Apple Aperture 3.5 - Manual (Page 20)

Chapter 1 Aperture basics 20
What are originals?
Originals are the original digital RAW, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, DNG, PNG, audio, or video files that are
imported into Aperture from digital cameras, memory cards, computers, CDs, DVDs, or storage
devices such as external hard disk drives. Aperture never changes the original, so you always
have originals to work from.
Important: Originals—especially RAW files—tend to be quite large. Projects consisting of several
thousand originals require high-capacity hard disks.
For information about importing originals, see Importing photos overview on page 27.
What are versions?
After you import originals to your hard disk, you can review and make adjustments to your
images. For example, you can change the exposure, contrast, or saturation, or add information to
an image, such as the photographer’s name, the project, and the location. To work with photos,
Aperture creates a version of each original that includes your adjustments and embedded
information, leaving the original unchanged. A version is linked to the original on your hard
disk, but it is not the original itself. Versions store only the thumbnail image, adjustments, and
embedded information. A full image file is not created until you are ready to print or export,
saving valuable hard disk storage.
In many cases, your workflow may call for different renderings of the same photo. For example,
a client may request a color as well as a black-and-white version of the same head shot. You can
create multiple versions of the same photo in Aperture.
Versions
from
Original 1
Original
Versions
from
Original 2
Original
Versions
from
Original 3
Original
1A
1B
1C
1D
Aperture
Library file
Pictures
folder
Computer
3A
3C
3B
1
2
3
2A
2B
When you create a version, Aperture reads the original image file on disk and displays it on the
screen. As you make adjustments or add information to the image, Aperture displays the version
with your changes, but the original image file is never changed.
67% resize factor