Hi Debbie,
"Library" is the name Aperture's designers gave to the database file. Aperture is a DBMS (Database Management System) for images.
If you want to move or copy your Library, do so with Finder. The Library is a Finder Package, which means it is a folder of files, but it shows in Finder as a single file.
A "clone" is by definition a copy. If you have a clone of your Library on another drive, it is a copy.
I don't think that is what you want.
Projects are containers specific to Aperture. You cannot have Projects outside of Aperture.
Every file is dependent on software programs. At the least, you need an OS. To view image files you need a viewing program.
Aperture lets you store your Originals wherever you want. Aperture contains tools that let you relocate them, individually or in any grouping, to any locally-mounted drive, any time you want. You can store them inside your Library package, or outside your Library package. All Aperture needs to know is where your Originals are. As long as they are on a locally-mount-able drive, Aperture doesn't care where you put any one of them, or how often you move any one of them.
Versions are another, trickier, matter. Aperture rather unhelpfully uses the term "Version" to name two things: the text file of instructions it uses to modify (or not) the Original to create the Images you see in the Browser and the Viewer, and the thing you see in the Browser and the Viewer itself. I prefer a clearer approach, and refer to the thing you see as an Image, and the text file as the Version.
Please read my concise guide for a quick review of the parts of Aperture and how the inter-relate.
The text file Version is of no use whatsoever outside of Aperture. There is no reason to copy it separate from a Library. You cannot copy a Library without copying all the Versions. This is as it should be.
Note that if you have referenced the Image's Original for every Image in your Library, all you would have outside of your Library is your Originals.
That's only half what you seem to want.
But your goal, if I've understood correctly, is easily attained. I can't give exact directions without knowing the format of the files you've imported, whether you've renamed your Originals on import, and other details. But the general plan is simple: export your Image's Originals to Finder folders named for the Project that contains the Image, and then export your Images to the same Finder folders.
- Select all the Images in your Library, and run "File ▹ Export ▹ Originals ... " and for "Subfolder format" select "Project Name". (Note that you can customize this a good bit — see "edit" at the bottom of the drop-down.) Note that this does not create Projects in Finder, rather it creates Finder folders that have the same name as your Aperture Projects.
- Select all the Images in your Library, and run "File ▹ Export ▹ Versions ... " and select the same "Subfolder format" you used for the exported Originals. (Note that where "Export ... Originals" copies your Originals, "Export ... Versions" creates new files. You specify the file format and other parameters in the Export Preset you specify when you export.)
As with any operation on a lot of files or data, you should test this on a small subset first. Try one Project, then try ... three Projects. When you have determined what you need everywhere your input is required, and you get the results you want, run the operation on all the Images in your Library.
HTH,
—Kirby.
