Operation Manual

The basic components of Aperture, including libraries, projects, albums, and versions,

provide the building blocks for working in a nondestructive environment.

This chapter explains basic elements in Aperture and describes how to set up and use

projects to hold your images.

This chapter covers the following:

• Basic Components of Aperture (p. 113)

• Working with the Library Inspector (p. 121)

• Working with Library Files (p. 131)

• Working in Projects View (p. 136)

Basic Components of Aperture

Aperture uses the following basic components in your image management system:

• Masters: The original image files imported from your digital camera, memory card,

computer, or external storage media.

• Versions: Files derived from the masters and used to display your images with any

changes you’ve made, including image adjustments or changes to metadata.

• Projects: The basic containers used in Aperture to organize images by shoot. Projects

can hold versions, folders, and albums.

• Albums: Containers that hold versions. You can create albums to organize images within

projects or outside of them.

• Folders: Containers used to organize projects and albums.

• Library: The Aperture database that records and tracks your masters and all

corresponding versions. You can also create multiple Aperture library files in different

locations. The library tracks all the information about the projects, folders, and albums

you create to organize your images.

113

Working with the Aperture Library