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Photo Workflow on the Road - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Aperture
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The Aperture Library File

The breakthrough feature for Aperture 1.5 is its flexible library system. You can finally store master image files offline using any number of external hard drives, CDs, or DVDs. (The previous versions of Aperture required that all master image files be located within the library package.)

However, even though Aperture's flexible library allows you to move your images offline, the Aperture library itself can grow to a substantial size. This largely has to do with the JPEG preview files that Aperture creates for each master image. (This is an option enabled in the Preferences pane.)

One way to keep the library file from growing so fast is to have Aperture create the preview files selectively.

To do this, open Aperture's preference pane and find the section called "Previews." Deselect the option that says, "New projects automatically generate previews," and you're now responsible for generating the preview files on your own.

If Aperture previously generated previews for images in your library, you can delete them by selecting those images and clicking "Delete Previews" in the Images menu.

You can easily generate preview files for any images in your library at any future time. Just make sure the volume that contains the master files is mounted and click "Update Preview" in the Images menu.

The "Previews" section of Aperture's Preference pane also includes options for setting the size and compression for each preview Aperture generates. You can play with these options to try and lessen the overall size of your library file.

Aside from not being able to look at your offline images, another drawback to not generating the preview images is that iLife and iWork applications won't be able to access the images in your Aperture library. Even if your images are online, these applications require Aperture's preview files to work. So when considering preview management, you'll want to find the right balance between disc space consumption and image flexibility.

External Hard Drives

I really like to have my entire image library available at all times. So, I decided to buy a portable hard drive to house my Aperture file and left the option for generating new previews checked. There are many options out there but I chose an 80GB SmartDisk Firelite USB drive. The Firelite is a great little device. It's powered off the USB port and is small and easy to carry in a backpack. I now use it solely to house my Aperture library and as a backup for my most recent photos.

With my master library sitting on the Firelite, I created a new second Aperture library, which lives on my laptop. This is the library I use when I'm on assignment, or when I just don't feel like attaching the Firelite. When I'm done with the assignment, I can easily transfer the project file to my master library for long-term storage. One of the great advantages to working with a temporary Aperture library is that there's a significant speed increase. I'm not sure why Aperture runs faster with a smaller library, but I imagine it has something to do with having to initialize a much larger database file.

The bulk of my master image files live on a LaCie 250GB Firewire drive. These drives are slightly less portable because they're much larger and require a power adapter, but for the price, they're a great option. If you're traveling for an extended period of time, it makes sense to bring a drive along if you'll need to produce a large number of images. Just be careful when transporting the drive as a lot of bumps could potentially harm your data.

I've successfully transported two of the Porsche-designed LaCie drives in my carry-on luggage without any problem at all. Not only are external drives a great place to store your master images, they also make a smart spot for backing up your laptop's home folder.

CDs and DVDs

The price of DVDs has dropped to the point where they make an excellent choice for long-term storage and backup of data. The big downside with DVDs is that they can take up lots of room, easily become disorganized, and they take time to burn. But I still use them extensively.

In the old days, I'd use CDs to store all of my images. After a shoot, I'd edit on my laptop and then eventually transfer the originals to a CD or two, or ten. Then I'd read the CD into iView to keep a catalog of the files. If time and location permitted, I'd make a second set of CDs and either leave them at a friend's house or ship them back home.

With Aperture, this process has been streamlined significantly. Now, I use DVDs solely as a backup device, keeping all my original files on the LaCie drives and the Firelite. (More on how to do this below.) I no longer have to search through books and books of CDs and DVDs to find a single master image. I have to break out the DVDs only when I have a hard drive failure.

Another variation on DVD storage is Derrick Story's approach, where he archives only his highly-rated pictures on optical disc. Read about this workflow in the article, Automated Workflow to Archive Your Best Images to DVD.

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