Subtitles of the Movie

In this movie, I'm going to talk about using referenced versus Managed Files. We're going to talk about bringing images into Aperture; technically importing them. What I'm talking about here in the most general sense is giving Aperture access to the image files so that you can view them and modify them in Aperture. Before you import your files, you need to think through whether you want to bring your images into Aperture as managed or Referenced Files. Each approach has some advantages and disadvantages and you'll need to decide which works best for you. When you import images as Managed Files, Aperture copies the files into the Aperture Library. The raw files are kept in a special bundle that you don't normally directly access. Instead, you use Aperture to see the images. Aperture, in essence, manages them; thus they're called Managed Files. It keeps them in one central location, along with any additional versions of the images that you create and all the metadata and adjustments that you add. The Vault will back up all the images with a single click so you don't have to remember to create separate backups of your images. In addition, as you edit your projects and delete some images, the images are deleted from the Vault as well when you backup the Vault. I'm going to show you how Managed Files are stored in the Library. I'll go to Pictures Folder and then I'm going to right click on my Aperture Library and choose Show Package Contents. You'll see a list appears with all the different Projects in it. I'll right click again on one of the Projects and choose Show Package Contents. Now you'll see Folders appear. Click on the Folder and more Folders appear. This time one for each image. I'll click again and here is my raw file. So your raw file still exists in its pure form but it's just hard to get to it without going through Aperture. If you opt for Reference Files, Aperture will store the files wherever you choose. It just accesses them wherever they are currently located, such as in a Folder, on your computer or on an external hard drive. When using Reference Files, you need to think through whether you need Aperture to make another copy of them or move them to a different location or use them in the current location. An advantage of Referenced Files is that you can access the files directly from other programs, including the raw files. So that if you find you sometimes want to use another program on your images, you don't have to be bothered exporting the files from Aperture first. For example, if you're shooting a series of shots to create panoramas or exposure composites, you may prefer to access those files directly use Bridge and Photoshop rather than having to export all the files or having Aperture send converted files of each image to Photoshop to use for the composite. With an occasional composite or panorama, Managed Files aren't an issue, but with an entire series of them, you're likely to prefer Referenced Files. In order to edit or optimize your Referenced Files, the master files must be available. So if they're stored on an external drive that's not connected, you'll be able to see the image previews, but you won't be able to make any changes to them. Notice how now my adjustments are grayed out. A disadvantage of Referenced Files is that you must remember to back them up yourself. The Vault does not backup Referenced Files; however, a disadvantage of Managed Files is that their Library can easily become huge if you shoot a large number of images. With Referenced Files, the information about your edits and the changes you make to the files are stored within the Library. So if you access those images directly using a different program and bypassing Aperture, you won't see any of the changes you made in Aperture. To see the changes you made in Aperture, you'd have to export a version or open the external editor using Aperture. Aperture places a badge on all your Referenced Files. When the referenced file is connected, you see this badge. When the referenced file is on a drive that is not currently available, you will see the badge with a red slash through it. If you want to find out where the image is located, you can go to File, Show in Finder and it will tell you where the image is stored. If the image is connected, it will show you directly the path to the image. Aperture 2 now stores all versions that you've edited with an external editor, such as Photoshop or one of the new plug-ins with a master itself so that when you use Referenced Files, those versions are stored wherever the master file is located. With Managed Files, they're stored within the Aperture Library. For many people it seems best to import the images initially as Managed Files. Then later, after the project is edited, you can have Aperture move the files to a backup drive using the Move Command and then that will change them to Referenced Files. For many people it seems best to import the images initially as Managed Files and later, after the project is edited, you can opt to have Aperture move the files to a backup drive, Drobo or RAID system which changes them to Referenced Files. To do that you'll use the File, Relocate Masters Command. You don't want to ever just drag the masters to a different location because then they'll be disconnected. We'll talk more about how to do that in a later movie. For now, you make the choice as to whether you want to import your files as Managed Files or Referenced Files.