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User profile for user: Billiam2524
Billiam2524 Author
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Seeking help managing Aperture libraries

I may have erred in how I originally set up my Aperture library. I now have about 20K images totaling over 100G all in a single referenced library. The master files and the library both reside on an external drive. This arrangement is proving inconvenient. I need to be portable and able to work with my photos without having to haul the external drive around. Two reasons: 1) physical space is constrained where I often have to work, and 2) more than once I have had to repair the library after the external drive cable got jiggled and interrupted the connection.


My questions are:

1. How to move the library without losing all my organizational structure (subfolders, projects, etc.) and my info (keywords, captions, etc.) that are currently in the referenced library on the external drive. I have seen some other forum questions/answers that seem close to my situation, but always slightly different. I am afraid to losing a lot to work if I proceed in haste.


2. I am inclined to spilt the large single library into several smaller ones. Is there a good reason not to do this?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), 500G solid state SATA internal HD

Posted on Jul 31, 2015 9:26 PM

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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
194,755 points

Posted on Jul 31, 2015 9:55 PM

1. How to move the library without losing all my organizational structure (subfolders, projects, etc.) and my info (keywords, captions, etc.) that are currently in the referenced library on the external drive.

Do you have enough storage to hold your library on the internal drive? Just the library, but not the original image files? You could try to go for a mixed library. Keep the library on the internal drive, but most of the referenced images on the external drive.


Then try the following:

  1. Connect your external drive and make a backup of your Aperture library and the originals as it is now.
  2. Copy the Aperture library to your internal drive by dragging it there.
  3. Double-click the copy of the library on the to open it in Aperture. Test it.
  4. Now select the images in most recent projects you are working on and will need most frequently and consolidate the originals in your Aperture library with "File > consolidate original files". That will move the selected originals into the library on your internal drive and you can wrk with them without the drive being connected.
  5. Once you have finished with the project, you can relocate the originals back to the external drive with "File > Relocate" and consolidate a different section of originals.


A mixed library is very convenient on portable Mac, if you only need the images from a few projects for editing. You can browse all images even with the drive with the referenced originals offline, but to edit photos you need the drive connected or to move the referenced images for the photos you want to edit into the library.


. I am inclined to spilt the large single library into several smaller ones. Is there a good reason not to do this?

You can split the library, but it makes it hard to search all your photos. You cannot use images from several libraries in one slideshow or book, and only the currently selected library can sync with iCloud or show in the Media Browser in other applications.

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User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
194,755 points

Jul 31, 2015 9:55 PM in response to Billiam2524

1. How to move the library without losing all my organizational structure (subfolders, projects, etc.) and my info (keywords, captions, etc.) that are currently in the referenced library on the external drive.

Do you have enough storage to hold your library on the internal drive? Just the library, but not the original image files? You could try to go for a mixed library. Keep the library on the internal drive, but most of the referenced images on the external drive.


Then try the following:

  1. Connect your external drive and make a backup of your Aperture library and the originals as it is now.
  2. Copy the Aperture library to your internal drive by dragging it there.
  3. Double-click the copy of the library on the to open it in Aperture. Test it.
  4. Now select the images in most recent projects you are working on and will need most frequently and consolidate the originals in your Aperture library with "File > consolidate original files". That will move the selected originals into the library on your internal drive and you can wrk with them without the drive being connected.
  5. Once you have finished with the project, you can relocate the originals back to the external drive with "File > Relocate" and consolidate a different section of originals.


A mixed library is very convenient on portable Mac, if you only need the images from a few projects for editing. You can browse all images even with the drive with the referenced originals offline, but to edit photos you need the drive connected or to move the referenced images for the photos you want to edit into the library.


. I am inclined to spilt the large single library into several smaller ones. Is there a good reason not to do this?

You can split the library, but it makes it hard to search all your photos. You cannot use images from several libraries in one slideshow or book, and only the currently selected library can sync with iCloud or show in the Media Browser in other applications.

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Seeking help managing Aperture libraries

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