How to back up a Logic Pro project with all its audio files
Choose File > Project Management > Consolidate, tick every asset type, then use File > Save a Copy As to write the backup. Consolidate copies everything the project uses from outside it (audio files, Sampler, Alchemy and Ultrabeat audio, Space Designer impulse responses, video and Sound Library content such as Apple Loops) into the project. Save a Copy As then writes a second, complete project with your recordings and those assets, while you keep working on the original. That copy opens on another Mac with nothing missing.
Package or folder
Logic saves a project in one of two shapes, chosen under File > Save As with Organize my project as:
- Package: one
.logicxfile that holds the project and the assets you chose to copy. Easiest to move and back up. - Folder: a project folder with the project file and subfolders for audio files, impulse responses, sample instruments and samples.
Either way, assets are only inside the project if the matching boxes are ticked. Check them in File > Project Settings > Assets: Copy audio files into project, Copy Sampler audio files, Copy Alchemy audio files, Copy Ultrabeat audio files, Copy Space Designer impulse responses, Copy movie file and Copy Logic Pro Library content. Apple's advice is to save all assets with the project.
Version a project and roll back
Logic keeps two kinds of history inside the project:
- Backups. Every File > Save (Cmd+S) stores a backup of the current alternative, up to ten per alternative. File > Revert to lists them newest first.
- Alternatives. File > Project Alternatives > New Alternative saves a named snapshot (a different arrangement, the radio edit, mix B) that shares the project's assets. Switch between them from the same menu.
Logic also autosaves and offers the autosaved version when it reopens after a crash. For a version you never want to lose, Save a Copy As with a new name.
Send a Logic project to a collaborator
Consolidate, then send the package (or zip the project folder). Logic projects open only in Logic, so a collaborator on another DAW needs stems instead. Third-party Audio Units are not included; the other Mac needs the same plugins, and a newer Logic version may be needed to open a project saved in a newer release.
Export stems for mixing or mastering
- Choose File > Export > All Tracks as Audio Files. Logic writes one file per audio, software instrument and Drummer track.
- Pick the format and bit depth (WAV, 24-bit is the usual handoff).
- Set the options for a mix engineer: leave Bypass Effect Plug-ins off if your sound design lives in the plugins, turn Include Audio Tail on so reverbs and delays ring out, and set Normalize to Off so levels stay as you mixed them.
- Decide on Include Volume/Pan Automation. Apple notes that exporting without it is generally better when the files are going to another app for mixing.
To export only some tracks, select them and choose File > Export > Track as Audio File (the menu shows how many tracks are selected).
Doing it in Aden
Aden's desktop app syncs Logic projects. Logic's project format is not documented, so Aden reads less of it than it does for FL Studio, Ableton Live or REAPER.
- Your projects, listed. The desktop app finds
.logicxprojects on your Mac and lists them on Home. A package is a folder that Finder shows as one file; Aden treats it as one project. - Sync the project to a track (Max plan). Every save is pushed, file by file inside the package, so a small change does not re-upload all your audio. A collaborator clicks Pull for the latest; a pull never overwrites their local edits, it saves the incoming file as a versioned copy beside theirs. Every synced file keeps its version history, downloadable from the track's Project files page. Logic's own
Project File Backupsstay on your Mac and are not uploaded; Aden's history replaces them for the copy you share. - A check before you send. Send as a transfer zips the project into a link that expires in 30 days, and tells you to copy your audio into the project first when it holds little more than the project file.
- What the web shows. The Project files page reads the tempo, key, time signature, track count and the files in the project. It does not show the tracks themselves or play the arrangement; it plays the bounce instead: the version you linked to the project, or the track's final version.
- Record over the bounce. Press Record to sing over that bounce in the browser. Each take is saved as a 24-bit WAV in an
Aden Takes/folder in the project, named by the bar it starts on, ready to drag into Logic. - Feedback on the bounce. Bounce the mix and the desktop app notices it: named after a track you have, it offers it as that track's next version. Send a share link and people comment at a timestamp or on a section of the waveform, with no Aden account needed on a link with comments turned on. Send for review asks them to approve it or request changes, and Compare flips between two mixes at the same playhead.
- Stems on a version. Upload the exported tracks to the version's Stems tab to play them together under the mix.
- Aden inside Logic. The desktop app installs Aden as an Audio Unit. Load it on the Stereo Out to see the track's notes, lyrics and session without leaving Logic.
Sources: Logic Pro User Guide, Save projects, Consolidate project assets, Assets project settings, Use project alternatives and backups, Export tracks as audio files. See also how other DAWs version projects.
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