Fixed: TIFF image display / import problems

Question

Hello All,
I posted this in the discussion threads where I had previously discussed it with other members. But, felt that it would be good to share with everyone who is importing their photo's into the new iPhoto 6.
I, like many others, have been having a terrible time getting my iPhoto collection imported into the new iPhoto 6 program.
I have tried both the upgrade method (on a backup copy of my original library), and a fresh import of all my files.
Without fail, all of my TIFF images gave me trouble. Some looked like squiggly lines. Some looked like a diagonally distorted image (like you see on old Televisions trying to tune in difficult stations). And, some just plain refused to work.
All of my problem images look fine in the thumbnail (the library view). But, you quickly discover the problem when viewing the full-size image in the "edit" mode.
Some of my TIFF images are 30 megabytes in size, and many of them are smaller files of a more typical size. I found that the smaller files were just as unlikely to work as the larger ones.
And, while converting to JPEG may be an option, I didn't want to lose the depth and detail that TIFF offers (especially on pictures of documents / writing). The original TIFF images will offer greater detail when blown-up than compressed JPG files.
All of these images worked fine in iPhoto 5, and display perfectly fine in every other program. But, iPhoto 6 just refused to display them properly.
Well, I think I found the fix.
Today I downloaded the new iPhoto 6.01 update. But, that didn't fix the problem either. So much for Apple fixing it.
Anyway, I have been experimenting, and finally found a difference between images that worked and those that didn't.
The images that worked, have an ICC profile embedded in them from the device that created the image (in my case my scanner).
So, I set out to find out if simply removing the ICC profile would fix the problem.
And, through my experimenting, I found that if I opened the image in another program, and then exported it as either a TIFF (the same format) or a JPEG that the resulting image would open in iPhoto 6 just fine.
Further examination demonstrated that the ICC information was removed from the exported file.
As I understand it, ICC is basically an image color correction / calibration tag. It enables different devices to properly display and print the image with the proper colors.
Basically, each device has a color profile (scanner, monitor, printer, camera, etc.). This is to make sure that when you see something on the screen that it looks the same as when you print it out. Likewise, you want the image on the screen to match what the scanner and digital camera saw.
So, these are essentially conversion tables to make sure that each device properly displays or prints the image as the original source "saw" it.
Anyway, not wanting to manually strip this information from each file, I looked on the Internet for an automated solution. And, fortunately I found one.
http://www.colormanagement.com/technicalresources/files_targets_and_utilities/mac_os_xscripts/
The file you are looking for is "Mac Os X ColorSync Toolbar Script: Remove ICC profile". Click on the title just mentioned to download the script.
It is a Macintosh Script that you simply download to your desktop (or anywhere else you would prefer). It is in a Stuffit Archive, so you'll need Stuffit Expander to decompress it (basically the Mac equivalent of a ZIP file).
Once decompressed, you should see a "script" icon that is labeled "Remove Profile".
Simply "drag" your original files and drop them onto this icon / script. The script will then remove the embedded ICC information from the image file.
Once you have removed the ICC information from your image's file, try importing it into iPhoto 6 again. Then, see if it works
It is important that you perform this on a backup / duplicate copy of your original files. You don't want to damage your only copy if something goes wrong.
Now, one further note: If you do this, you may see the image looks different. In my case, the image is truer to the way it really looked when I scanned it in. The paper texture looks right now.
If you want to do this while keeping the image's appearance the same as it looks now, then here's another way:
Open the file in Apple's "Preview" program. This is usually the default image view.
Then, do a "Save As" or "Export" to create a new copy of the image. If you perform an Export, be sure to set the image quality high or you may inadvertently reduce your pictures detail (especially if you export to JPEG).
This essentially does the same thing. But, it will take more work if you have multiple images.
Using the previously mentioned script, you should be able to drag and drop multiple files in a group.
Anyway, I hope this helps the rest of you out.
Let me know if it fixes the problem for you as well.

Answer 1

Hello All,
I have an update:
It is definitely not a user account issue. I just completed a fresh install of OS 10.3.9 on my Mac Mini.
I performed a fresh install (on a freshly formatted hard drive partition), and made the installation as bare as could be for the sake of preventing potential problems.
I installed OS 10.3.9, and all the standard items in the usual OS 10.3.9 installation. I specifically left-out all the foreign language stuff, all the online programs (for other ISP providers), and misc. garbage.
I also left off all the iLife programs (every iLife program) that came with the restore disks. I even left-off the original QuickTime installation. My thought here was that I wanted to make sure that there were no problems introduced by upgrading the original iLife Applications to iLife '06.
So, this way, all the iLife '06 programs are installed fresh with no upgrading being performed.
So, I installed this bare OS 10.3.9 installation. Then, installed all the updates that were available. I repaired permissions before and after each update. And, installed all the updates from downloads from Apple's website (Not using Software Update).
After verifying that Software Update could not find any additional updates available, I then installed iLife '06.
This required first installing Quicktime 7.0.4 from the iLife '06 DVD.
After installing QuickTime, I then proceeded to install the iLife '06 package (remember that this is a completely new iLife install - not an upgrade install since I avoided installing the older versions).
Once iLife '06 was installed, I then installed the recent 6.0.1 updates for all the iLife Apps.
Then, I launched the iPhoto program for the first time to see if it would properly import my TIFF images.
Unfortunately, it still displays them as if they are scrambled (like a blocked television / cable channel).
So, with that done, I can confirm that it is not a corrupt file or another program on my system causing the problem. It is definitely a problem with iPhoto 6 / 6.0.1 and OS 10.3.9.
Just thought I would post the update here for others to add to their knowledge-base. Maybe if we rule out potential problems we'll be able to find the actual solution.
Again, this same set of images imports just fine into iPhoto 5 on OS 10.3.9 and 10.4.4. And, it also imports just fine into iPhoto 6.0.1 in OS 10.4.5. So, it is a problem apparently specific to OS versions 10.4.4 and older using iPhoto 6 or 6.0.1.
As mentioned previously, these TIFF images can be made to import fine if I remove the ICC information from the image. So, that may provide some clue as to where the flaw is in the iPhoto 6 / 6.0.1 program.