Inside Aperture

Photo Workflow on the Road - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Aperture
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4

Managing your Master Image Files

Another important tool is the Consolidate Masters function. If you want to move images back to your laptop and store them in the Aperture library as managed files, this allows you to do so. I've used this option on many occasions when I wanted to work with a particular set of images while in the field. I just select the images I need, and click Consolidate Masters.

Lastly, the Manage Referenced Files function is an invaluable tool. If Aperture loses its reference to a file (which it rarely does), you can use Manage Referenced Files to reconnect to the image. Aperture was designed to prevent file references from becoming disconnected from your library at all costs. If you rename your master files in the finder, Aperture knows about it. Move the file to another folder and Aperture knows about it. In fact, one of the only ways to throw Aperture off is to manually move a referenced file to another volume. For this reason, the Manage Referenced Files function becomes very useful if you need to restore your images from a backup after a hard drive crash. Which brings me to my next point: Back up your stuff!

Protecting your Referenced Masters

When Aperture first shipped, there was quite a bit of talk about its vault system for backing up your library. The vault system in Aperture essentially makes a duplicate copy of your library on an external hard drive. It's neatly designed to keep tabs on what new image masters have yet to be backed up and on any metadata that's changed since your previous backup. You can have as many vaults as you like and with one click, you can bring them all up to date. You can even set Aperture to store a Vault on your iPod.

In Aperture 1.5, the vault system continues to work in the same way, except for one main caveat; the Vault won't manage the backup of referenced files. As the Vault was designed to essentially make a duplicate copy of the Aperture library package, and referenced files no longer reside inside the package, they're not included in the Vault. You're now responsible for making sure your referenced files are secure.

To secure the backup of my referenced files, I turned to the Apple Backup software that came with my .Mac account. I've used many other types of backup packages, but for the combination of ease of use, and flexibility I've found Backup to be perfectly adequate. If you don't have .Mac, you might try Déjà Vu, or Synk as alternatives.

With Apple's Backup software, I'm able to create a routine backup for all my master image files to DVD. In addition, every time I add new images, Backup performs an incremental backup. This means I don't have to reburn the entire set of DVDs over and over again. Backup takes care of spanning multiple DVDs and keeps track of each run. If I've added new master image files, Backup adds the files to the set and burns the needed DVDs.

I currently have two duplicate backup routines to secure my images to DVD. I keep one set with me in case I need to restore a broken drive, and the second I mail home for safekeeping. This method means at any given time, all of my master images are stored in three separate locations, which helps me keep an ongoing backup of all my master image files without too much effort.

Key-wording from the Plane

With Aperture 1.5, I'm able to work from my MacBook Pro with ease. While waiting for a flight, I can caption and keyword images throughout my entire archive, and review older work for stock distribution from anywhere and at any time. By using Apple's Backup program, I can make sure all of my images are secure with the amount of redundancy that makes me feel comfortable. Utilizing referenced files, I can make sure my laptop has plenty of room for location work, and I no longer have to wonder where my images are. My entire life's work as a photographer is portable and scalable. Post-production time is shortened, and I better utilize my downtime. I'm more efficient which lets me spend more time shooting. Life as a traveling photographer has never been better.

Micah Walter is a freelance photojournalist, writer, and teacher from Washington D.C., and a graduate of the photo tech program at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York.

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• Can you perform other tasks while exporting on aperture?
  2007-02-24 21:47:48  pauloalexfoto [Reply | View]
  
  
  
  The thing is; while exporting files on aperture my sistem goes to total deadlock. Meaning that I cannot import or work on other files, which is a great turn off, considering that adobe ligthroom let`s me do just that.
  
  I`m using Imac G5 2,1GHz at 2.5 Mhz ram and Macbook 2.0 core duo at 2.0 Mhz.
  
  Can someone please tell me if I´m missing something or if this is just the way it goes.
  
  Best regards
  
  Paulo A.

• Check out Jungledisk for cheap online photo storage
  2007-01-29 07:57:12  DaveC. [Reply | View]
  
  
  Hi there - interesting article.
  
  If you are looking for cheap online backup storage for photos and you don't need the other marketing tools of photoshelter etc. you should check out JungleDisk at http://www.jungledisk.com
  
  It uses the Amazon S3 service to offer online storage where you only pay for what you use, and it mounts as a drive on your Mac.
  
  I have no affiliation to JungleDisk, but it seems a good service.
  
  Dave

• I use the exact same workflow
  2007-01-26 17:36:16  Shootlarge [Reply | View]
  
  
  ...and the same equipment as well. It works great. This is the first app that really works for pro photographers