I have a now elderly i-mac and am in process of shifting everything over to a new macbook pro with 256gb SSD, after which I will wipe and dispose of the i-mac. My Aperture Library will not fit on the new laptop so I have purchased a Thunderbolt connectable LaCie “Rugged” 1TB portable drive and need to set that up for use with the laptop which will have Aperture installed on it. The LaCie will only be used with the laptop and aside from the Aperture library is only likely to have a copy of my documents folder on it. I also have an Apple timemachine currently linked to the i-mac and would like to use that for back ups of the laptop. Can someone give me a “walk-through” of how to get this right please? I understand the LaCie needs to first be formatted to Mac-Extended. So the set up needed will be:
Macbook pro: Aperture software/app installed. Photos from SD card to Macbook pro for editing. Once edited, photos transferred to La Cie (Aperture library) but may also need to be reimported to MB-pro for any subsequent adjustments within Aperture
La Cie: to store Aperture library
Time-machine (500gb): to handle scheduled overall back-ups
I’m confused regarding mentions in other posts to masters/referenced files-images, so keep answers as untechnical as possible please……
Many thanks, Dave (dave.butterworth@me.com)
A second thought…..the images/library on the La Cie would, I presume, need to include masters to facilitate further editing if required….
Dave B
If your Aperture library does not fit in your MBP, you quite likely have a managed library–that is, when you imported your photos you chose the destination to be the Aperture Library. Referenced files are stored outside the library.
Start by copying your Aperture Library to your La Cie drive. Your library is likely to be in your Pictures folder.
I don’t see your being able to work with a managed library with such a small drive, unless you work directly from the external drive. That means when ready to work on Aperture you always connect the drive.
Thanks Silvia. At present, everything is stored on the i-mac. It looks as though I need to copy the Library from the i-mac to the LaCie to get my existing photos off the die-ing i-mac, but at present I do not have Aperture on the MBP and I was waiting for some guidance prior to installing Aperture on he MBP. Once Aperture is installed on the MBP I need to use that as the computer for editing purposes, so when I insert a SD card to the MBP, that would (I presume) automatically open Aperture and import files to Aperture on the MBP. I am wondering if I can use a Library on the MBP for import and editing, and once that “project” is ready/completed, move that to the LaCie Library, effectively for storage and to enable re-import to the MBP should I want to make any alterations/further edits. Would that work do you think?
Dave B
Yes, you can import new photos into a Library on the MBP internal drive, then import them into the Library on your LaCie drive. The simplest way to do that is to create a new Library on your internal HD for each import session or event. Import your SD card of images into that Library, do your work there. When done, open the Library on your LaCie drive, and use the File > Import > Library to import the Library from your MBP internal HD into the LaCie drive Library. Once imported into your LaCie drive Library, move the project(s) around in your LaCie Library where you want them. When you are done placing them in your LaCie drive Library, you can delete the Library from your MBP internal HD so you are ready for the next session and you aren’t cluttering up your MBP internal drive with lots of small Libraries.
This is exactly how I work. My wife and I took a 2-week vacation in May 2013 up to New England here in the US. I create a new Library on my MBP internal HD just for the vacation. Each day I imported the day’s images into that Library, worked on them, and prepared for the next day. At the end of the trip I had some 900 images and most of the work was done on them. When we returned home I imported that Library into my Master Library and deleted the MBP Library. While on my trip I had two USB-powered WD My Passport drives. At the end of each night, after I had all my updates done to my MBP Library, I synchronized that to both USB drives so that I had backups with me.
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