Lost referenced photos in Aperture -- need help with re-associating them

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Level 2

248 points

Lost referenced photos in Aperture -- need help with re-associating them

When I first started using Aperture 3, I elected to have my existing iPhoto pics as referenced, rather than managed files.

I recently replaced my hard drive (for a bigger one to hold all those photos...). Now I find that whenever I click on a referenced photo, I get the error message:

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 understand I can go do File>Locate Referenced Files.

Given that they haven't been moved from their original location (I assume within the iPhoto library), is there a way to automatically re-associate all of them? I've got about 10,000 photos like this now and can't possibly track them down one by one.

In the dialog window that pops up, the lower box is where you point to the original files. I can select "iphoto library" but don't see any way to do this easily for a lot of photos. Am I missing something?

Thanks.

MacBook Pro 15" (late 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Apr 17, 2011 5:46 AM

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Answer 1

rwboyer

Level 4

3,170 points

Apr 17, 2011 11:32 AM in response to Argelius

This might help... it;s a little dated but the basics are the same...

http://photo.rwboyer.com/2009/01/29/aperture-2-file-management/

Also note that you can sometimes force a reconnection if the "reconnect all" button is not active by holding down command.

RB

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Answer 2

rwboyer

Level 4

3,170 points

Apr 17, 2011 11:40 AM in response to rwboyer

Ooooops = I meant option+reconnect all.

RB

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Answer 3

Argelius Author

Level 2

248 points

Apr 17, 2011 2:55 PM in response to rwboyer

Thanks for your help with this. That article seemed to be helpful, but I can't seem to implement it's suggestions.

The one secret to making manage referenced files work is that you need to select all of the files in the upper pane that are disconnected and then navigate to the correct/new location in the bottom pane. Doing this will activate the “reconnect all” button that will do all of the heavy lifting for you.

Unfortunately, when I try to do this, I am unable to "select all" -- I can only select one photo at a time. If I do cmd+A, all the files in the upper pane are not elected.. (And option + reconnect all doesn't un-grey that button).

Sigh...

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Answer 4

rwboyer

Level 4

3,170 points

Apr 17, 2011 4:22 PM in response to Argelius

That is the part that is outdated... you don't need to do that in Aperture 3 - just select one image on the top and the correct image on the bottom and reconnect all.

RB

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Answer 5

Argelius Author

Level 2

248 points

Apr 18, 2011 5:14 AM in response to rwboyer

Oh, man -- THANK YOU! That last bit of info did it for me.

So to summarize for others that may be struggling with this:

[1] Create a smart album to locate all the referenced photos (I used the keyword "iphoto original" which Aperture applied to all my iphoto pics when I starting using Aperture).

[2]Select all photos in the album (cmd-A)

[3] File>Locate Referenced Files

[4] In the upper panel highlight one photo.

[5] Use spotlight to locate where that photo is on your hard drive.

[6] In the lower panel navigate to the location of the photo

[7] Click on the "reconnect all button at the bottom.

Aperture then took about 5 minutes reconnecting all my referenced photos.

Excellent. Thanks!

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Answer 6

rwboyer

Level 4

3,170 points

Apr 18, 2011 5:33 AM in response to Argelius

No problem - glad things worked out.

For some reason a lot of people have had trouble operating this function for the same reasons as you have. Glad to be of assistance...

RB

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Answer 7

May 14, 2012 11:53 AM in response to Argelius

Argelius and rwboyer-- Thanks for the clear step-by-step! This post just bailed me out big time. I'm pretty new to Aperture and just replaced my media drive with all the linked files. I saw the "reconnect all" option before but thought it would try to link all my pictures to one specific (wrong) photo's location.

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Answer 8

bmp256

Level 1

5 points

May 14, 2012 2:18 PM in response to rwboyer

rw, I was following your steps, and found PA3 show the MAC HDD as "off line" . Since all is well except for AP3, any ideas on how to bring it back on line?

BmP

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Answer 9

May 14, 2012 11:25 PM in response to Argelius

Just a thought-- is the "offline" drive available in the lower panel (from step 6)?

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