comanche8

Q: Aperture projects not available to Finder - way to match Finder to Project structure?

Just transitioning from the dark side (PC) ... and don't fully understand this relationship.  I have all images organized in projects and want to have same folder structure in Finder.  Way to get there from here?

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Sep 21, 2013 8:26 AM

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Q: Aperture projects not available to Finder - way to match Finder to Project structure?

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 21, 2013 9:03 AM in response to comanche8
    Level 10 (108,498 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 21, 2013 9:03 AM in response to comanche8
    I have all images organized in projects and want to have same folder structure in Finder.

     

    There is, but it is not recommended, unless you are running out of disk space on the drive with your Aperture library and need to distribute the library across more than one drive.

    See: Aperture 3 User Manual: Working with Referenced Images

     

    If you access the originals using the Finder, you may easily corrupt Aperture's database, and it is a lot of trouble to recover from that. You are risking to lose your images. Aperture is first of all a image management system, and interfering with that is risky. If you do not want to trust Aperture with the management, stick with the way PICASA is doing it. I understand, that the difference between these worlds is hard to accept, if you are accustomed to manage the images on your own. In Aperture you do the organising inside Aperture with the provided tools, and rely on Aperture to retrieve the images for you.

     

    See Terence Devlin's user tip on the recommended ways to access the images managed by Aperture:

                     How do I access my Photos in Aperture?

     

    Regards

    Léonie

  • by Kirby Krieger,

    Kirby Krieger Kirby Krieger Sep 21, 2013 9:06 AM in response to comanche8
    Level 6 (12,522 points)
    Sep 21, 2013 9:06 AM in response to comanche8

    No, there is not.

     

    Aperture is an image-manager.  Finder is a file manager.  Images are not files.  Image containers are not file containers.

     

    This is an important -- and difficult -- hurdle for users to clear in order to make the most of Aperture.

     

    Read my short intro to Aperture.  It describes a little bit of this difference.

     

    You have files made by your camera.  You import them into Aperture.  Aperture stores these files where you tell it to (or in the Library by default).  It never alters them (unless you tell it to).  And it creates an Image.  You develop your Images (make adjustments, in Aperture-speak), you add metadata, you create whatever organizational structures you want (Aperture excels at this) ... and then, when you need a _file_ to share with another person or to use in another program, you export your Image(s).  Export means "Make me image-format files from these selected Images".  And then you have files that show in your file manager, which in OS X is the Finder.

     

    Between import and export, you don't have to worry about file management at all -- except to make sure you backup your Aperture Library and any Originals (the name Aperture gives to the file you import after you import them) that are stored outside your Library (Aperture calls these "Referenced Originals").

     

    HTH.

     

    --Kirby.

  • by comanche8,

    comanche8 comanche8 Sep 21, 2013 9:12 AM in response to Kirby Krieger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 21, 2013 9:12 AM in response to Kirby Krieger

    Thank you both ... this helps me understand the landscape.  So if I want to have images in Finder folders .... to access for device sync or email attachments for instance ...  I'll need to export them from Aperture into identifiable folders in Finder?   Does it sound like I get it yet?

  • by Kirby Krieger,

    Kirby Krieger Kirby Krieger Sep 21, 2013 9:25 AM in response to comanche8
    Level 6 (12,522 points)
    Sep 21, 2013 9:25 AM in response to comanche8

    Closer  .  You cannot have Images in Finder folders.  Images are not files.  Finder is a file-manager.

     

    OS X gives you access to your Aperture Images via the Media Browser.  The Media Browser (search this forum for excellent instructions) is available to many OS X programs, and (afaik) to all Apple programs.

     

    You can email directly from Aperture.  It requires a little bit of set-up.  I use it every day.

     

    There are other ways to share Images built into Aperture.

     

    You can drag Images from Aperture _as long as you have Previews_.  Previews are an important part of Aperture, but I recommend beginners set them and forget them.

     

    Syncing with iDevices is more tricky.  What you do depends on what you want.  You'll want to look into sycing via iTunes and using Photo Stream.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 21, 2013 10:52 AM in response to comanche8
    Level 10 (108,498 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 21, 2013 10:52 AM in response to comanche8

    Just an example, of what Kirby so beautifully explained: The Media Browser in "Mail" will come as "Photo Browser". If you click it, you will see an Inspector view of your Aperture (and your iPhoto) library, and be able to access all your projects and albums directly from Mail,j ust like from within Aperture. The same goes for many applications, that access photo libraries - iWorks, etc.

    Screen Shot 2013-09-21 at 19.39.33.png

     

     

    As for sharing your photos to IOS devices -

    See:  iOS and iPod: Syncing photos using iTunes

     

    iPhoto and Aperture: Using Photo Stream

    iCloud: Photo Stream FAQ

  • by comanche8,

    comanche8 comanche8 Sep 21, 2013 11:05 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 21, 2013 11:05 AM in response to léonie

    All great info .... I'm learning .. albeit slow.   One of my obstacles is that I must use Google Chrome / Gmail tied to my company .... so can't take advantage of the integrated features of iMail.  That is why I was looking for a way to locate and attach photos I have in Aperture.  I suppose I could setup a ghost iMail account and forward to my Gmail ?  Would that be the simpliest work around?

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Sep 21, 2013 11:26 AM in response to comanche8
    Level 10 (139,582 points)
    iLife
    Sep 21, 2013 11:26 AM in response to comanche8

    There's no need for that at all. Have a read of this article

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4681

     

    The Léonie linked to above. The Library is available in every open... or attach... dialogue in the OS. Note the First illustration.

     

    Oh, and you can easily set up Mail to work with Gmail too.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 21, 2013 11:34 AM in response to comanche8
    Level 10 (108,498 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 21, 2013 11:34 AM in response to comanche8

    Any program that uses MacOS X's file chooser dialog will have the media Browser in the sidebar of the file chooser window. Check, if GMail has it also. The "Photos" icon is usually at the bottom of the sidebar.

     

    For example in "Preview":

    Screen Shot 2013-09-21 at 20.29.38.png

    If all fails, keep Aperture open, and drag the previews from Aperture`s browser into your Mailer.

  • by comanche8,

    comanche8 comanche8 Sep 21, 2013 12:07 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 21, 2013 12:07 PM in response to léonie

    You guys are teriffic ... and patient.  Thanks!