Great blog-- thanks!! I seem to have "misplaced" a master image. Not quite sure what happened. I opened it (twice) with an external editor and attempted to delete one version (using the 'Delete Version' option). I did not choose 'Delete Master and all Versions' option and Aperture never asked me to confirm this action. However, all traces of the photo now appear to be gone from the library. I drilled through using the 'Show page contents' tool and looked at previews. There is no folder in the project for this image. I have recently backed up my Vaults before editing. Is there any way I can recover a single master image from a vault? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!

Yes, single images can be retrieved from vaults. By navigating down into the vault or by searching, the image can be located and copied out using the Finder. Once copied, it can be imported back into Aperture. This will lose all versions and adjustments, and any metadata that is not part of the original master file.

But first, check for the image in the trash. Images in Aperture that are deleted are put into the trash in a folder called Aperture. Inside that is another folder with the name of the project the image was in. Inside that is the images deleted from that project.

I'll find and restore a deleted image from a vault. The organization of a vault is very similar to that of the library, so delving into the vault is very similar to delving into the library. Since in this case I know that the name of the deleted image included the number 2486, I can search on that. First I open the vault using control-click and Show Package Contents:

Then by typing the part of the name I know into the Finder's search box, I can quickly locate the image:

I can use the slideshow and other features of the Finder window to examine my image. Once located, I option-drag the image out of the Finder window to copy it to the desktop, then drag it onto a project in Aperture to import it again.

If I had not already known part of the name of the image, then I would have had to do more work. By typing JPG into the search box (since I know that my master image was a JPG) I can find all the images and then browse through them:

This will of course work for other file name extensions such as CR2 or NEF. Selecting a image in the Finder window shows the full path at the bottom and double-clicking a folder in that list will open the folder for further examination. Control-click can be used to open projects that show up the path by selecting Show Package Contents. As before I can option-drag image masters out to copy them and restore them to Aperture.

If the deleted image is not in the trash and also not in the vault, there is one last place it may be. Images deleted from vaults by a vault update are not removed entirely, but they are not put into the trash. Instead the folder that holds the vault contains a folder with Deleted Images in its name. Inside that is a folder named for the date and time of the vault sync that removed the image from the vault. Inside that are folders for the deleted images and the masters:

My image is now available for reimporting into Aperture. The techniques I show here can also be used to find out if the image really was deleted from the Library in the first place.