Workflow: Master files to referenced files

I am seeking advice on how best to go about making thousands of managed master files, referenced files. I have been importing everything as a master file into my aperture library thus far. Now, my library is getting too large to manage and I need to free up some space by moving some older shoots to other hard drives. I suppose I could export each project individually, but it seems like this would take days, if not weeks to move all of these RAW files. Can anyone recommend an efficient procedure?
Thanks,
Ryan

1. Select images in Aperture.
2. File>Relocate Masters...
3. Pick a location and sub-folder format.
Ian

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Can I store referenced master files on a shared folder on a windows file server?

I have a windows file server where I have setup shared folders that my Macbook can access. Is it a supported configuration to keep my referenced master files on the windows share?

I hardly ever use the Bridge. I mostly use the Bridges to work one groups of new image RAW to edit metadata and create ACR settings. I don't use bridge features like collections or use the bridge to organize my image and I also don't use Lightroom. I mostly use Photoshop and Window's File explorer with my Image files. I have installed FastPictureViewer Codeg package to get thumbnails for RAW and PSD files in a Window's dialog. I don't like the delays introduced in workflows that are cause by the overhead requires for Bridge Cashes and Lighroom Databases.
However for you with 50 users sharing assets on network drives I would think you would need a library system above and beyond Bridge and Lightroom. A library system that provides access and version processes so users don't step on each others work.
If you want to use the bridge I do not believe it would be possible to use a shared cashed where multiple instances of the Bridge could concurrently maintain a common cache. I do not believe either Bridge or Lighroom design would have the locking protocols required for shared concurrent use.

Help - Ext HDD Referenced Master Files Gets Connected to Wrong Drive

I just bought Aperture and upgraded to 1.5 and am a new user. Prior to the external/open library, I would not have bought Aperture because I need to access my images on both Macs and PCs.
I spent all day yesterday creating project structure, albums and importing images into Aperture. This morning when I launched Aperture, the referenced masters on external HD were somehow now connected to my Boot Camp WindowsXP partition. When this occurred, I did not have my external drive connected.
Naturally, I connected the external drive and relaunched Aperture but all the images were referenced to my XP partition with directory path that belongs to my external HD (i.e., path is XP/Photo Lib/2006/..., instead of what it should be LACIE/photo Lib/2006/...) I was able to reconnect by selecting one image and reconnecting all function. Easy enough but troublesome.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? Is this a bug on 1.5? Am I doing something wrong - I could not find any setting that would cause this behavior.
I am using MBP so this is bit of a big deal for me....
Thanks in advance.
Mac OS X (10.4.7) XP Pro

My comment was too generalized - sorry.
Actually, the version file I was referring to is a version that gets created when an external editor is used. As you know, Aperture can create either TIF or PDS file to be used by an external editor. Once it is saved in the external editor, the preview is updated and the version is stored in Aperture Library. Unless I save the file using "Save As" into a different location manually, the edited file is in Aperture Lib. I will have to export the file into the directory of choice.
If Aperture saved the external edited file into where the master file is located, then Photoshop'd or any other editor modified files can be accessed directly without having to go through the extra steps

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

How can I import Master files from my iPhoto library to my Aperture lib?...

... That is knowing that I have already imported all my iPhoto library but I selected the option "in their current location" from the "store files" pop-up menu.
So right now, all my pictures are referenced images in Aperture but stored in their current locations on the iPhoto folder.
I simply want to get the masters back into Aperture.
How can I do that?
Thanks a lot for you help

There are some tutorials here
http://www.apple.com/aperture/tutorials/
one of which is specific to Aperture/iPhoto
Essentially though what you are wanting to do with your referenced master files is to
File/Consolidate Master/
Definitely worth having a read of the pro's and cons of managed vs referenced files.
RB maintains a great site with a wealth of ideas on workflows, worth having a erad of these.
http://photo.rwboyer.com/
Tony

I can't delete the master file, which is located on my external HD, through aperture

I import a folder to aperture which is stored on my external HD, and keep the originals on the HD. If I try to delete a master file with the option, file-delete master image and all versions, the photo deletes from Aperture, but not my hard drive. I have even tried to delete my trash, but no luck. Please help, otherwise I do not want to use aperture for file management, which was one of my major reasons for buying it.

After you've deleted a file it from the project it goes into Aperture Trash. When you empty Aperture Trash (Aperture>Empty Aperture Trash) you will get a dialogue box asking "Are you sure you want to permanently delete all items in the Trash?" Under this there is a checkbox giving you the option to "Move referenced files to System Trash". If you check this box it will move the master to the system trash, and from there you can permanently delete the file.
All this is to stop you from accidentally deleting work.

How to reconnect master files in recovered folder to Aperture

Aperture 3 crashed and somehow it spit out all its master files and dumped them in a directory called 'Pictures Recovered Photos'. All files in Aperture show the 'Master Not Found' badge (arrow with yellow exclamation point triangle). How do I tell Aperture that the master file it's looking for sits in the 'Pictures Recovered Photos' folder?
I tried the 'Locate Referenced Files' command but that obviously doesn't work because the pictures are not referenced. The master files were imported before something went wrong.
To make matters worse, the 'Pictures Recovered Photos' folder contains about 56k files, while I only have about 13k masters. Upon further inspection, I noticed that most masters had several copies of themselves:
e.g. here are all the files matching picture DSC00131 in the 'Pictures Recovered Photos' folder:
DSC00131.JPG
DSC00131.JPG.jpg
DSC00131.JPG_2.jpg
thumb_DSC00131.JPG.jpg
thumb_DSC00131.JPG_2.jpg
thumb_DSC00131.JPG_face0.jpg
thumb_DSC00131.JPG_face0_2.jpg
thumb_DSC00131.JPG_face1.jpg
thumb_DSC00131.JPG_face1_2.jpg
thumb_DSC00131.JPG_face2.jpg
thumb_DSC00131.JPG_face2_2.jpg
Any suggestions on how to get out of this mess?

First wanted to see if someone had seen this situation before
The subject of Aperture completely aside, it is not uncommon for files to sprout in unexpected places when there are disk problems. If you have not already done so you should use Disk Utility to Verify the disk(s) where your masters and Aperture app and library reside before you attempt to do anything else. While you are in Disk Utility check the S.M.A.R.T status as well. If you try to fix things within Aperture you could make things worse if your disks aren't in tip-top shape.
I'm new to Aperture so I will leave advice on how to relocate your masters to experienced users.

Unable to Rename Master File in Aperture 3

Attempting to rename the Master File in Aperture 3 results in an error. This problem started after upgrading to Lion. I have used the same work flow for some time with no problem. The error occurs both when attempting to rename on import (import crashes) or after importing and attempting to change the name. The same problem is happening on both of my computers. The master files are Nikon RAW (.nef) files. Anybody else having the same problem?
Thanks - T.J.

Need a little more info:
Can you tell us where your Masters are stored?
Internal Drive?
External Drive?
Referenced or Managed?
If external drive, how is it formatted?
Are you using network storage?

Sharing master files with Lightroom 4

Several years ago I used Aperture and ended up switching to LR4, but miss a few of the features of Aperture. I am trying to figure out a way of using Aperture to access some of my master files without having to duplicate my master files from LR4. It is my understanding that if I import files into Aperture that the images go into a specific Aperture Library. What I really liked about LR was that my master files could sit where ever I wanted them and the application only accessed the files rather than stowed the masters into a unique application library.

You can import images into Aperture as referenced originals, and reference them in their original location, without moving them into the aperture library. Only you must not move them, rename them, edit them in any way after importing them into Aperture, for that will break the connection between the version in Aperture and the referenced original master.
See: Aperture 3 User Manual: Working with Referenced Images
Regards
Léonie

Missing master files in Aperture 2

I (like a lot of others on here!) am having trouble with my photos in Aperture 2 displaying the yellow exclamation mark and grey arrow badge.
When I go to File > Relocate Master..., I get a message saying they cannot be found.
I searched on one photo's filename through spotlight and found the images in "User"/Pictures/Merged Libray (which is the name of my iPhoto library)/Masters/ then a string of numbered subfolders, 2011/04/12/ etc.
BUT when I go back to Aperture and go to File > Manage Referenced Files in order to reconnect them (is this right??), the folder "Masters" of my iPhoto library does not appear in the bottom navigation pane of the Aperture dialog box. I can navigate to the Masters folder through Finder by asking to "Show package contents" for iPhoto, but this is not an option in the Aperture window.
Does anyone know how I could fix this? Could I perhaps copy the iPhoto "Masters" folder files, create a new folder on the desktop or some such, and ask Aperture to speak with them? That seems a bit convoluted.! :S Hope someone can help!
I am on a 15" MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6.7, Aperture 2.
Cheers

A mistake I used to make that resulted in this is when I import photos, not double checking the option to save them into the Aperture library, or leave them where they already are on the hard drive. Then, I'd delete the originals, and bang, exclamation points.
If Aperture says there's no physical Master file anymore, then there's not. Back track and figure out when/where you moved the originals or if you deleted them. It's always safer to doube check an import is placing the Masters into Aperture's own library.
If they're in iPhoto now, delete them from Aperture, re-import them from iPhoto.

Viewing the master file

Okay, here's another problem (along with the cropping and rotating issues that still exist) since the latest update:
I cannot view my master files after I have made adjustments to an image. You know how you just hit M and can see the difference of the original and the changes? Well, that doesn't happen anymore.
UPDATE: Even before I finished my thoughts, I can now view the master. But I have to exit Aperture and then go back in for it to work.
Obviously not the smooth workflow I experienced before 3.2 or before upgrading to Lion. I am VERY close to making the switch to Lightroom and never looking back.
SECOND UPDATE: Actually, the problem is in full screen mode. Works fine in non-full screen mode. Grrrr. I want to kill the Lion before it kills me!

Well, for what it's worth, it works fine for me. Have you gone through any of the Troubleshooting Basics?

Missing master files...again.

Well Aperture has lost my master files again.
I keep them on an external HDD and backed up to another external HDD.
How to point Aperture in the right direction? (thousands of images)
thanks

Hello Steve,
are you using Aperture 3.2.3?
Well Aperture has lost my master files again.
What was the reason the first time this happenend?
I keep them on an external HDD and backed up to another external HDD.
Is your external HDD connected and can you see the master image files in the Finder?
How to point Aperture in the right direction? (thousands of images)
Launch Aperture
Select the images with the missing masters in the Browser
In main menu bar select "File -> Locate Referenced Files"
The window that appears has two panels:
In the top panel you select one of the images with missing masters
In the lower panel you select the correct master file on your external volume.
If these two match, then the "reconnect" buttons will become available. Press "Reconnect all" and Aperture should find the masters again.
To be alble to connect all at once you may wish to create a smart album containing all images with missing masters:
File -> New -> Smart album"
and add a rule "File status is missing" or "File status is offline"
Good Luck
Léonie

Aperture cannot locate master files when upgrading to new OS X Leopard

I have recently upgraded to Leopard from Tiger. The problem I have encountered is that when trying to locate the master files of my pictures, Aperture cannot because it thinks my files are in my hard drive located in my previous OS X and that the volume is not mounted. I cannot 'Relocate Masters for Projects' or bring my masters back online since it is the hard drive I am currently running Leopard. Does anyone else have this problem and possibly a resolution? Thank you very much.

I had a similar problem, and this how I fixed this.
Select all the files, and either select "Manage Referenced Files" from the File menu or from the contextual menu when you right click the selected files. Use the dialogue that appears to navigate to your master files [make sure that "Show only Files Not Found" is NOT selected] and reconnect your files. If you have files in a number of albums/projects/folders this may take some time.
Quit Aperture, and if a dialogue shows up saying that it is updating previews DON'T SELECT CANCEL. When you re-launch Aperture everything should be fine.

Missing files "Unavailable master files cannot be relocated."

Please help
I have missing masters -
I had 25,000 referenced masters in a directory next to the aperture library and ran consolidate (thought it was successful) but now I see 1012 "Missing" Masters. When I do "Locate Referenced Files" Aperture says I do not have any referenced files. But if I go do a Finder search for files in the old referenced location they are all still out there - (and not in the Aperture Library Masters) (They all have the "Arrow/Triangle/exclamation mark" badge)
So my question is - can I connect the "Missing" to the existing file? Or do I have to delete all the "missing masters" and loose all the aperture metadata I have on them?
I have read all the treads I can find and have not seen the same issue -
"Locate Referenced Files" is not an option.
and if I run relocate on the files I get this error:
"Unavailable master files cannot be relocated.
The selected master image is either offline or not found. Please reconnect it and try again."
Any advice or help from the community would be very appreciated - this is my first post - hope it was intelligible
(living in a cave like you do)
John P.

Hi Frank,
Yes my aperture library and the "master" directory are right next to each other in ~/Pictures/. The history of this is as follows:
1. I copied my entire library and masters from my laptop to my iMac ( was out of room )
2. I verified everything was good - looked fine
3. Deleted my MacBook libraries.
4. Consolidated my library - in prep to clean up
5. Did a bunch of heavy cleaning efforts like merging projects within the library.
6. Ran a program to find duplicates - all it does is add keywords to suspect images.
7. Then I tried to relocate masters to a new directory and it errored out
8. Did a search for all "missing" (1000)
9. Started reading all the blogs - looking for answers
10. Ran all the repairs I could find
11. Posted this help request.
12 1/2 - now looking at the SQLlite blogs out there - but as you can see my situation is... Odd. I wish I could query the aperture DB directly and see what it is thinking....
* Sorry - everyone. I'll try to get back to the rest of the replies later tonight

Versions with unavailable master files cannot be exported.

Anybody a good idea how to sorting this out?
All the files are in pictures folder, i see the preview in A3. but I have the red line across the symbol in R lower corner on all the pictures.
I have tried the 3 different steps to try fix A3.
The full error message i get if I try to export or do anything with my pictures.
"Versions with unavailable master files cannot be exported.
The selected master image is either offline or not found. Please reconnect it and try again."
I have recently exchanged HD and upgraded to Snow Leopard.
HELP...

Hi, I cannot export some of my photos either as i get a message saying they are offline & i must reconnect them.
So i have followed your instructions however the file status 'missing' option draws a blank.. if i change the rule to 'offline' i do seem to get all the files that I am currently unable to export.
then i do your last instruction:
Run "File→Locate Referenced File". Reconnect all.
I can now see the located files in the top window box but when i click 'done' it doesn't do anything & the options for reconnect all are blank.. see image..
Is there anything else i can do?

Workflow: Master files to referenced files

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