Ferris Wheel: 1/1250s f/8.0 ISO200 73mm -0.3ev, Canon 30D, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS

Here is what I am currently doing to manage photos on my MacBook and iMac. It's a simple one-way process.

When I import my photos onto the Macbook I do so as managed files so they go into the library. Then I'll cull, rate, keyword, or whatever I want to get done. I don't adjust much, since the screen is small and not as good as my iMac and I can't control the room illumination as well. I leave preview generation turned on for all projects in my library and set it to make half size images. This lets me quickly put together slide shows and skim through images in a flash.

Then when I'm done working on the laptop, I export the project to the desktop and rename the project in the library by adding "Exported" to the end. That's to remind me that I've already done the export and should not do any more editing.

To transfer the project to the iMac I either copy it across the network, or restart the laptop in Firewire target mode and use the Finder to drag the folder across and onto my iMac Aperture library.

Back on the MacBook I delete all the rejects by finding them with a smart album and pressing command delete and then relocate all the remaining project images to a temporary folder. I immediately delete the temporary folder, since I don't want the RAW images to remain on the Macbook, and rename the project again by removing "Exported" and adding "Previews".

So on the laptop I have previews that I can easily show, drag out to other apps, or email, and on the iMac I have the RAW files, the previews, and the project intact. On the laptop the images use up only about 1 MByte each with the thumbnails and previews, so it is pretty space-efficient.

Tags: Aperture, Workflow, Laptop

I just purchased a MacBook as a work and development machine and naturally wanted to put Aperture on it. But how? When I bought Aperture 2.0 I did so by downloading the demo that was immediately available and buying an upgrade key immediately. After that I updated to 2.1. Since I don't have a DVD to install from, how should I get it onto my laptop?

Dragging the application over does not work because there are some pro application frameworks that are needed. How about downloading another demo and entering my key? That would probably be OK, but then I need to fill out the form and download the whole thing over again.

What worked was to install the original 2.0 demo that I had kept, and then enter the upgrade key I had paid for. When I did that it requested my original Aperture 1.1 key as well and was unlocked. Then I ran the 2.1 updater.

I was quite pleased to find that Aperture 2.1 runs just fine on my MacBook. It's the lowest spec machine, but with 4G RAM fitted. Processing 7MB CR2 files is easily fast enough for normal use, but noticeably slower than my iMac. The glossy screen is nice, but low-end, perfectly acceptable for normal use.

Tags: Aperture, Installing, Laptop

I am a photographer and travel to various "Locations." I am having a workflow problem with Aperture and image storage. It seems to me that there is probably an easy fix either in Aperture or in modifying my workflow but the Apple discussion group is unable to grasp my problem. One kind responder pointed me to your site and so perhaps you would allow me to ask my question. While traveling I download from the camera to my laptop MacBook Pro each day. Dependent upon opportunities I sometimes need to download from the SD cards directly to a Wolverine battery operated hard drive while continuing to shoot. I then copy from the Wolverine to my MB Pro at the end of the day. I use Aperture to rate, cull, add keywords, put into projects etc etc. As the laptop's hard drive is too small to store all of my images i usually need to make additional DVD backups of my images and erase the files from my laptop. This is where the problem starts.

After I erase the master files the images and ratings etc still appear in Aperture but of course the images show as off line. Upon returning home I copy all of my images onto my eSATA hard drives (from DVD or from Wolverine). Now I want to have Aperture look for the master images on the eSATA drive and re connect, but cannot figure out how to do this. The only solution I have so far is to re do the rating, culling, keywords etc referencing the images on the eSATA drive and erase the older versions. This besides being time consuming is for me fraught with peril. My administrative skills are almost non existent.

You can reconnect the copied masters with the Referenced File Manager. I have an article that describes how to do this called Burning Masters To DVD and The Referenced File Manager. However, you can make all of this workflow faster and less perilous by working with complete projects rather than individual masters. And you won't have to go near the Referenced File Manager to do it.

As you import images into the Aperture library on your laptop, make the projects fairly small. Do your rating and sorting. When your laptop is too full, export these projects a few at a time.

You can check that the projects look OK by dropping them onto an open TextWrangler document and seeing if the expected files are present:

Looks good to me. Also check the size of the project in the Finder as a sanity check:

My project has 18 images of about 2.5MB each, so that looks right.

Burn as many as will fit onto a DVD, verify the DVD, and then delete the project in the Aperture library and empty the trash. Emptying the trash is necessary because the deleted masters in the projects will be moved there. Repeat with all the projects you want to move. You'll have to come up with a foolproof scheme for naming these projects so there is no chance of deleting the wrong thing.

Now when you get back into the office, just import the projects into Aperture's library. That's it. Mount the DVD and drag the projects to the library:

If you trust that the keywords coming in with the projects are well-behaved (ie match the scheme you are using, have the correct spelling etc.) then before importing the projects, unlock the keyword HUD by bringing it up with shift H and clicking the lock icon. This will give the newly-imported images the same keywords are are already used in the library. If you leave the keyword HUD locked, the imported keywords will be added to a separate keyword hierarchy called Imported Keywords and have to be merged later.

The big advantage of using projects to move images around is that they are self-contained. They include all the masters, versions, keywords, ratings, albums, adjustments, and everything else needed to work instantly as soon as they are put back into the library. They even contain thumbnails, so you won't have to wait for them to be regenerated once you are back in the office.

Tags: Aperture, Q&A, Masters, Laptop, Workflow, Projects, Reconnecting