Simple way to get rid of RAW project files?

[bobdard]

Hi everyone,

I went to an auto show yesterday and took about 1000 pictures on RAW format. I'm an amateur enthusiast photography, and it was my first event experimenting with RAW and full M mode. So I dumped all my pictures into Aperture 3, deleted many and kept around 250 of them. I'm going to edit some of these, but I'd like to only keep the RAW files of around 100. The rest I'd like to just keep the JPEG. I've taken them all with RAW + JPEG.

Is there a way for Aperture to automatically get rid of the RAW file within each picture and keep the JPEG? Or any workflows one would recommend for doing this? Or do I need to export the RAW as full quality JPEG, then delete them and reimport the JPEG?

Thanks!

 

[Rondue]

You can probably just right click and do "Show File" and in that folder you can just cmd click the ones you want and delete. But personally I just invest in massive hard drive storage with backup and just keep all the shots that aren't completely jacked.

 

[pdxflint]

Why can't you just multi-select/flag/mark (whatever it's called) all the RAW images you want to toss from within Aperture, and do a "save as" and pick the .jpg quality. I don't think you'd have to import them back. Then select the same images, delete, then empty your trash? Would that not work? I don't use Aperture, but it seems like a fairly generic type of process.

 

[bobdard]

Thank you both for replying.

You can probably just right click and do "Show File" and in that folder you can just cmd click the ones you want and delete. But personally I just invest in massive hard drive storage with backup and just keep all the shots that aren't completely jacked.

Just tried that; didn't work.

Why can't you just multi-select/flag/mark (whatever it's called) all the RAW images you want to toss from within Aperture, and do a "save as" and pick the .jpg quality. I don't think you'd have to import them back. Then select the same images, delete, then empty your trash? Would that not work? I don't use Aperture, but it seems like a fairly generic type of process.

Good idea. I tried to do "duplicate version" which is as close as it comes to "save as" and it just duplicates the RAW image, not the JPEG file of that RAW image...

 

[deep diver]

You are only talking about getting rid of 150 RAW images. It is not a huge number. Deleting them in Finder might be the easiest way even if it is not very elegant.

 

[bobdard]

You are only talking about getting rid of 150 RAW images. It is not a huge number. Deleting them in Finder might be the easiest way even if it is not very elegant.

Wouldn't that cause problems with Aperture not finding files though? I don't want it to tell me it can't find files every time I click on one of the pictures (for which the JPEGs are still there). I'll give it a try when I get home.

 

[deep diver]

Wouldn't that cause problems with Aperture not finding files though? I don't want it to tell me it can't find files every time I click on one of the pictures (for which the JPEGs are still there). I'll give it a try when I get home.

Good question. I do not know. I use Photo Shop which does not use a complicated file management system the way iPhoto and (I assume) Aperture do.

I would ask someone else before doing anything.

 

[bobdard]

Good question. I do not know. I use Photo Shop which does not use a complicated file management system the way iPhoto and (I assume) Aperture do.

I would ask someone else before doing anything.

I tried to move the RAW file on to my desktop (as if it was deleted out of the Aperture library) and it did indeed get into issues if I clicked "preview off" in Aperture. Someone on Apple's Support replied and I did his method and it worked. Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[pdxflint]

And that method would be...??? Care to share?

 

[bobdard]

And that method would be...??? Care to share?

I'm sorry since the few that replied didn't seem to be Aperture users I thought maybe you didn't want to know. Sorry about that. Here is a copy + paste of the reply:

Create a Smart Album from your project and in the Smart Album control sheet that will appear look at the ADD RULE menu in the top right corner. Choose FILE TYPE and a new section is added to the bottom of the SA control sheet. In that you will find you can choose JPEGs, RAW and others.

Instantly your selected images will be filtered and you can thereafter delete if you so wish.

 

[chrono1081]

Sorry OP this doesn't pertain to your question but I would like to just say make SURE that the raw files you want to delete are indeed not wanted any more. When you get more into photography there will be a lot of times you will kick your self in the ass for not saving a raw file.

I no longer delete any raws of mine. Raw is cumbersome when you are first learning it but turns awesome real fast

 

[Phil Lee]

The normal way to do this is actually the reverse of what you want. You import only the JPGs, delete what you don't want then import the matching RAW files by selecting the "Matching RAW files" option on the import dialog.

Personally I never delete any photo I've taken unless it is so poor it gets deleted in camera.

 

[bobdard]

Sorry OP this doesn't pertain to your question but I would like to just say make SURE that the raw files you want to delete are indeed not wanted any more. When you get more into photography there will be a lot of times you will kick your self in the ass for not saving a raw file.

I no longer delete any raws of mine. Raw is cumbersome when you are first learning it but turns awesome real fast

Thanks for the advice. Seems like everyone is telling me to not delete them in case I want them later. The reason I wanted to get rid of them in the first place is that I took 5-10 of each car at each angle, with different camera settings. (first time using full manual mode). Then picked 2 of each and wanted to delete the rest. What I've done now is I just kept the remaining RAW files in a folder on an external HDD in case I want them later. Thanks for the advice!

The normal way to do this is actually the reverse of what you want. You import only the JPGs, delete what you don't want then import the matching RAW files by selecting the "Matching RAW files" option on the import dialog.

I didn't know Aperture had this option; much smarter way of doing it! I'm not on my iMac right now, but I'll give it a shot when I get home. Thank you.

 

[bobdard]

Edit: Previous Comment removed.

I tried what Phil, and it worked nicely. Thanks Phil!