Please help me manage A LOT of photos.

[smithrh]

Learning curve is fine, but the program is simply not stable enough to handle a very large library. If I could get it to work even once, I could back up the library. And if it has this many issues with smaller photos, no way I want to try with my RAW libraries.

It's simply a consumer product, and not designed for serious use with large amounts of data. Not sure what us then, hmmmm. Putting that much data in one library is probably too much for any program.

I think that I will create smaller libraries by year and see if it can handle smaller chunks of data.

It is most certainly not a consumer product.

But let's get to the topic at hand. Yes, it's a bear to import huge chunks of data all at once.

So, don't.

Take a substantial but not staggering amount of photos, and import them.

Then quit Aperture.

Then re-launch it, and import some more.

I suspect you're running into the same problem I did - Aperture grabs a lot of RAM during import, and if you're importing huge swathes of photos, you'll wind up in trouble. Quitting Aperture will free up the RAM, and you'll be able to import more photos.

Again - I have a near 1M photo library in Aperture - so it can be done.

 

[pinchvalve]

Sure it is

By consumer product, I simply mean that it is for you and me, Joe Consumer. A professional-grade program would run on workstations and handle multi-terabyte libraries, and would have no issue with my collection. What they use over at ILM or Pixar!

The program is designed to import photos as you take them, not 10 years worth all at once. So that is what I am going to try next. I'll keep the thread updated for future reference.

 

[pinchvalve]

User Error

Oh, and I am trying to correcting the user error. File>Import doesn't leave much room for user error, but I am reading the E-Books first just in case.

 

[flynz4]

My A3 library is 400GB... and it handles it with ease. Full SSD... but it also works great (almost as good as my SSD) if I run it from my Thunderbolt Pegasus R4.

For all practical purposes, everything is instantaneous.

/Jim

 

[pinchvalve]

400gb

Mine is 450GB and the other is 600GB. (MacBookPro, Thundbolt) Taking it year by year seems to be working much better.

 

[smithrh]

File>Import doesn't leave much room for user error, but I am reading the E-Books first just in case.

It sounds like you're making progress, which is great - but I have to respond to the comment above.

I know it may feel like "File>Import" is just "File>Import" but it is not.

There are *many* settings to consider that play a role in importation.

As just one example, are you generating Previews? What quality are those previews?

What impact will low-quality settings have on your database size, and on your viewing of images?

Are you importing images into the library, or keeping them where they are?

What about the plethora of options in the Import window? Yes, potentially confusingly enough, File>Import is not exactly the same action as hitting the down arrow "Import" icon.

 

[pinchvalve]

Exactly.

That's why I am reading the books now, to optimize what I can within the limitation of my setup and use and comfort level.

 

[flynz4]

That's why I am reading the books now, to optimize what I can within the limitation of my setup and use and comfort level.

I assume that you are reading Boyer's books. I love his "very opinionated" style. Rather than just going through "this button performs X"... he talks about rationale and reason on why to do things certain ways.

Once you "get it" from the books... the videos on ApertureExport can help a lot too. You get to see it in action.

/Jim

 

[2012Tony2012]

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