Create and delete Light Table albums

To view photos in the Light Table, you first create a Light Table album. You can create a new, empty album and drag photos into it, or you can select photos in a project and create a Light Table album to hold them.

If you no longer need a Light Table album, you can delete it. If you’ve transferred photos from the Light Table album to other projects or albums, the photos in the other projects and albums remain unchanged, even though the Light Table versions are gone.

Create a new, empty Light Table album

  1. In the Library inspector, select the project or folder where you want the new Light Table album to appear.

    If you want the Light Table to appear in the Light Tables section of the Library inspector, select Projects.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Choose File > New > Light Table.

    • Control-click the item in the Library inspector, and choose New > Light Table from the shortcut menu.

    • Choose Light Table from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.

      Figure. Items in the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.
  3. In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the Light Table album, and make sure the “Add selected items to new light table” checkbox is not selected.

    Figure. Dialog showing "Add selected items to new light table" checkbox unselected.
  4. Click OK.

The new, empty Light Table album appears in the Library inspector. You can drag photos into the new Light Table album from any item in the Library inspector.

Create a Light Table album that holds a selection of photos

  1. In the Browser, select the photos you want in the Light Table album.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Choose File > New > Light Table.

    • Control-click the selected item in the Library inspector, and choose New > Light Table from the shortcut menu.

    • Choose Light Table from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.

      Figure. Items in the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.
  3. In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the Light Table album and select the “Add selected items to new light table” checkbox.

    Figure. Dialog showing "Add selected items to new light table" checkbox selected.
  4. Click OK.

The new Light Table album containing your photo selection appears in the Library inspector. If you wish, you can drag additional photos from the Browser to the Light Table album in the Library inspector.

Delete a Light Table album

  1. Select the Light Table album in the Library inspector.

  2. Choose File > Delete Light Table (or press Command-Delete).

The deleted Light Table album is placed in the Aperture Trash. For more information, see Work with the Aperture Trash.