Best way to move projects & albums into just folders & projects?

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waxycap Author

Level 1

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Best way to move projects & albums into just folders & projects?

Hello,

Could anyone recommend the best method for moving lots of files through albums, projects,

and folders without confusing Aperture about the location of adjustments or masters? I am

sure it's not that hard but I have three major concerns before I even try to touch things the

way I have them set up.

My goal is to go from bloated, oversized projects and albums (I should not have been importing

to albums to begin with) and separate them into more varied and numerous folders and projects.

I will try to focus on one topic of my confusion at a time, so that this thread will not go everywhere,

in a random directions:

1) The biggest mistake I THINK I've made was randomly importing files from my camera

into whatever I felt like importing them into, so my library has now become a random grab-bag

of folders, projects, and albums. I did not know their relationship to each other at the time, so

i used them as generic "containers" for each other. LOL Anyway, what is going to happen when

I start moving all this stuff around, and some images (like the ones in albums) are virtual,

while others are not?

2) I want to move but not copy from one project to the other. Can I do so by means of drag

and drop? Or is there a smarter way?

3) For anyone who has done this before, what method(s) did you use?

4) I know I can delete albums without any problem of losing a file, but what if I made

some of albums from files in the Library, which do not have projects containing them?

Also, why does the formatting on my paragraph make it look like look like complete crap?

Aperture 3, Mac OS X (10.6.7), Mac Pro with 3GB RAM/ 1.5TB drives

Posted on Feb 16, 2012 12:02 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Mr Endo

Level 4

1,010 points

Feb 16, 2012 12:23 PM in response to waxycap

Hi Waxy,

Last question first:

Also, why does the formatting on my paragraph make it look like look like complete crap?

It looks like you hit return when you get to the right edge of your editor, thus embedding a carriage return in the middle ofyour paragraph. I don't know that is what you are doing -- it just looks like it.

4) I know I can delete albums without any problem of losing a file, but what if I made

some of albums from files in the Library, which do not have projects containing them?

No such thing. Every photo is contained in a project. However, you can make an album of photos from the project which contains the album, as well as any other project. So, if you have an album under a project, it may appear that a photo in the album does not correspond to anythign in the project, but you have to look elsewhere to actually find the photo.

I want to move but not copy from one project to the other. Can I do so by means of drag

and drop? Or is there a smarter way?

Dragging and dropping is the best way I have foudn to rearrange my photos. Be aware, though, that there is a bug currently. If you drag several projects aroudn your library, you are bound to see a blank viewer at one point or another, even though you know that there were photos in your project before you moved it. Quitting and restarting Aperture solves that.

Also, when you drag an album from one project to another, the photos do not move to the new project. (See my answer to question 4, above.) If you want to move an album, and all photos from that album, from one project to another, you basically have to do 2 DND's. First, grab the photos while the album is selected and drag them. that will rearrange your album. Then, go back to the first project, and select the same photos and drag them to the project of your second album. You will notice the number of masters in the project change when you do that part. Hope I'm clear. It's a bit hard for me to figure out how to describe this.

nathan

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Answer 2

waxycap Author

Level 1

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Feb 16, 2012 12:49 PM in response to Mr Endo

Thank you. Yeah, that is definitely what I was doing with the return key. LOL.

I plan to delete all albums and work exclusively with the project/ folder content for now. So that leaves me with the question, if I want to move files from an overweight project, say 1000 photos to 3 projects, each containing 333 photos, it is as simple as shift clicking the 333 at a time, and drag dropping them from the larger project to three pre-made smaller projects? The concern I have is that, if I accidentally copy something I will have no confidence that what I am deleting is the proper thing to delete.

I just dont want to wind up copying anything because avoiding confusing duplicates will help me avoid accidentally deleting master files.

I'd prefer to move and sort the files into new projects first and follow it up by deleting the old.

I have seen the bug you mention in other circumstances that did not even involve action on my part. And it does reset once you reopen Aperture.

One last thing, how do you see just the number of masters in a project? My projects list the number of files in them, but that number always includes the number of "versions" made, in addition to the master (they are the versions with adjustments made to them, etc.) So, if I have a project with only one master in it, with 5 additional versions for B+W, brigher, darker, desat, tint, etc, the number goes from 1 to 6.

P.S. what happens to files when you delete a project? The files stay behind in the library?

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Answer 3

waxycap Author

Level 1

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Feb 16, 2012 1:21 PM in response to waxycap

Just so you may know exactly where my Aperture knowledge is at with this, here are two examples:

A project containing 4 albums contains a total of "535" files.

The total number of images in all four albums equals "546". 😐

To me, this means that 11 of the images contained in the albums have master files located somewhere
outside this one project, meaning they are located either in some other, untitled project, or perhaps only to be found in the Library itself.

Another album, that resides inside of a folder, but not inside of a project, contains 133 images. They should be inside a labeled project (they appear not to be, since they have been physically dragged and dropped away from the original project, which is apparently unlabled)

Should I:

A: Find a simple way to locate them, other than by digging through a plethora of unlabled projects.

B: Find a way to move them as found in the Library to a new titled project, eventually finding the old unlabelled project, and deleting it.

C: Is there a right click or menu option which simplifies some of this stuff?

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Answer 4

Mr Endo

Level 4

1,010 points

Feb 19, 2012 6:34 PM in response to waxycap

Hi Waxy,

So that leaves me with the question, if I want to move files from an overweight project, say 1000 photos to 3 projects, each containing 333 photos, it is as simple as shift clicking the 333 at a time, and drag dropping them from the larger project to three pre-made smaller projects? The concern I have is that, if I accidentally copy something I will have no confidence that what I am deleting is the proper thing to delete.

Yes, it is that easy. Select and drag-and-drop to a different project. The destination of your DND should be a project in the library inspector (left side pane). This actually performs a move. I.e., you have nothing to worry about with respect to deleting the wrong thing, since the move happens, rather than a copy.

One last thing, how do you see just the number of masters in a project?

Open Aperture while holding down the alt/option key. This is the way to switch to a different library. When you select any library (if you have only one, that will be already selected), Aperture will give you a count of masters and versions.

P.S. what happens to files when you delete a project? The files stay behind in the library?

Nope. Well, maybe sort of... When you delete a project, you are indicating that you don't want Aperture to handle the photos in that project any more. Masters will go to the Aperture trash, and you can retrieve them from there until you empty the trash. When emptying the trash with Managed masters, Aperture will put them in the system trash. If they are referenced, Aperture queries you to find out if you want to keep them where they are or move them to the system trash.

A project containing 4 albums contains a total of "535" files.

The total number of images in all four albums equals "546". 😐

How are you counting these? You may be comparing apples to oranges.

Another album, that resides inside of a folder, but not inside of a project, contains 133 images. They should be inside a labeled project (they appear not to be, since they have been physically dragged and dropped away from the original project, which is apparently unlabled)

Not sure what you mean by labeled and unlabeled. However all photos are part of a project. You cannot "drag away" from a project into an album, even if that album is part of a different project. No matter what, your master is still housed inside a project.

You can have Aperture show you the "Project path" of a photo. Check the "General" metadata view. Project path is in mine (although I do not remember if I did that on purpose).

C: Is there a right click or menu option which simplifies some of this stuff?

I guess I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to accomplish. Maybe with your definition of labeled and unlabeled your question will be clearer.

nathan

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Answer 5

waxycap Author

Level 1

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Feb 20, 2012 10:00 AM in response to Mr Endo

thanks for you reply. I pretty much understand how aperture works

now. My problem eventually became:

"Why do i have different totals for albums and projects?"

and

"What happens with copied masters of the same image in different projects when you try to delete one "copied master", but not the other?"

Well, I answered both myself because it turned out the difference in totals (number of photos) was just the result of some things inside my projects being "offline". And the other question was answered when I copied a master into another project, tried deleting it, and was pleased to find it did not try to batch delete every similar master in other projects. Instead, it just called what it said was the "copied master" a "version" (technically speaking, not literally)

Thank you for your help.

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