Since a recent Aperture update, most of my already imported Pentax PEF RAW files were not displaying in the library. Instead I was getting hundreds of Image Format not Supported icons. I found a suggestion on your site, which was to Reprocess Masters. I found the Reprocess Originals command and tried this. This recovered the photos, but now they all seem to be 8 bit jpegs, and there is no sign of the original RAW files. Are they buried somewhere in the Library? By the way, I am running Aperture version 3.4.5 on a 2011 MacBook Pro with OS 10.8.4 .
Michael,
How are you determining the format of the recovered photos? Are you using the info tab in Aperture?
Also make sure to reboot your computer if you’re having trouble with a RAW update. Although a reboot is not required when installing an update, sometimes you need to do it to fix a system glitch.
Thomas
“How are you determining the format of the recovered photos? Are you using the info tab in Aperture?
Also make sure to reboot your computer if you’re having trouble with a RAW update. Although a reboot is not required when installing an update, sometimes you need to do it to fix a system glitch.”
Yes, I am using the info tab, and it’s indicating jpeg. Do you think the RAW update was the problem, and not the Aperture update? Should I re-download the RAW update? The latest RAW update does not include my camera—Pentax K5. By the way, I have tried repairing permissions and repairing the database already: no help. Thanks Michael
I can’t imagine how RAW files would get converted to JPEGs inside the library by Aperture alone although there is an Applescript available on this site that will do that.
You could try reinstalling the RAW update manually but it doesn’t seem likely that will change JPEGs back to RAWs.
Is your library managed or referenced? If managed, you could try locating the originals inside the library if you know how to open the package from the Finder - but don’t ever change anything in the package. All you should do is copy the originals back out if you find them. I forgot the structure but there should be an originals folder with other folders inside named by date of import with even more folders named with random characters. If your library is referenced, you should already know where the originals are.
Thomas
Hello Thomas. Thanks for your reply. I don’t know whether my library is managed or referenced: neither if that is something I would have to actively set up. I don’t know how to open the library package.
I can now confirm that my library is managed, though I am going to consider changing that to referenced. I am surprised by all this, as one of the benefits of Aperture was supposed to be the fact that original files remain intact!
New information: I have just had a 30 minute session with an Applecare Aperture specialist, and we have figured out that it must have been a routine I ran on Clean My Mac 2. Somehow it must have deleted the RAW files. But where the 5-10 MB jpegs came from I don’t know, as I wasn’t shooting RAW+jpeg. Bit of a mystery. I have managed to reimport 98% of the files from a backup, and only lost the last 10 day’s worth of raw files (but still have jpegs), so all is by no means lost. Thanks again for your help.