Arnie,

The relocate command only works if Aperture knows where the master files are, and that’s the problem you’re having now—it doesn’t know where to find them.

The command you need is at File > Locate Referenced Files…. Select your missing images and open this tool. From there you can pick an photo from your library in the top half, then point to the file’s actual location in the bottom half. If you don’t see the bottom half, click the Show Reconnect Options button at the bottom. Once you have a match, the Reconnect All button will light up; click that and it’ll reconnect everything in the same path. [screenshot]

-Joseph @ApertureExpert

Arnie,

You can’t post screenshots here, unfortunately. But what I do is post screenshots using Jing and they do have a free service. Worth signing up for stuff like this :)

Anyway, I’d like to see a screenshot, even if you have to email it to me. I don’t follow what is happening. You said “Relocate Reference” but as far as I can tell, you do actually mean Relocate Masters—the original photo is called a “master” whether it’s Referenced or Managed, and the Locate Referenced Files command is the tool to use when you have broken links. You’re getting the curved-arrow with the red line through it, right? (see this old post on what the icons mean… Badges. Or, “What Are All Those Funny Icons, Anyway?”)

-Joseph @ApertureExpert

Arnie,

Aha! Now I see…

The reason you can’t point to the new location is because you’re trying to do it with the hard drive attached, and therefore Aperture sees the files, and doesn’t think anything is wrong.

Disconnect the external hard drive, so that Aperture shows your images as offline—the curved arrow with the red line through it.

NOW when you open the Locate Referenced Files command, it will show the images as offline. Select one of the photos in the top half of the Referenced Files window, and find its match in the folder you copied them to. Click Reconnect All and you should be good to go.

-Joseph @ApertureExpert