Q: Badging issue

Are the files Referenced or Managed?

If Referenced, select all the images and use the 'File->Locate Referenced Files' menu to reconnect the files.

Select a missing file on the top pane, in the bottom pane navigate to where that file is on your system and select it, then hit 'Reconnect All'.

If Managed, try using finder to copy the library to your internal drive and see if when opened from your local drive it finds the files okay.

Andy

Hi Mark,

Terminology is not just pedantry, it's important for good communication, and good communication is important for getting issues resolved.

"Import" is the process by which Aperture gets to know about your images. Before import it doesn't know your images exist. After import, it does. But this doesn't say anything about whether those images are Managed or Referenced. Whether an image is managed or referenced is down to how you imported them and the settings you specified for that import.

Here are the various badges and what they mean:

No badge means the file is managed and the image is available

This badge means the file is referenced and the image is available (online)

This badge means the file is referenced and the image is not available (the referenced drive is not online)

This badge means the image is not available, but the drive where the image should be located is online. Unfortunately it doesn't help you distinguish between managed ot referenced, the same badge is used for both, so it could be either.

Data loss is very rare, but when it does occur it is more often because the concept of manged versus referenced has not been understood. For example, a user will import into Aperture but (perhaps accidentally, or unkowingly) specify the files remain in their original location (making them referenced). Thinking the files have been copied into Aperture, the user deletes the images (or re-purposes the drive where they were located), and the images are now lost.

Like I say, this is rare but it would be useful to know (for sure) if your images were managed or referenced and unfortunately just telling me they were imported in Aperture doesn't tell me this.

In your case, I really don't think your images are lost. I think it is much more likely that your issue is due to the way the library has been moved to different types of advanced storage. If the images were referenced, the fix is simple (use 'Locate referenced files' and please note, this is a different option to 'Relocate Originals') but if they were managed it's a little more complicated and involves looking into your library with finder (or Maybe Terminal), so it would be useful to know what the actual situation is before proceeding.

For example, can you remember which, if any, of these badges the images had when you first imported them?

Andy

Edited for spelling grammer (why isn't spell checking available in this edit window?)

It would help to know i Aperture believes the missing files to be managed or referenced.

If you select on of the images with the missing tag on it and do a File->Show In Finder or a File->Locate Referenced File what does Aperture respond with?

If the response is No Referenced Images in Selection (or something like that) then they are managed. Aperture will on occasion loose task of managed files (not sure why or how) but it is possible to reconnect those with a bit of work.

Post back the results of the above test and we can see which way we need to go.

regards

mark2542 wrote:

 

The dialog box in Aperture is "

 

The file IMG_7874.CR2 could not be found. It may have been moved, renamed, or deleted. Would you like to locate

 

Previous location: /Volumes/6 TB Grey/20120107 WMRR Winter Trip/IMG_7874.CR2"

 

So is there a way to the images?

 

The fact you can choose 'Show in Finder' and are getting this Dialog means for certain that these images are referenced and stored outside the Aperture Library. It also tells you they were previously in a Folder called '20120107 WMRR Winter Trip' on your drive called '6 TB Grey'.

Your first step it to search your hard drives to see if you can locate where this folder is now. Once found, you should find your images inside.

Once you have done this you can select all the missing images in Aperture and then use the 'File->Locate Referenced Files...' menu which will show a Dialog screen that lets you tell Aperture where these files are now located. Point it at where you found the files and press 'reconnect all'.

Once you have done that, if you want them moved back into the Aperture Library, you can select them all in Aperture and use 'File->Consolodate Originals' to move, or copy, them back into the Library.

Andy

You are almost there. The 'locate referenced files' dialog is split in two halves. The top shows the missing reference files, the bottom have shows you're available drives. Select a missing file in the top, navigate to where the file is now located in the bottom and select the matching file. Th reconnect options now become available.

See here for more details: http://documentation.apple.com/en/aperture/usermanual/index.html#chapter=5%26sec tion=16%26hash=apple_ref:doc:uid:Aperture-UserManual-91292BSR-103758

Andy

This is the dialog. In the top select a missing image. In the bottom, navigate to where the image is really located, once you get to the matching image, the reconnect options become available. (In yours the referenced images at the top will probably be shown in red).

What part isn't working?

Andy

So the folder you are selecting (at the bottom) has your referenced files in it but they are not showing up in this screen?

mark2542 wrote:

 

Well, as far as I know there are no referenced files to get.

 

Everything was downloaded directly from the camera into Aperture which I understand handles imported raw files as managed files.

 

So there is no file in the bottom to download, that is correct.

No. From your previous posts, the files were almost certainly referenced, as they were previously stored in at least two locations it seems:

Users/msmith/Pictures/20120107 WMRR Winter Trip/IMG_7862.CR2

and

/Volumes/6 TB Grey/20120107 WMRR Winter Trip/IMG_7874.CR2"

The first location was on your internal drive in your Pictures folder, while the other is on your 6TB external drive. This means they were referenced (at some point)

If you are convinced the images are now managed and should be inside the Aperture library, you can right click the Library in finder, and choose "Show Package Contents" to explore the contents of the library. Masters are stored in the Masters folder, with a sub-folder hierarchy based on the import date.

If you find them in there, use Apertures library first aid tools to repair permissions and the database (hold down ALT+CMD while launching Aperture).

Andy