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Lost Originals: Can't Adjust or Export #1
Michael Garozzo's picture
by Michael Garozzo
October 12, 2012 - 11:01pm

I have over 9000 photos going back better than 10 years. All Aperature 3.4.1 original photos are gone. I cannot export or adjust any photos.

I have tried the “First Aid” for Aperature, I have done the search with spotlight. Nothing. I have been backing up to vault and Time Machine.

The vault is no good. Time Machine will reinstall but I have to go back to previous version and it still comes up that the originals are gone.

HELP. PLEASE.

Mike
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
October 16, 2012 - 4:00am

Michael,

Can you please confirm that this was a MANAGED Library, and not a REFERENCED library?

-Joseph

@PhotoJoseph
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PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
October 16, 2012 - 4:01am

Also assuming it was Managed… how big was the Library before this happened, if you know, and how big is it now?

@PhotoJoseph
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Michael Garozzo's picture
by Michael Garozzo
October 16, 2012 - 9:20am

I have a list of 144 projects that are shown on the list. I believe that the total photos are just shy of 9000.
What I did find was a file listed as ‘Aperture vault’ that shows iphoto files that I had imported to Aperture with original and edited photos. I don’t see any Aperture vaults with just Aperture photos. Even with the iPhoto files the program does not recognize the original photos and will not let me adjust the pictures or export them without the
originals. I am in the process of moving all the files of photos to an external drive and then move the the ‘Aperture Vault’ file to the external drive and using the ‘File–Vault’ restore the ‘library’ to the iPhoto vault file (I don’t understand why, if I have the ability to view the photos, I can’t export them). I was able to drag the files to the desktop and then move them to the external drive.
I tried, using Time Machine, to reboot Aperture. The first thing that happened was that it told me that the photos that I had would not work with the latest version of the Aperture and would need to be updated. I tried that but was still given the warning that there was no original file.
So, for your question, I do not believe that these are referenced libraries but managed ones.

Thanks,
Mike

PhotoJoseph's picture
by PhotoJoseph
October 17, 2012 - 3:19am

Michael,

The entire experience is very confusing, but I think part of it is just terminology.

The reason you could view and drag photos out of Aperture but not edit them is that the Original was missing (the Original is the file from the camera, so if shooting raw a .CR2 if Canon, an .NEF if Nikon, or any other kind of file that comes off the camera), yet Aperture had created a JPEG preview, which is what you saw and dragged out. But you have to have the Original to be able to edit.

You can’t restore a Vault using iPhoto; that’s an Aperture feature, so I’m not sure what you were trying to do there.

Managed libraries means that the Original files are stored inside the Aperture Library, which is the easiest way to work. Referenced libraries mean that the Originals are stored outside the library, which is more flexible but easier to lose things.

My concern is and was that you were working Managed, which should mean it’s impossible to lose your Originals, yet you lost your Originals. This is also why I asked if you knew the size of the library before and after the Originals went missing. If the size was relatively the same (and you are working Managed), then this tells me that the Originals are still in the Library somewhere but somehow disconnected.

As far as getting the message to update, that’s because Aperture needs to update the library as it moves through some updates, and I believe Aperture 3.4.1 triggered a library update on first launch.

So, where are you at now?

@PhotoJoseph
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Krispy777's picture
by Krispy777
April 17, 2014 - 7:03am

I, too have lost all of my photos. I upgraded to Mavericks and now thousands of photos are gone. After the upgrade, there was only a shadow of an Aperture Icon. None of my photos that I have taken from 2010 to 2013 are gone. Can anyone please help me so  I can recover my lost photos  :  (

krispy

Rolf Schmolling's picture
by Rolf Schmolling
April 17, 2014 - 8:49pm

Hi krispy,

I believe we need a bit more information to be able to help you. First of all, there is difference between Aperture – the program – and your photos which are stored in (or catalogued in) a file called Aperture library, usually located in your pictures folder.

When you updated to Mavericks, your version of Aperture might not be any more current and needs to be updated. The “ghosty icon“ you referred to might be an indicator for this. Please select this file of the Aperture program (in the Program folder) and hit command (cmd) “i” for information. You should see which version of Aperture your are/were running. Could be 3.4.1 or smaller. In that case you need to upgrade the program. There are different ways to do this, they can be found on this forum, it all depends if you got your version via AppleStore or via a boxed version or upgraded from a trial version. 

Another thing: what happens when you try to open that Aperture program you have on your hard drive?

Then you should look in your picture folder if you can find a file with the “.aplibrary” file-ending. You might search via spotlight for that ending (select “name”). I bet you can find it there.

If you indeed have version of Aperture which does not work on Mavericks, and update it to the latest, you then would have to update your version of the Aperture library file with your photos to a newer version, usually done by double clicking on the library file icon.

What I mentioned there is a starting point from which we probably will be able to get your photos back. Anyway, please start with the steps I mentioned. 

 

Regards and good luck,

 

Rolf (will not be online tomorrow, perhaps some other more knowledgeable ones can take over)

Krispy777's picture
by Krispy777
April 18, 2014 - 7:32am

I pressed Cmd i and the Aperture Library window opened up. It is version 3.5.1

I used to have 3.2.4 which is the version that I had been using until I lost all of my photos

It does say that it was created June 25, 2010 which is the day I began using Aperture, so it does indicate this. 

Hi Rolf, and thank you for helping me. I really appreciate this

When I try to open Aperture up on my hard drive, it acts as if I am a brand new user. It shows only the handful of pictures I put on it in the last few weeks, and not any of my older photos. (The ones that I lost while using version 3.2.4)

I looked at my picture folder and could not find a file with the “.aplibrary” file-ending

I was wondering if I were to upgrade my Aperture version to the newest version, would that help?

 

 

 

krispy

Rolf Schmolling's picture
by Rolf Schmolling
April 18, 2014 - 11:33am

Hi krispy,

the file you got info on is the Aperture PROGRAM. The photos itself were never kept within the program folder of your hard disk.  Aperture 3.5.1 is the latest version, so we have that already covered. The creation date for the program itself doesn’t signify anything  – which is good because there is still a good chance that your pictures are somewhere.

Let me ask sth. more about your setup (prior to Mavericks): 

  1. You used Aperture and not iPhoto to keep track of your pictures? (I am asking because some people start with iPhoto, move on to Aperture but then never IMPORT them into an Aperture library but work on them instead “referenced” which means they stay where they are, somewhere on your hard disk either in folders or within an iPhoto library) Just on the off chance: please open iPhoto and see if your photos are suddenly there (in the iPhoto library file). [Note: in the latest versions of iPhoto and Aperture the format of the library files are the same]
  2. If that is not the case, did you use Aperture without any modification as to where your pictures are kept: Again I am asking because you can either IMPORT them into Aperture (note I am speaking about the files you got from your camera – the MASTER files – which might later be worked on/processed in Aperture or iPhoto) which we refer to as MANAGED or keep them at some place on your hard disk and then work on them REFERENCED (That’s what it is called)? I mean when getting pictures from your camera, did you import them into Aperture directly or did you store them someplace on your hard disk and then opened them with Aperture? Do you know where you kept your pictures (in the past before Mavericks)? Did you just install Mavericks on top of your system or chose to erase anything in the process by choice?
  3. And – by all means – did you keep any kind of backup of the contents of your hard disk, for example via TimeMachine or a vault from within Aperture or as copy of your hard disk on another (external) drive?
  4. Please look through your hard disk if you might still locate the file where Aperture kept your photos. It could be named anything from “my photos” to “Aperture library” or “Aperture test library”. Perhaps you recall its’ name.  Since at some point in time Aperture was updated to 3.5.1 the format of the library files are not compatible without some modification which might prevent Aperture from opening that file automatically when starting Aperture. if you can find the – former – library file by double clicking Aperture 3.5.1 will convert it to the current version and everything should be fine.

So much for now – as I wrote I will probably not be much online in the coming days, but I’ll try to sneak a peak.

 

Regards, Rolf

Rolf Schmolling's picture
by Rolf Schmolling
April 18, 2014 - 5:47pm

double post… scratched

Krispy777's picture
by Krispy777
April 21, 2014 - 6:08pm

Hi Rolf, 

I plugged in my camera, Aperture opened up and then uploaded the pictures into Aperture directly.  The only program I have used for the past 2 years is Aperture. I had used iPhoto prior to 2012.  Aperture is where I managed most of my pictures.  

I upgraded to Mavericks on top of my system.

I was under the assumption that either Time Machine or iCloud had backed up my pics. I was wrong. 

I am going to follow your advice and look for the lost photos, Thank you so much for your help. I will let you know if it works.

 

krispy

Rolf Schmolling's picture
by Rolf Schmolling
April 21, 2014 - 10:26pm

Hi krispy,

thanks for your message. Well one thing covered at least (it’s not iPhoto). My current best guess is that since you were using an old version of Aperture prior to your upgrade to Mavericks, maybe that old version was not running on Mavericks and upgraded after Mavericks. If you used the “App Store“ version, this might have happened without much notice (among the many updates necessary to get a running system after Mavericks). You could open App Store and check under “Updates“ what’s listed. But that would cover only the last 30 days… Anyway the point I’d like to make is this: Any older version of Aperture used a library file in a different file format than the last, current version which you are now using. That would mean the usual library file you used – the standard file opened, when you open Aperture would NOT be compatible and thus would not be opened automatically! Any older Aperture library file would need to be updated to the new file format via double-clicking on the file, which opens a dialog offering exactly that update-process. 

9000 pictures are a lot of MB (GB I believe) so any truly large file should stand out on your hard disk, even when – for whatever reason – the file was not residing at standard position in your pictures folder. I do not know if that file (its’ icon) would look any different. The current version looks like this, anyway:

 

so much for now, good luck!

 

Rolf

Krispy777's picture
by Krispy777
April 22, 2014 - 7:08am

Thank You so much for your help, Rolf, I am so happy. My pictures are all back. I noticed that I could update Aperture to the most current version, as you suggested. The most current version happened to be 3.3. When I did, all my pictures returned

krispy

Rolf Schmolling's picture
by Rolf Schmolling
April 22, 2014 - 4:17pm

Hi krispy, 

great news! I am happy for you. Now some things to cover:

Backup BACKUP backup

Do you have TimeMachine (a separate  drive with TimeMachine backing put to)? If yes, force it to update (“backup now”) now! Just to be on the safe side.

Open Time Machine from the dock and navigate to the folder where your library file is kept [That REALLY is sth. you need to check, a lot of the problems you had came from not to be sure there were your images somewhere. So check where Aperture keeps your library!]. Check its’ modified date to be sure that you have a current copy of your images!

If you have another (external) drive besides the volume used by TimeMachine: copy your Aperture library file to an external hard disk. Update it frequently. I believe the vault function from within Aperture is less of use because it’s essentially a copy of your library with another ending. Saving to and updating vaults is slow. You might sync a folder with your Aperture library in it to one on that external drive and keep them in sync with sth.- like ChronoSync. After the initial save further sync is quite fast. Sth. to look out for: you ned at least as much EXTRA free space on that external volume than the size of the Aperture library, otherwise the sync might fail.

Yet another essential thing is to clone your internal hard drive to another external drive as bootable backup. I use SuperDuper for this. After the initial clone the process gets speeded up a lot via the “smart update” function.

Did I mention the word backup?!  Keep them, preferably several, at least one off site away from your home!

Best regards,

Rolf

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