Steps to Moving an Aperture Library to External Drive

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Level 1

4 points

Steps to Moving an Aperture Library to External Drive

I recently acquired Aperture but don't have much space left on my internal hard drive. I'm thinking of moving my Aperture Library to an external hard drive. Someone said just copy it - that doesn't seem possible as I can't even "select" the library. I've tried copying the "projects" and putting them on the external drive. That doesn't work either.

Can anyone tell me the EXACT steps to moving an Aperture Library to an external drive or even creating one there and moving projects to it?? I couldn't find any information in the Apple documentation or Apple video demos.

Thanks!!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Jan 17, 2011 9:49 AM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

726,707 points

Jan 17, 2011 9:52 AM in response to KatieKat008

Verify the drive's formatted to Mac OS Extended in the Get Info window, locate the library in the Finder, drag it over, and double-click the moved library. All of these actions are done in the Finder, not Aperture.

(56242)

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Answer 2

KatieKat008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 17, 2011 10:10 AM in response to Niel

I can't locate the library in the Finder.

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Answer 3

Jan 17, 2011 10:12 AM in response to KatieKat008

Welcome to the list. Make sure you read the [Help & Terms of Use|http://discussions.apple.com/help.jspa] section when you get a chance.

What Neil wrote is true but there are a few more things you should consider before making the move.

First are the images in your current library managed or referenced? This refers to where the masters currently are. If they are managed then they are in the actual Aperture library and dragging the library to the external drive would move it all.

However if the images are currently referenced, that is they are external to the actual library then moving the library would only be part of what you need to do. You would also need to move the masters over and reconnect them to the library.

There is also a performance issue to consider. Having the library on an external USB connected drive will be at best a less then satisfying experience. There are ways to make it work better but it will require a bit more work upfront.

It's actually not that difficult to get it right and in the long run it will make using Aperture a whole lot better.

Post back if you need more information, regards

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Answer 4

Niel

Level 10

726,707 points

Jan 17, 2011 10:12 AM in response to KatieKat008

Click on the Pictures item in the Finder's sidebar or from the sidebar item with the house icon.

(56243)

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Answer 5

KatieKat008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 17, 2011 2:53 PM in response to KatieKat008

Thanks Frank & Niel,

"Pictures" wasn't in the Finder sidebar at all but I figured out how to put it there. I thought I had to do everything inside Aperture.

Anyway, Frank you said there are ways to help the performance that should be done upfront when using an external drive for an Aperture library. If it's not too much trouble, can you explain what else has to be done?

Thanks!!

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Answer 6

Jan 17, 2011 6:19 PM in response to KatieKat008

KatieKat008 wrote:
Thanks Frank & Niel,

Anyway, Frank you said there are ways to help the performance that should be done upfront when using an external drive for an Aperture library. If it's not too much trouble, can you explain what else has to be done?

First before you move anything you need to determine the status of the masters in your library, referenced or managed.

As for the performance considerations most users have reported poor performance running the Aperture library on an attached USB drive. However if you you must use the USB drive the thing is to store the master files on the USB drive but keep the actual library on the internal disk. The masters take up the majority of the disk space used by Aperture, the actual library isn't all that bad. So by moving the masters off the internal drive you save the space you need to but by keeping the actual library on the internal drive you keep most of the performance.

If you decide to go this route you would do all the moving from within Aperture. You basically select all the images in your library then run *File->Relocate Masters...*. In the popup you'll get when you run this you'll setup the file structure you want the masters to have on the external drive.

By doing the move from within Aperture, the masters never get 'lost' so you won't have to reconnect them after they are moved.

As is the case anytime you mess with the library it is highly recommend that you have a backup just in case.

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Answer 7

KatieKat008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 18, 2011 7:12 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Thanks for the information, Frank! I'll have to think about this.

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Answer 8

Dec 20, 2011 5:12 PM in response to KatieKat008

Thanks for the info here, it is very helpful as I would like to clear some room on my MBP! I would like to take the next step and relocate my masters to an external with the rest of my images and keep the library itself on the main drive. I have read VERY mixed reviews about the success of this operation so I want to get all the steps from the pros before I even start the process and screw something up.

First of all, I have made a copy of the Library file on another drive, is that is a reasonable backup?

Second, I think I may have a bit of a mixed bag with both "managed" and "referenced" images.

Do I need to worry about that?

Third, how do I select "all of the images in my library" before I execute the Relocate Master comand?

and Fourth, what are the other steps involved....?

Thanks again and in advance!)

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Answer 9

Dec 27, 2011 1:21 PM in response to MissMadHoney

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

system:

Mac Book Pro 17in

OSX 10.6.8

2.66 GHz i7

8 GB 1067MHz DDR3

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Answer 10

Dec 27, 2011 8:33 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Frank,

I'm reading your responses to KatieKat with alot of interest..

I'm at the stage of moving a part of my Aperture library (12,500 images) to an external HD (formatted to Journaled)

I go to 'relocate masters' and select the Lacie 500GB external HD: my confusion comes from what to then: maybe I'm just silly, but I've created a new folder called 'Aperture Master Files'.. My confusion comes from the bit at the bottom: the sub formating? I don't want to 12,500 individual photo files on the external HD: rather they be in some format or either so I can access the master when I need too (btw: I've left my National Geographic standard masters on my Mac Book Pro as well as a few other photos that are too personal to me to risk moving off my Mac Book Pro's HD)

Any thoughts?? I think perhaps others may eventually hit this step and wonder the same thing: it is my first time doing this and like others, do not especially want to loose 100GB+ of images.

Thoughts?

Have a good evening..

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Answer 11

KatieKat008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 1, 2012 11:05 AM in response to arnepulle

To Frank, Niel, MissMadHoney, arnepulle OR anyone else,

I started this post a long time ago and am now seriously wanting to move my "masters" off my internal hard drive and put them on an external drive. I'm really out of hard drive space. I'm very confused about what to put in the "Subfolder Format", "Custom Subfolder Name", "Name Format", & "Custom Name". I want the masters to stay exactly the same as they are in Aperture with each picture named the same as I already named them and within the same Projects they are currently in, within Aperture and with the same Project names.

Putting in the information in "Subfolder Format", etc. sounds like all the Projects and the pictures will all have new names determined by what I put in those 4 places. It also sounds like all the pictures will be mixed together in one giant group.

Do I have to move the masters one Project at a time and then rename them back to what they were in the Aperture Library on my internal hard drive?

Thanks to anyone who has actually done this and can help me!!

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Answer 12

KatieKat008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 1, 2012 12:29 PM in response to KatieKat008

Nevermind. I figured it out. I was going to test it with one picture, which was the only picture in one of my Projects. So that's all I selected but for some reason it moved all my masters - everything in my Aperture Library. There was no way to cancel it or stop it. So whether or not that's what I wanted, all my masters have been moved.

I wonder if I want to put them back, if I can ever do that??

Also, if I import more pictures, how do I put the masters on the external drive with the others?

Any advice?

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Answer 13

MarkPek

Level 2

215 points

Jun 4, 2012 7:24 PM in response to KatieKat008

Katie,

Can you please tell us how this worked exactly? Did you have to enter anything in "subfolder format," etc.? Where did things end up? How is the performance, etc.? Thanks for any information you can provide.

I, too, am considering this move, as my Aperture library is now 120GB on a 500GB MacBook Pro. Can someone walk us through the steps? I've checked the manual and other books, but none address the specific questions in this thread about subfolders, names, etc. Thank you!

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Answer 14

Jun 5, 2012 8:08 AM in response to KatieKat008

KatieKat008 wrote:

I wonder if I want to put them back, if I can ever do that??

The Consolidate masters command can be used to move referenced masters back into the Aperture library.

Also, if I import more pictures, how do I put the masters on the external drive with the others?

Any advice?

Wen you import images into Aperture the import window has settings to do this.

In the Aperture Library brick you select where you want the masters you are importing stored:

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Answer 15

KatieKat008 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 5, 2012 12:15 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Thanks Frank!!

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