Aperture - Referenced - External Hard Drive

[14thegipper]

Hey - I am a hack photo guy mostly shooting my kids sports in RAW.

Have 256GB HHD in my 2012 MBP so I want to move the Library onto a USB3 1TB external

When I install Aperture and set it to Reference Masters on the external drive, I would like to have jpeg (previews) on the laptop HDD.

Wondering if the jpeg files would be accessible when the external is not connected?

Also wondering what the work flow would be while travelling. Can I dump the RAWs onto the internal HDD while away and move them to the external when I get home OR should I just travel with the external?

Thanks in advance. Love this forum!

 

[Zaqfalcon]

If your HDD is not connected then you can still view previews of the photos but cannot edit them.

To move referenced master files around eg from external to internal HDD or vice versa, in the browser select the images whose masters you want to move. Choose File > Relocate Masters.

 

[flynz4]

If your HDD is not connected then you can still view previews of the photos but cannot edit them.

To move referenced master files around eg from external to internal HDD or vice versa, in the browser select the images whose masters you want to move. Choose File > Relocate Masters.

This is correct and good advice. You will still see your previews even when your originals are disconnected.

To be just a bit more clear, my advice for the OP is: When traveling import them into your Aperture library as "managed originals". When you get home, migrate them to become "referenced originals" using the "relocate originals" command as mentioned above.

/Jim

 

[Zaqfalcon]

To be just a bit more clear, my advice for the OP is: When traveling import them into your Aperture library as "managed originals". When you get home, migrate them to become "referenced originals" using the "relocate originals" command as mentioned above.

/Jim

Why would you bother Jim? I've never seen any advantage using managed originals and if they're referenced they're easier to locate outside of Aperture. Seems to use less drive space too.

 

[flynz4]

Why would you bother Jim? I've never seen any advantage using managed originals and if they're referenced they're easier to locate outside of Aperture. Seems to use less drive space too.

My advice is based on the following logic:

1. Master library is on MBP with limited space
2. External referenced library is best when internal drive is limited
3. External drive is inconvenient to carry during vacations
4. Easy to import into MBP as "managed originals" while traveling
5. Once home, it is trivial to relocate "managed originals" over to external drive as "referenced originals"
6. Hence... library remains "referenced"... but it is easy to import pictures during the trip without carrying the external drive

/Jim

 

[Zaqfalcon]

My advice is based on the following logic:

1. Master library is on MBP with limited space
2. External referenced library is best when internal drive is limited
3. External drive is inconvenient to carry during vacations
4. Easy to import into MBP as "managed originals" while traveling
5. Once home, it is trivial to relocate "managed originals" over to external drive as "referenced originals"
6. Hence... library remains "referenced"... but it is easy to import pictures during the trip without carrying the external drive

/Jim

You can have referenced originals on an internal drive.

 

[flynz4]

You can have referenced originals on an internal drive.

True... but it really doesn't matter one way or the other... as they will eventually be managed anyway.

In my case... I do similar, except that my master library is on my iMac. When I get home... I can copy the entire library off of my MBA, and and them import that temporary library. Having it managed makes it easier.

In any case... it really does not matter much if the remote library is managed or referenced since it is all on the OP's single MBP.

/Jim

 

[jeffy.dee-lux]

Note that there's a limit to what you can do with the preview files in Aperture while the originals are unavailable. Obviously you can't edit them, but you can't even use the previews for any kind of sharing - something that has bothered me for a while. To me, the previews are jpg files stored locally, and it should let you export those jpg files, share to email or Facebook, but for some reason Aperture doesn't allow this.

I asked about this in another thread a few months ago, was told this is as Aperture is intended. But meanwhile, I just tried this with the new iPhoto (shared library) and found it handled the situation perfectly well - while the original RAW file is unavailable, I'm still able to export a JPEG version and share to other apps, etc...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1595665/

 

[flynz4]

Note that there's a limit to what you can do with the preview files in Aperture while the originals are unavailable. Obviously you can't edit them, but you can't even use the previews for any kind of sharing - something that has bothered me for a while. To me, the previews are jpg files stored locally, and it should let you export those jpg files, share to email or Facebook, but for some reason Aperture doesn't allow this.

I asked about this in another thread a few months ago, was told this is as Aperture is intended. But meanwhile, I just tried this with the new iPhoto (shared library) and found it handled the situation perfectly well - while the original RAW file is unavailable, I'm still able to export a JPEG version and share to other apps, etc...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1595665/

My understanding is that preview files are what are used when files are shared into other applications, such as iLife or iWork applications.

/Jim