File management in Aperture (or anywhere, really) is one of those boring, dry subjects that you probably would've fallen asleep during the lecture for if Aperture were taught in University. As it turns out of course, it's a lesson that you really should have paid attention to in school, and now that you're deep in the throws of your comfortable "one day I'll take the time to make it better" workflow, you just can't bother to change it. Even thought you know you should. So let's make today your "one day". 

Of course if you're reading this and you're relatively new to Aperture, then you're in luck… getting off to a well planned and organized start is always a better way to fly.

One of the first critical things to understand in Aperture is the difference between a managed and a referenced Library. Without understanding the difference between the two, you may find the rest of the file management structure to be mildly confusing at best… or downright infuriating at worst. So here's a primer on the difference, starting with an explanation of that all-important Master File.

The following is an excerpt from my new eBook, "PhotoJoseph's 10 Tips on File Management in Aperture". For more information on the eBook and where to get it, scroll down to the end of this post.

Master File: This is the original file that came off the camera. It could be a .JPG if you’re shooting JPEG (but you’re not... right?!), a .CR2 (Canon raw file) or .NEF (Nikon raw file) if you’re shooting raw, or even a .TIF or .PSD file if you scanned a print or negative. Whatever it is called, this is the original, sacred, never-to-be-touched file. You can think of this like your negative (if you used to shoot film at least... if not, ignore us old folks). One of the beauties of Aperture is that it treats this file as an “untouchable”, and other than renaming it, almost nothing you do in Aperture will ever make a change to this file (except of course deleting it— so be sure you read those dialogs that say “are you really sure you want to delete this file?” before hitting OK, OK? OK!).

Managed: This is the easiest way to work with Aperture. When you import pictures, you have a choice on where to store the files. The first choice is “In the Aperture Library”. From the Import dialog...

If you select this, Aperture “Manages” the files for you. It brings the photos into the Aperture Library (that’s this thing in the Finder, probably in your Pictures folder), that includes all of your Aperture photos, any changes you’ve made, metadata you’ve added, everything.

If you were to crack it open and poke around, you would find your original master files, each one nestled snug in a folder along with metadata files, thumbnails, previews and more. A word to the wise... don’t. Just leave the Library alone, m’kay?

There are advantages and disadvantages to working this way.

The advantages are, for one, you never have to worry about where your files are. You know where they are, and Aperture knows where they are. It’s impossible to lose them. It’s also really easy to back them up. If you run Time Machine on your Mac, all of your photos are backed up. If you use the File Vault feature in Aperture to make a backup to another drive, all of your photos are backed up again (yes you can do both, and yes I recommend you do).

The big disadvantage of letting Aperture manage your files is that you are limited to the storage space of your single internal hard drive. So if you shoot a LOT of photos, chances are you will eventually run out of space on your internal drive. And you probably moved to Aperture from iPhoto because you do shoot a lot of photos. Once you run out of space, you’ll have to create another Aperture Library on another hard drive, and constantly switch between them. That’s a pain. Also, using up all the space on your internal drive for photos means less space for documents, videos, music, and everything else you store on your Mac. So that’s why Apple added the option to store your files as “referenced” (added in Aperture 1.5, for those keeping score).

Referenced: This means that the actual master files are stored outside of the Aperture Library. This could be absolutely anywhere you want. On the desktop. On an external USB or Firewire hard drive. Across multiple external drives. Even burned onto CD or DVD. (However you do want that external drive to be a fast one, especially with large raw files. I use a Drobo on FW800, and the new Drobo S, with eSata, would be even better.) When you import your photos, the “Store Files” choice includes the ability to choose a new location; just point to where you want them to be stored. And of course again, there are advantages and disadvantages to working this way.

The advantages include the ability to have a virtually unlimited number of photos in your Aperture Library. Since the space-hogging master files can be spread out over multiple drives, the library itself, still stored on the internal drive, stays relatively small, freeing up space on your internal drive for other things. Also it means you can browse the files in the Finder without having to look in Aperture. If you name your Master Files something clever, then you can even know what they are without opening them. It also means that incremental back-ups are much faster. Only the new files themselves have to be backed up, since none of the old files ever change, so just those new files get copied to the backup drive. With a managed library, the entire Aperture library has to be cataloged and potentially re- backed up. I do think that Time Machine does something a bit more clever than just re- backing up the entire Library again, but in my book simplicity is best, and there’s nothing simpler than a pile of raw files in a folder. And finally, there’s plainly something comforting about seeing your original files nicely organized in a folder structure that you can view and understand without any other software involved.

The main disadvantage of working referenced is that your files may not be backed up automatically. Granted if you have an external drive on your Mac for your Master Files, and you have an even bigger drive as your Time Machine backup, then those files can be backed up by Time Machine. But if you end up using multiple drives, it can get more complicated, and you need to be more fastidious about your backup regimen. Also the File Vault backup in Aperture will not backup your Master Files if they live outside of the Library; only the changes (metdata, adjustments) made to those files are backed up. So again, you just have to be aware and understand the implications of your choices. There is also the opportunity for Aperture to “lose” its connection to the Master file. Rare, but it happens.

As a point of comparison; most hobbyists use Managed, most pros use Referenced.

The preceding is one chapter, actually Tip #0 (with 10 more to follow), from my eBook "PhotoJoseph's 10 Tips on File Management in Aperture". I'm offering a 20% discount to the first 100 TWiP listeners to download the eBook using the promo code TWIP20 — to read more about the eBook and to download it, head over to my eBooks page at ApertureExpert.com and be sure to remember your TWIP20 discount code!

Also, in case you're worried that Aperture 3 might be coming soon and render this eBook obsolete, don't worry… I will provide a free update to a revised version of the eBook to anyone who purchases this eBook within 30 days of any announcement from Apple. Got that? If Aperture 3 comes out in the next 30 days, you'll get a free update on this purchase!