I want the reference to the image to be the master file, not anything stored in the Aperture library.
If you reference the master file then you realize that any adjustments you made to the image in Aperture will not be reflected in the image that goes into JAlbum? Aperture never modifies the master file.
If this is really want you want to do then you should set up the masters in Aperture to be referenced, that is stored outside the Aperture library then JAlbum (or any other program) can have access to them.
I'm not aware of any Aperture plug-ins for JAlbum but I don;t use it so nave never really looked for one. You could try searching they may be some out there. As for writing your own plug-in, export plug-ins (which this would be) are easier to write then edit plug-ins so it is not out of the question. Of course your programming experience and familiarity with writing for OS X will have an impact on how feasible that would be.
Now by your answer, I did realize I could delete the preview, but then I can't drag and drop.
Not sure what you;re getting at here. I never said to delete the previews I wrote that you could control the quality of the previews that Aperture creates.
I am very eager to switch from Photoshop Elements (I just use the organizer really), but my workflow demands that I use the master file location.
Then this might be a show stopper for you. As I wrote above the master file is never modified by Aperture. Any adjustments you make are made to the versions and the versions don;t really become physical files until you export them.