If you had to sort 74,000 photos how would you do it?

I am wondering if any of the meta data is present in your recovered files. Not positive as this is not area of expertise but I'd be willing to bet if the metadata was present iPhoto/Aperture should at least sort by date and then you could refine it into events (ie birthday, summer vacation to _____, etc).

Best of luck!

As uselessSABOTAGEpointed out, you need to find out what metadata is still embedded in your image files.

Import them into a new Aperture Library and take a look. If keywords are included, they will show in the Keywords HUD. I suggest adding _all_ possible metadata fields to your "List View - Expanded" Metadata Overlay, selecting the container "Photos" (near the top of the Library Inspector), changing the Browser to show List View, and then scanning through your Images to see what metadata is there. EXIF? IPTC? Anything?

As you are new to Aperture, you might start with importing 500 and seeing what you find as you learn your way around the interface.

Feel free to ask more. Be specific. Sorting is trivial as long as there is data. Sorting and grouping are different processes. Grouping, too, requires data on which to base a group.

--Kirby.

Directions. What I'm recommending is making the most spreadsheet-like view of your database of Images. I have to run just now -- read the link and see if you can make headway.

WIth the most current version of iPhoto and Aperture there is a "unified library" Meaning you can use a single library across both iPhoto and Aperture. This should enable you to use iPhoto for organization and Aperture for image editing/finishing.

I have Aperture but rarely use it because the task I need to complete can be accomplished in iPhoto mostly and I prefer the interface of iPhoto to Aperture. However Aperture has significantly more robust editing abilities.

I don't know of any good free video tutorials. Here is a list of resources for learning Aperture that I found helpful. The tutorials at Lynda.com are not free, but IME are excellent. I have not watched their offerings for Aperture, though.

I'd recommend looking through the Bagelturf Archive for some hints on organizing your library. Most of it was written for Aperture 2 but is equally true today. You'll want to understand the difference between folders and projects right away. Aperture's smart folders will also likely prove helpful if the recovered images have their.

Whatever you do, get familiar with Aperture's vault for backing up your image library. You don't want to be back in this same position a year or two from now.

Try importing them in chunks, say 5k or 10k at a time.