After you import referenced images, you can identify them in the Browser by turning on referenced image badge overlays. Referenced images appear with badges that show whether their originals are currently online (available) or offline (unavailable).

1. Choose Aperture > Preferences, or press Command-Comma (,).

2. In the Preferences window, click Appearance and select the “Badge referenced items” checkbox.

When working with a selection of photos in the Browser, you may need to determine which photos have originals that reside in the Aperture library and which are referenced images whose originals are located elsewhere on your hard disks. You can select a group of photos in the Browser and show a list of the referenced images within the selection, along with their locations.

1. In the Browser, select a group of photos.

2. Choose File > Locate Referenced Files.

   The Referenced Files In Selection dialog appears.

   

At times, you may need to quickly find a referenced image’s original on your hard disk to copy or move it, attach it to an email, or otherwise work with it outside of Aperture. You can select a photo in the Browser and display the location of the photo’s original in the Finder.

1. Select a referenced image in the Browser.

2. Choose File > Show in Finder.

A Finder window appears, displaying the file path for the referenced original.

If you disconnected a hard disk drive that holds referenced image’s originals, you can reconnect the drive to your computer, and Aperture automatically reconnects the originals.

If a photo is offline or modified in some way that makes it unrecognizable as the original referenced image, you can still select it and have Aperture reconnect the original.

1. Reconnect the hard disk drive holding the referenced originals, or otherwise locate or make the files available to Aperture for reconnecting.

2. Select the project that contains the offline photos you want to reconnect, or select the offline photos in the Browser.

3. Choose File > Locate Referenced Files.

4. If necessary, click the Show Reconnect Options button.

   

5. At the top of the dialog, select the file path for the original that you want to reconnect.

   A thumbnail of the photo and some identifying metadata appear.

6. In the bottom half of the dialog, navigate to the location of the referenced image’s original on the hard disk and select the original.

   You can follow the file path listed for a selected photo in the top of the dialog.

   When you select the file, a thumbnail of the photo and metadata appear, allowing you to compare them to the thumbnail and metadata in the upper part of the dialog to make sure you’ve selected the correct file.

7. Click Reconnect to reconnect a specific photo, or click Reconnect All to reconnect all selected photos.

You can easily move referenced originals to new locations on the same hard disk or a different hard disk.

1. In the Browser, select the referenced images whose originals you want to move.

2. Choose File > Relocate Originals.

3. Select a folder location in the dialog that appears.

4. To specify that the files be stored as separate, individual files in the selected folder, choose None from the Subfolders pop-up menu.

   You can also specify that Aperture create a hierarchy of subfolders with specific folder names to store your files. For more information about creating folders to hold your imported image files, see Import originals for referenced images into folders.

5. To specify how you want the originals named, choose a naming convention from the Name Format pop-up menu.

   For example, choose Original File Name from the Name Format pop-up menu to have your files stored using the original filenames from your camera or card. Choose a custom name format to have your originals stored using a specified name. If you choose a custom name format, enter the name you want in the Custom Name field. For more information about naming files, see Automatically name imported photos.

6. Click Relocate Originals.

If you have originals stored in different hard disk locations but want to work with them all stored in the Aperture library, you can select the referenced images in the Browser and move their originals to the library. Aperture manages all aspects of originals stored in the library, keeping them always available and allowing you to back them up in your vaults.

1. In the Browser, select the referenced images whose originals you want to move to the library.

2. Choose File > Consolidate Originals.

3. Choose whether you want the image files moved or copied into the Aperture library by clicking the “Move files” or “Copy files” button.

4. Click Continue.

You can search for photos using their file status. For example, you can search for photos that are referenced images, managed images, and online or offline images.

1. In the Library inspector, select an item you want to search.

2. Show the Filter HUD by doing one of the following:

   • Choose Edit > Find (or press Command-F).

   • Click the Filter HUD button beside the search field in the Browser.

3. In the Filter HUD, choose File Status from the Add Rule pop-up menu in the top-right corner, and select the “File status” checkbox.

4. Deselect any checkboxes that aren’t part of your query, and choose a file status from the “File status” pop-up menu.

   

5. Choose Any from the pop-up menu in the top-left corner.

The photos that match the search criteria appear in the Browser.