>100k photo limit?

Actually, it was "Think Different" -- the difference is important -- and it was an advertising slogan, not a motto. It was an attempt to woo Windows users to switch to Macs.

I don't think the citation is apposite here. We voluntarily help users make the most of Aperture. If you want to "use differently", go right ahead -- but don't ask volunteers to saddle Rocinante, help you mount, and lead you.

Let me apologize for trying to be helpful. What do I know.

Hamper -- please do not ever waste my time again. You most certainly did ask for help running Aperture:

I ... was wondering if I might be in danger of corrupting Aperture's database?

And when help was given, you responded by being a jerk.

The people who helped you have earned a combined 52,250 points voluntarily helping others use Macs and Mac software. While you gallop your Rocinante about those shimmeringly different hills, you might consider, next to your obvious mental and imaginative superiority, comparing how much you've helped others. Your point total is ZERO. Had you a single point, you would have been outscored by a factor in excess of 52,000. Alas, you haven't earned even that. You have, as best anyone can tell, here helped no-one -- not a single person -- ever.

That generosity of your spirit is best applied elsewhere.

😮 😕

That error message looks like a ghost from old times. Completely different desing from current error messages.

And completel undocumented behaviour.

File a bug report!

I can confirm your findings. 😟 I just finished importing 90000 images into a project, and when I tried to add additional 20000 images I received this warning:

and the problem is really tied to the number of the images, not the file size. The library is referenced and hundreds of images are referencing the same original file.

Hamper wrote:

I've decided to split my massive 100K+ library into six smaller 20K ones and manage from there.

The limit on Project size is independent of the limit on Library size. I regularly test a Library with now 500,000+ Images (15,000+ Projects), four levels of Folders, some of the most complex Smart Albums I can make. This Library works flawlessly. Since my tests have revealed no flaws, I have no trouble recommending ignoring number of Images in your Library up to at least half a million.

I'm glad we now have an official limit on the number of Images in Projects. Those who have been following this board for a while will not be surprised: it was regularly reported that very large Projects led to performance problems.

I (all the more so) recommend sticking to "One Project = one out-in-the-world photo shoot", and that Projects be used as standard bottom-level storage containers. I strongly recommend against using (the very poorly named) Projects as _organizational_ containers, beyond the above. Import your digicam files into Projects. Organize Projects with Folders. Create Albums for finding and grouping Images for use, and organize your Albums with Folders.

I also recommend making your Library as big (as inclusive) as possible. The more Images in a Library, the more useful it is (one of the primary functions of the Library is to be an index of what it contains). The reasons for having multiple Libraries, IME, are:

- Image sequestration

- multiple photographers working independently

- collections that are not fundamentally organized by photographer.

Put another way: one Library for each photographer or photography business, separate Libraries for Images that need to be handled securely, and separate Libraries for collections that are not based on one photographer's (or photography business's) work.

Message was edited by: Kirby Krieger -- minor additions.

Hamper wrote:

It's strange because the main Library has everything and that's all I want, why do I have to import into Projects?!

Because every Image must be in a Project. But let's just work around that -- functionally, it is not an impediment.

With the current set-up of the Library tab of the Inspector, you don't have to ever see your Projects. (Note that, additionally, you can hold down "{Option}" while clicking "Hide" at the end of the Projects line and Aperture will collapse all the Folders under Projects. Click "Show" -- don't hold down "{Option}" while clicking to expand Projects to just the first level.)

The simplest think for you is to create a Project called "Imports 01". Put c. 80,000 of your Images in it. Create a second Project, a sibling of your first. Call it "Imports 02". Put the remaining Images in your Library in it. Select the Projects that existed before you created these last two, and put them in the Aperture Trash. Select the Trash and confirm that there are no Images in the Trash (the Projects should be empty). Empty the Aperture Trash.

Collapse Projects.

Work from the Albums section. Organize it to meet your needs. Import into "Projects 02" until you reach the limit. Then create "Projects 03".

In essence, "Library" is your "centralized system". The only time you need to make any accommodation to Project is when you select on when importing.