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44 Chapter 3 Learning About the Browser
Learning About Masters and Versions
When you import a photo into Aperture, the original file is the master. You never work
directly with or change the master. Instead, Aperture always displays a version of the
master onscreen for you to work with. Any changes or adjustments you make are
applied to the version. A version is not a copy of the master; it’s a smaller file that
derives most of its information from the underlying master. So when you create
multiple versions of a photo, you are not filling up your hard disk with repeated copies
of the larger master.
Although you never work with it directly, the master is associated with the project into
which you first imported it. You can change the location of the master by dragging a
version from one project to another project. The master and all versions of the image
are transferred to the new project destination. At the same time, Aperture keeps
versions of the image wherever they appeared in other albums, so no versions
disappear from albums that you’ve created.
Creating Multiple Versions
Occasionally, you may want to create multiple versions of an image. For example, you
might copy an image to apply different exposure settings or change it for a specific
use, such as for placement in a webpage or print book. When you create a new version,
you have a choice of starting from the original master or from the currently selected
version with any changes you’ve made. For example, if you’ve made adjustments to an
image and now you’d like to start over from the master and make different
adjustments, you can copy the appearance of the master image and start with a fresh,
unchanged version.