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Level 1

74 points

albums and projects (quick one please)

just about to set down and spend a full day fixing my database here.

can anyone please remind me the proper way to organize albums versus projects?

i have a series of folders that contain either albums or projects and i need to reorganize this information. recently someone reminded me (a former windows user) that I need to think of my Aperture database as basically a place to store my slides. is there a good way to think about Albums versus Projects in this sense?

can i drag "slides" out of an Album and put them in a Project or take them out of a Project and put them in an Album or is this a bad idea?

also, when organizing slideshows and video should i only put these in a Folder or can they also go in a Project?

thanks for a push on this.

- Jon

Posted on Oct 20, 2011 9:30 AM

Best reply

Kirby Krieger

Level 6

12,592 points

Posted on Oct 20, 2011 9:50 AM

Hi Jon. These are good, basic questions. I suggest that you set up a test Library, and spend more time learning Aperture and trying out different organization schemes, before you start a wholesale re-organization of your Library.

Here is short guide to the parts of Aperture that every user should know.

Albums and Projects are fundamentally different. The difference is explained in the linked post.

There are two kinds of Slideshows in Aperture: those based on Slideshow Presets, and those based on Slideshow Albums. The only ones that get saved are Slideshow Albums. Treat them the same as any other Album.

They are fundamentally different from Videos. Videos are imported files. Treat them the same as imported photograph files (each is represented in Aperture as an Image).

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20 replies

léonie

Level 10

195,013 points

Oct 21, 2011 11:25 PM in response to hotwheels22

Oh crimeny. I thought I had it.

You are saying that I can have IMAGES and POINTERS in a PROJECT but I can only have POINTERS in an ALBUM?? Yes?

No, I sincerely hope that is not what I was saying, or I must have expressed myself badly at some point, perhaps when I mentioned referenced masters or when I pointed out that all edited versions of an image are bound to the original image and have to reside in the same project - I apologize for any confusion.

The project is the unique home location of the images; the projects only contain images and alternate versions of this images (or movies, if you also record movies) - If you have a referenced library, then these images will be references to an image files outside aperture, but this is conceptually a very different reference from the one that you have between projects and albums. When you organize your your images in projects and decide in which project they belong, there is no need to consider the difference between referenced and managed images, you can move both kinds of images between the projects in the same way.
Albums are subsets of images and contain references to images in projects, and describe a relation between a projects and albums. Albums only contain references, that you got right.

Oct 22, 2011 8:25 AM in response to hotwheels22

Hi Jon. It's important to me that you realize that these questions have been answered several times already. If you don't understand the answers, you should use your test Library (another recommendation you appear to have not followed) and try things out. It almost seems as if you are trying to master Aperture without using it (or without breaking it -- which is why one uses a test Library to learn). At the risk of a hackneyed proverb: you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs -- and you are trying to bake a soufflé on your first time in the kitchen.

A. "Original" does not describe anything in Aperture, but I get your meaning. A useful temporary answer is "Yes. If you have two identical Images based on separate but identical Masters then either the file that became the Master was imported twice or the Image created when it was first imported was copied from the Project in which it resided to another Project. Note that this copying of Images from one Project to another is unlikely, as one has to go out of one's way to do it, and they are good reasons not to do so.

B. "Pointer" is a helpful term when explaining Aperture, but does describe anything the user has access to while using Aperture. I assume you mean an Image. This is an example of something you should try out. I find it useful to have "Project Path" shown on the Metadata tab of the Inspector when I am experimenting with things like this.

C. Answered repeatedly.

D. In Aperture one "adjusts" Images. The term is specific and meaningful. This is another excellent example of something you can learn quickly by doing. They are not necessarily the same thing. Why?

E. Your Masters are files. Managed Masters are included in the Aperture Library package that shows in Finder as a file. Every copy of the Library includes copies of your Managed Masters.

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 22, 2011 9:25 AM in response to SierraDragon

Hi Allen.

I haven't heard you elaborate on this yet even though I see you have posted it a number of times.

Is there a url or some additional info you can provide on it?

It is a really important issue and one that I have not seen covered by others.

Thanks.

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 22, 2011 9:34 AM in response to léonie

Thanks. I think you got me out of the weeds over here. God - thank you.

Is there some way to turn on a little "this is a unedited version" and "this is an edited version" and "this is a link" symbol for images that all look exactly the same to me? I mean, if I basically duplicate a Project in an Album because I want to use all these images - the only way I can tell them apart from what I can see is to try and find out whether I have an Album or a Project selected?

Also, does Aperture only give you the "are you sure you want to delete the Master" prompt (even though it is much less direct than this) - when you are deleting a "Pointer" in an Album or a "Version" in a Project - that is either linked to, or is the last Version that references the Master?

I mean, assuming, I have Versions and then Edited Versions - can I delete the original Version and all the edited Versions and will Aperture only delete the Master when it is deleting basically the last LINK (in the form of a Edited or un-edited Version) to it?

Tricky but I think I get it:

1. Links are in Albums and link to Versions

2. Versions are in Projects and link to Masters

3. Edited Versions are in Projects and link to Masters

A. Delete the last Version and you Delete the Master (assuming you approve the oddly worded prompt).

B. Delete a Link (in an Album) and you delete the Version and /all/ the other Links in other Albums. Note you /also/ delete the Master because if you delete the Version the Master also gets deleted (assuming it is the only Version from that Master). Note that you also have to approve the oddly worded prompt which is oddly the same prompt you get when you delete the (last?) Version.

Sound about right??

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 22, 2011 10:03 AM in response to Kirby Krieger

Hi Kirby.

Thanks. I think I have been able to get there with a combination of all of the tools available (Google, Help Menu, Testing, Breaking Eggs etc) - along with /your/ great answers. So thanks.

A last follow up with you on this one. Most of the below is just a quote of your original answer. Anything in Caps means I have not seen it explained before.

> A. "Original" does not describe anything in Aperture, but I get your meaning. A useful temporary answer is "Yes. If you have two identical Images based on separate but identical Masters then either the file that became the Master was imported twice or the Image created when it was first imported was copied from the Project in which it resided to another Project. Note that this copying of Images from one Project to another is unlikely, as one has to go out of one's way to do it, and they are good reasons not to do so.<

OK. Is there a way to /visually/ tell the difference between having run a "Duplicate Version" or a "New Version From Master" on a Version in a Project and having an ACTUAL DUPLICATED MASTER (an image that was imported twice into Aperture)? Is it possible that I simply accidentally /copied/ Versions from Project to Project and ALSO have DUPLICATE VERSIONS in some way? If so, is there a way to visually tell the difference between these?

Is there a way to remove DUPLICATED MASTERS or DUPLICATED VERSIONS?

Also, WHY IS IT THAT SOMETIMES APERTURE GIVES ME THIS PROMPT WHEN I DELETE SOMETHING IN AN PROJECT AND SOMETIMES IT DOES NOT:

"Some versions based on these master files are included in other albums. These versions will be removed from all Albums, Books, Light Tables, Web Pages, Web Journals, Slideshows, MobileMe Albums, Flickr Albums, and Facebook Albums."

Some are Copies of Versions (which don't directly link back to the Master) and some are Versions which do link back to the Master?

Thanks. How do I do this? I see the Matadata Tab that is next to the Library Tab. Also, is there a way to see Metadata so that it is connected to the actual image? If I am going back and forth between Metadata Tab and Library Tab I am finding it hard to know when I am in a Project (looking at Images) and when I am in an Album (looking at Links or Pointers).

When I say Pointers I am basically talking about a LINK to an Image that resides in an ALBUM, no?

C. (My Answer) Albums contain Links (to Versions), and Projects contain Versions that link to Masters (which in the case of a Managed Library get handled by Aperture so you don't touch these). Delete the Link and you delete the Version and the Master. Delete the Version and you delete the Links (that link to it) and you delete the Master.

> D. In Aperture one "adjusts" Images. The term is specific and meaningful. This is another excellent example of something you can learn quickly by doing. They are not necessarily the same thing. Why? <

I don't know what you are driving at here so I can't test it out but I guess you are saying that one can have Versions and have Edited Versions that both are tied in some way back to the same Master?

E. Your Masters are files. Managed Masters are included in the Aperture Library package that shows in Finder as a file. Every copy of the Library includes copies of your Managed Masters.

Thanks. I'm a bit confused as to why I sometimes get a prompt that these are going to be deleted when I delete a Version (with the same image as a Master) and why I sometimes /don't/ get a prompt that the Master is going to get deleted. Is there some way that I have DUPLICATED the Versions and I am not getting a prompt with these Duplicates?

IS THERE A WAY TO visually TELL WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING AT A DUPLICATE VERSION AND WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE "ORIGINAL" VERSION? I mean, if I want to get rid of these do I have to just click on them one by one and /not/ delete the ones that I get a warning for and /do/ delete the ones I /don't get a warning for??

Thanks.

albums and projects (quick one please)