Can I move part of my library?

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Level 2

420 points

Can I move part of my library?

Hey folks, I've got a shiny new 27" iMac with a 256gb SSD and 1tb spinning drive.

The problem is I'm moving from having my ~ on a 2tb drive. My Apeture library is 430gb... I've never been sure on how to best manage apeture's libraries.

What I'd like to do is move it entirely to an external, dedicated, FW800 drive. I'd like to have new projects get imported onto a library on the SSD and then, after some time, I'll move them to the external drive too. But I want my library to stay one contigious library so I can access older pictures on my appleTV, in final cut projects, and via iOS syncing.

What's the best way do this?

Could I, for instance, make a new library on the SSD and somehow import the old library without actually copying the files - effectivly making symbolic links to them?

Posted on Dec 28, 2011 2:39 PM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

194,629 points

Dec 28, 2011 3:09 PM in response to SpaceBass

You may consider to go for a mixed library scheme:

Relocate the master image files of the older projects to your large external drive. (File -> Relocate master)
The remaining library, much smaller now after you relocated most of the masters) move to your SSD - you do not need to create a new library for that.

Regards

Léonie

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Answer 2

psbmt1

Level 1

0 points

Dec 28, 2011 4:01 PM in response to léonie

After you move most of your library to an external disk and you once again fill up your internal drive, how do you move those "newer" images to your external drive?

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

194,629 points

Dec 28, 2011 11:29 PM in response to psbmt1

After you move most of your library to an external disk and you once again fill up your internal drive, how do you move those "newer" images to your external drive?

Good morning,

Let's assume, you routinely import new pictures from new shoots as managed master image files into your Aperture Library on the SSD. You work with them a bit, tag the the images etc. Then you want to move them to the external drive.

You can at any time decide to turn any subset of your managed images into a referenced images by "relocate masters" . Just select the images you want to store elsewhere and again go to the File menu and select "Relocate Master". Just remember never to move any referenced master image files from the Finder, always use Aperture to do it, otherwise Aperture will loose track of their location.

If you want to move a master image file back into the Library, select "Relocate Master" instead. You can always tell by the badge overlays if an image is referenced or managed, see How Badge Overlays Appear in Aperture:
A referenced master will be marked by an arrow.

If the master is offline - on a drive currently not mounted - you will see a warning red line:

To quickly find all images that are managed, e.g., if you want to decide which images to move to an external next, create a smart album:

File -> New -> Smart album, click "Add Rule" and add a rule "File Status is Managed" .

To find all referenced masters use the rule "File Status is Referenced". You can also add these rules in any search panel, if you are using the search fields.

Regards

Léonie

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