Deleting projects to free up disc space

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Deleting projects to free up disc space

Hi, and apologies that this must have been asked before. I cannot find quite the right answer in the apple discussions pages nor google.

My aperture library is now large enough that it takes an excessive amount of HDD space, and to keep things working smoothly I would like to archive and delete older images. I have backed up with both time machine and also created an aperture vault.

But if I now delete images or projects in aperture, will the backups (TM and vault) be automatically updated to reflect my deletions? ie I will lose the backed up images next time I synchronise a backup

How do I archive the older images and keep them available just in case I want them later, but clear more space on the internal HDD?

I think part of the problem for overall lack of HDD space is that I have imported all my old iPhoto images into the current laptop when the old one bit the dust, and have then imported these into aperture as well. So I now have 20000 images in iPhoto and 25000 in aperture.

Thanks in advance for any help here

dave

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Aperture 3.2.4

Posted on Feb 10, 2013 4:11 AM

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Answer 1

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Frank Caggiano

Level 7

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Feb 10, 2013 8:27 AM in response to dsds567

But if I now delete images or projects in aperture, will the backups (TM and vault) be automatically updated to reflect my deletions? ie I will lose the backed up images next time I synchronise a backup

TM yes, vault maybe.

TM will always reflect the state of your system so if you delete images from the system eventually they will be deleted from TM. When that happens depends on the size of your backup drive and how much change takes place on your system, ie how much TM must backup each time it runs.

Under normal conditions the vault will also loose the images you delete, the vault is basically a snapshot of the current state of the library. However if you were to archive this vault, not 'vault' to it anymore and start a new vault after you make the changes to the library then the original vault will contain all the images that are in the library now. You of course must make sure not to use this vault anymore for anything other then to restore from it.

Of course deleting images from the library to free up space may not be thebest course of action for you to take. There are other ways to deal with this.

regards

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Answer 2

dsds567 Author

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Feb 10, 2013 8:57 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Thanks Frank, for your prompt reply. Very helpful. I could buy another external drive and make the original vault an "archived" (locked) version.

Of course deleting images from the library to free up space may not be thebest course of action for you to take. There are other ways to deal with this.

Which other ways would you suggest here....

I think part of my problem is a duplicate iPhoto and Aperture catalogue. Am I answering my own question here....I should delete images from iPhoto as they will still be available through the Aperture catalogue.....

dave

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Answer 3

Feb 10, 2013 9:09 AM in response to dsds567

Dont have the time right now to go into detail but the standard way to handle a large library is to turn the managed originals into referenced originals on an external disk. This moves the biggest space eater out of the library and off the internal drive. As the originals are not accessed a great deal by Aperture once they are loaded into memory the speed of the disk holding the referenced originals is not a factor.

Look at the User manual for referenced originals for an idea as to how this works. Note there are some increases in complexity when you go to referenced originals so it isn't for everyone.

Other hopefully will chime in here I'll check back later when I have more time.

regards

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Answer 4

dsds567 Author

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Feb 10, 2013 9:10 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

No that does help. Thanks

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