Import
The design goal for Aspects import is to be quick, easy and as undisturbing as possible.
Import means that Aspect gets to know those images. It will read the photos metadata and create small preview images so you can browse your photos much faster. Additionally Aspect can organize your photos within its library folder based on the folder scheme you set when you created the library. You can adjust the folder location and storing scheme inside the settings dialog.
Import takes place within the file browser section of Aspect. The import window is a dialog that slides in from the top. The basic layout of this dialog is a list of thumbnails that allows you to select the images you want to import. The right side is the place to select from where and with which options you want to import the selected photos. In the bottom you can start the import or cancel the process.
Photos can either be imported directly into the photo stream, or you can set up an automatic import that continuously imports new photos from the selected folder.
By design Aspect requires that photos and your Aspect library need to be on the same harddisk/device. If you have your photos on an external harddisk you will need to create a library on that external harddisk. The chapter Create Library explains how to do this. In a future version of Aspect this will be handled automatically.
In comparison to other photo organization software Aspect uses the file system as its storage model. When you import a folder Aspect will place a file called event.sdl into this folder. This event.sdl links this folder to a specific Aspect library. If you plan to import a folder of already imported photos into a different library you need to remove the event.sdl manually. A photos folder can only be connected to one library.