Aperture’s interface isn’t the easiest thing to get used to for a new user, though through time it becomes easier to navigate without thinking twice about an action. With my Aperture workflow, I’ve tried to adapt the same thing to how I manage my projects and albums.
I like to know where photos are, and not have to think too much when importing. The best way for me to do this is to use a Month/Year organization structure. I have Aperture setup with folders labeling years, which hold individual projects for each months shooting (this is perfect as long as you dont exceed 10,000 shutter clicks in any given month):
2006
– January
– February
– March
– Etc2007
– January
– February
– March
– Etc
For me this is the easiest way to make importing images a quick and swift task. I don’t need to try and relate images to a specific project, which is handy if you shoot as a hobby and nothing is strictly defined as a “project”.
I also have many Smart Folders setup for quick access to images tagged with different meta-data. Some of these are:
Camera
– Canon 350D
– Sony S600Lens
– 18-55
– 70-300Best Of
– 2006
– 2007
– Etc
Smart Folders save me a vast amount of time in post production and allow me to move onto other tasks much more quickly. I love the integration of Smart Folders throughout OSX – and how most applications use them in similar yet highly helpful ways.
How do you manage your images/projects inside Aperture or iPhoto?