Don't give up on Aperture

Sounds like I should start storing an Aperture vault offsite again!

I would not use vaults with the current version of Aperture. Vaults have been introduced at a time, when Time Machine could not back up photo libraries reliably. Time Machine is now working well with Aperture Libraries and iPhoto Libraries, but the vaults have never worked reliably since Aperture 3.3. The most common problem is, that they are refusing to update and hanging or restoring from the vault does not work properly, or photos imported from My Photo Stream are missing. I don't trust vaults any longer as a backup. Since a vault is essentially an Aperture library, it is easier to make occasionally a copy of your Aperture Libraries on a backup drive than wasting the time with creating a vault.

Wow! Thanks leonie!

Do you know if Carbon Copy Cloner works well as an Aperture backup?

David

Wow! Thanks leonie!

Do you know if Carbon Copy Cloner works well as an Aperture backup?

David

Yes it certainly does.

Thanks... I'll use CCC instead of vaults.

btw, I did a search on the BackBlaze website and they specifically say they backup Aperture/iPhoto/Photos libraries. I also sent a help request to them asking if they are aware of any problems restoring these libraries, but it will probably take a day before I get a response. I may still order an HD to verify myself (if they should say there should be no problem). I will still make an offsite clone in any case.... just because I'm paranoid.

I personally would be extremely careful of the claims being made by BackBlaze. Some time ago when I thought I was interested in a cloud backup, I tested all of them that I could download a demo for only to discover that while they were able to backup and restore my photos all of the metadata and adjustments were unusable when I restored them. So I decided they were worthless because of that. Hence the reason I don't use any of them now.

My suggestion is to backup a sample library of your photos then delete and restores it. Then test to be sure that everything is still there in your sample library.

David Strait wrote:

btw, I did a search on the BackBlaze website and they specifically say they backup Aperture/iPhoto/Photos libraries.

Do they mention restoring them ?

Csound1,

Yes… they have a couple support articles regarding this. Here is one which deals with the restore process:

https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/217665858-iPhoto-Aperture-Restore-G uide

They state:

“Since meta data (such as edits, ratings, albums, slideshows, and faces) are stored in separate files that are linked to the original image, the entire Library must restored if you wish to retain the meta data.”

Alan Eckert:

Is it possible you did not restore the entire Library? I suspect you did a complete restore, but wanted to confirm since this was a specific point that BackBlaze made.

I am currently backing up a small Aperture library to BackBlaze. I will restore the library, then check to see what is missing or doesn’t work.

Apologies to all for highjacking this thread. I will create another discussion “Aperture Backup Strategies” and report my results there. I certainly learned some important lessons (by accident). I appreciate all comments by those who were alert enough to see some pitfalls in my backup strategy.

David

I restored the entire library and the metadata and Aperture adjustments failed to work as they did in the original library before the restore.

Hence the reason I suggested testing it to be sure it work. Trust no one when it comes to your critical data.

léonie wrote:

I would not use vaults with the current version of Aperture.

I agree with Leonie. I began having problems with vaults several years ago and decide to save whole libraries which made it easy to verify the library quality and accuracy.

My backup strategy:

1. Download memory cards to finder folders arranged chronologically. (originals 1)

2. Import to managed Aperture library (ies) (originals copy 2) (library 1)

3. Backup finder folders to independent hard drives (originals copies 3 & 4)

4. Backup libraries to independent hard drives (library copies 2 & 3)

All backup copying done via Finder

The consistency and reliability of libraries checked immediately following copy or copy update by opening in Aperture.

The hard part of course is to remember to keep copies up to date.

I'm still using Aperture. Haven't experienced any problems. I still love the Aperture workflow and I'm sticking to it!! I did recently buy PhotoScape X. Yes it is an Apple product. The raw converter is fabulous and it's very easy to use. Many functions are like photoshop without the aggravation. So I download pics as I always have, into Aperture. Sort my shoot. Export selected pics into PS X if I need to. Use some of the extraordinary functions, then export back into Aperture. Print or export to the studio that puts my work on aluminum for shows. There is no way to round trip inside Aperture or PS X so I use a thumb drive. I export into the drive to PS X and back again into Aperture. No biggie once I figured out how to do this. I also made a folder on my desk top for exporting back and forth. We had a good run with Aperture. I'm not mad at Apple. It's a business. like any other. And if people want to pay a monthly fee to Adobe, it's fine but not for me. I know it's not mandatory but I'm just not that interested. I gave all the other programs a shot. Photo Mechanic isn't half bad but not enough to lure me. Affinity is cool but no DAM. LR I just didn't like. Capture One has some great features but I'm not in the mood or have the time for the "learning curve." I don't feel any panic or compulsion to go to programs I just don't like. I have a MacBook 2012 pro with a quad core. It rocks. I up graded the drive to solid state with two terabytes. All is good. And since nothing stays the same, I keep an open mind to try new programs as they come and go.

I did recently buy PhotoScape X. Yes it is an Apple product

It's not an Apple product. It's made by Mooii Tech, who are quite independent of Apple.

The only issue I see with your plan is the long term prospects of staying with Aperture. You're on a 4 year old machine and that will need to replaced at some point in the future. What will you do if Aperture does not run on that replacement?

Terence Devlin wrote:

I did recently buy PhotoScape X. Yes it is an Apple product

You're on a 4 year old machine and that will need to replaced at some point in the future. What will you do if Aperture does not run on that replacement?

Good reason to treat that older computer with tender loving care. 🙂

That is certainly true... but still, time limited.

I don't understand your problem. Aperture still works for me. As long as you have version 3.6 of Aperture, it works as well as it ever did even on Sierra.