Apple Aperture Getting Started - Manual (Page 19)

Chapter 1 An Overview of Aperture 19
To help you identify referenced images, Aperture marks referenced images with a
badge overlay that you can display or hide. When a referenced image’s master file is
missing or offline, its badge changes to show that the image is not accessible. For
example, if you disconnect a hard disk that holds master files for many referenced
images, Aperture automatically marks the referenced images in the Browser and Viewer
as offline. If you reconnect the hard disk or other storage device later, Aperture
accesses the master files automatically and you can work with and change their
versions again.
You can also relocate master files, moving them out of the Library or moving referenced
master files to different hard disk locations. If needed, you can also move referenced
master files into the Aperture Library by choosing the Consolidate command.
You can search for images based on whether they are managed images, referenced
images, or online or offline images. Aperture also provides robust file-management
tools that let you quickly determine which images are offline and easily reconnect
images that have been moved to different volumes.
What Is a Vault?
A vault is a container consisting of an exact copy of your Library. This includes your
projects, managed digital master files, and any versions you’ve created. You can easily
create and update a vault to back up your Library. It’s best to store your vaults on
multiple external hard drives connected to your computer, usually via FireWire. A Vault
Status button changes color when your vaults need updating.
You can have as many vaults as you deem necessary. Creating more than one vault is
useful if you work at different locations; you can always keep one vault on a FireWire
drive onsite and another one offsite. All vaults and backup files are tracked by the Library
so that even if you disconnect the external hard drive that contains your vault, Aperture
will synchronize it the next time you reconnect the drive and update your vault.
All the managed master file images, versions, and all metadata, previews, and adjustment
information associated with your images are backed up. The versions, previews, and
metadata associated with referenced images’ master files are also backed up in the vault.
Referenced images’ master files are not backed up in the vault with the Library.