Matching RAW Files to JPEG Pairs in Aperture 3

Matching RAW Files to JPEG Pairs in Aperture 3: "

One of the reason a photographer may want to shoot RAW + JPEG is so they can quickly send low resolution files first and them import only the matching RAW images will use. This technique can speed up an initial workflow and also save massive amounts hard drive space.

For instance, I have a friend who is a team photographer for a professional sports team. He’ll shoot RAW+JPEG and import only the JPEG files. He’ll make a quick edit and send those JPEGS to the online guy so they can be posted as the game progresses. This speeds up the import, export and uploading, but the RAW files are still on the card. Then, when he gets back to the office, he’ll go through the edit more carefully, and re-import the RAW images so they match the JPEG files in his take. He’ll only import the keepers.

At the end of the day, he’ll have ALL the jpegs he shot, and the only the RAW files that match his best images. This way if he’ll aways have every frame he shoots in form of a high resolution JPEG but the entire take will only use up a few gigs of hard drive space compared to 10 to 30 gigs if they were all RAW.

Import only the JPEG files off the card

First select the RAW+JPEG Pairs Import Setting in the Import window.

This will allow you to import only the JPEG files off the card.

Rate your images and filter out the selects

This can work many ways, but in this case I’ve rated five out of the 19 images with a one star. Since I want to match the RAW files with the one star JPEG files I’ll filter set the search window to show only one star images. Of course, you are free to match pairs using any filter you like. Perhaps you’ve color coded images, or want to match only the images shot with your 400/2.8 lens. Any search criteria will work. It’s up to you devise a workflow that makes sense for your needs.

Select Matching RAW files

At this point you’ll leave the filtered images showing in your Browser and go to the Import Window. Next, select "Matching RAW files" from the drop down menu in the "RAW+JPEG Pairs Import Setting. You should only see the one star rated images in the Import Window.

When you do this a second drop down menu will appear. It gives you the choice of "All matching files", "Unrated or better" and "Current filter". It’s self explanatory here, but in this workflow, since we only want to match the RAW files to the one start rated JPEGS, we will select "Current filter". This will import only the RAW files that correspond to the one start rated JPEG images. Click the Import Checked button.

After the import, you should see a badge with the letter "J". That means the JPEG has a corresponding matched RAW filed paired to it. This is what we want.
BONUS TIP: If you want to see the RAW instead of the JPEG, Option (Right) Click the image and select "Set RAW as Master"

WARNING: You can NOT match the RAW pairs if you have renamed the Master file names. If you only rename the version as long as it’s not applied to the Master.

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