The arrival of Logic 8 has brought many small changes to different functions in Logic. They’ve streamlined the number of available possibilities or ways of doing things in many cases. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But sometimes it is. One thing Apple removed is the ability to set Logic to create a user definable number of automatic backups to the actual Project File created upon invoking the Save command.

 

In Logic 7, it was possible to have it save as many or as few backups as you wanted. In Logic 8, the number is hard fixed at 10. I happen to prefer less. I like to decide for myself when I want to create a backup manually - depending on my workflow and what stage I am at in my project at any given time. There is a simple fix that can allow you to control the number of automatic backups that will be generated by Logic 8.

 

Basically, the functionality is still there in the preferences. It just doesn’t have a GUI control anymore. Happily, it can easily be accessed in the OS X Terminal application. Here’s how you do it:

 

• Open up the Utilities folder - you can access it by using the key combination command shift U in the Finder.

• Within the Utilities folder, launch the app called Terminal

• Once Terminal is open, either type in or copy and paste the following command:

• Substitute the last number with the number of backup files you want Logic 8 to create.

• In my case, I chose 3, but it could be any number you want (not sure if it works over 100)

• Hit Return or Enter, and then close Terminal.

 

And that’s it. We can regain a little bit of control. The redesign of the Logic 8 interface is partly about limitations. And to keep a positive perspective on it - remember - the absence of limitations is the biggest obstacle to creativity.