window will pop open with the Original File. Then replace the alias with the original.
Regards
TD

Fastest? Relocate Masters or Finder move with Locate referenced files

I have maxed out the 2 x 1TB drives in my MP dedicated to referenced masters, and I'm about to consolidate them onto a new 2 x 2TB drive setup. My question is which is the fastest solution for moving 1.5 TB of images on my current setup onto one of the new 2TB drives.
FYI, the new HDD is now connected via eSATA to an external housing, with write speeds of around 100 MB/sec. Once all data is transferred and relinked, I'll open the case and swap out the new drives internally for the old 1TB ones.
Is it fastest to?
1. Use Aperture's "Relocate Masters" fucntion. My question is how much extra overhead is involved with doing this via Aperture?
2. Do a Finder copy of the files, then once they are moved open Aperture and use the "Locate Referenced Files" to reconnect the images to the new HDD.
Has anyone done any speed tests on this? I have about 80,000 refernced images, so I'd like to cut the file transfer time down as much as possible.

Select a batch of images, and go into +Locate Referenced Files+ - just the same as doing one at a time. Match up one image from your batch with the file and then, instead of hitting the <Reconnect> button, hit the <Reconnect All> button.
Do a small batch initial until you get the hang of it, and then make a bigger selection and go and have a cup of tea...
Here's an [earlier description|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11334896#113348 96] I gave of this process with some background details of how I handled it first time around.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Gary

Importing library from iphoto loses referenced file

I've imported large libraries from iphoto and when i bring them into aperture, there's always a yellow triangle at the bottom and when i open the photo it says "referenced file not found"
It looks like the iphoto library has been copied into the aperture library judging by the size of things, but the photos all seem to be only thumbnails when i try to view them any larger.
Is this a bug or is there a workaround?

Best suggestion: Buy some external USB or Firewire drives. Move your Library to one, back it up to another. A lot more reliable than DVD, a lot less work and much more convenient. For a start, you don't have to break up the library...
Regards
TD

New user here. Trying to import iPhoto 9.4.2 libraries into Aperture 3.4.3 as referenced files. When accessing File Import Library, it finds the iPhoto library just fine, but then imports it as Master files. No option that I can find to leave the photos

New user here. Trying to import iPhoto 9.4.2 libraries into Aperture 3.4.3 as referenced files. When accessing File>Import>Library, it finds the iPhoto library just fine, but then imports it as Master files. No option that I can find to leave the photos in place on the file system. All the literature says their should be an option to choose, but I never get that option. What?

All the literature says their should be an option to choose, but I never get that option.
That has been true for the previous Aperture versions. Now Aperture simply treats the original image files exactly as they are in the imported library. Referenced images will stay referenced, managed will be imported as managed. But you can always relocate the imported managed images afterwards by using "File > Relocate".
Regards
Léonie

Masters in Library vs Referenced files

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