Aperture on iMac

[chuan]

I apologize if I posted the question in the wrong forum but questions always get answered quickly when I post here.

I am playing with Aperture (recently downloaded from app store) and am loving it. I imported about 200 pics from my other PC to this iMac using a USB storage device. They raw files (canon) are all stored in my Aperture library and I am able to see everything in the preview as thumbnails. But when I click on the pics and ask to "Locate Referenced Files" I always get the message that "The selection does not have any referenced files"

Is this an error? It should tell me that the file is stored in the Aperture library under the Master directory, no?

Thanks so much.

 

[chuan]

So I played around a bit. Only if I relocate the masters did it then show me where the locations of the revised master file is located. So it seems that if the master files are located in Aperture's own library, it will not be able to locate that master file.

Does that make sense? It just seems a bit odd and counter-intuitive.

 

[rnb2]

The "locate referenced files" command is only relevant if your files are referenced - that is, stored outside the Aperture library. If they are in the library, they are Managed files.

When you relocated the master files to a location outside the Aperture library, they became Referenced files.

 

[chuan]

The "locate referenced files" command is only relevant if your files are referenced - that is, stored outside the Aperture library. If they are in the library, they are Managed files.

When you relocated the master files to a location outside the Aperture library, they became Referenced files.

Aha. Now I feel so stupid. I have been trying so hard to find that on google and also on Aperture's own help files. Why couldn't they simply write that?

Thanks again. Again - this forum is full of nice and professional people.

 

[John T]

I have been trying so hard to find that on google and also on Aperture's own help files. Why couldn't they simply write that?

It's all explained in the User Manual. Personally I always save my files in my "Pictures" folder (can be on an external HDD) and then transfer them to Aperture as Referenced Files. That way you have your pictures backed up outside Aperture in case something goes wrong!