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18 Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture
What Are Managed Images and Referenced Images?
Aperture lets you choose how you organize your photos on disk. You can store your
photos in the Aperture Library, or you can import images by simply linking to the
image files in their current locations, without placing them in the Library.
Images whose digital master files are stored in the Aperture Library are called managed
images. These master files are stored in the Library exactly as they were in previous
versions of Aperture. Aperture manages master image files in the Library, keeping them
always accessible, and provides benefits such as one-click backup of digital master files
to vaults.
Imported images whose digital master files haven’t been placed in the Library are
called referenced images. Using referenced images in your Aperture system can provide
a number of substantial benefits to your photography workflow. You can incorporate
your existing portfolio of images into Aperture without changing the current location
of the files. Importing images by reference does not result in a duplication of your
image files in the Aperture Library, thus saving hard disk space. You can also connect
and disconnect hard disks holding your referenced images’ master files as you need
them. This allows you to keep master files for less-used images offline or to make
specific types of images available for editing or adjustments as needed. Using
referenced images in your Aperture system provides a means of building a flexible
image management system customized to your work style.
You specify that an image will be a managed image or a referenced image when you
import it. When importing images, you can:
 Specify that master files be stored in the Aperture Library.
 Import images as referenced images, so that their master files remain in their
current locations.
 Move or copy image files to a new location. For example, you might decide that a
certain group of referenced image files, such as wedding photos, will always be
placed in one hard disk location, while other groups, such as sports photos, will
reside in a different hard disk location.
You can work with referenced images—creating versions, making adjustments,
cropping, and adding metadata—just as you can with images whose master files are
stored in the Library. Versions that you create from a referenced image are stored in the
Library. In order for you to make adjustments to a version from a referenced image, the
referenced image’s master file must be available on your hard disk or other storage
device. For example, if you delete a referenced image’s master file in the Finder,
Aperture no longer has access to the master file and so no longer allows you to change
your versions or create new ones.