Ok, I am finally getting organized (I hope) and I have purchased a 2T external and transferred all my projects into it. I also cleaned it up and made sure everything is named and where I can find it.
My question is: when I go to the external and left double-click on a project, I am asked if I want to “import” the project to Aperture or “switch” to that project. I noticed that importing takes awhile, and simply clicking on switch happens almost immediately.
My other question is about vaults. I created a vault in the hopes of having backups to my library in two different places in case of a hardware failure. When I try to “restore” a vault, I am asked where the vault is. One of the choices is my external, however when I try to click on a project in it, the titles are grey and I cannot select them. I guess what I am asking is, where is the vault? Thanks so much. I know these are dumb questions, but I a rookie.
James,
Aperture allows you to have multiple Libraries, and switch between them at will. The file you’re double-clicking on in the Finder is an Aperture Library (the Projects are the little yellow boxes you see once Aperture is running… [screenshot].
If Aperture is already running and you double-click on a different Library than the one currently open, then yes, Aperture will allow you to switch to it or to import it. If you import it, then you will have just copied all the contents of that Library into the one that’s currently running. Unless this is your intention, then you want to Switch projects.
For the Vault problem, it sounds like you may be clicking on a Library, not on a Vault. Are you sure you’re selecting the right thing? If your Vault is currently connected (as it should be) then you would select it from a drop-down list [screenshot]
If not, then you would select it in the Finder, and the Vault files look like this: [screenshot]
Hope that helps,
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
— Have you signed up for the mailing list?
Thanks Joseph. This is starting to make sense now. It sounds like everything I have listed in the external drive are Libraries, not simply projects. It makes sense that I could “switch” from the library in use to the one on the external. As for the Vault, I did find the vault finder icon and clicked on it. There seems to a problem in that the library to be “restored” was created by an older version of Aperture (v 2.0) and when I tell it to “import”, I get a message that some needed data is missing. I’m not too worried about the vault thing, since I’m pretty sure I will just use the external anyway. I was worried about using up too much of my iMac’s HD with RAW files, masters and versions.
It is odd, however, that when I click on the small square and the areas where the vaults would be listed, the areas are blank. My only choices on the wheel are “restore Library” or “add vault.” Update vault or update vault path or remove vault are all greyed out. I’m thinking maybe I should “create a vault” and see if I can add to it.
James,
Let’s make sure you understand what a Vault actually is. It’s a backup system—that’s it. Not meant for storage, per-se, but a one-click backup of your Aperture library. Read all about it here Aperture 3 Vaults; What’s Backed Up, and What Isn’t?
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
— Have you signed up for the mailing list?