by Rich
Seiling
One
of the complaints I’ve heard about Apple’s new Aperture
software is the supposed "proprietary database" that
stores the images. The truth is that any of the photographs stored
in your Aperture Library can be accessed without Aperture, if you
know how. Here are two ways:
1.
The quickest way is to do a search for the filename for the photo
you want to access. As you can see here, when I search for DSCF2094.JPG,
it finds the version buried deep in Aperture’s database,
where I can easily access it.
2.
You can also select any Aperture Library, and use control-click
to access a contextual menu, where you can choose Show Package
Contents to navigate through library files.
While
this dispels the myth that your photos are locked away forever,
Aperture’s Libraries are organized in a format that is
less-than-friendly for finder viewing. To solve this new problem,
we need a different solution.
Keep
Two Copies of Your Digital Files
While Aperture offers a nearly complete set of tools to manage,
edit, and correct your digital photographs, you don't have to do
everything with Aperture. That includes where and how you store
your digital images. As you learn the ins-and-outs of the program,
I think it's wise to have two copies of your digital camera files.
The
first copy, which we’ll call the primary archive,
is simply a series of folders containing your files...probably
similar to the way you organize them now. These files can be easily
accessed and navigated through the Mac’s finder, and should
not be modified by any program at any time. They are, in essence,
your digital negatives.
With
Aperture you can import these folders and create a secondary
archive, which you can work on with all of Aperture’s
powerful features, leaving the primary copy untouched.
To
perpetuate this model as you make new photographs, don’t download
your digital files directly into Aperture. Instead, make a new folder
in your primary archive and put them there first. Then import that
folder into Aperture and work away to your heart’s content,
safe in the knowledge that you can go back to your primary archive
at any time, with any software you choose.
Text
© 2005 Rich Seiling, All Rights Reserved. This page may not
be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder.
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