Why can't I cut and paste photos between project?

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Level 1

74 points

Why can't I cut and paste photos between project?

I recently made the transition from iPhoto to Aperture. One of the weird things is that I can't cut and paste photos between projects. In iPhoto this is an easy way to organize your projects if some photos are in the wrong place.

You also can't split projects, in iPhoto you can do this easily. Say, if two day's photos ending being in the same project, in iPhoto there's a button that you split them in the middle. Is there something like this in Aperture?

Posted on Feb 2, 2013 7:30 PM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

194,767 points

Feb 2, 2013 10:51 PM in response to aapl.crox

Copy and Paste:

In iPhoto "copy and paste" was possible, because it was not possible in the early versions, to see both projects at the same time, the one you are moving from, and the one you are moving to.
In Aperture you simply drag from the source project to the destination project to move image versions around. Also, it is easy to see more than one project in the Browser at the same time, see: Aperture 3 User Manual: Working with Two or More Browsers Open

To drag to another project, select the images in the project, then drag to the other project in the source list, for example:

To split a project, select the images you want to have in the split part, then create a new project from these images: Enable the check mark "Move selected items to new project". This will split the original project.

Regards

Léonie

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Answer 2

BillC22

Level 1

4 points

May 2, 2013 3:14 PM in response to léonie

Yes, you can drag photos from one project to another. But then they disappear from the original. I just want to copy a photo from one project to another without losing it from its original place.

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Answer 3

May 2, 2013 6:28 PM in response to BillC22

I don't think you really want to duplicate photos across projects. That's a waste of space.

You should look into albums. Albums are "virtual" entities and can contain photos from a number of different projects.

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

194,767 points

May 2, 2013 10:02 PM in response to BillC22

Yes, you can drag photos from one project to another. But then they disappear from the original. I just want to copy a photo from one project to another without losing it from its original place.

That is, how Aperture is working: Each image (and all versions of that image) have to belong to one unique project. That is Aperture's storage structure. If you want to use that image for projects, you add it to albums, slideshows, books, .. That is Aperture's retrieval structure. As William Lloyd pointed out, you can use the same image in several albums.Albums only reference the images and do not need much extra space. The only way to use an image in two separate projects would be by duplicating the image file - very wasteful!

You may want to have a look at Kirby Krieger's description of Aperture's storage and retrieval structure:

The Well-Trod Path: a Beginner's Guide to how Aperture's major parts inter-relate

Regards

Léonie

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