Apple Aperture 3.5 User Manual

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Aperture 3.5

User Guide

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K Apple Inc.

Your rights to the software are governed by the accompanying software license agreement. The owner or authorized user of a valid copy of Aperture software may reproduce this publication for the purpose of learning to use such software. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this publication or for providing paid for support services.

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Every eort has been made to ensure that the information in

this manual is accurate. Apple is not responsible for printing and clerical errors.

Apple

1 Innite Loop

Cupertino, CA 95014 408-996-1010 www.apple.com

Apple, the Apple logo, Aperture, AppleScript, Apple TV,

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019-2561

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12 Chapter 1: Aperture basics 12 What is Aperture? 13 Aperture workow overview 15 Aperture interface overview 19 Basic components of Aperture 19 Basic components overview 20 What are originals? 20 What are versions? 21 What are projects? 21 What are albums? 23 What are folders? 23 What is the library? 24 What are managed images and referenced images? 25 What is the Aperture Trash? 25 What is a vault? 26 Open Aperture for the rst time

27 Chapter 2: Import photos 27 Importing photos overview 29 File formats you can import into the library 29 Plan your import strategy 30 Import from a camera, card reader, or device 36 Add import options 36 Import options overview 36 View le information 37 Automatically name imported photos 40 Adjust time zone data at import 40 Add metadata at import 41 Apply eects at import 41 Filter les by type at import 42 Import RAW + JPEG image pairs 43 Use AppleScript actions at import 44 Automatically back up les at import 44 Reset import options 45 Import folders of les from the Finder 46 Import originals for referenced images into folders 47 Capture photos as you work 48 Add audio attachments to image les 49 Where Aperture stores your managed les in the library 49 Reprocess photos from earlier versions of Aperture

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51 Chapter 3: Work with projects and the library 51 Organize items in the Library inspector 51 Library inspector overview 53 Create and name items 54 Open and close items in the Library inspector 55 Arrange items in the Library inspector 56 Create and show favorite items 56 Work with the Aperture Trash 58 Work with library les 58 Create new libraries 58 View other libraries 59 Merge libraries 61 Open your library in iPhoto 61 Work with projects 61 View projects 64 Create and delete projects 64 Organize and sort projects in Projects view 66 Import photos into projects 66 Merge projects 67 Duplicate a project structure 67 Work with referenced images 72 Back up the library 72 Plan your backup system 73 Create and update vaults 75 Disconnect and reconnect vaults 76 Restore your Aperture library 76 Repair and rebuild your Aperture library

78 Chapter 4: Organize and sort photos 78 Browser overview 80 Navigate through and select photos 80 Navigate through photos in the Browser 81 Select photos 82 Navigate through photos in Quick Preview mode 83 Change the Browser view 83 Work with photos in lmstrip view 84 Work with photos in grid view 85 Work with photos in list view 87 Work with two Browsers open 88 Set up and arrange photos 88 Rearrange and sort photos in the Browser 89 Rotate photos 89 Create versions of a photo 90 Delete photos from the Browser 91 Rename original image les 91 Drag photos into dierent projects and albums 92 Stack photos and make picks 92 Stacking photos overview 93 Create stacks 95 Open and close stacks 95 Set a pick photo for a stack

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96 Work with stacked photos 97 Compare photos in stacks 98 Work with stacks in list view 98 Rate photos 98 Rating photos overview 100 Rating workow 101 Rate and compare photos 104 Sort photos by rating 105 Add keywords to photos 105 Keywords overview 108 View a photo’s keywords 110 Apply keywords using the Keywords HUD 114 Apply keywords using keyword controls and keyword presets 118 Apply keywords using the Lift & Stamp HUD 121 Apply keywords using the Info inspector 122 Apply keywords to photos in the Light Table 122 Remove keywords from a photo 123 Export and import keyword lists 123 Organize photos by people using Faces 123 Faces overview 125 Add names to faces in your photos 127 View photos in Faces view 130 Search for photos by face 131 Organize photos by location using Places 131 Places overview 133 View photo locations 138 Change the map view 139 Add locations to photos 142 Change photo locations 143 Remove locations 143 Import and work with GPS Track le data 144 Assign location information to projects 146 Work with location information using the Info inspector 150 Search for and display photos 150 Searching overview 151 Perform quick searches using the Search Field pop-up menu 152 Search using a combination of criteria 154 Save your search results 155 Group photos with Smart Albums 155 Smart Albums overview 156 Collect photos in a new Smart Album 159 Search within a Smart Album 159 Revise the contents of a Smart Album 160 Transfer Smart Album photos to an album 160 Delete a Smart Album 160 Work with library albums

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162 Chapter 5: View and compare photos 162 View photos in the Viewer 162 Viewer overview 164 Change the number of photos in the Viewer 164 Compare photos 166 View photos at full resolution 167 View original photos 168 Work with audio and video in the Viewer 170 View photos on multiple displays 171 Show hot and cold areas in your photos 172 Set up the Viewer for onscreen proong 172 View photos in full-screen view 172 Full-screen view overview 174 Enter and exit full-screen view 175 Work in Viewer mode in full-screen view 177 Work in Browser mode in full-screen view 178 Work in Projects mode in full-screen view 179 Use HUDs in full-screen view 180 Change the display of metadata in full-screen view 181 View photos with the Loupe 181 Loupe overview 182 Magnify photos using the Loupe 184 Use the alternate Loupe 185 Arrange photos in the Light Table 185 Light Table overview 186 Create and delete Light Table albums 188 Place and view photos in the Light Table 190 Move, resize, and align photos in the Light Table

193 Chapter 6: Work with metadata 193 Working with metadata overview 196 View and change metadata in the Info inspector or Info HUD 196 Show the Info inspector and modify views 198 Modify metadata in the Info inspector and Inspector HUD 201 Display metadata with your photos 201 Metadata overlays overview 202 Turn the display of metadata on or o 203 Specify the type of metadata to display in the Viewer and Browser 206 Work with the AutoFill Editor 206 Work with metadata views 206 Metadata views overview 208 Create, modify, and manage metadata views 210 Work with metadata presets 210 Create metadata presets 211 Share metadata presets 212 Batch change metadata 213 About IPTC metadata 214 Understanding badge overlays 214 Badge overlays overview 215 Display photos with badge overlays 216 Adjust the photo date and time

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217 Chapter 7: Make image adjustments 217 Adjustments in Aperture 219 About making adjustments onscreen 220 Use the adjustment controls 220 Use the Adjustments inspector and Inspector HUD 223 Use sliders 223 Work with adjustment tools in the tool strip 224 Use the brush controls 225 Ways to perform adjustments 225 Apply standard adjustments 228 Apply brushed adjustments 231 Apply Quick Brush adjustments 232 Work with brush strokes 235 Work with brushed adjustment overlays 237 Limit the tonal range of brushed adjustments 238 Remove adjustments 238 Perform adjustments in full-screen view 239 Adjust images from within Aperture editors 239 Use an external editor 240 Apply iPhoto eects to images 241 Apply specic standard adjustments 241 Enhance an image automatically 242 Retouch an image 245 Remove red-eye 250 Spot and patch an image 258 Straighten an image’s horizon 259 Crop an image 262 Flip the composition of an image 263 Remove chromatic aberration 264 Remove a vignette 265 Reduce digital noise 266 White balance an image 270 Correct exposure, highlight detail, shadow detail, and brightness 273 Adjust contrast, clarity, and saturation 276 Remove unwanted tints from an image 282 Adjust the tonal curve of an image 292 Preserve highlight and shadow details in an image 295 Adjust the levels of an image 303 Selectively adjust the color values in an image 308 Manually convert an image to black and white 309 Convert a color image to black and white with a color tint 310 Apply a sepia tint 311 Sharpen an image 313 Apply a vignette to an image 315 Apply specic Quick Brush adjustments 315 Brush the Skin Smoothing adjustment on an image 316 Brush the Dodge adjustment on an image 317 Brush the Burn adjustment on an image 318 Brush the Polarize adjustment on an image 319 Brush the Intensify Contrast adjustment on an image

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320 Brush the Tint adjustment on an image 321 Brush the Contrast adjustment on an image 322 Brush the Saturation adjustment on an image 323 Brush the Denition adjustment on an image 324 Brush the Vibrancy adjustment on an image 325 Brush the Blur adjustment on an image 326 Brush the Sharpen adjustment on an image 327 Brush the Halo Reduction adjustment on an image 327 Brush the Noise Reduction adjustment on an image 328 Create and apply eects 334 Adjust how Aperture decodes RAW images 334 RAW Fine Tuning controls overview 335 Use the Boost controls 335 Use the Sharpening controls 336 Use the Moire controls 337 Use the De-noise control 338 Work with DNG les 338 Set the camera default 339 Sample color values and display camera information 342 Use modier keys to identify color clipping 344 Understanding how to read histograms 344 Histograms overview 345 About evaluating exposure 346 About evaluating tonality and contrast

348 Chapter 8: Print photos 348 Printing overview 350 Print individual photos 353 Print contact sheets 354 Print books 355 Print Light Table arrangements 356 Create and modify print presets 357 Proof images and manage color

358 Chapter 9: Export photos 358 Exporting photos overview 358 Export tips 359 Export by dragging 359 Export using the Export command 364 Choose export settings 364 Work with export presets 367 Set image resolution when exporting 369 Adjust images at export 370 Add a watermark at export 370 Apply IPTC metadata and keywords to your photos 371 Rename photos at export 374 Export photos into named or numbered folders

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376 Chapter 10: Create slideshows 376 Slideshows overview 376 Create slideshows quickly using presets 376 Slideshow presets overview 377 Play a slideshow using a preset 379 Create and modify slideshow presets 381 Create full-featured slideshows 381 Full-featured slideshow overview 383 Create a slideshow and choose a theme 385 Change slideshow settings 386 Set the slideshow aspect ratio and crop 387 Add a title or text to the slideshow 390 Set the length of time slides play 391 Apply transitions and eects to slides 393 Apply a Ken Burns eect to a slide 395 Adjust the volume of video slides 395 Add music and audio to slideshows 401 Loop the slideshow and the main audio track 402 View your slideshows in Aperture 402 Share your slideshow movies

404 Chapter 11: Create books 404 Creating books overview 405 Plan your book 406 Create a book album 407 View pages 409 Place photos in a book 411 Add and remove pages 411 Add individual pages to a book 413 Automatically create new pages 414 Add a photo index to a book 415 Remove pages from a book 415 Work with pages 417 Work with photos 417 Add photo boxes to a book page 418 Modify photo boxes 419 Copy, paste, cut, and remove photos in photo boxes 420 Stack photo boxes in a specic order 420 Change the look of photos with lters 421 Add map boxes to a book page 425 Work with text 425 Place text on the page 426 Add metadata boxes to a page 427 Hide or show photo plate numbers in books 427 Modify the appearance of text in books 428 Work with the Layout Options inspector 429 Work with master pages 429 Master pages overview 429 Create and modify master pages 430 Unify and split master pages 431 Update book pages with master page changes

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431 Create and share custom themes 432 Copy a book album 432 Order books from third-party print vendors using plug-ins

434 Chapter 12: Share photos online 434 Sharing photos overview 434 Use iCloud to keep photos up to date across your devices 434 My Photo Stream overview 436 Set up your iCloud account 437 Turn on My Photo Stream for an Aperture library 438 Automatically transfer photos between Aperture and My Photo Stream 439 Manually transfer photos between Aperture and My Photo Stream 439 About turning on My Photo Stream on more than one Mac 440 About uploading RAW les to My Photo Stream 441 Use iCloud to share photos with others 441 iCloud Photo Sharing overview 441 Turn on iCloud Photo Sharing in Aperture 442 Create shared photo streams 443 Add, remove, and edit items in a shared photo stream 444 Manage subscribers to your shared photo streams in Aperture 445 Subscribe to shared photo streams in Aperture 448 Email photos 449 Publish photos to Flickr, Facebook, and SmugMug 449 Sharing photos with Flickr, Facebook, and SmugMug overview 450 Set up a Flickr, Facebook, or SmugMug account in Aperture 456 Create and delete Flickr, Facebook, and SmugMug albums 458 View Flickr, Facebook, and SmugMug albums 460 Update your Flickr, Facebook, and SmugMug albums 461 Manage your Flickr, Facebook, and SmugMug accounts 463 Create webpages 463 Creating webpages overview 463 Create web galleries and web journals 466 View and navigate through webpages 467 Choose and modify themes 468 Work with web gallery pages 468 Work with web journal pages 470 Export webpages as HTML les 471 Work with web export presets 473 Add watermarks to webpage photos

474 Chapter 13: Customize the Aperture workspace 474 Change the main window layout 476 Set Aperture preferences 476 Aperture preferences overview 477 Open Aperture preferences 478 General preferences 479 Appearance preferences 480 Import preferences 481 Export preferences 482 Labels preferences 482 Previews preferences

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483 iCloud preferences 483 Accounts preferences 484 Advanced preferences 485 Customize the toolbar 487 Use gestures with Aperture 488 Customize keyboard shortcuts 488 Customizing keyboard shortcuts overview 490 Search for commands and keyboard shortcuts 492 Modify keyboard shortcuts and command sets 494 Work with preview images 494 Preview images overview 495 How Aperture displays photos in the Viewer 495 Set preview preferences 495 Automatically manage previews 496 Manually manage previews 496 Reschedule JPEG preview maintenance 497 Render preview images 497 Suppress preview generation 498 Sample workows for using previews eectively

501 Glossary

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Aperture basics

What is Aperture?

Aperture is a powerful, easy-to-use digital photo management system for organizing, adjusting,

archiving, and presenting high-quality photographic images.

In Aperture, you can:

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Work directly with your iPhoto library without having to import your iPhoto photos.

Important: To ensure library compatibility, make sure you upgrade both iPhoto and Aperture

to the latest versions.

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Import digital photos, audio les, and HD video les from cameras, card readers, and hard disk drives in high-quality formats such as JPEG, TIFF, and RAW.

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Edit and adjust digital photos using intuitive image-processing tools for retouching, skin smoothing, red-eye removal, color balance, exposure correction, and more.

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Work with your photos in RAW format, from capture through adjustment to nal output, preserving the highest-quality images throughout your workow.

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Store photos, audio les, and video les wherever you want—in the Aperture library, on

multiple hard disks, or on other storage media.

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Work with multiple Aperture libraries, with the ability to switch from library to library without closing Aperture.

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Catalog and manage thousands of photos and video les using exible organizational tools, comprehensive metadata support, and powerful search tools that let you nd les instantly in multiple locations, including hard disks, oine volumes, CDs, and DVDs.

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Export any part of your library, make changes to it on a second system running Aperture, and then merge it back into the library of your primary Aperture system.

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Process your photos nondestructively. Aperture protects your original image les and uses

built-in safeguards to help ensure that you don’t accidentally overwrite or modify originals.

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Automatically back up copies of your image les to designated storage areas, called vaults, located on external hard disks.

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Print or publish your photos and albums in any of numerous formats and to multiple locations.

Working directly with RAW photos, you can create color-accurate prints, custom contact

sheets, and unique bound books.

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Share your photos electronically, publishing them to Facebook, Flickr, and SmugMug. If you have an iCloud account, you can make your new photos available on all your Mac and iOS devices using My Photo Stream, and you can share photos with friends using iCloud Photo

Sharing. You can also create slideshow presentations for clients and friends, attach photos to email, and create webpages to display your photos.

Aperture workow overview

The basic process of managing photos in Aperture is described below. You don’t have to do every step, and you might do other tasks that aren’t listed here.

Use your iPhoto library with Aperture

The rst time you open Aperture, the Welcome to Aperture screen invites you to open your iPhoto library. You can also switch to your iPhoto library by choosing File > Switch to Library.

Important: To ensure library compatibility, make sure you upgrade both iPhoto and Aperture to

the latest versions.

For more information about switching libraries in Aperture, see View other libraries on page 58.

Import photos into Aperture

To use Aperture, you rst import your photos. You can import digital photos directly from your

camera or a card reader and from hard disks or other storage devices where you’ve archived

digital les.

Aperture automatically imports any audio attachments associated with your image les, provided that the image les and their audio attachments have the same lename. In addition

to importing photos into Aperture, you can also import QuickTime-compatible audio and

video les.

Create projects

As you work with Aperture, you create projects to hold your photos. Projects are simliar to events in iPhoto. A project can hold dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of photos. When you need

to further subdivide and organize photos in a project, you can create albums. As your portfolio increases and you create more and more projects, you can organize your work into hierarchies of folders, projects, and albums.

View and organize your photos

To work with your photos, you select a project in the Library inspector, and the project’s photos

appear in the Browser. You use the Browser to review, organize, and select photos. When you select a thumbnail image in the Browser, the photo appears in the Viewer. If you want to work with your photos in detail, you can view them in full-screen view.

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Aperture also provides several tools to help you organize a large portfolio of photos. You can compare high-resolution photos side by side, group similar photos in stacks, rate photos, identify

people in your photos using Faces, and apply location information to your photos using Places. You can also apply keywords and other metadata to your photos to make them easier to nd.

Adjust your images

You can enhance your photos using a set of powerful, nondestructive adjustments such as Crop,

Straighten, Exposure, White Balance, Levels, Curves, Highlights & Shadows, Vignette, and more. In addition, you can use brushes to apply or remove adjustments selectively, aecting only certain

parts of an image.

To streamline your workow, you can save adjustment settings as presets (collections of saved

settings) and apply a combination of image adjustments to one or more photos in a single step.

Share your photos

When it’s time to show your work to others, Aperture provides many options for distributing and sharing your photos:

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Send your photos to Flickr and Facebook.

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Present your photos in multimedia slideshows.

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Create premium-quality photo books.

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Print high-resolution photos.

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Export your photos in a variety of le formats.

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Email your photos directly from Aperture.

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Publish your photos in web galleries and web journals as HTML that you can upload to a

web server.

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Use My Photo Stream to make your photos available on all your devices—including iOS devices, Mac computers, PCs, and Apple TV—and use iCloud Photo Sharing to share photos

with friends and family members who have iCloud accounts.

Back up your work

After you import photos from your camera and erase memory cards in preparation for the next shoot, Aperture stores a single copy of each photo on your hard disk. It’s important to make backup copies of these photos to safeguard your portfolio. You can set Aperture to back up your managed images (images that are stored in the Aperture library) and all information associated with them, such as keywords and image adjustment settings, on vaults located on hard disk drives. You can also set Aperture to automatically back up your photos during import.

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Aperture interface overview

Toolbar: Perform common tasks

Here are the main areas of the Aperture window:

and select a workspace view.

Inspectors: Access the library,

view photo information, and adjust photos.

Browser: View thumbnails

of photos in the item selected in the Library inspector.

Viewer: View the photo

or photos selected in the Browser.

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Organize photos using the Library inspector

All your imported photos are available in the Library inspector, one of three inspectors in the Inspector pane on the left side of the Aperture main window. The Library inspector holds containers—projects, folders, and albums—you can use to organize your photos.

Projects

Folders

Albums

The Library inspector also provides a number of ways to view items in the library. For example, you can select Projects at the top of the Library inspector to view your photos organized by project, or Places to view the locations of all the photos in the library. For more information, see

Library inspector overview on page 51.

When you select a folder, a project, or an album in the Library inspector, the images appear in

the Browser and Viewer to the right.

Display photos in the Browser and Viewer

You can arrange the Browser and Viewer to suit your work style, showing either one by itself or both at once. To change the main window layout, click a layout button at the right side of the toolbar.

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The Browser layout displays a grid of thumbnail images.

Layout buttons: Click

Viewer layout: The Viewer

main window layout.

Browser layout: The Browser

fills the workspace and displays a grid of thumbnail images.

a button to select a

When you double-click a thumbnail image in the Browser (or click the Viewer button in the toolbar), Aperture switches to the Viewer layout, displaying the selected photo in a larger format. You can use the Viewer to examine a photo at full size or compare multiple photos side by side.

fills the workspace and displays your photo selection.

Tool strip: Use these

tools to adjust and work with your photos.

You can use the tools in the tool strip below the Viewer to adjust and manipulate your photos. For more information, see Work with adjustment tools in the tool strip on page 223.

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To display the Viewer and Browser at the same time, click the Split View button at the right side of the toolbar.

Split View layout: The Viewer

and Browser appear together.

For more information about changing the conguration of Aperture windows, see Change the

main window layout on page 474.

Display photos in full-screen view

You can also view your photos in full-screen view, dramatically projecting them onto a solid

background for detailed adjustments and comparisons. Full-screen view oers dierent display

layouts that let you view large-format versions of selected photos, view thumbnails, or view photos by project. For more information, see Full-screen view overview on page 172.

Display metadata associated with photos

To help identify your photos as you work with them, you can set Aperture to display the

metadata associated with photos in the Viewer. You can display keywords, ratings, EXIF information, IPTC information, and more. You can specify whether the information appears

below the photos or over the lower portion of the photo.

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You can also specify up to two views of information to be displayed with photos in the Viewer— basic or expanded. For example, one view might be congured to show ratings only, and another view to show all the IPTC information associated with a photo. You can then switch between

views to change the information that appears with your photos.

The caption and keywords are displayed here.

For more information about working with metadata views in the Viewer, see Metadata overlays

overview on page 201.

Basic components of Aperture

Basic components overview

Aperture uses the following basic components in your photo management system:

•

Originals: The original image, video, and audio les imported from your digital camera,

memory card, computer, or external storage media.

•

Versions: Files derived from the originals and used to display your photos with any changes you’ve made, including image adjustments or changes to metadata.

•

Projects: The basic containers used in Aperture to organize photos. Projects can hold versions,

folders, and albums.

•

Albums: Containers that hold versions. You can create albums to organize photos within projects or outside of them.

•

Folders: Containers used to organize projects and albums.

•

Library: The Aperture database that records and tracks your original image, video, and audio

les and all of their corresponding versions. You can also create multiple Aperture library les in dierent locations. The library tracks all the information about the projects, folders, and

albums you create to organize your media.

•

Managed and referenced images: Originals stored in the Aperture library are called managed images because Aperture manages the location of the image les in its database. Managed

image les are physically located in the Aperture Library le. You can also import photos into Aperture without storing the original image les in the library. Image les that are not stored in the library are called referenced images. Aperture links to referenced image les in their current locations on your hard disk, without placing them in the Aperture Library le.

•

Aperture Trash: Container that holds items you delete in Aperture. You can retrieve items from the Aperture Trash until it is emptied.

•

Vaults: Containers that each hold a backup of the library and all its photos and information.

The next sections describe each of these elements and how you work with them in Aperture.

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What are originals?

Originals are the original digital RAW, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, DNG, PNG, audio, or video les that are

imported into Aperture from digital cameras, memory cards, computers, CDs, DVDs, or storage devices such as external hard disk drives. Aperture never changes the original, so you always have originals to work from.

Important: Originals—especially RAW les—tend to be quite large. Projects consisting of several

thousand originals require high-capacity hard disks.

For information about importing originals, see Importing photos overview on page 27.

What are versions?

After you import originals to your hard disk, you can review and make adjustments to your images. For example, you can change the exposure, contrast, or saturation, or add information to an image, such as the photographer’s name, the project, and the location. To work with photos, Aperture creates a version of each original that includes your adjustments and embedded information, leaving the original unchanged. A version is linked to the original on your hard disk, but it is not the original itself. Versions store only the thumbnail image, adjustments, and

embedded information. A full image le is not created until you are ready to print or export,

saving valuable hard disk storage.

In many cases, your workow may call for dierent renderings of the same photo. For example, a client may request a color as well as a black-and-white version of the same head shot. You can

create multiple versions of the same photo in Aperture.

Versions

from Original 1

Versions from Original 2

Versions from Original 3

Computer

Pictures

folder

Aperture

Library file

Original

When you create a version, Aperture reads the original image le on disk and displays it on the

screen. As you make adjustments or add information to the image, Aperture displays the version

with your changes, but the original image le is never changed.

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What are projects?

You organize your originals and versions using projects, which are similar to events in iPhoto. When you import photos into Aperture, you assign them to a project. You can create as many projects as you like, up to the limitations of your disk space. For example, you can create a new project for each of your shoots. Or, if you do several shoots of the same subject, you can create a project that encompasses all of the shoots.

Project opened to show its contents

You can have multiple projects open at the same time, each represented by its own icon in the

Library inspector.

What are albums?

An album is a container in the Aperture library used to group photo versions. You can create albums at the library level or within a project.

You use albums created at the library level to organize versions from multiple projects. For example, you can create an album to consolidate your favorite photos, or selects, from multiple projects. You can then publish this collection of selects on your website or export the album’s contents for review by a prospective client.

You can also create albums within projects to help you organize your photos into relevant groups. For example, you can organize photos in a project by:

•

Occasion: Break a project into a series of albums according to specic occasions. For example, a wedding project can be divided into albums for the preparation, ceremony, and reception, or a soccer project can be divided up in albums for each game.

•

Day: Break a project that spans multiple days into albums for individual days. For example, a project consisting of a two-week trip to Japan can be divided into 14 individual albums corresponding to each day.

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•

Subject: Break a project consisting of multiple photographed subjects into individual albums dedicated to each subject. For example, a studio photographer may shoot three models for a single project. The photographer can create an album for each model. Or you might create

albums to hold specic photo types, such as candid shots or close-ups.

Three albums created within one project

You can also place versions from other projects into an album that resides within a project.

In addition to a standard album that you drag photos into, you can create Smart Albums whose contents are controlled by criteria you specify. When you change a Smart Album’s search criteria, the contents of the Smart Album change automatically. For more information, see Group photos

with Smart Albums on page 155.

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What are folders?

In Aperture, you use folders to organize projects and albums. For example, you can import photos into projects and then place the projects in folders based on photo type or location. If you shoot multiple projects for the same client, you can create a folder that holds the client’s projects.

These folders organize projects based on type.

Folders contain only albums, projects, and other folders. They don’t contain originals or versions.

What is the library?

The Aperture library tracks every project, album, folder, original, and version, no matter whether

the photos, video les, and audio les are stored in the Aperture Library le or in other hard disk locations. Aperture automatically creates a library le in the Pictures folder the rst time you open Aperture. You can import media into the library or have Aperture access the les in other

locations. When you back up your originals to vaults on external hard disks, those actions are tracked by the Aperture library as well. For more information about backing up your library, see

Plan your backup system on page 72.

In Aperture you can:

•

Work with multiple libraries: You can work with as many libraries as necessary—including iPhoto libraries—and switch between them without having to quit and reopen Aperture. If your workow calls for several unique libraries, you can switch between them on the y. You

can also check the contents of a library prior to importing it into the library that’s currently open. For more information, see Create new libraries on page 58 and View other libraries on page 58.

•

Merge libraries: You can also transfer libraries from other systems running Aperture and merge them with the library on your local Aperture system. All links between versions and their original photos are maintained when projects are transferred. This is particularly useful if you use a portable computer when on location or away from your studio, and a workstation at your studio. For more information, see Merge libraries on page 59.

Chapter 1 Aperture basics 23

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•

Move a library to another location: When the library le becomes large and requires more disk

space than is available in its current location, you can move it to a hard disk with greater

storage capacity. To change the location of the library, you move the library le to a new

location and then double-click it to open it in Aperture. You specify where the library is located

using the Preferences window. For information about working with multiple library les in

Aperture, see General preferences on page 478 and View other libraries on page 58.

Tip: To maximize performance, place the library le on an internal hard disk.

What are managed images and referenced images?

Aperture lets you choose how you organize your photos on disk. You can store your photos

in the Aperture library, or you can import photos by simply linking to the image les in their

current locations, without placing them in the library.

Images whose originals are stored in the Aperture library are called managed images. Managed

images are always accessible and are easily backed up to vaults, to name just two benets.

Imported photos whose originals haven’t been placed in the library are called referenced images.

Using referenced images provides a number of substantial benets to your photography workow. For example, you can incorporate your existing portfolio of photos into Aperture without changing the current location of the les. Importing images by reference does not result in a duplication of your image les in the Aperture library, thus saving hard disk space. You can

also connect and disconnect hard disks holding your referenced images’ originals as you need

them. This allows you to keep originals for less-used photos oine or to make specic types of

photos available for editing or adjustments as needed. Using referenced images lets you build a

exible image management system customized to your work style.

You specify whether a photo will be a managed image or a referenced image when you import it. When importing photos, you can:

•

Specify that originals be stored in the Aperture library.

•

Import photos as referenced images, so that their originals remain in their current locations.

•

Move or copy image les to a new location. For example, you might decide to have a certain group of referenced image les, such as photos from 2011, placed in one hard disk location, and another group, such as photos from 2012, placed in a dierent hard disk location.

You can work with referenced images—creating versions, making adjustments, cropping, and adding metadata—just as you can with managed images. Versions that you create from a

referenced image are stored in the library. To make adjustments to a version from a referenced image, the referenced image’s original must be available on your hard disk or other storage device. For example, if you delete a referenced image’s original in the Finder, Aperture no longer has access to the original and so no longer allows you to change your versions or create new ones.

To help you identify referenced images, Aperture marks them with a badge overlay that you

can display or hide. When a referenced image’s original is missing or oine, its badge changes

to show that the image is not accessible. For example, if you disconnect a hard disk that holds originals for many referenced images, Aperture automatically marks the referenced images

in the Browser and Viewer as oine. If you reconnect the hard disk or other storage device

later, Aperture accesses the originals automatically and you can work with and change their versions again.

Chapter 1 Aperture basics 24

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You can also relocate originals, moving them out of the library or moving referenced originals to

dierent hard disk locations. If needed, you can also move referenced originals into the Aperture

library by choosing the Consolidate Originals command in the File menu.

You can search for photos based on whether they are managed images, referenced images, or

online or oine images. Aperture also provides robust le management tools that let you quickly determine which images are oine and easily reconnect images that have been moved to dierent volumes.

What is the Aperture Trash?

All items deleted in Aperture, including projects, albums, folders, versions, and originals, are

placed in the Aperture Trash in the Library inspector. You can retrieve any item from the Aperture

Trash until you empty it. For more information, see Work with the Aperture Trash on page 56.

What is a vault?

To ensure that you have backup copies of your photos, you create a vault to hold the backup

les. A vault is a container that holds an exact copy of the library. This includes projects, originals,

and any versions you’ve created. You can easily create and update a vault to back up the library. It’s a good idea to create multiple vaults on multiple external hard disk drives to safeguard copies of the library.

You can have as many vaults as you deem necessary. Creating more than one vault is useful if

you work at dierent locations; you can always keep one vault on an external drive onsite and another one osite. All vaults and backup les are tracked by the library so that even if you

disconnect the external hard drive that contains a vault, Aperture can access it the next time you reconnect the drive and update the vault.

All the originals and versions for managed images are backed up, as well as all metadata, previews, and adjustment information associated with managed images. The versions, previews, metadata, and adjustment information associated with referenced originals are also backed up in the vault. Referenced originals are not backed up in the vault with the library.

Important: Because the originals for referenced images are stored outside of the library, you

must manage the backup and archiving of them yourself.

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Open Aperture for the rst time

The rst time you open Aperture, a Welcome to Aperture screen presents you with two options, provided you have an iPhoto library:

•

Update and begin using your existing iPhoto library.

•

Start with a new, empty Aperture library and begin importing photos.

Important: Aperture can only open iPhoto libraries upgraded to iPhoto 9.3 or later. To upgrade

your iPhoto library, open it in iPhoto 9.3 or later.

Open Aperture for the rst time

1 In the Applications folder in the Finder, double-click the Aperture icon.

The Welcome to Aperture screen appears.

2 Do one of the following:

•

To update your iPhoto library and begin working with it in Aperture: Click the Update

iPhoto button.

After iPhoto is updated to the latest version, open your iPhoto library so that it is upgraded to the latest version as well. When the upgrade is complete, close iPhoto and open Aperture. The contents of your iPhoto library appear in the Library inspector in Aperture. For more

information, see Library inspector overview on page 51.

•

To open a new, empty Aperture library: Click the Create New button.

Aperture opens a new, empty Aperture library, and you can begin importing photos immediately. For more information, see Importing photos overview on page 27.

Tip: To set Aperture to use the keyboard shortcuts you’re familiar with using in iPhoto, choose Aperture > Commands > iPhoto, and choose your language. For more information, see

Customizing keyboard shortcuts overview on page 488.

Chapter 1 Aperture basics 26

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Camera

(external drive)

Import photos

Importing photos overview

Aperture provides tools and workow options that make it easy to import your photos. You can

import photos directly from your digital camera or card reader, and import photos stored on

your computer hard disk or other storage devices. You can also import audio and video les.

In Aperture you can open, view, and work with iPhoto libraries the same way you work with multiple Aperture library les. For more information about opening your iPhoto library in

Aperture, see View other libraries on page 58.

When you import from a digital camera or card reader, Aperture places the photos in a project. If you don’t select an existing project, a new one is created automatically.

As Aperture imports photos, video les, and audio les, it generates a version le, preview, and

thumbnail corresponding to each original.

Import

RAW

& JPEG

Aperture library

(system disk)

Importing

to Aperture

Vault

Project

Back up

Versions

Originals

Page 28

You can import originals directly from a digital camera or card reader and from your hard

“Do not import

disk drives.

duplicates” checkbox

Grid View and

List View buttons

Viewer button Thumbnail Resize slider

When you connect a digital camera or select an item in the Import pane, the Import browser appears.

You use the options in the Import browser to specify how and where photos are imported. The Import browser shows thumbnails of your photos that you can enlarge or reduce in size using the Thumbnail Resize slider. You can select individual photos to import or import all the photos

at once. You can also set the Import browser to display photos in a list by clicking the List View

button. In list view, you can click a column heading to sort photos by category. If you are unsure

whether a specic photo should be imported, you can click the Viewer button to inspect a high-

resolution version of the photo.

When you import photos, Aperture automatically checks to see if any of the photos are

duplicates of previously imported photos. Aperture checks the lename of the original to

determine if a photo is a duplicate of one in the library. Select the “Do not import duplicates” checkbox to prevent Aperture from importing duplicates. If this checkbox is unselected, Aperture

imports all photos, even if they are duplicates, and creates a new original with a dierent

name for each duplicate. Aperture never overwrites or replaces an original that has already been imported.

As you import photos, you can set Aperture to automatically name and record information about

them. Aperture can assign lenames using custom naming conventions; record metadata such as captions, keywords, dates, copyright and credit information, and IPTC information; and adjust the time when the photo was shot to the correct time zone. If the photo has an XMP sidecar le, Aperture imports it as well and adds the metadata to the image version. You can even set

Aperture to automatically back up your photos as they are imported. For more information, see

Plan your backup system on page 72.

Chapter 2 Import photos 28

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When you import photos, you can choose whether to have the originals stored in the Aperture library or on a hard disk outside of the library, where they can be accessed as referenced images. For more information about referenced images, see What are managed images and referenced

images? on page 24.

Important: Audio les, audio attachments, and PDFs imported into your Aperture library are not

visible when you open your Aperture library in iPhoto. To view and work with these items, open

your Aperture library in Aperture.

File formats you can import into the library

Aperture supports most image, audio, and video le formats captured by digital cameras. File

types and formats that can be imported into your Aperture library include:

•

GIF

•

JPEG

•

JPEG2000

•

PDF

•

PNG

•

PSD (8- and 16-bit)

•

TIFF (8- and 16-bit)

•

BMP

•

DNG

•

RAW les from a variety of supported digital cameras

•

AIF

•

WAV

•

MOV

•

AVCHD

Important: Aperture does not support 1080p AVCHD footage recorded at 60 frames per

second (fps) or 50 fps.

Note: For a list of supported digital cameras, go to http://www.apple.com/aperture/specs.

Plan your import strategy

Before you import photos into Aperture, plan the organization of your photos. Eventually your

photo library may contain thousands of photos that you’ll want organized in a exible and easy-

to-manage system.

You may already have a large digital portfolio that you eventually want to import into the Aperture library. As an import strategy, it’s best to try out importing photos in a series of steps:

•

If you have an iPhoto library, you can open your iPhoto library and work with its contents directly in Aperture. For more information about opening iPhoto libraries in Aperture, see View

other libraries on page 58.

•

Make trial imports of a small group of photos directly from your digital camera or card reader. Learn about import features, such as automatic lenaming and the application of metadata

presets. For information about importing from your digital camera or card reader, see Import

from a camera, card reader, or device on page 30.

Chapter 2 Import photos 29

Page 30

•

Import pane Import browser

Plan how you want to import your legacy digital photos. Because you may have thousands of image les already stored on disk, you need to decide whether you’ll store newly imported

photos in the Aperture library or store them as referenced images, leaving them in their

current hard disk locations. You can also copy or move image les to a dierent hard disk

location when importing them. Also, plan the project organization you’ll need to hold the

photos. For general information about importing les, see Importing photos overview on

page 27.

•

Try out the dierent methods for importing individual les into your system. You can import individual les, import les stored in folders, and drag les or folders from the

Finder into Aperture.

Import from a camera, card reader, or device

Using the Import browser, you can import photos from a digital camera, card reader, or other device. You can import all photos on the camera or storage device or you can import a selection of photos.

Note: When connecting your camera directly to the computer, make sure that you turn the

camera on and set it to the mode for transferring photos (PC, PTP, Normal, or another mode,

depending on the type of camera). Some cameras automatically select the correct transfer mode

when connected to a computer. See your camera’s manual for specic instructions. If you have a

card reader, it’s preferable to transfer photos using the card reader rather than the camera. Using

a card reader saves you time and doesn’t require the use of your camera’s battery.

Import photos from a camera or card reader

1 Connect your camera or card reader to your computer.

The Import browser appears, showing the photos on the camera or card.

Note: If iPhoto opens when you connect your camera or card reader, quit iPhoto. Then, in Aperture, choose Aperture > Preferences and click Import. Choose Aperture from the “When

a camera is connected, open” pop-up menu. Disconnect and reconnect your camera to have Aperture open the Import browser.

Import Checked button

Chapter 2 Import photos 30

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2 Do one of the following:

The project selected in

•

If you want to import the photos into a new, empty project: Choose New Project from the

Destination pop-up menu to create a new project, and enter a name for the project in the

Project Name eld.

•

If you want to import the photos into an existing project: Select the project in the

Library inspector.

Project Name field

the Library inspector

appears here.

Selected project in the Library inspector

The selected project appears in the Destination pop-up menu.

3 Choose a location to store the original image les by doing one of the following:

•

To store imported originals in the Aperture library: Choose “In the Aperture Library” from the

Store Files pop-up menu.

•

To store imported originals as referenced images in the Pictures folder on your hard disk: Choose

Pictures from the Store Files pop-up menu, then choose whether you want the image les moved or copied to the Pictures folder by clicking the “Move les” or “Copy les” button.

•

To store imported originals as referenced images in a location other than the Pictures folder:

Choose “Choose” from the Store Files pop-up menu and select a folder. In the dialog that

appears, choose a location to store the imported originals, then click Open. Choose Project Name from the Subfolders pop-up menu to specify that the les be stored in a folder with the same name as the project. Choose whether you want the image les moved or copied to the new location by clicking the “Move les” or “Copy les” button.

4 To add controls for additional import settings, choose an option from the Import Settings

pop-up menu.

For more information about Import Settings, see Import options overview on page 36.

Chapter 2 Import photos 31

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5 Do one of the following:

Check All button

•

To import all photos from the camera or card reader: Click the Check All button.

The checkboxes for all the photos in the Import browser are selected.

•

To import a subset of photos from the camera or card reader: Click the Uncheck All button to clear the checkboxes for all photos, then select the checkboxes for the photos you want to import.

You can also Shift-click adjacent photos and Command-click nonadjacent photos, and then select the checkbox for one of the photos. Selecting a single checkbox selects the checkboxes for all of the selected photos.

Note: Depending on your camera type, you may be able to double-click a thumbnail image to see a larger version of the photo, if you want to verify its contents before importing it. Double-click the photo again to return to the thumbnail image view.

Uncheck All button

6 Click the Import Checked button.

The import process begins and an indicator appears next to the project’s name, showing the progress of the import. When the photos are imported, a dialog appears.

7 Click Eject Card, Erase Imported Items and Eject Card, or Done.

Note: The options oered in this dialog depend on the way your camera is made available when

it is connected. Some cameras connect as mass storage devices. When you import from these cameras, the Erase and Eject options appear. Other cameras simply connect as cameras, and you will not see either Erase or Eject after the import is completed. In that case, you can erase the photos directly in the camera.

As the photos appear in the Browser, you can begin working with them. Photos may temporarily

appear as gray boxes until the loading process is complete.

Chapter 2 Import photos 32

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Import les from a storage device

You can import image, audio, and video les stored on your computer and other storage devices. You have a choice of storing the imported les in the Aperture library, or importing the les as referenced image, audio, and video les and then moving or copying them to a dierent location.

Note: If you have folders of photos to import, you can import them using the Import Folders as

Projects command in the File menu. For more information, see Import folders of les from the

Finder on page 45.

You can import image les in many common image formats, including images scanned from nondigital sources such as lm and photographic prints. You can also import any QuickTimecompatible audio or video le. Adding these les to your Aperture database is as simple as

navigating to the folder where they reside on your hard disk using the Import browser.

1 Click the Import button in the toolbar (or press Command-I).

The Import browser appears.

2 Select your computer.

Select the source where the photos you want to import are located.

3 At the bottom of the browser, navigate to the folder containing the les you want to import.

Your computer, connected servers, and connected storage devices are listed in the column on the left.

Tip: To quickly select the desktop, press Command-D.

Select the folder of photos you want to import.

When you select the folder containing the les you want to import, thumbnail images appear in the Import browser representing the image, audio, and video les within the folder.

Chapter 2 Import photos 33

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4 Do one of the following:

The project selected in

Check All button

•

If you want to import the les into a new, empty project: Choose New Project from the

Destination pop-up menu to create a new project, then enter a name for the project

in the Project Name eld.

•

If you want to import les into an existing project: Select the project in the Library inspector.

Project Name field

the Library inspector

appears here.

Selected project in the Library inspector

The selected project appears in the Destination pop-up menu.

5 Do one of the following:

Uncheck All button

•

To import all the les in the selected folder: Click the Check All button.

The checkboxes for all the les in the Import browser are selected.

Chapter 2 Import photos 34

Page 35

•

To import a subset of les from the selected folder: Click the Uncheck All button to clear the checkboxes for all photos, then select the checkboxes for the photos you want to import.

Note: Depending on your camera type, you may be able to double-click a thumbnail image to see a larger version of the photo if you want to verify its contents before importing it. Double-click the photo again to return to the thumbnail image view.

6 Choose a location for the imported les by doing one of the following:

•

To store imported originals in the Aperture library: Choose “In the Aperture Library” from the

Store Files pop-up menu.

•

To store imported originals as referenced image les, audio les, or video les in their current

location: Choose “In their current location” from the Store Files pop-up menu.

•

To store imported originals as referenced image les, audio les, or video les in the Pictures folder on

your hard disk: Choose Pictures from the Store Files pop-up menu, then choose whether you want the les moved or copied to the Pictures folder by clicking the “Move les” or “Copy les” button.

•

To store imported originals as referenced image les, audio les, or video les in a location other

than the Pictures folder: Choose “Choose” from the Store Files pop-up menu and select a folder. In the dialog that appears, choose a location to store the imported originals, then click Open.

Choose Project Name from the Subfolders pop-up menu to specify that the les be stored in a folder with the same name as the project. Choose whether you want the image les moved or copied to the new location by clicking the “Move les” or “Copy les” button.

7 To add controls for additional import settings, choose an option from the Import Settings

pop-up menu.

For more information about Import Settings, see Import options overview on page 36.

8 Click the Import Checked button in the lower-right corner of the Import browser.

The import process begins and an indicator appears next to the project’s name, showing the progress of the import. When the import process is complete, a dialog appears.

Tip: If you want to immediately import additional image, audio, or video les, Option-click the

Import Checked button. The Import browser remains open, and you can immediately start importing additional items.

As the les appear in the Browser, you can begin working with them.

Important: You can import and export XMP sidecar les in Aperture. However, Aperture displays

only metadata that adheres to the XMP 1.0 specication. Ratings, label values, and custom

metadata created by third-party applications are not supported.

Import les from the Finder quickly

You can drag image, video, and audio les from the Finder or desktop directly into the Library inspector, Viewer, and Browser. This is useful if you receive image les from a source other than your camera and you want to use them in Aperture. You can also use this technique if you have image, audio, and video les scattered on your desktop or throughout folders on your computer

and you want to consolidate them in one place in the library.

1 Select an item in the Library inspector, such as a project or an album, in which to import

the photos.

2 Locate the image, audio, or video les in the Finder.

3 Drag the les to either the selected item in the Library inspector or anywhere in the Browser

or Viewer.

The import process begins and an indicator appears next to the project’s name, showing the progress of the import.

Chapter 2 Import photos 35

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Add import options

Import options overview

You can use import options to:

•

Store imported photos in the Aperture library or select a dierent location on your hard disk

and import the photos as referenced images

•

Have Aperture automatically delete the image les on your memory card after the photos are imported

•

Have Aperture automatically split the photos into multiple projects based on the length of time between shots

•

Have Aperture automatically back up photos as they are imported

•

Display photos in the Import browser as a grid of thumbnails or as a list that you can sort

•

Apply a naming convention to standardize the names of the image les in the library

•

Apply metadata to the image les, such as keywords, captions, copyright information, and the

photographer’s name. You can also keep or replace existing metadata associated with a photo when you import the image.

•

Adjust the shoot time of photos that were shot in a dierent time zone

In the Import browser, you add import options to rene how les are brought into Aperture.

You add controls for additional import settings by choosing an option from the Import Settings pop-up menu. After you modify the import settings, you can remove them from view by deselecting the option in the Import Settings pop-up menu.

File Info option

View le information

By default, basic le information about the photos you are about to import into Aperture is not

shown in the Import browser. However, you can set Aperture to show this information.

Show basic le information about the les displayed in the Import browser

m In the Import browser, choose File Info from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

Basic metadata about the le selection appears above the Aperture Library controls in the

Import browser.

Note: If the selection is a movie or audio le, the duration is shown as well. When a photo with an

attachment (such as an audio annotation) is selected, the duration of that attachment is displayed.

Chapter 2 Import photos 36

Page 37

Automatically name imported photos

The lenames given to photos by the camera are often dicult to distinguish. When you import photos, you can have Aperture use the original name assigned by the camera or use a lenaming

convention that you choose or create. For example, you can use a name format that includes a name that you specify, plus the date, the time, and an index number. Aperture provides a number of preset name formats, and you can also create your own naming conventions to suit

the dierent types of shoots you do.

You can apply names to your image les when you import them and when you export them. You

can specify names to apply to the versions and to the originals. For example, when you import photos from your camera, you can specify that a name format be applied to each image version that Aperture creates. You can also specify that Aperture apply names to the originals as they are stored in the library or on a hard disk.

When you import originals as referenced images, you can’t rename the originals if you leave them in their original locations. However, when you import originals as referenced images and move them to a new hard disk location, you can rename them at that time.

Note: If you back up your les on import, the copied les are also renamed. For more

information, see Automatically back up les at import on page 44.

Proper lenaming is one of the most critical aspects of media and project management. When you capture your originals, consider how and where your les may be used in the future. Naming your les simply and consistently makes it easier to share media among multiple photographers, transfer projects to other Aperture systems, move les across a network, and properly restore

archived projects.

The most conservative lenaming conventions provide the most cross-platform compatibility. This means that your lenames will work in dierent operating systems, such as OS X and other UNIX-based operating systems, and Windows. You also need to consider lenaming when you transfer les over the Internet, where you can never be certain what computer platform your les

may be stored on, even if temporarily.

Avoid Example characters Reasons

File separators / (slash)

\ (backslash)

Special characters not included in your native alphabet

Punctuation marks, parentheses, quotation marks, brackets,

and operators

White space characters such as spaces, tabs, new lines, and carriage returns (the last two are uncommon)

¢™ These characters may not be

. , [ ] { } ( ) ! ; “ ` * ? < > | These characters are often used

Some applications may not allow

lenames with slashes, which are directory separators for OS X and

DOS (Windows), respectively.

supported or may be dicult to work with when exported to other applications.

in scripting and programming languages.

White space is handled dierently in dierent programming

languages and operating systems.

The most conservative lenames

avoid all use of white space characters and use the underscore (_) character instead.

Chapter 2 Import photos 37

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Name les during import automatically

1 In the Import browser, choose Rename Files from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

The Rename Files controls appear in the Import browser.

2 Do one of the following:

•

To apply a preset name format to your les as they are imported: Choose a preset name format from the Version Name pop-up menu.

•

To use the existing lenames: Choose None from the Version Name pop-up menu.

•

To create a new name format: Choose Edit from the Version Name pop-up menu, and create a custom name format in the File Naming dialog.

3 If you choose a name format with a custom name, the Name Text eld appears below the Version

Name pop-up menu. Enter a name for the photos in the Name Text eld.

4 Select the Rename Original File checkbox if you want to change the lenames of the originals on

disk to match the version names.

Aperture provides the following preset name formats in the Version Name pop-up menu by default.

Preset name format Example

Custom Name with Index Thailand 1, Thailand 2, and so on

Custom Name with Index (no spaces) Thailand1, Thailand2, and so on

Version Name IMG001

Version Name and Date/Time IMG001 - 2008-10-14 09.03.25 PM

Version Name with Sequence IMG001 (1 of 2), IMG002 (2 of 2), and so on

Version Name with Index IMG001 1, IMG002 2, and so on

Image Date/Time 2008-10-14 09.03.25 PM

Custom Name with Counter Thailand 001, Thailand 002, and so on

Chapter 2 Import photos 38

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Create a custom name format

In addition to the preset name formats, you can create custom name formats. To create a name format, you select the name elements you want in the File Naming dialog.

1 In the Import browser, choose Rename Files from the Import Settings pop-up menu, then choose

Edit from the Version Name pop-up menu.

The File Naming dialog appears.

2 Click the Add button (+) to create a new name format, or select the preset name format you

want to change.

3 Drag the name elements you want into the Format eld in the order you want them. You can

also add valid characters or spaces between the name elements.

4 Enter a custom name in the Custom Name eld, if you like.

5 Click OK.

Your new name format now appears in the Version Name pop-up menu.

Reset the starting number of a counter in a name format

When using a counter in your name format, you can specify the starting number and the number of digits, from one to six, that appear in the counter. When you use a preset name format with a counter, make sure to reset the initial starting number, if necessary. Otherwise, on the next

import, Aperture will continue numbering the imported les starting from the last number of the

previous import.

Do one of the following:

m In the File Naming dialog, type “0” (zero) in the “Incrementing counter starting at” eld.

m In the File Naming dialog, select the preset whose counter you want to reset to zero, then click

the Reset Preset button.

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Adjust time zone data at import

On a trip, it’s easy to forget to update your camera’s clock to match the local time zone. If you didn’t synchronize your camera time to the new location, Aperture lets you correct the time

assigned to the image le by whole hours when importing.

Adjust time zone data during import

1 In the Import browser, choose Time Zone from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

The Time Zone controls appear in the Import browser.

2 Choose the time zone that matches the camera’s time setting from the Camera Time

pop-up menu.

3 Choose the time zone of the shoot location from the Actual Time pop-up menu.

Aperture updates the capture time of your image les according to the Time Zone settings.

After you’ve imported photos, you can adjust the date and time of any versions you’ve created

by choosing Metadata > Adjust Date and Time. For more information, see Adjust the photo date

and time on page 216.

Add metadata at import

You can add metadata to your photos as they are imported into Aperture. Adding metadata

during the import process helps you keep track of your photos and quickly locate them using the Smart Settings HUD and Filter HUD. For example, you can add IPTC keywords and other

metadata to the photos.

Add metadata to photos during import

1 In the Import browser, choose Metadata Presets from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

The Metadata Presets controls appear in the Import browser.

2 Do one of the following:

•

To show the metadata elds for a metadata preset: Choose a metadata preset from the Metadata

pop-up menu.

•

If you don’t want to modify the metadata of the les during import: Choose None from the

Metadata pop-up menu.

•

To create a new metadata preset: Choose Edit from the Metadata pop-up menu, then create a new metadata preset using the Metadata dialog.

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3 Do one of the following:

•

To add metadata to the photo while maintaining any associated metadata: Click Append.

•

To add metadata and overwrite any associated metadata: Click Replace.

When you choose a metadata preset, Aperture displays the list of metadata elds and metadata

for that preset. You can edit the metadata preset to store any metadata that you want to apply

frequently to your photos using the Info inspector. For more information, see Create metadata

presets on page 210.

Apply eects at import

You can apply image eects and basic image adjustments, such as an exposure adjustment, to your photos as they are imported. You apply eects and image adjustments by choosing an eect preset from the Eects pop-up menu. The eect preset is applied uniformly to every imported photo until it is turned o.

You can edit eect presets that you want to apply frequently to your photos. For more

information, see Create and apply eects on page 328.

Apply eects to photos during import

1 In the Import browser, choose Eect Presets from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

The Eect Presets control appears in the Import browser.

2 Choose an eect preset option to apply to the imported photos from the Eect Presets

pop-up menu.

Turn o eects during import

m In the Eect Presets control area, choose None from the Eect pop-up menu.

Filter les by type at import

Some digital cameras allow you to add audio attachments to your photos. For example, some cameras allow you to record audio annotations for a photo after you shoot it. The camera

attaches the audio le to the image le so that you can review the audio when you download

the photo. When you connect a digital camera or card reader or point to a folder with photos on your computer, Aperture recognizes any photo that has an audio attachment. You can also

import standalone QuickTime-compatible audio and video les.

Filter les by type during import

1 In the Import browser, choose File Types from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

The File Types controls appear in the Import browser.

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2 Do any of the following:

•

To exclude image les, leaving only audio and video les available for import: Select the “Exclude photos” checkbox.

•

To exclude video les during import: Select the “Exclude videos” checkbox.

•

To exclude audio les during import: Select the “Exclude audio les” checkbox.

•

To exclude all audio les attached to the photos: Select the “Exclude audio attachments” checkbox.

•

To include only les that were agged or locked using the camera: Select the “Only include les agged/locked in camera” checkbox.

All photos matching the selected criteria appear in the Import browser. To make all the photos reappear, deselect the checkboxes above.

Important: An audio le is imported into Aperture as an attachment when the audio le’s name

matches the image le’s name. For example, when you import “le.nef” and “le.wav,” Aperture imports the .wav le attached to the .nef raw image le. Audio les are automatically attached

during all types of import: from a connected camera or card reader, from internal and external

hard disk drives, as well as by dragging. If the audio lename is not the same as the image lename, it will not be attached to the photo even if imported directly from a camera or a card reader. However, there is one exception: some Canon cameras, including the G9 and G10, prex the audio lename with “SND” and the image lename with “IMG”; these audio les are imported

as attachments.

Import RAW + JPEG image pairs

Many digital cameras have a setting for creating a RAW le plus a JPEG le for each photo as you shoot. Many photographers use the RAW + JPEG workow for the convenience of publishing the JPEG images quickly while saving the RAW les for high-resolution prints. Aperture provides several options for importing the RAW + JPEG image pairs.

Note: The RAW + JPEG Pairs import setting remains in eect from one import session to the next.

Filter RAW + JPEG pairs during import

1 In the Import browser, choose RAW + JPEG Pairs from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

The RAW + JPEG Pairs control appears in the Import browser.

2 Choose an option from the Import pop-up menu:

•

To import both the RAW and the JPEG image les and set the JPEG le in each pair as the original:

Choose “Both (JPEG as Original).”

•

To import both the RAW and the JPEG image les and set the RAW le in each pair as the original:

Choose “Both (RAW as Original).”

•

To import the RAW and JPEG image les as separate originals: Choose “Both (Separate Originals).”

•

To import the JPEG les only: Choose “JPEG les only.”

•

To import the RAW les only: Choose “RAW les only.”

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Import the RAW les that match the JPEG les already in your Aperture library

If you imported the JPEG image les only, you can go back and import the corresponding RAW les later.

1 Choose “Matching RAW les” from the Import pop-up menu.

The Include pop-up menu appears below the Import pop-up menu.

2 Choose an option from the Include pop-up menu:

•

To import all matching RAW les regardless of rating: Choose “All matching les.”

•

To import all RAW les matching JPEG les that are unrated or better: Choose “Unrated or better.”

•

To import all RAW les that match the current rating: Choose “Current lter.”

For information about rating photos, see Rating photos overview on page 98.

Use AppleScript actions at import

The Aperture community provides many AppleScript actions online to automate repetitive tasks in Aperture. Additionally, you can create your own AppleScript actions to help automate your

workow. You can use AppleScript actions from within Aperture immediately after an import

operation is complete.

For more information about AppleScript actions for use with Aperture, go to

http://www.apple.com/aperture/resources.

Important: All scripts must use the import event handler: on importActionForVersions

(input)

Use AppleScript actions after import

1 Choose Actions from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

The Actions controls appear in the Import browser.

2 If no AppleScript action is selected, click the Choose button and locate a script from the dialog

that appears.

The selected AppleScript action appears in the AppleScript eld and is set to begin as soon as

the import operation is complete.

Note: The AppleScript action is applied only to the current import operation.

Stop AppleScript actions from automatically starting after import

m Click the Clear button.

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Automatically back up les at import

Creating copies of your photos from the moment you take them is essential to the preservation

of your work. In Aperture, you can back up your original les as they are imported, using the Back Up Files import option. Backing up your image, video, and audio les at import ensures that if something catastrophic happens to your computer system, copies of your original les are stored somewhere safe. If you back up your les during import, Aperture makes a copy of each le and places the copied les in the location you specify.

Back up your original les during import

1 In the Import browser, choose Backup Location from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

The Backup Location controls appear in the Import browser.

2 Do one of the following:

•

To back up your les to the Documents folder: Choose Documents from the Backup To pop-up menu.

•

To back up your les to a new location: Choose “Choose” from the Backup To pop-up menu, then select a location from the dialog that appears.

Note: It’s a good idea to back up your original les to a location other than your computer. This is the only way to ensure that your original les are safe if something catastrophic happens to

your computer.

Turn o automatic backup during import

m Choose None from the Backup To pop-up menu.

Reset import options

The import settings you set in the Import browser remain in eect from import session to import session, regardless of whether they are shown. However, you can quickly reset the import

settings to their defaults.

Reset all import settings to their defaults

m In the Import browser, choose Reset to Defaults from the Import Settings pop-up menu.

Remove an import option from view

1 In the Import browser, click the background of the import option you want to remove from view.

The import option becomes highlighted, indicating it is selected.

2 Press Delete.

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Import folders of les from the Finder

If you’ve spent time organizing your image, video, and audio les into a meaningful hierarchy on your computer and you want to keep that organization, you can import a folder of les as a project or drag it directly into the Library inspector. When you import a folder of les or drag it into the Library inspector, the top folder becomes a folder in the Library inspector and any

subfolders become projects within the folder.

Import a folder of les from the Finder using the Import command

1 Choose File > Import > Folders as Projects.

2 Select the folder of photos that you want to import.

You can select multiple folders to import by Shift-clicking them.

3 Do one of the following:

•

To import the top-level folder as a folder in the Aperture library and all of its subfolders as individual projects: Choose Folders and Projects from the Import Folders As pop-up menu.

•

To import the top-level folder as a project and all its subfolders as albums: Choose Projects and

Albums from the Import Folders As pop-up menu.

4 Choose a location for the imported photos by doing one of the following:

•

To store imported originals in the Aperture library: Choose “In the Aperture Library” from the

Store Files pop-up menu.

•

To import the les as referenced images stored in their current location on your hard disk: Choose “In their current location” from the Store Files pop-up menu.

•

To store imported originals as referenced images in the Pictures folder on your hard disk: Choose

Pictures from the Store Files pop-up menu, then choose whether you want the les moved or copied to the Pictures folder by clicking the “Move les” or “Copy les” button.

•

To store imported originals as referenced images in a location other than the Pictures folder: Choose “Choose” from the Store Files pop-up menu and select a folder. Choose “None” from the Subfolders

pop-up menu to specify that the les be stored as separate, individual les in the selected folder. You can also specify that Aperture create a hierarchy of subfolders with specic folder names to hold your les. For more information about creating folders to hold your imported photos, see

Import originals for referenced images into folders on page 46. Choose whether you want the

image les moved or copied to the new location by clicking the “Move les” or “Copy les” button.

5 Choose a naming convention from the Version Name pop-up menu to specify how you want the

photos named.

For example, choose Original File Name from the Version Name pop-up menu to have your les stored using the original lenames from your camera or card. Choose a name format from the Version Name pop-up menu to have your photos stored using a specied name. If you choose a custom name format, enter a name in the Name Text eld. Choose Edit from the Version Name pop-up menu to dene a new naming scheme. For more information about naming les, see

Automatically name imported photos on page 37.

Click the “Apply to Original lenames” checkbox to rename the original les as well.

6 Choose how you want Aperture to import RAW + JPEG pairs from the RAW + JPEG pop-up menu.

For more information about importing RAW + JPEG pairs, see Import RAW + JPEG image pairs on

page 42.

7 Click Import.

The top-level folder in the selection either appears as a folder or is converted to a project based on the option you chose from the Import Folders As pop-up menu. If the folder you imported contains a hierarchy of subfolders and photos, the subfolders appear as albums.

Chapter 2 Import photos 45

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Drag folders into Aperture

When you drag folders into the Library inspector, Aperture uses the last import settings you specied to determine how the folders are imported and where they are stored.

1 In the Finder, locate the folder containing the folders, video les, and audio les you want

to import.

2 Drag the folder to the Library inspector.

Import originals for referenced images into folders

When you import photos as referenced images, you can have Aperture place their originals

individually into a selected folder or create subfolders to hold the les. For example, you might have the imported image les placed in subfolders identied by date. You can create folder name format presets that you can quickly choose to select the folder name format you prefer.

To create a folder name format, you select the name elements in the Folder Naming Presets

dialog. You can specify a combination of name elements to create custom folder names.

Create a custom folder name format

1 In the Import browser, choose Pictures or another folder from the Store Files pop-up menu, then

choose Edit from the Subfolder pop-up menu that appears.

The Folder Naming dialog appears.

2 Click the Add button (+) to create a new name format, or select the preset name format you

want to change.

3 Drag name elements into the Format eld in the order you want them to appear.

You can also create a hierarchy of folders within folders. For example, you can specify that Aperture place your referenced images in a subfolder named Date, and within that folder you

can create subfolders identied by the time the photo was taken.

4 Drag a slash between the elements where you want subfolders created.

5 Enter a custom name in the Custom Name eld, if you like.

6 Click OK.

Your new folder name format now appears in the Subfolders pop-up menu.

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Reset the starting number of a counter in a folder name format

When using a counter in your folder name format, you can specify the starting number and the number of digits, from one to six, that appear in the counter. When you use a folder name format with a counter, reset the initial starting number. Otherwise, on the next import, Aperture will continue numbering the image folders starting from the last number of the previous import.

m In the Folder Naming Presets dialog, type “0” (zero) in the “Incrementing counter starting at” eld.

Capture photos as you work

For certain kinds of shoots, such as product shoots done within your oce studio, you may want

to immediately see test shots on your computer to check on lighting and other production factors. You can connect your camera directly to your computer and have each shot immediately appear in an Aperture project as you shoot. You can review a photo in detail, make production changes, and then shoot and immediately see the results again. This process is called tethered

shooting, and it’s ideal for checking the details of a shot while setting up the nal shot.

Note: For a list of cameras that Aperture supports for tethered shooting, go to

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4176. See your camera’s manual for information about

setting up your camera for tethered shooting.

After starting a session, you can use Aperture to view and capture photos. You use the Aperture Tether HUD to control your camera and take photos as you work.

Set up Aperture for tethered shooting

1 Connect your camera to your computer using a USB or FireWire cable.

2 In the Library Inspector, select the project you want the photos captured to.

3 Choose File > Tether > Start Session.

4 Specify import settings in the Tether Settings dialog.

For information, see Import from a camera, card reader, or device on page 30.

5 Click Start Session.

The Tether HUD appears.

6 Do one of the following:

•

To begin the capture session: Click Capture.

•

To stop the capture session: Click Stop Session.

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Add audio attachments to image les

Although the audio les of photos with audio attachments are automatically imported into Aperture when the lenames match, you can also manually attach an audio le to a photo after it has been imported into Aperture. There are two ways to attach an audio le to a photo. If the project selected in the Library inspector contains an original audio le, you can attach the audio le to a photo in the project using the Info inspector. If the audio le is outside of the Aperture library, you can drag the audio le from the Finder to the photo in the Viewer.

Note: For a list of le formats that can be used for audio attachments in Aperture, go to

http://www.apple.com/aperture/specs.

Add an audio attachment using the Info inspector

1 In the Library inspector, select a project containing the audio le you want to attach.

2 In the Browser, select the photo you want to attach the audio le to.

3 In the Info inspector, choose Attach Audio File from the Metadata Action pop-up menu .

4 In the dialog that appears, select the audio le you want to attach, then click Attach.

You can preview the selected audio le by clicking the Play button.

Audio file

Attach button

Play button

The audio attachment is added to the photo, and the audio le’s thumbnail disappears from the Browser. A badge appears on the lower-right portion of the photo, indicating that an audio le

is attached. For more information about playing audio attachments, see Modify metadata in the

Info inspector and Inspector HUD on page 198.

Add an audio attachment to a photo by dragging

1 If necessary, click the Split View button in the toolbar, and then select the photo you want to

attach the audio le to in the Browser.

2 In the Finder, select the audio le you want to attach.

3 Drag the audio le to the photo you want to attach it to in the Viewer.

The photo is surrounded with a green outline, indicating that the le is about to be attached.

The audio attachment is added to the photo in Aperture. A badge appears on the lower-right

portion of the photo, indicating that an audio le is attached. For more information about

playing audio attachments, see Modify metadata in the Info inspector and Inspector HUD on page 198.

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Remove an attachment from a photo

1 In the Browser, select the photo whose attachment you want to remove.

2 In the Info inspector, choose Detach Audio File from the Metadata Action pop-up menu.

The audio le is detached and placed in the same project as the photo it was attached to.

Where Aperture stores your managed les in the library

You can always view and work with your photos within the Aperture application. However, you

may wonder where your managed image les physically reside in the Aperture library on the computer’s hard disk. By default, your photos are stored in the Aperture Library le within the Pictures folder. For more information about managed image les, see What are managed images

and referenced images? on page 24.

You can open and see the contents of the Aperture Library le in the Finder by Controlclicking the le and choosing Show Package Contents from the shortcut menu. However, it’s

not recommended that you access or work with your originals in this way because you risk interfering with the Aperture library.

WARNING: You should always back up and work with your managed images and projects

from within the Aperture application. If you move or accidentally change the les stored in the Aperture Library le, Aperture may not be able to locate your projects and the media they contain. Making a change to a managed le in the Finder, such as renaming it, creates changes

that Aperture cannot track.

Reprocess photos from earlier versions of Aperture

Aperture provides image processing algorithms that deliver improved image quality. With

improved default rendering of RAW images from supported cameras, Aperture 3.5 provides

signicantly enhanced image quality with improvements in noise reduction, sharpening, and

highlights recovery.

To maintain the image integrity of the existing photos in your Aperture library, Aperture allows you to retain the original processing of your photos from previous versions, selectively process images using the most current RAW image processing, or create duplicate versions of

each original image le with the most current RAW image processing applied. However, some

adjustments and brushed adjustments are not available unless the selected photo uses the most current RAW image processing.

When you start using Aperture 3.5, all of your existing photos continue to use the previous version’s image processing, in order to preserve their appearance. Any of these photos can be individually reprocessed to use the most current image processing. You can also use the

Reprocess Originals command in the Photos menu to reprocess selected photos, projects, books, slideshows, webpages, web journals, Light Table albums, albums, and Smart Albums.

If you want to reprocess photos while retaining versions with the original processing, you

can create duplicate versions of each original image le with the most current RAW image

processing applied.

Chapter 2 Import photos 49

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Because reprocessing a large number of photos can be a time-consuming process, you may nd it easier to reprocess photos on an as-needed basis. For example, if you have ve-star selects, you may decide to initially reprocess only those photos. Photos are not aected by being reprocessed more than once; if a photo already uses the most current image processing, reprocessing it has no eect.

Note: Some adjustments and brushed adjustments are not available unless the selected photo uses the most current RAW image processing.

Reprocess a photo selection

1 Do one of the following:

•

To reprocess selected photos: Select a photo or group of photos.

•

To reprocess a project or an album: Select a project, a book, a slideshow, an album, a webpage

album, a web journal album, a Light Table album, or a Smart Album.

•

To reprocess all photos in the library: Select the Photos item in the Library inspector.

Photos item

Important: Reprocessing thousands of image les can be a lengthy operation. Make sure to set

aside a signicant amount of time for Aperture to process the image les—preferably when you

don’t need to use your Aperture system.

2 Choose Photos > Reprocess Originals.

3 In the dialog that appears, select reprocessing options, and click Reprocess Photos.

You can choose whether to reprocess all photos in the selection or just those with or without adjustments. You can also choose whether to reprocess the existing image versions or a duplicate set.

Reprocess an individual photo

1 Select a photo.

2 In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose RAW Fine

Tuning from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu.

3 In the RAW Fine Tuning controls, click the Reprocess button.

Note: If the Reprocess button does not appear in the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, the photo has already been reprocessed using Aperture 3.5 image processing.

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Library search field

Work with projects and the library

Organize items in the Library inspector

Library inspector overview

The Library inspector provides access to items tracked by the Aperture library, such as projects and albums, and dierent views of the contents of the library. For example, you can select Faces in the Library inspector to view your photos grouped by the people in them, or Places to view

your photos grouped by where they were taken.

There are several controls you use to work with items in the Library inspector.

Library Action pop-up menu

Disclosure triangle

•

Library search eld: Enter text to search for items located in the Library inspector.

•

Disclosure triangle: Click to see all items within a project, a folder, or the Trash.

•

Library Action pop-up menu: Add the selected item to a list of favorites or remove it from the

favorites list. You can also choose to export items selected in the Library inspector or maintain

previews. For more information about previews, see Preview images overview on page 494.

The main space of the Library inspector displays several categories that let you view your photos organized in dierent ways.

Page 52

Library category

The Library category contains icons that, when selected, display your photos organized in any of four dierent ways:

•

Projects: Select the Projects icon to have all the projects in the library appear in Projects view

in place of the Browser and Viewer. Each project is represented by a single thumbnail. You

can position the pointer over a project thumbnail and drag to quickly skim the photos in

the project. When you hold down the Control key and click a project’s thumbnail, a shortcut menu appears that allows you to create a new project, display information about the project,

delete the project, import les into the project, export the project as a library, set the currently

displayed image as the key photo that represents the project, empty the Aperture Trash, or play each photo in the project in a slideshow. Double-click the project’s thumbnail to see the photos in the Browser.

For more information, see View projects on page 61.

•

Photos: Select this item to see all photos, video clips, and audio clips in the library. All media in the library is displayed in the Browser as thumbnails. Select a thumbnail in the Browser to view it or listen to it in the Viewer.

•

Faces: Select this item to view people identied in photos and tracked by Aperture in the

library. Click the Info button on a snapshot to show the Info HUD. The Info HUD provides the name of the person, how many photos in the library contain the person, when the photos were shot, and the person’s full name and email address (if you entered them). Click the View

Photos button in the HUD to view all the photos the person appears in and any photos the

person might appear in.

For more information, see Faces overview on page 123 and Add names to faces in your

photos on page 125.

•

Places: Select this item to view a map that shows the locations where photos in the library were shot.

For more information, see Places overview on page 131 and View photo locations on page 133 .

Recent category

You can select icons in the Recent area of the Library inspector to view photos you’ve imported recently, agged photos, rejected photos, or photos you’ve placed in the Aperture Trash.

•

Last 12 Months: Select this item to see all photos, video clips, and audio clips imported into Aperture during the last 12 months. Select a thumbnail in the Browser to view it or listen to it in the Viewer.

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•

Last Import: Select this item to see all photos, video clips, and audio clips imported into Aperture during the last import session. Select a thumbnail in the Browser to view it or listen to it in the Viewer.

•

Flagged: Select this item to see all the photos, video clips, and audio clips in the library that

have been agged. The thumbnails for all agged media appear in the Browser. Select a

thumbnail in the Browser to view it or listen to it in the Viewer.

•

Trash: Select this item to see all the photos, video clips, and audio clips in the library that have been deleted. The thumbnails for all deleted media appear in the Browser. Select a thumbnail in the Browser to view it or listen to it in the Viewer. Click the disclosure triangle next to the

Trash to view any items that have been deleted in the Library inspector. Select an item in the

Trash to view its contents.

Note: If there is no disclosure triangle next to the Aperture Trash, no items in the Library

inspector have been deleted since the last time the Trash was emptied.

For more information, see Work with the Aperture Trash on page 56.

Projects and album categories

Below the Library and Recent categories, other categories appear when specic types of content are present in your library. The Projects category (not to be confused with the Projects icon in the Library category) lists each project in your library. When you add albums to your library (book albums, Light Table albums, slideshow albums, and so on), those categories appear in the Library inspector (unless you add an album to a specic project, in which case the album appears below that project in the Projects category).

Create and name items

You can create new items in the Library inspector to organize your photos. When you create a

new item, such as an album, the item is empty. You add photos to the new item by dragging

photos to it. Newly created Smart Albums and Smart Web Page Albums do not contain photos.

You add photos to them by setting the Smart Album’s search criteria.

Note: You cannot put photos in folders. Folders are designed to help you organize projects,

albums, and other folders in the Library inspector.

Create a new item in the Library inspector

Do one of the following:

m Choose File > New, and choose an item from the submenu.

m Choose an item from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.

Choose an item from the New pop-up menu.

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Aperture prompts you to name new projects, albums, and Light Table albums before adding them to the Library inspector. Aperture immediately adds new folders, Smart Albums, and Smart Web Page Albums to the Library inspector with the item’s “Untitled” name highlighted so that

you can rename them as you create them. When you create a new book, slideshow, web journal, or webpage, Aperture prompts you to choose a theme in addition to a name before adding the

item to the Library inspector.

For more information about creating projects and certain types of albums, see the following topics:

•

Create and delete projects on page 64

•

What are albums? on page 21

•

Light Table overview on page 185

•

Collect photos in a new Smart Album on page 15 6

•

Creating books overview on page 404

•

Slideshows overview on page 376

•

Creating webpages overview on page 463

Open and close items in the Library inspector

To work with photos in Aperture, you rst select an item in the Library inspector to open it in

the Browser. You can open and work on more than one item at a time. When you open multiple

items from the Library inspector, you can have each item appear in the Browser with its own tab

or have the contents of all items appear in a single Browser. You can click an item’s Browser tab to bring it to the front. You can also open an item in its own pane to view the contents of two

items in the Browser side by side. When you quit and reopen Aperture, all items that were open

at the end of your last session open automatically.

Open an item in the Library inspector

m Select the item in the Library inspector.

Select a project to view its photos in the Browser.

All photos in the project appear in the Browser.

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Open additional items in the Browser, each with its own tab

Library items are

Close button in a tab

m Option-Command-click an item in the Library inspector.

The newly opened item appears in the Browser with its own tab, in front of any other open items.

Open another item in its own pane

m Option-click an item in the Library inspector.

identified by their tabs.

The newly opened item appears in the Browser with its own tab and in its own pane.

Switch among several open items

m In the Browser, click a project’s tab.

Open multiple items in the same Browser

m Command-click multiple items in the Library inspector.

The contents of each item selected in the Library inspector appear in the same Browser.

Close an item in the Browser

1 Click the item’s tab to bring it to the front.

2 Click the tab’s close button.

Arrange items in the Library inspector

Typically, you create a new Aperture project for each photography project or job that you work on, regardless of its duration. For example, if you’re working on a documentary in Thailand, you would create a project for it. If you’re also shooting the temples in the interior of the country, that could be a second, separate project. Both projects could conceivably refer to some of the same photos, but they are completely independent structures, each with its own versions and albums.

Very large photography projects, such as documentaries and sporting events, often consist of large numbers of photos. You can always break one project into several should the need arise.

As your library grows, you may need to reorganize your library’s structure to t your workow. You can rearrange projects, folders, albums, and other items in the Library inspector.

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Move an item in the Library inspector

m Select an item in the Library inspector, and drag it to a new location.

The black box indicates where the item will be placed.

A black bar indicates where the item will be placed.

Move multiple items in the Library inspector

Do one of the following:

m Shift-click adjacent items, and drag them to a new location.

m Command-click nonadjacent items, and drag them to a new location.

Automatically arrange items in the Library inspector

m To group similar items together: Control-click in the Library inspector, and choose Keep Arranged

By > Kind from the shortcut menu.

m To sort items alphabetically: Control-click in the Library inspector, and choose Keep Arranged By >

Name from the shortcut menu.

Create and show favorite items

If you have certain projects, folders, or albums that you work on most often or that you work on

at the same time, you can make them favorites to quickly view them all simultaneously.

Make a project, a folder, or an album a favorite

m In the Library inspector, select a project, a folder, or an album, and choose Add to Favorites from

the Library Action pop-up menu .

View a favorite project, folder, or album

m In the Library inspector, choose Favorite Items from the search eld pop-up menu at the

top-left corner.

Only the items in the library that have been chosen as favorites are shown. All other items in the

Library inspector are removed from view.

Remove a project, a folder, or an album as a favorite

m In the Library inspector, select a project, a folder, or an album, and choose Remove From

Favorites from the Library Action pop-up menu .

View recently selected items in the Library inspector

m In the Library inspector, choose Recent Items from the search eld pop-up menu at the

top-left corner.

View all items in the Library inspector again

m In the Library inspector, choose All Items from the search eld pop-up menu.

Work with the Aperture Trash

All items deleted in Aperture, including projects, albums, folders, versions, and originals, are

placed in the Aperture Trash in the Library inspector. You can retrieve any item from the Trash

until you empty it.

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Delete a version from a project

m Select a photo, a video clip, or an audio clip, and choose File > Delete Version.

The version is moved to the Trash, along with the original if you deleted its last version.

Delete an original and all its versions from a project

m Select a photo, a video clip, or an audio clip, and choose File > Delete Original Image and

All Versions.

The original and all versions are moved to the Trash.

Delete only a version from an album

m Select a photo, a video clip, or an audio clip, and choose Photos > Remove From Album (or

press Delete).

The version is deleted. The original and its other versions are not deleted.

Delete projects and folders

When you delete an item from the Library inspector, the contents of the item are deleted with it.

Note: If you delete a project, the originals contained in the project are also deleted.

1 Select a project or folder.

2 Do one of the following:

•

Choose File > Delete [item] (or press Command-Delete).

•

Drag the item to the Aperture Trash.

The selected item is moved to the Trash in the Library inspector.

Move an item out of the Aperture Trash

If you delete an item in the Library inspector by mistake, it’s easy to x.

Do one of the following:

m Drag the item out of the Aperture Trash.

m Control-click the item in the Aperture Trash, and choose Put Back from the shortcut menu.

The selected item is moved back to its original position in the Library inspector.

Empty the Aperture Trash

After you’ve reviewed the contents of the Aperture Trash and are condent that you no longer

need the items within it, you can empty the Trash. When you empty the Aperture Trash, all of its photos and videos are placed in the Finder Trash.

1 Do one of the following:

•

Choose Aperture > Empty Aperture Trash (or press Shift-Command-Delete).

•

Control-click the Aperture Trash, and choose Empty Aperture Trash from the shortcut menu.

A dialog appears, warning you that the items will be removed from the Aperture Trash permanently.

2 Click Delete.

WARNING: This action cannot be undone, but you can retrieve the originals from the Finder

Trash until you empty it.

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Work with library les

Create new libraries

If the Aperture library becomes large, you can create additional, separate library les to hold more photos. You can create additional library les in dierent locations on your internal hard disk or on dierent hard disks. You can also rename library les as needed. Thus, you might have multiple library les with dierent names in the same location, with Aperture set to access the library le you want.

Create a new, empty library le in a new location

1 Choose File > Switch to Library > Other/New.

2 In the dialog that appears, click Create New.

3 In the next dialog, enter a name for the library in the Save As eld, choose a location, and

click Create.

View other libraries

When you have multiple Aperture and iPhoto library les accessible to your Aperture system, you can switch between them and view their contents. You can also choose which library le to use

when you open Aperture.

Important: Aperture can only open and view iPhoto libraries upgraded to iPhoto 9.3 or later.

To upgrade your iPhoto library, open it in iPhoto 9.3 or later. iPhoto upgrades the library automatically. All cards, books, calendars, and Smart Albums in your iPhoto library can be viewed but not edited in Aperture. To work with your iPhoto cards, books, calendars, and Smart Albums, close Aperture and open your iPhoto library in iPhoto.

Access a dierent Aperture or iPhoto library

1 Choose File > Switch to Library > [library lename].

2 If the library you’re looking for doesn’t appear in the Switch to Library submenu, choose

Other/New.

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3 In the dialog that appears, select the library you want to open from the list, and click Choose.

Note: You must close iPhoto before opening your iPhoto library in Aperture.

Aperture opens the library you selected.

Choose which library to use while opening Aperture

1 Hold down the Option key while opening Aperture.

A dialog appears, with options for selecting an existing library or creating a new one.

2 Do one of the following:

•

To open an Aperture library le shown in the dialog: Select the library le, and click Choose.

•

To open an Aperture library le not shown in the dialog: Click the Other Library button, locate the library le in the dialog that appears, and click Select.

•

To open a new, empty library: Click the Create New button, give the library a name in the Save

As eld, select a location for the library, and click Create.

Aperture creates a new, empty library le and opens it.

Merge libraries

If you work with several computers, or work on projects with other people, you may nd it

necessary to transfer projects and albums from one Aperture system to another. Transferring folders, projects, and albums is a simple export and import process. The items you export are

consolidated into a library le. When you import the library into the second Aperture system, you can add les, delete les, modify metadata, and make adjustments. When you’re ready to return the contents of the modied library to the original computer, Aperture merges the two

libraries together.

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Transfer folders, projects, and albums from one computer to another

1 In the Library inspector, select the items you want to transfer, and choose File > Export > Items as

New Library.

Note: Items in the Export menu change depending on what is selected. If you have a single item,

such as an album, selected in the Library inspector, choose File > Export > Album as New Library.

2 Enter a name and choose a location for the exported library.

3 Do any of the following:

•

If your project contains referenced images and you want the original les to be available to the new

Aperture system: Select the “Consolidate originals into exported library” checkbox to copy the

original image les into the new library le.

•

If you want to copy the previews into the new library so that you don’t have to rebuild them on the new Aperture system: Select the “Include Previews in exported library” checkbox.

•

If you want Aperture to alert you when it nishes building the new library: Select the “Show alert

when nished” checkbox.

4 Click Export Library.

Aperture consolidates the selected items into a library, and the library le is exported to the

location you chose.

5 Connect or network the two computers together, and copy the exported library le to the

second computer.

For more information, see the documentation that came with the computers.

6 Open Aperture on the second computer, and choose File > Switch to Library > [library lename].

You can now work with the exported library from the rst computer on the second computer.

Merge the modied library from the second computer into the library of the rst computer

When you’re ready to merge the modied library on the second computer into the library on the rst computer, import it into the open library on the rst computer.

1 Follow the steps in the previous task to transfer the modied library on the second computer to

the rst computer.

2 On the rst computer, choose File > Import > Library/Project, locate the modied library le from

the second computer, and click Import.

A dialog appears, giving you the option to merge the imported library with the current library or add the contents of the imported library to the current library.

3 Click Merge.

A dialog appears, asking you to choose which library to use to resolve potential conicts caused by the dierences between the libraries.

4 To import the changes in the modied library, choose the library from the second computer.

Aperture imports the modied library from the second computer, merging the changes made

to the projects and albums on the second computer into the same projects and albums on the

rst computer. Any les that were deleted on the second computer, or for some other reason no longer exist in the library le of the second computer, are moved to the Aperture Trash in the library of the rst computer.

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Add the contents of the library from the second computer without overwriting the contents

of the library on the rst computer

If you don’t want to overwrite the original projects and albums you exported from the rst computer with the projects and albums you modied on the second computer, you can add the modied projects and albums to the library on the rst computer as unique items.

1 Transfer the modied library from the second computer to the rst computer.

2 On the rst computer, choose File > Import > Library/Project, locate the modied library le from

the second computer, and click Import.

A dialog appears, asking you to choose which library to use to resolve potential conicts caused by the dierences between the libraries.

3 Click Add.

Aperture imports the contents of the modied library from the second computer into the library of the rst computer. Instead of overwriting the les that changed, Aperture adds the changed les as additional items. If imported items have the same names as existing items in the Library

inspector, the names of the imported items are appended with “(1).”

Open your library in iPhoto

You can open your library in iPhoto from within Aperture.

Open your library in iPhoto

m Choose File > Open Library in iPhoto.

Aperture closes and iPhoto opens the library you were working with in Aperture.

Work with projects

View projects

You organize your photos in containers called projects. You can view all of your projects in the

Library inspector (as a list under the Projects heading) or in Projects view. Projects view displays

a thumbnail of each project in your library or libraries. Double-clicking a thumbnail opens a

project, displaying all of its photos in the Browser. In Projects view, you can conveniently view,

organize, and sort your projects.

Switch to Projects view

m In the Library inspector, select the Projects icon.

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Preview the photos in a project quickly

In Projects view, do one of the following:

m Slowly drag the pointer horizontally across the project’s thumbnail.

m Select the project’s thumbnail, and use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to navigate through

the photos in the project.

Set the key photo for a project

You can set any photo within a project as the key photo displayed in Projects view.

1 Do one of the following:

•

Move the pointer slowly over the project’s thumbnail to skim to the photo you want to set as

the key photo.

•

Select the project’s thumbnail, and use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to navigate to the

photo you want to set as the key photo.

2 When you locate the photo you’re looking for, press the Space bar.

The selected photo is set as the key photo to represent the project.

Play a slideshow of a project’s photos

You can select a project and play a slideshow to review the photos within it.

1 Do one of the following:

•

Select a project’s thumbnail, and choose File > Play Slideshow (or press Shift-S).

•

Control-click a project, and choose Play Slideshow from the shortcut menu.

2 In the Play Slideshow dialog, choose a preset from the Slideshow Preset pop-up menu, and

click Start.

A slideshow of the photos in the selected project plays. Press the Space bar to pause and play

the slideshow, and the Escape key to stop the slideshow. For more information about slideshows, see Slideshows overview on page 376.

View a project’s photos in the Browser

When you locate the project you want to work with in Projects view, you can display the project’s

photos in the Browser.

m In Projects view, double-click the project.

The Browser replaces Projects view and displays the selected project’s thumbnail images.

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View and change project information in the Info HUD

In Projects view, you can use the Info HUD to add descriptive information about a project and

change the project’s key photo (the thumbnail image that represents the project).

1 If the Aperture main window is not in Projects view, select Projects at the top of the

Library inspector.

2 To open the Info HUD for a project, click the Info button on a project’s thumbnail.

Info button

3 In the Info HUD, do either or both of the following:

•

To add descriptive information about the project: Type a description in the text eld to the right

of the project thumbnail.

•

To change the key photo for the project: Skim the project thumbnail to locate the photo you want to set as the key photo, and click the “Click to make key photo” button.

Click to set this photo as the key photo.

The photo you selected appears as the thumbnail image for the project.

To view or change information for another project, navigate to the project by clicking the arrow buttons in the bottom-left corner of the Info HUD. To open a project, click the Go to Project button. To assign location information to a photo, see Places overview.

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Create and delete projects

You can create new projects and delete projects in Projects view.

Create a new project

1 In Projects view, do one of the following:

•

Choose File > New > Project (or press Command-N).

•

Control-click a project, and choose New > Project from the shortcut menu.

•

Choose Project from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.

2 In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the project in the Project Name eld.

3 Click OK.

The new, empty project opens in the Browser.

Delete a project

In Projects view, do one of the following:

m Select a project’s thumbnail, and choose File > Delete Project (or press Command-Delete).

m Control-click a project, and choose Delete Project from the shortcut menu.

The selected project is moved to the Aperture Trash. For more information, see Work with the

Aperture Trash on page 56.

Organize and sort projects in Projects view

You can organize your projects by the year the photos were created. If you organize your

projects in folders in the Library inspector, you can group your projects by the folders they reside

in. You can sort projects by name, in ascending and descending order, and in the order in which

the projects appear from top to bottom in the Library inspector. If you have a large number of projects in your library, you can search for a specic project, removing the others from view.

If you have more than one project documenting the same subject and you want to consolidate the projects into a single project, you can merge the projects.

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Group projects by year or by folder

Arrow button

Projects button

m To group projects by year: Click the Group by Year button at the top of Projects view.

m To group projects by folder: Click the Group by Folder button at the top of Projects view.

When you group projects by year or by folder, the number of projects and photos for each year or folder is displayed in the top-right corner of each group’s row. Click the adjacent arrow button to display projects for a single year or folder only.

To return to full display of projects for all years or folders, click the Projects button at the top of the main window in Projects view.

Sort projects automatically in Projects view

m To sort projects by name: Choose Name from the Sorting pop-up menu in the top-left corner of

Projects view.

m To sort projects in ascending order by the date the photos were captured: Choose Date – Newest First

from the Sorting pop-up menu.

m To sort projects in descending order by the date the photos were captured: Choose Date – Oldest First

from the Sorting pop-up menu.

m To sort projects by the order in which they appear in the Library inspector: Choose Library from the

Sorting pop-up menu.

Sort projects manually in Projects view

1 Choose Manual from the Sorting pop-up menu in the top-left corner of Projects view.

2 In the Browser, select a project and drag it to a new position.

A green line indicates the project’s new position.

Search for projects

m In Projects view, enter the name of the project you want to locate in the search eld.

All projects are removed from view except for the project or projects matching the name in the

search eld. To display all projects again, click the Reset button (with an X) in the search eld.

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Import photos into projects

You can import les, as well as Aperture projects and libraries, into a project selected in Projects view.

Import les into a project

In Projects view, do one of the following:

m Select a project’s thumbnail, and choose File > Import > Files (or press Command-I).

m Control-click a project, and choose Import > Files from the shortcut menu.

The Import browser appears with the project selected in the Destination pop-up menu. For more

information about importing les, see Importing photos overview on page 27.

Import another project or an Aperture library into a project

1 In Projects view, Control-click a project, and choose Import > Library or Import > Folders as

Projects from the shortcut menu.

2 In the dialog that appears, select the project or library that you want to merge into the project

selected in Projects view, and click Import.

The project or library is merged into the project selected in Projects view. For more information,

see Merge libraries on page 59.

Merge projects

If you create multiple projects and then later decide that the content spread among the projects

belongs in a single project, you can select the projects in the Library inspector or in Projects view

and merge them into one project.

Merge projects in the Library inspector

1 In the Library inspector, select the projects you want to merge by Shift-clicking adjacent projects

or Command-clicking nonadjacent projects.

2 Choose File > Merge Projects.

A dialog appears, indicating which project the selected projects will be merged into.

3 Click Merge.

The content in the selected projects is merged into the topmost selected project in the

Library inspector.

Merge projects in Projects view

In Projects view, do one of the following:

m Select a project or projects, drag them into the project that you want to contain the other

project or projects, and click Merge in the dialog that appears.

m Select the projects you want to merge, choose File > Merge Projects, and click Merge in the

dialog that appears.

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Duplicate a project structure

If you routinely use the same project structure populated with the same types of albums and folders, you can duplicate the structure of an existing project and create a new, empty project with the same arrangement of albums and folders. If the project you’re duplicating has Smart Albums, the settings for those Smart Albums are duplicated as well. For more information about Smart Albums, see Collect photos in a new Smart Album on page 156.

Duplicate a project structure

1 In the Library inspector, select the project whose structure you want to copy.

2 Choose File > Duplicate Project Structure.

The project and all of its subordinate items, such as albums, folders, and Smart Albums, are duplicated along with their names. However, the duplicated project contains no photos, audio clips, or video clips.

3 Double-click the name of each duplicated item in the new project to give it a new name.

Double-click the item’s

name to rename it.

Work with referenced images

A referenced image is a photo whose original isn’t stored in the Aperture library. You create a referenced image by specifying a location outside of the library when you import the image. Aperture tracks the locations of referenced images and works with them in the same way as with images in the library, except that referenced originals are not backed up when you back up your library. You can identify referenced images in Aperture by turning on referenced image badge overlays.

A referenced image is online if Aperture can access its original. Referenced images remain online even if you rename them or move their originals to another location on the same hard disk or volume. If you disconnect the disk that holds a referenced original, move the original to

the Finder Trash, or move the original to a dierent hard disk or volume, the referenced image becomes oine (unavailable). When an original is oine, Aperture draws the thumbnail image rst, and then the preview if it exists. Because the preview is high quality, you can zoom and even use the Loupe. However, you can’t make adjustments until you either reconnect the disk

that holds the original or use Aperture to reconnect to the original in its new location.

You can copy, move, delete, and search for referenced images in your Aperture projects using the same procedures you use for other Aperture versions and originals. When you copy a version of a referenced image in Aperture, a new version is created and tracked in the Aperture library. No

new les are recorded on the hard disk in the location of the referenced image’s original. When

you move a referenced image between projects on your Aperture system, the referenced original remains in its original location on your hard disk.

If you decide that it would be more convenient to store referenced originals in the Aperture library (for example, so that you can back them up to vaults), you can have Aperture move or

copy the les to the library.

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When you delete a referenced original from Aperture, you can specify whether the photo’s version is placed in the Aperture Trash. When you empty the Aperture Trash, the link to the original is deleted, but the original remains in its current location in the Finder.

Identify referenced images

After you import referenced images, you can identify them in the Browser by turning on referenced image badge overlays. Referenced images appear with badges that show whether

their originals are currently online (available) or oine (unavailable).

These badge overlays

indicate the photos are

referenced images.

This badge overlay

indicates the photo is an

offline referenced image.

1 Choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-Comma (,).

2 In the Preferences window, click Appearance and select the “Badge referenced items” checkbox.

See a list of referenced images in a selection

When working with a selection of photos in the Browser, you may need to determine which photos have originals that reside in the Aperture library and which are referenced images whose originals are located elsewhere on your hard disks. You can select a group of photos in the Browser and show a list of the referenced images within the selection, along with their locations.

1 In the Browser, select a group of photos.

2 Choose File > Locate Referenced Files.

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The Referenced Files In Selection dialog appears.

This column shows

This column

The specific photo

the names of hard disks where referenced originals are located.

These columns identify how many originals for referenced images are on the hard disk, and how many are not found.

identifies the hard disk location of the referenced originals.

and metadata to help you identify the file are displayed here.

Locate a referenced image’s original in the Finder

At times, you may need to quickly nd a referenced image’s original on your hard disk to copy

or move it, attach it to an email, or otherwise work with it outside of Aperture. You can select a photo in the Browser and display the location of the photo’s original in the Finder.

1 Select a referenced image in the Browser.

2 Choose File > Show in Finder.

A Finder window appears, displaying the le path for the referenced original.

Note: If you open a referenced image’s original from the Finder in another application, you won’t see the changes or adjustments you’ve made to the image in Aperture. Your changes appear in versions stored in the Aperture library, and the referenced image’s original is always left unchanged. To see the adjusted photo, you need to export a version of it.

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Reconnect oine referenced images

If you disconnected a hard disk drive that holds referenced image’s originals, you can reconnect the drive to your computer, and Aperture automatically reconnects the originals.

If a photo is oine or modied in some way that makes it unrecognizable as the original

referenced image, you can still select it and have Aperture reconnect the original.

1 Reconnect the hard disk drive holding the referenced originals, or otherwise locate or make the

les available to Aperture for reconnecting.

2 Select the project that contains the oine photos you want to reconnect, or select the oine

photos in the Browser.

3 Choose File > Locate Referenced Files.

4 If necessary, click the Show Reconnect Options button.

Select the volume you want here, and navigate to the location of the file on the hard disk.

5 At the top of the dialog, select the le path for the original that you want to reconnect.

A thumbnail of the photo and some identifying metadata appear.

6 In the bottom half of the dialog, navigate to the location of the referenced image’s original on

the hard disk and select the original.

You can follow the le path listed for a selected photo in the top of the dialog.

When you select the le, a thumbnail of the photo and metadata appear, allowing you to

compare them to the thumbnail and metadata in the upper part of the dialog to make sure

you’ve selected the correct le.

7 Click Reconnect to reconnect a specic photo, or click Reconnect All to reconnect all

selected photos.

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Move originals for referenced images to a new location

You can easily move referenced originals to new locations on the same hard disk or a dierent

hard disk.

1 In the Browser, select the referenced images whose originals you want to move.

2 Choose File > Relocate Originals.

3 Select a folder location in the dialog that appears.

4 To specify that the les be stored as separate, individual les in the selected folder, choose None

from the Subfolders pop-up menu.

You can also specify that Aperture create a hierarchy of subfolders with specic folder names to store your les. For more information about creating folders to hold your imported image les,

see Import originals for referenced images into folders on page 46.

5 To specify how you want the originals named, choose a naming convention from the Name

Format pop-up menu.

For example, choose Original File Name from the Name Format pop-up menu to have your les stored using the original lenames from your camera or card. Choose a custom name format to have your originals stored using a specied name. If you choose a custom name format, enter the name you want in the Custom Name eld. For more information about naming les, see

Automatically name imported photos on page 37.

6 Click Relocate Originals.

Move referenced originals to the Aperture library

If you have originals stored in dierent hard disk locations but want to work with them all stored

in the Aperture library, you can select the referenced images in the Browser and move their originals to the library. Aperture manages all aspects of originals stored in the library, keeping them always available and allowing you to back them up in your vaults.

1 In the Browser, select the referenced images whose originals you want to move to the library.

2 Choose File > Consolidate Originals.

3 Choose whether you want the image les moved or copied into the Aperture library by clicking

the “Move les” or “Copy les” button.

4 Click Continue.

Search for photos by le status

You can search for photos using their le status. For example, you can search for photos that are referenced images, managed images, and online or oine images.

1 In the Library inspector, select an item you want to search.

2 Show the Filter HUD by doing one of the following:

•

Choose Edit > Find (or press Command-F).

•

Click the Filter HUD button beside the search eld in the Browser.

3 In the Filter HUD, choose File Status from the Add Rule pop-up menu in the top-right corner, and

select the “File status” checkbox.

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4 Deselect any checkboxes that aren’t part of your query, and choose a le status from the “File

status” pop-up menu.

Select the “File status” checkbox and choose the file status you want to search for.

5 Choose Any from the pop-up menu in the top-left corner.

The photos that match the search criteria appear in the Browser.

Back up the library

Plan your backup system

As you begin working with Aperture, it’s important to perform regular backups of your photos. Using the Aperture backup system, you can create backups and update them whenever you wish. Aperture tracks your backups and indicates how up to date your most recent backup is.

In the rare event of equipment failure or an unforeseen catastrophe such as a re or weather-

related damage, you can easily restore the entire Aperture library onto your computer or a new computer.

You set Aperture to back up a copy of the library to a designated storage area called a vault. For safety and redundancy, use external hard disks to hold your vaults. You can create as many vaults as you deem necessary.

When you back up your photos, Aperture makes a complete copy of the library in its current state. If you remove items from the library, those items are removed from the backup when it is next updated.

All originals for managed images, all versions, and all metadata, previews, and adjustment information associated with your photos are backed up. The versions, previews, and metadata associated with referenced images are also backed up in the vault.

Important: Referenced images’ originals are not backed up in the vault with the library. Because

the originals for referenced images are stored outside of the library, you must manage the backup and archiving of them yourself.

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A typical backup system used with Aperture might look like the following:

Aperture library

(internal disk)

Office

Vault

(external disk)

Vault

(kept offsite and

updated regularly)

Remote location

This system backs up the Aperture library to two vaults stored on external hard disks. You routinely back up the library on one external hard disk. You use the second hard disk as a backup

that you keep osite. You can then rotate your onsite external hard disk with the osite hard disk

to keep all your vaults updated.

To set up your Aperture backup system, you need to do the following:

•

Determine the number of vaults you need. For example, do you need one for routine backups,

one for weekly backups, and one for osite storage?

•

Determine the number of hard disks you need for routine backups.

•

Determine the number of hard disks you’ll use for storing backups osite.

•

Connect your hard disk drives to your computer.

•

Open Aperture and create the vaults you need, assigning a hard disk to each vault.

•

Update the new, empty vaults with copies of the Aperture library.

•

Disconnect one of the vault hard disks and take it to an osite location for safekeeping.

When planning the amount of storage space you’ll need, estimate the amount of disk space needed to hold your existing digital images (photos you plan to import into Aperture) and the

amount of space you might need for new projects. For example, RAW images typically require 8 to 25 or more megabytes (MB) of disk space per le. Estimating the number of photos in a typical

project and the number of projects you usually create in a year, you can make a rough estimate of what might represent a year’s storage space.

Create and update vaults

Before you can back up your les, you must create a vault and assign a hard disk to it. After

you assign a disk to the vault, Aperture uses the vault to back up the entire library. You can create additional vaults and assign hard disks to them, and each additional vault also records a complete backup of the library.

Show the Vault pane

Do one of the following:

m Choose Window > Show Vaults (or press Shift-R).

m Click the Show Vaults button below the Library inspector.

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Create a new vault

Disclosure triangle

1 Do one of the following:

•

Choose File > Vault > Add Vault.

•

Choose Add Vault from the Vault Action pop-up menu below the Library inspector.

Vault Action pop-up menu

A dialog appears, listing the number of managed les that will be backed up to the vault and the number of referenced les that will not be included.

2 Click Continue.

3 In the Add Vault dialog, enter a name for the vault, choose a location to save it, and click Add.

The new, empty vault appears in the Vault pane.

Important: To ensure preservation of your photos, make sure to assign a separate external hard

disk drive to each vault.

Update a new, empty vault

When you create a new vault, it’s empty. As soon as you create a new vault, you should update it.

m In the Vault pane, click the Vault Status button to the right of the vault’s name.

See the hard disk assigned to a vault

m In the Vault pane, click the disclosure triangle beside the vault name.

You can easily see the amount of free space your vault has available next to the vault name.

Make sure to assign enough disk space to the vault to ensure a complete backup of the library

and to allow the library to grow as you import new photos over time.

Update all connected vaults

1 Do one of the following:

•

Choose File > Vault > Update All Vaults.

•

In the Vault pane, click the Update All Vaults button.

2 In the dialog that appears, click Update.

Update an existing vault

1 In the Vault pane, select the vault you want to update.

2 Do one of the following:

•

Choose Update Vault from the Vault Action pop-up menu .

•

Click the Vault Status button beside the vault name.

3 In the dialog that appears, click Update.

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Permanently remove a vault and delete its information

You can delete an entire vault and all the photos on it when you need to recongure your

backup system. This is useful when you have moved your backup vault to a larger-capacity hard disk and you want to delete the vault information from the current hard disk drive to use it for other purposes.

1 In the Vault pane, select the vault you want to remove.

2 Do one of the following:

•

Choose File > Vault > Remove Vault.

•

Choose Remove Vault from the Vault Action pop-up menu .

A dialog appears, asking if you want to remove the vault.

3 Click one of the following buttons:

•

Remove and Delete: When you click this button, Aperture no longer tracks the vault, and the

vault’s les are deleted from your hard disk.

•

Remove: When you click this button, Aperture no longer tracks the vault, but the vault’s les

remain on the hard disk.

Disconnect and reconnect vaults

You may routinely disconnect a backup hard disk drive from your Aperture system and take it to

a safe osite location. When you disconnect a backup hard disk from your computer, Aperture takes the associated vault oine. When you reconnect the hard disk, Aperture automatically

detects the hard disk and connects it to the corresponding vault.

Disconnect a vault’s hard disk drive from your Aperture system

1 In the Finder, drag the icon for the hard disk drive to the Trash, or select the disk in the sidebar

of a Finder window and click the Eject button.

2 Disconnect the hard disk drive from your computer.

Specify a vault’s new location or path

1 Connect the hard disk drive to your computer.

2 To show the Vault pane, do one of the following:

•

Choose Window > Show Vaults (or press Shift-R).

•

Click the Show Vaults button below the Library inspector.

3 Select the vault to be updated to a new path.

4 Choose Update Vault Path from the Vault Action pop-up menu .

5 Navigate to the location of the vault on the hard disk drive, select it, and click Update Path.

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Restore your Aperture library

If you experience equipment failure or other unexpected events, such as re or weather-related

damage to your computer, you can easily restore your Aperture library from a vault stored on a backup disk. You can also use the backup disk to transfer your library to another computer that has Aperture installed.

Restore the entire library from an external backup disk

1 Connect the hard disk drive that contains the most up-to-date vault to your computer, and

open Aperture.

2 Choose File > Vault > Restore Library.

The Restore Library dialog appears.

3 Choose the vault you want to use to restore your library from the Source Vault pop-up menu.

If the vault doesn’t appear in the Source Vault pop-up menu, choose Select Source Vault from the Source Vault pop-up menu, navigate to the vault’s location in the Select Source Vault dialog, and click Select.

4 Click Restore, and then click Restore again.

Repair and rebuild your Aperture library

In the rare event that your Aperture database becomes corrupted or the les within it have

permissions issues, Aperture provides a few methods for reconstituting your Aperture library and

the le relationships within it.

Repair or rebuild your Aperture library

1 Close Aperture, if it’s open.

2 Locate the Aperture library you want to x, and then hold down the Command and Option keys

while double-clicking the Aperture library.

The Photo Library First Aid dialog appears.

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3 Do one of the following:

•

To repair the permissions of the les within your Aperture library: Select Repair Permissions.

This option should be used when Aperture can’t access some of the image les within the database or is unable to open the library. The Repair Permissions option reviews each le in your Aperture library and sets the read-and-write access of each le where appropriate, allowing Aperture to access the les again.

Note: This option does not relocate referenced images whose original image les are oine. For more information about reconnecting oine images, see Work with referenced images on

page 67.

•

To repair your Aperture library le: Select Repair Database.

This is the rst option you should use if you believe there is something wrong with the Aperture library other than image le access issues.

•

To rebuild your database from scratch: Select Rebuild Database.

Rebuilding large libraries can be time-consuming; use this option if you’ve tried repairing

your database and the issues with your library persist. Aperture examines the library’s entire database and rebuilds each component until it reconstitutes your original Aperture library.

4 Depending on your selection, click Repair or Rebuild.

Aperture either xes le permissions within the library or repairs or rebuilds the library, and then

opens the application workspace.

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Sorting

Grid View and

Organize and sort photos

Browser overview

After a shoot, you may need to sort through hundreds or even thousands of photos in a project.

Aperture provides ecient methods for increasing your productivity when working with large

numbers of photos.

When you select a project, a folder, or an album in the Library inspector, thumbnails of its photos

appear in the Browser. You select photos in the Browser to work with them. You can move and rearrange photos, rotate photos, make new versions, and delete photos from a project.

Aperture provides fast and ecient ways of selecting photos in the Browser. You can use the arrow keys to quickly select a photo or multiple photos to work on. You can also select photos

by clicking, dragging a selection rectangle, and using keyboard shortcuts. If using Aperture with a trackpad, you can use the swipe gesture to select photos. For more information about using gestures with Aperture, see Use gestures with Aperture on page 487.

pop-up menu

Tool strip

List View buttons

Search field

Thumbnail Resize slider

Page 79

In the Browser, you can display thumbnails in any of three views:

Photos displayed in list

•

Filmstrip view: Displays a single row of photos that you can select and navigate through.

Viewer

Browser in filmstrip view

•

Grid view: Displays thumbnails of your photos in a grid pattern. Use grid view when it’s easiest to identify your photos by sight and work with thumbnails as you organize, stack, or assign keywords to photos.

•

List view: Displays a list of your photos with associated le information. Use list view when you need to see or sort your photos by corresponding le properties such as image date, le size,

or rating.

view in the Browser

List view is a great way to quickly see information about your les. You can also use list view to

sort your photos by any of the column categories. Click a column heading to sort your photos by that category.

You can also customize the information that appears with your photos in the Browser. For

example, you can set your photos to appear with the lename as well as the IPTC data and EXIF data. You can change what information appears in the Browser in grid view, list view, and lmstrip view by customizing the Metadata options in the Browser & Viewer Metadata window.

For more information, see Metadata overlays overview on page 201.

For information about changing the conguration of Aperture window layouts, see Change the

main window layout on page 474.

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Navigate through and select photos

All selected photos

Move Selection Left

Navigate through photos in the Browser

You can select one or more thumbnail-size photos in the Browser, and then modify them in the Browser or see them in a larger format in the Viewer. Photos selected in the Browser are highlighted with a white border. When you select a group of photos, the most recently selected photo, called the primary selection, appears with a thicker white border than the other selected photos.

display a white border.

A thick white border surrounds the primary selection.

Navigate through photos

Do one of the following:

m Press an arrow key to move left, right, up, or down in the Browser.

m Use the scroll bar to scroll through the photos in the Browser, then click the photo you want

to view.

m Choose Window > Show Control Bar to display the control bar. In the control bar, click the Move

Selection Left or Move Selection Right button.

Move Selection Right

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Select photos

Selecting photos in the Browser is a fundamental task in Aperture. Knowing the many ways you can select photos can help increase your productivity and satisfaction while working with your photos.

You can select photos in the following ways.

Task Action

•

Select a single photo

Select a range of photos

Select a photo among selected photos

Select a photo in a stack

Select nonadjacent photos

Slide a selection

Select the next stack

Select or set a compare photo

Deselect the compare photo

Select a dierent compare photo

Select all photos in the Browser

Select only the primary photo, deselecting all others

Deselect all photos in the Browser

Click the photo.

•

Press the arrow keys to navigate to the photo.

•

Select the rst photo, then choose Edit > Select to

End (or press Shift-End) to extend the selection to the last photo in the Browser.

•

Select the last photo in a range, then choose Edit >

Select to Beginning (or press Shift-Home) to extend

the selection to the rst photo in the Browser.

•

Click the rst photo in a range, then Shift-click the

last photo.

•

Press the arrow keys to select the rst photo, then

press Shift and an arrow key to select the last photo in the range.

•

Drag a selection rectangle to select all the photos that fall within the rectangle.

•

Press Semicolon (;) or press Option–Command– Left Arrow to select the previous photo in the selection. Press Apostrophe (’) or press Option–

Command–Right Arrow to select the next photo in the selection.

•

Press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key.

•

Command-click the photos you want to select. Command-click the photos again to deselect them.

•

Press Command–Left Arrow or Command–Right

Arrow to slide the current selection over by one photo. For example, you can move a three-photo selection left or right by one photo at a time.

•

With a stack selected, press Option–Page Up or Option–Page Down.

•

Select the photo, then press Option-O.

•

Press Command-Return.

•

Select the photo you want as a compare photo, then press Return.

•

Choose Edit > Select All (or press Command-A).

•

Choose Edit > Reduce Selection (or press Shift-E).

•

Choose Edit > Deselect All (or press

Shift-Command-A).

•

Click the gray background of the Browser.

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Navigate through photos in Quick Preview mode

As you work with photos in the Browser and Viewer, you can set Aperture to display JPEG representations of the photos called previews. Because the preview’s le size is smaller than that of the original photo, Aperture can display the photo more quickly. For example, the thumbnails

in the Browser are preview representations of the originals, reduced to thumbnail size.

Likewise, when you select a photo in the Viewer, Aperture rst displays a preview photo as it

reads the larger original on disk. It then displays the full original after the image is decoded. This process of displaying the previews and then the originals can be nearly instantaneous, or,

depending on the size of your originals, there can be a short delay in the nal display.

For more information about creating and working with previews, see Preview images

overview on page 494.

To speed up the access and display of photos, you can turn on Quick Preview mode. In Quick Preview mode, Aperture displays preview photos only, without reading the larger originals. You can use Quick Preview mode to rapidly move to and select dierent photos. For example, you might use Quick Preview mode to quickly select and stack photos, add keywords, or change other metadata. When using Quick Preview mode, however, there are some things you can’t do, such as make adjustments to photos. In Quick Preview mode, tools and functions that aren’t available appear dimmed. Depending on your task, you may nd switching to Quick Preview

mode a great way to gain speedy access to photos.

Turn on Quick Preview mode

Do one of the following:

m Choose View > Quick Preview (or press P).

m Click the Quick Preview button in the tool strip.

The Quick Preview button in the tool strip turns yellow, and the border around the photo

selection in the Browser changes from white to yellow.

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Change the Browser view

Work with photos in lmstrip view

Filmstrip view, the default view for the Browser, displays the photos in your selection in the

Library inspector as a strip of thumbnails under the Viewer. You can use lmstrip view in combination with the Viewer to quickly scroll from photo to photo, making changes and

comparing photos. For example, you can select several photos in a row, group them in a stack,

apply ratings, and compare them side by side in the Viewer. You can use the Right Arrow and Left Arrow keys to quickly move from photo to photo, and you can use the scroll bar and the Shuttle control to scroll through photos. You can resize the thumbnails in the lmstrip by dragging the top of the lmstrip to enlarge its area.

Viewer

Browser in filmstrip view

Switch to lmstrip view

Do one of the following:

m Choose View > Browser > Filmstrip (or press Control-F).

m Click the Filmstrip View button in the Browser.

Note: The main window must be set to the Split View layout in order to access the lmstrip in

the Browser. When the main window is set to Browser, the Filmstrip View button disappears.

Shuttle continuously through the photos in lmstrip view

m Press J to shuttle left, press K to stop shuttling, or press L to shuttle right.

Note: Pressing J or L multiple times increases the shuttle speed.

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Work with photos in grid view

Grid view displays the photos in your selection in the Library inspector as a grid of thumbnails in the Browser. You can use grid view when you want to review large thumbnail photos quickly.

Setting the Aperture main window to show the Browser by itself provides the maximum amount of space to dedicate to viewing thumbnails. You may want to adjust the size of the thumbnails to

a size convenient for selecting and working with them. If your selection in the Library inspector

has many photos, you can also use the Shuttle control or the scroll bar to scroll through the photos.

For more information about setting the Aperture main window to show the Browser by itself, see

Change the main window layout on page 474.

Thumbnail Resize slider

Scroll bar

Switch to grid view

Do one of the following:

m Choose View > Browser > Grid (or press Control-G).

m Click the Grid View button in the Browser.

Adjust the thumbnail size

m Drag the Thumbnail Resize slider to increase or decrease the size of the thumbnails.

Shuttle continuously through the photos in grid view

m Press J to shuttle left, press K to stop shuttling, or press L to shuttle right.

Note: Pressing J or L multiple times increases the shuttle speed.

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Lighten or darken the background of the Browser

Disclosure triangle

Depending on your work preferences, you may want to lighten or darken the background that your thumbnails appear against in the Browser. The darker the background, the less it interferes with the colors in your photo. It’s a good idea to set the background to a dark color when performing color adjustments to your photo. You can darken the background from shades of gray all the way to black, or lighten it from gray to white.

1 Choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-Comma (,).

2 In the Preferences window, click Appearance and drag the Browser Background Brightness slider

to lighten or darken the background, then close the window.

Work with photos in list view

Instead of displaying thumbnails, list view displays photos by name and icon with accompanying

information such as rating, image dimensions, le size, and date.

Switch to list view

Do one of the following:

m Choose View > Browser > List (or press Control-L).

m Click the List View button in the Browser.

Choose what type of information is displayed in list view

1 Choose View > Metadata Display > Customize (or press Command-J).

2 In the Browser & Viewer Metadata dialog, choose a list view option from the View pop-up menu.

3 In the Metadata Fields column, click the disclosure triangles next to the main groups of metadata

to reveal the options within them.

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4 Specify the type of metadata that appears in list view by selecting the checkboxes

The Date column

corresponding to each type (and deselecting the checkboxes for metadata items you want to remove).

Each metadata item selected in the Metadata Fields column in the Browser & Viewer Metadata

dialog appears as a column in list view.

5 If necessary, rearrange the order in which the metadata columns are displayed by dragging the

metadata items up or down in the Display Order column.

The order of metadata selections in the Display Order column from top to bottom corresponds

to the order of columns in the Browser in list view from left to right. Moving an item up in the

Display Order column moves the metadata column to the left in list view.

“Badges” is moved and will appear after “Keywords.”

6 When you’re satised with your metadata selections and the order in which they will be

displayed in list view, click OK.

Rearrange the metadata columns in list view

You can rearrange the metadata columns to keep the most important information in view.

m Select the column’s header and drag the column to a new position.

is being dragged.

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Sort photos in list view by a category

Photos in list view

Project tab

One of the main advantages of list view is that you can quickly sort photos based on a category

of information. When you click a column heading in list view, Aperture reorders the photos, sorting them by that category. For example, you might sort your photos by date.

m Click the category column heading in the Browser.

sorted by date

Enlarge the thumbnail icons in list view

When you work in list view, it may sometimes be dicult to determine the content of a photo based on the le information. You can enlarge the thumbnail icons that appear in list view to

give you a better look at the photos.

m Drag the Thumbnail Resize slider to increase or decrease the size of the icons.

Rename a photo version in list view

You can easily rename les after importing them. When you rename a le, you are renaming the photo version, not the original. The lename of the original does not change.

m Select a photo, then double-click the photo’s version name and enter a new name.

Work with two Browsers open

You can work with two items in the Library inspector open at once, splitting the Browser into a

separate pane for each item.

Split the Browser into two panes

m Select one item in the Library inspector, and Option-click a second item in the Library inspector.

The Browser splits into two panes and shows thumbnail images for both items.

You can also set dierent display options for each pane. For example, one pane may show photos in grid view and the other in list view. You may nd that working with multiple Browser panes open allows you to easily copy or transfer the contents of one item in the Library inspector to another. You can also open multiple items in the Library inspector and display their contents in a

single Browser. For more information about opening and closing multiple projects, see Open and

close items in the Library inspector on page 54.

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Set up and arrange photos

Choose the sort property

Rearrange and sort photos in the Browser

As you work with photos in the Browser, you can move and rearrange them into any order or grouping you like. For example, you might want to keep all related photos of a wedding project, such as the cake cutting, in close proximity to allow you to easily sort through the best ones and then adjust them.

You can drag photos to new locations in the Browser. When you drag photos to new locations, you create a custom arrangement of your photos, and the Sorting pop-up menu changes to

show the Manual option. Aperture records the order of your photos, and whenever you choose Manual from the Sorting pop-up menu, your photos reappear in that order.

You can also change the order of photos in the Browser based on photo properties such as

lename, le size, date, color label, rating, and more. For example, when displaying photos by lename, Aperture places the photos in alphabetical order. You might also order the photos by

date or time. You choose the sort property from the Sorting pop-up menu in grid view, list view,

and lmstrip view.

and direction from the Sorting pop-up menu.

Rearrange photos in the Browser

m In grid view: Drag the photos you want to rearrange to a new location; when the green bar

appears, release the mouse button.

m In list view: Drag the photos you want to rearrange to a new location; when the blue bar appears,

release the mouse button.

Restore a manual arrangement of your photos in the Browser

m Choose Manual from the Sorting pop-up menu.

Aperture remembers the last time you moved photos and restores that arrangement.

Change the displayed order of photos in the Browser

m Choose a sort property from the Sorting pop-up menu. Choose Ascending or Descending to

specify an ascending or descending sort order.

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Rotate photos

When photos are imported into a project, some may be displayed in an incorrect orientation,

requiring you to rotate them. The tool strip provides a Rotate tool for rotating selected photos

counterclockwise. You can rotate photos individually or select a group and rotate them all at

once. You can also select photos and quickly rotate them using keyboard shortcuts.

Rotate photos individually

Do one of the following:

m Select the photo you want to rotate, then choose Photos > Rotate Counterclockwise (or press [),

or choose Photos > Rotate Clockwise (or press ]).

m Select a photo and click the Rotate tool in the tool strip to rotate the photo counterclockwise, or

Option-click the Rotate tool to rotate the photo clockwise.

m Make sure no photos are selected, then select the Rotate tool in the tool strip, and click a photo

to rotate it counterclockwise, or Option-click a photo to rotate it clockwise.

Rotate a group of selected photos

Do one of the following:

m Select a group of photos, then choose Photos > Rotate Counterclockwise (or press [), or choose

Photos > Rotate Clockwise (or press ]).

m Select a group of photos, then click the Rotate tool in the tool strip to rotate the photos

counterclockwise, or Option-click the Rotate tool to rotate the photos clockwise.

Create versions of a photo

Occasionally, you may want to make a second version of a photo. For example, you might want

to create another version of a photo and apply dierent exposure settings or other adjustments, or change it for a specic use, such as for placement in a webpage or book.

You create a new photo version by duplicating either the original image or the currently selected

version. When you duplicate a version, all of the changes you’ve made to the rst version are

carried over to the new version. If you’ve made a series of adjustments to a photo and now

you want to start from the original photo and make dierent adjustments, you can duplicate

the original and start with a fresh, unchanged photo. In contrast, if you plan to use the same

adjustments in multiple versions, you can make those adjustments rst and then duplicate the

version with the adjustments applied.

Create a new version from an original

1 Select the photo you want to duplicate.

2 Choose Photos > New Version From Original (or press Option-G).

Duplicate the selected photo version

1 Select the photo you want to duplicate.

2 Choose Photos > Duplicate Version (or press Option-V).

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Delete photos from the Browser

If necessary, you can delete versions and even originals.

When deleting photos, you can:

•

Remove a version of the photo from an album, leaving any other versions in their original locations in the library

•

Delete versions from within a stack

•

Delete a version from a project

•

Delete originals

Remove a version from an album

m Select the version and choose Photos > Remove From Album (or press Delete).

Delete an original

When a photo is represented in the Browser by a single version, you can select the version and delete it, and the corresponding original is deleted as well.

1 Select a version.

2 Choose File > Delete Version (or press Command-Delete).

The original and its version are moved to the Aperture Trash. For more information, see Work

with the Aperture Trash on page 56.

Delete a version from a stack

When you create new versions of a photo, you can set Aperture to group the versions in a

stack—a set of related photos that can be shown side by side in the Browser for comparison

purposes. You can delete a version from such a version stack. For more information, see Create

stacks on page 93.

1 Click the Stack button to open the stack, and select the version you want to delete.

2 Choose File > Delete Version (or press Command-Delete).

The deleted version is moved to the Aperture Trash. For more information, see Work with the

Aperture Trash on page 56.

Delete a version from a project

m Select a photo, a video clip, or an audio clip, and choose File > Delete Version.

The version is moved to the Trash, along with the original if you deleted its last version.

Delete a version stack and its original

You can select a stack containing versions of the same image and delete all the image versions in the stack as well as the original.

1 Select the stack you want to delete.

2 Choose File > Delete Original Image and All Versions.

The original and all its versions are moved to the Aperture Trash. For more information, see Work

with the Aperture Trash on page 56.

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Recover a deleted photo

If you accidentally delete a photo you meant to keep, and you can’t recover it by choosing Undo, you may be able to recover it from the Aperture Trash.

1 In the Library inspector, select Trash.

All photos currently in the Aperture Trash are displayed in the Browser.

2 Do one of the following:

•

Drag the photo you accidentally deleted back to its original project.

•

Control-click the accidentally deleted photo and choose Put Back from the submenu.

If you’ve already emptied the Aperture Trash, you may be able to recover the photo from the Finder Trash. If you’ve already emptied the Finder Trash, but you backed up your library before deleting the photo, you may be able to restore the project containing the deleted photo from the vault. If you updated your vault after emptying the Aperture Trash, the vault won’t contain the deleted photo.

Rename original image les

At times, you may want to rename original image les to match the names you’ve assigned to

the photo versions in Aperture. Although Aperture keeps track of your originals regardless of

what they are named, it’s often useful for your image lenames to match inside and outside of Aperture—especially when the originals are referenced images. For more information about

working with referenced images, see Work with referenced images on page 67.

Rename originals

1 In the Browser, select a photo or group of photos.

2 Choose Metadata > Batch Change (or press Shift-Command-B).

3 In the Batch Change dialog, choose a naming convention from the Version Name Format pop-up

menu to specify how you want the originals named.

For example, choose Version Name from the Version Name Format pop-up menu to have your

original lenames changed to match the names of the corresponding versions in Aperture. If you choose a custom name format, enter the name you want in the Custom Name text eld. For more information about naming les, see Automatically name imported photos on page 37.

4 Select the Apply to Original Files checkbox, then click OK.

The original les corresponding to the selected photos are renamed. For more information about

working with the Batch Change dialog, see Batch change metadata on page 212 .

Drag photos into dierent projects and albums

You can drag photos into dierent projects and albums. Depending on where you drag a photo,

Aperture either moves or copies the photo to the new location.

As a general rule, when you drag a photo into a dierent project, Aperture moves the photo into the new project.

When you drag a photo into a dierent album, Aperture creates a duplicate version of the photo and places it in the album. A photo can be copied into any album in the same project or into

albums in dierent projects. The destination album can be an album, book album, Light Table

album, slideshow, or web journal or webpage album.

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Copy a photo into a dierent album

The Stack button

m Drag the photo into another album in the Library inspector.

Move a photo into a dierent project

m Drag the photo into another project in the Library inspector.

Copy a photo into a dierent project

m Option-drag the photo into another project in the Library inspector.

You can also drag photos out of Smart Albums. If you drag a photo from a Smart Album into another album, the version is copied to the new location. If you drag a photo into a project

dierent from the project that contains the Smart Album, Aperture moves the photo to the

destination project. All links to versions in other albums are maintained. For more information about working with Smart Albums, see Collect photos in a new Smart Album on page 156 .

Stack photos and make picks

Stacking photos overview

To capture a specic moment in time, such as a bride and groom kissing or a student soccer

player kicking the winning goal, a photographer may shoot multiple photos, using both bracketing and continuous shooting, to increase the odds of capturing a usable photo. After shooting the series, the photographer reviews the images and picks the best photo of the group.

Reviewing and making picks from many related photos can be time-consuming and

dicult. Aperture makes it simple to choose the best photo out of a series by allowing you to

group related photos into sets, called stacks, that are easy to review, work with, and select nal picks from.

Aperture can automatically create stacks by grouping photos that were shot in quick succession,

or by grouping multiple versions of the same photo. You can also select photos and create stacks manually.

A stack appears in the Browser as a group of thumbnail images. The photo that represents the stack, called the pick, is selected and displayed on the left. You can select any photo in the stack as the pick, and it moves to the leftmost position in the stack. You can rearrange the order of photos in a stack. For example, you might choose an alternate photo and position it next to the pick. A Stack button appears in the upper-left corner of the pick photo in the stack, indicating the number of photos in the stack.

indicates the number of photos in the stack.

A stack with three photos is shown expanded.

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After creating a stack and selecting the pick, you can close the stack by clicking the Stack button

Only the pick photo is

on the pick photo. When a stack is closed, only the stack’s pick photo appears in the Browser. Clicking the Stack button again expands the stack.

shown when the stack is closed.

By closing stacks, you quickly reduce the number of photos you have to visually sort through when selecting photos in the nal photo edit.

After creating stacks, you can organize and change them as needed. You can add photos to a stack and remove those that don’t belong. You can also split a stack into multiple stacks if necessary.

Important: When you open an Aperture library in iPhoto, only stack picks are shown. The photos

within stacks are not shown or accessible, but they are not discarded. To work with your photos within stacks, open the Aperture library in Aperture.

Create stacks

You can create stacks in two ways: specify that Aperture create stacks automatically, or you can

create stacks manually. For example, if you shoot a series of photos in quick succession (such as at a sports event) or if you bracket photos to allow for dierences in lighting or exposure,

you most likely will want to view those photos together. Aperture can stack those photos automatically based on metadata recorded by the camera as the series of pictures is taken.

A series of photos taken in quick succession.

You can also have Aperture automatically group new versions of the same photo as you create them.

Stack photos automatically

1 In the Library inspector, select a project or an album that contains the photos you want to stack.

2 Choose Stacks > Auto-Stack (or press Option-Command-A).

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3 In the Auto-Stack Images HUD, drag the slider to specify the maximum interval for successive

The selected photos are

The Stack button

shots in a stack.

Move the slider to indicate the maximum interval for successive shots.

As you drag the slider, the photos in the Browser are stacked according to the interval of time

specied. For example, if you typically shoot a series of related photos in 15-second intervals, set

the slider to 15 seconds.

4 Inspect the stacks to determine if the time interval should be shortened or lengthened.

Note: You can also manually select photos in the Import browser and stack and unstack them using the same commands and procedures you use to stack photos in the Browser.

Create new version stacks automatically

1 Choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-Comma (,).

The Aperture Preferences window appears.

2 Click the General button, then select the “Automatically stack new versions” checkbox.

Create a stack manually

After importing photos, you may want to quickly review them and delete those that you immediately see have technical or content aws. You may then want to group the remaining

photos into stacks before rating them. Stacking photos manually can help provide an initial

organization and an overview of your shots, which you can then put through a more rened or

discriminating rating pass later.

1 In the Browser, select the photos you want to stack.

You can Shift-click adjacent photos and Command-click nonadjacent photos to select them.

Tip: To quickly select a series of photos, select a photo at one end of the series, hold down the Shift key and press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key to select additional photos.

2 Choose Stacks > Stack (or press Command-K).

appears on the current pick photo.

now stacked and have a dark gray box around them.

The selected photos are now stacked and appear linked in gray. The Stack button appears as an overlay on the top-left portion of the current pick photo in the Browser. You can change the pick photo and rearrange the order of the photos in the stack as you wish.

Unstack a selection of photos

m After creating a stack, choose Edit > Undo, or select a photo in the stack and choose Stacks >

Unstack (or press Shift-Command-K).

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Open and close stacks

Only the pick photo is

You can close a stack and open it again whenever you wish. You may want to do this to free up

space in the Browser. You can also close stacks to quickly reduce the number of photos you must sort through visually when selecting photos for a nal photo edit. When a stack is closed, only

the stack’s pick photo appears in the Browser.

Close or open a stack

m To close a stack: Select an open stack, then choose Stacks > Close Stack (or press Shift-K).

m To open a stack: Select a closed stack, then choose Stacks > Open Stack (or press Shift-K).

You can also close or open a stack by clicking the Stack button on the pick photo.

shown when the stack is closed.

Close or open all stacks

m To close all stacks: Choose Stacks > Close All Stacks, or press Option-Semicolon (;).

m To open all stacks: Choose Stacks > Open All Stacks, or press Option-Apostrophe (’).

m Select a photo in the stack, then choose Stacks > Pick, or press Command-Backslash (\).

m Drag the photo you want into the pick (or leftmost) position in the stack. When you see a green

m Select a photo in the stack, then choose Stacks > Set Album Pick, or press Shift-Command-

Set a pick photo for a stack

The pick photo represents the stack. You can set the photo you like best as the pick, or Aperture can set the pick automatically. When you select and stack photos manually in the Browser, the leftmost photo becomes the pick. You can change the pick whenever you wish.

If the same stack appears in several albums, you can assign a dierent pick photo for the stack in

each album. For example, a stack in a webpage album may have one pick photo, and the same

stack in a book album may have a dierent pick photo adjusted for printing. An album pick appears with the Album Pick badge at the top of the image’s thumbnail in the Browser.

Set a photo as the stack pick

Do one of the following:

bar appear, release the mouse button.

Select an album pick for a stack that appears in multiple albums

Backslash (\).

To clear an album pick from a stack, choose Stacks > Clear Album Pick, or press Shift-Command-

Backslash (\) again.

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Work with stacked photos

You can change the order of photos in a stack, add or remove photos in a stack, split a stack into multiple stacks, and drag a stack (or photos within a stack) to a new location.

Promote a photo in a stack

You can change the order of photos within a stack to help you choose the pick and alternates.

Moving a photo to the left promotes it; moving it to the right demotes it.

m To promote a photo: Select a photo, then choose Stacks > Promote, or press Command–Left

Bracket ([).

m To demote a photo: Select a photo, then choose Stacks > Demote, or press Command–Right

Bracket (]).

You can also drag a photo to a new location in a stack. When you see a green bar appear, then release the mouse button.

Add or remove photos in stacks

You can add photos to and remove photos from stacks at any time. You can drag photos into or out of a stack, and you can also drag photos from one stack to another.

m To add a photo: Select the photos in a stack and the photo you want to add to the stack, then

choose Stacks > Stack (or press Command-K).

m To remove a photo: Select the photo, then choose Stacks > Extract Item (or press Option-Shift-K).

You can also drag photos into or out of expanded stacks.

Split a stack

You can split a stack into multiple stacks to rene the organization of your photos. All photos

remain stacked, but they are now part of new stacks. The photo selected as the splitting point becomes the pick for the new stack.

1 In an expanded stack, select the photo that you want as the rst photo in a new stack.

Select the photo you want as the first image in the new stack.

2 Choose Stacks > Split Stack (or press Option-K).

The selected image becomes the pick in the new stack, which is marked with a white outline.

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Drag a stack to a new location

m With the stack closed, drag the stack to a new location in the browser.

The entire stack is relocated.

You can also drag photos into or out of a stack. However, if you drag a photo within a stack into a new project, the entire stack moves to the new location.

When you drag a stack into a webpage album, web journal album, book album, or slideshow album, the entire stack appears in the Browser, but only the stack picks can be used for publication in webpages, web journals, books, and slideshows.

Compare photos in stacks

You can see a side-by-side comparison of the pick and any any other photo in a stack using the stack-viewing feature. When you enable this feature, clicking a stack in the Browser opens the stack and displays its pick in the Viewer alongside the next leftmost photo in the stack. You can change the comparison photo by clicking any other photo in the stack.

This stack-viewing feature also works in full-screen view.

Set the Viewer to open and compare two photos in a stack

m Choose View > Main Viewer > Stack (or press Option-T).

The pick photo and the photo to its immediate right in the stack open in the Viewer. The pick photo is surrounded by a green border, and the alternate photo is surrounded by a white border.

Tip: When the Viewer is in Stack mode, you can press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to move from stack to stack.

Select another alternate photo

Do one of the following:

m Press the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys.

m Select any photo in the stack.

Promote or demote the alternate photo in the stack

m To promote the alternate photo: Press Command–Left Bracket ([).

m To demote the alternate photo: Press Command–Right Bracket (]).

The alternate photo moves one position left or right in the Browser.

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Set the alternate photo as the stack pick photo

m Press Command–Backslash (\).

The photo moves to the far left of the stack, becoming the pick photo.

Stop comparing photos in a stack

Do one of the following:

m Press Command-Return.

m Choose another option from the View > Main Viewer menu.

m Select a photo in the Browser that is not in a stack.

Work with stacks in list view

If you prefer, you can create and work with stacks in list view. You can select photos to stack,

select a pick, add and remove photos, and split stacks, just as you can in lmstrip view and

grid view.

Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the pick photo to view the photos within the stack.

In list view, a stack is identied by a disclosure triangle beside the name of the pick photo.

Open and close stacks in list view

m Click the disclosure triangle beside the name of the pick photo.

You can work with the photos in a stack in list view by dragging, pressing keyboard shortcuts, or choosing commands from the Stacks menu.

Rate photos

Rating photos overview

Rating photos is a quick and easy way to narrow down the number of photos you intend to work

with. It can also help you locate your best photos later.

After nishing a shoot, photographers typically review their photos and determine which

ones are worth working with. Although a “yes or no” appraisal of a photo can work with a small selection of photos, with a larger collection of similar photos that show small variations, photographers need an organized method of noting which photos are superior shots, which

deserve further review, and which are poor quality or rejects. A simple and eective rating

system can help you narrow the number of photos to focus on during the selection process.

Rating is a simple process with powerful results. If you can easily identify 100 out of 500 photos that aren’t going to work, removing these photos reduces your workload by 20 percent.

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Aperture provides a system for rating photos from Select to Reject. The easily decipherable

Make sure this checkbox

option from the pop-up menu.

photo ratings appear on the photos themselves as overlays. Positive ratings appear as stars; you can rate photos from one to ve stars, with ve being the highest, or Select, rating. A negative, or Reject, rating appears as an X.

Five stars indicate the highest rating (Select).

Stars indicate a positive rating.

An X indicates a negative rating (Reject).

The process of rating a photo can be as easy as selecting a photo and clicking a rating button in the Info inspector.

Click a rating button to assign and change photo ratings.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts to quickly assign or change ratings.

You can select and rate multiple photos at once. You can review and rate photos in the Viewer,

Browser, and Light Table, as well as in full-screen view. When you’ve nished rating photos,

Aperture allows you to sort photos according to their ratings.

You can use the Filter HUD to hide or show photos of a certain rating. For example, after an initial rating pass, you can set the Filter HUD to show only those photos that are rated one star. You can

then closely inspect and further rene your selection or begin an adjustment pass. Aperture is

preset to hide photos that are rated Reject, so you may need to change the Filter HUD settings to see rejected photos.

is selected, then choose an

Set the slider to a rating.

Rejected photos appear with a white X overlay. Positive ratings appear with white star overlays. If

no overlays are displayed on the photo, the photo is considered neutral or is not rated.

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Rating workow

You can use photo rating as part of your workow to help reduce a large group of photos to a

smaller group of preferred photos. Sometimes you can accomplish the selection process in one pass, especially if the group of photos is small. If the group is large, additional rating and culling passes may be necessary.

Rating photos with multiple passes can allow you to take a measured approach to the photo editing process. You can systematically rate photos and then remove levels of rated photos from view to work with your best photos.

Here is a suggested workow for rating photos in multiple passes.

Rate photos in multiple passes

1 Begin by assigning a Reject rating to all photos that are clearly unacceptable.

If the Filter HUD is set to show unrated photos or better (the default setting), the rejected photos immediately disappear.

2 In the next rating pass, assign positive ratings to any photos that deserve a rating of one star or

better. Leave photos you’re uncertain about unrated.

3 To hide all unrated photos, show the Filter HUD and specify a rating that is greater than or equal

to one star as search criteria.

Only photos with a rating of one star or better remain visible in the Browser.

4 In the next rating pass, assign a rating of two stars to any photos that are better than one star.

5 Change the search criteria in the Filter HUD to show only those photos that are rated two stars

or better.

6 In the next rating pass, assign a rating of three stars to your photos that are better than two stars.

7 Change the search criteria in the Filter HUD to show only those photos that are rated three stars

or better.

8 In the next rating pass, assign a rating of four stars to your photos that are better than

three stars.

9 Change the search criteria in the Filter HUD to show only those photos that are rated four stars

or better.

10 In the next pass, assign a rating of ve stars, or Select, to your best photos.

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Apple Aperture 3.5 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

What is Aperture?

Aperture interface overview

Basic components of Aperture

Basic components overview

What are originals?

What are versions?

What are projects?

What are albums?

What are folders?

What is the library?

What are managed images and referenced images?

What is the Aperture Trash?

What is a vault?

Importing photos overview

File formats you can import into the library

Plan your import strategy

Import from a camera, card reader, or device

Add import options

Import options overview

Automatically name imported photos

Adjust time zone data at import

Add metadata at import

Import RAW + JPEG image pairs

Use AppleScript actions at import

Reset import options

Import originals for referenced images into folders

Capture photos as you work

Reprocess photos from earlier versions of Aperture

Organize items in the Library inspector

Library inspector overview

Create and name items

Open and close items in the Library inspector

Arrange items in the Library inspector

Create and show favorite items

Work with the Aperture Trash

Create new libraries

View other libraries

Merge libraries

Open your library in iPhoto

Work with projects

View projects

Create and delete projects

Organize and sort projects in Projects view

Import photos into projects

Merge projects

Duplicate a project structure

Work with referenced images

Back up the library

Plan your backup system

Create and update vaults

Disconnect and reconnect vaults

Restore your Aperture library

Repair and rebuild your Aperture library

Browser overview

Navigate through and select photos

Navigate through photos in the Browser

Select photos

Navigate through photos in Quick Preview mode

Change the Browser view

Work with photos in grid view

Work with photos in list view

Work with two Browsers open

Set up and arrange photos

Rearrange and sort photos in the Browser

Rotate photos

Create versions of a photo

Delete photos from the Browser

Stack photos and make picks

Stacking photos overview

Create stacks

Open and close stacks

Set a pick photo for a stack

Work with stacked photos

Compare photos in stacks

Work with stacks in list view