I've had Aperture for about a year. Got it because my 50,000 pic library bogged iPhoto down to a crawl. I also bought Joseph's ebook so I could get this done right. But clearly, I didn't get it right. Aperture works, but is dog slow. And I've got duplicate copies of images all over the computer, not just in the library.
I'd like to aggregate all images, dump the dupes, keep the various versions as long as they aren't identical, be able to sort by date, and ultimately not bog things down so that it takes minutes to open the app. I'm using referenced masters, except for the iPhoto import which I think ended up managed. And of course, HDD space isn't unlimited, so I don't want to keep a huge Aperture library and an iPhoto library too.
So far, my use of Aperture hasn't made anything better or easier, it's just complicated an already complex situation, but I'm sure that's because I've done something stupid.
Experts?
You definitely need more memory. I had 4GB of RAM on a 2010 MBP and Aperture ran dog slow for some things. I bumped it up to 8GB and it runs faster and much more smoothly. If your laptop can hold more than 8GB, max it out. With Aperture, more is better.
Is your master library and “managed” or “referenced” library? By that I mean do you store the master files inside the library (“managed”) or outside the library (“referenced”)? In order to really clean things up, it might be worth storing them inside the library during the consolidation process. You can always “relocate masters” later and move them out of the library if you prefer.
What format are your master files? Are they raw or JPG files? If they are raw and you have created other copies from them in JPG format, I would concentrate on getting all of the raw files into a consolidated Aperture library, then concentrate on organization of the library. You can create the JPG files again from the raw files if you need them. You really want to make sure you clearly identify the absolute “master” for each image.
Have you associated metadata with your photos? If not, you will want to spend time doing this as you have time to do so. Contact information should be priority number in terms of copyright protection, and you can do that en masse for the entire library all at once.
Photographer | https://www.walterrowe.com | https://instagram.com/walter.rowe.photo
Shameless plug: to find and delete duplicates across multiple drives/folders and iPhoto/Aperture libraries in one go, may I suggest you try my app Decloner. There is a fully-functional 30-day trial available. I’d be glad to hear any feedback, you can reach me at support@pixelespresso.com.
The memory idea was interesting, so here’s what I tried. I launched Activity monitor, watching the “free memory” pie chart/data. I launched Aperture, the free memory got a little smaller…like a few hundred meg. The actual figure shown in Activity Monitor was just under 400meg. I still had 1.5 gig free. I ran through a few functions like changing projects, libraries, etc. The available free memory hardly changed, if anything, it got bigger. Not sure how adding more would fix much, unless I was running more apps.
The masters are almost all camera raw, there are a few .tifs as well. I don’t create .jpgs unless they are going to the web. The bulk of the 211+ gig is CR2.
I understand the point of the metadata, but at this point, closing in on 50K images, it’s not going to happen for existing ones.
The library is referenced, masters outside of the library file. Mostly. The imported iPhoto libraries are apparently managed. Ugh.
I tried Decloner, looks like it may help clear dupes, but didn’t find more than a couple gig in the original iPhoto library. 2 gig out of 211…good, not great. I pointed Decloner at my home directory and it crashed. Pointed it at my documents folder, it crashed. Ran ok on the Pictures folder, but only saved me about 20meg. It’s running on my Master Photo Library folder and the Aperture library, found over 60K files in the count, and been running for 25 minutes, I’ll check it in the morning.
What mac are you on, How much Ram do you have, How free space on the HD do you have %, Reference or Managed Lib? Those are issues of slowness. Give us more info.
So you have Dups from before you started AP and iPhoto? If so pull those off to a separate HD and store them else where. That is easier said than done. If they are in AP already make a project of the dups and then export them to a ext HD as a Lib to archive else where. When using any new program it is confusing…but will fall in place eventually. Cheers
davidbmoore@mac.com
Twitter= @davidbmoore
Scottsdale AZ
Oh! and Im no expert. There are those who frequent the site.
davidbmoore@mac.com
Twitter= @davidbmoore
Scottsdale AZ
Macbook Pro, Core i7, 2GHz, 4 gig
Here’s a little more about my mess. Somehow I have two different imported iPhoto libraries that are not exactly identical. If I select both libraries, Aperture shows quite a few duplicates, but not a many as I’d expect. Each library’s image count is different, one is over 25K images, the other is just over 23K. Nether is referenced…which I don’t understand. It would make sense to merge them and relocate the masters to one place.
There are also images imported in the last year that went to organized folders in the finder, then imported to Aperture as referenced files. That’s great, but they are in “projects” not a library, and the projects were apparently auto-named with the same name plus a number. There are empty projects too.
The goal here is to get everything into my “Master Photo Library” folder so it can be backed up, and also have everything in Aperture so it can be found, used, and exported. Right now I have the newest stuff in named folders, and confused projects, and old stuff in two different iPhoto libraries. When trying to confirm the location of the original, the path shown doesn’t start at a root (drive). Using that path, I can’t find the originals. Isn’t there a “reveal in Finder” function somewhere?
Thanks, all.
Id go to 8GB ram if you can…you wont be sorry. Your referenced lib is on a HD that should not be more than 70% full and preferably only 50% full.
Even though iPhoto will open aperture and aperture will open iPhoto… I dont do it. in fact I dont use iPhoto, it works but I like to keep varibles to a minimum when it comes to Data bases. I guess (if I knew what I was doing in iPhoto) id merge the two lib and look for and export or delete dups. Then open in AP and don’t look back. Guess you can till Im superstitious about damaging the database.
davidbmoore@mac.com
Twitter= @davidbmoore
Scottsdale AZ
I don’t open thenAperture library with iPhoto. I occasionally open iPhoto, but I’m not adding to it’s library any more, I just can’t find things in Aperture quickly, so I have to go back and find them in iPhoto.
My Aperture library and all new master image files are on a dedicated external drive, plenty of space. But I can’t tell where the libraries called “iPhoto” in Aperture are. There’s only one on the main HDD (which I’d like to get rid of), but Aperture shows two, with not enough path info in the inspector to find them.
Update…and still more questions.
I now have 16 gig of ram, and all originals are now located on an external drive. Aperture is still slow to open and close, but works fine ones launched. I use a (mostly) a referenced library structure, but some early stuff got in “managed” instead. That’s a pain, but not the deal breaker.
I have discovered that somehow I have at least two iPhoto libraries in Aperture, which are not exact duplicates. Then, on my desktop computer which has multiple drives, there are copies of photos in multiple locations, and yet another iPhoto library, and yes, another Aperture library too.
I want to synch everything, keep all originals and unique versions, create a master library folder, and basically consolidate everything so I can do backups and delete the dupes so I can manage storage space, and keep the desktop and laptop at least sort of in synch. Right now this is a massive manual process that is simply impossible.
Is there any way to reliably and accurately consolidate this mess, and hopefully, end up with it organized at least by date so I might find stuff? A good utility that scans image files not only by name (duplicate names as the camera rolls over!!!) or date (unreliable) but difference in content?
There is a utility called Aperture Duplicate Detector. My experiences with it were very unhappy - frequent crashes. And the last thing you want to do is crash an Aperture library. The supplier was very supportive, but as soon as I set it going BANG. So don’t go there unless the AppStore feedback is now very, very positive.
I can’t think of a way to safely automate it - job for the long winter nights. Why don’t you think sorting by date will be reliable?
Make the most of Smart Albums - for example if you are confident that all jpgs are duplicates of a RAW somewhere you can make a smart album of jogs and delete those.
Are you making the most of the three-stage deletion in Aperture?
1- Reject
2 - Aperture trash
3 - System trash
Confused when you say you have iPhoto libraries in Aperture. They are the same format; you can open them in either. They may have an Aperture or iPhoto extension, but that’s just what they open in by default. And yes you can consolidate - File, Import, Library…
A single Aperture library (catalogue) can have managed and referenced images; you can create smart albums to see which is which. You can move from managed to referenced and back (Relocate original / Consoliate original).
Suggest you work out what you want to do in logical terms (if this then that…) and assume Aperture can do it. If you can’t get individual steps to work pose new questions because as ‘subscribe’ doesn’t work in the fora then people won’t necessarily pick up on changes to the thread.
d.
Hi!
I am curious to know if you found a good solution to your issues?
Also, I have had good success in finding duplicate files (even on TB sized drives, and whatever type of file, not photo specific, and it compares content not filename or date) with the Gemini app (found in the Mac App Store).
Cheers,
Nicojo