Iphoto can´t find my photos, is creating a new library the only solution?

Ok, I am having a hard time understanding iPhoto and its libaries. There are two parts of my question;
1.
I imported all my photos which I had on an external hard drive. I then changed my mind and copied them to the harddrive, and also kept thm on the external as a backup.
Now iPhoto cant find any of the photos. The thumbnails are there, but every time I doubleclick on an image, an error message appears The volume for “x.jpg” cannot be found.
I have about 14.000 pictures, so to sit and "find photo" one by one would take a very long time...
Is there another way to make iPhoto find all the images again?
2.
I think I found one soulution to this, but Im not sure Im doing it right. What I did was that I downloaded "iPhoto library manager", created a new library, named it "No.2" and imported all the photos again into that library. This seems to be working fine. However, when I click the default library in Finder, it says that it takes up 9 GB of my harddrive. Can I delete this library? Or will it affect iPhoto since it is the default library?
I am completely new to Mac and still stuck in Windows-land. So if anyone can help me with this it is much appreciated!
/E

Hi,
thank you foryou quick reply!
Ok, so nothing will happen to the images if i trash the original library?
Also, i have another question you might have an answer to. When I open the No.2 library (I have imported all the images to here) every time a message appears "6 photos have been found in the iPhoto Library that were not imported" I click "Yes" every time, but no images are imported and the message appears every time I open iPhoto. Aslo, every time I click Yes, iPhoto creates an album called "recovered Photos 1" "2", "3" etc. What photos does this regard? Can I get rid of this message somehow?
/E

Similar Messages

Iphoto can't find my photo library. What should I do?

Iphoto can't find my photo library. WHat should I do?

Tell it where is it - depress and hold the option key while launching iPhooto and use the select ibraray window to tell iPhtoo where you library is
LN

IPhoto can't find original photos, but I can!

When I launch iPhoto, I get error messages telling me photos are missing, and asking if I want to "find original" or cancel. If I try to find the original, I can't navigate into the library file itself, even though a search in spotlight reveals the missing photo is inside the iPhoto library bundle itself.
So I hit 'cancel' but I have to do this dozens of times each time I launch iPhoto, which is a huge hassle.
The 'missing' photos show up as blank thumbnails with a dotted white line around them in the photo viewer. If I scroll around iPhoto's viewing pane, the same message appears constantly.
I have rebuilt the library, repaired disk permissions, and even tried reverting to an older library from backup. No dice.
I'm out of ideas, other than exporting all the photos and then creating a new library and reorganizing everything. Seems like a huge hassle for 9000 photos, though.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the insights, Terence. I'm glad I didn't export then re-import.
I did try iPhoto Library Manager before posting here, but it told me it couldn't rebuild the database because it was corrupt! Yikes.
Okay, so I did what someone suggested on another thread, and tried to identify all the 80 or so photos that were supposedly 'missing'. I wrote down the name of every photo on a text edit doc.
Then I did something strange that seems to have worked: I went to Spotlight, and searched for one of the image names. I found it inside the iPhoto library. (I'm not sure why you can't navigate to photos from inside iPhoto, but you can from Spotlight - note, you can't find them in any other finder window, just Spotlight).
I dragged the culprit file to my desktop. Then, when the alert came up again, I used File > Reveal in Finder to navigate to the photo...interestingly, iPhoto then pointed to the original location of the missing file...I then dragged the photo from my desktop back into iPhoto's library via the Finder. Voila, the photo was re-linked.
But here's where it gets interesting. Somehow other photos got re-linked, too!
I quit the program, and the same problem reoccurred. So I took the steps again above, but this time I did something slightly different afterward.
I went to the TextEdit doc, and I found each and every photo, and dragged it into an album I'd created (I called it something like "Photos to Fix" or something). I then went to the Trash, and found some broken aliases in there, too. I emptied the Trash, after clicking 'cancel' on each error message. Then, I quit and restarted iPhoto several times. The problem is gone! I then moved the photos out of the "Photos to Fix" album, and the problem has not returned.
In short:
- Find a broken photo in iPhoto, note the name
- Navigate to the photo in Spotlight (not finder)
- Drag it out of the iPhoto Library and onto the desktop
- Go back to iPhoto
- Select "Reveal in Finder" on the broken thumbnail
- iPhoto will go to the location the photo USED to be
- Go back to Finder
- Drag the photo back into its old location
- Go back to iPhoto
- Move that photo, and any other problem photos, to a new album
- Empty Trash if there are any problem files there, too
- Restart iPhoto
- Problem solved
That's what worked for me, though I admit it is wonky and illogical. Maybe someone can shed light on why this worked.

Iphoto can't find my photos!

SO-
My pictures all show up as thumbnails but the ones that I have already gone through an edited, then seem to disappear so that the next time i go and click on the thumb nail a BIG exclamation point comes up instead of the photo- the photos are in my picture folder but for some reason won't show up in Iphoto- I have recently been trying to make a book but since the photos aren't there, when I click to drag them into the book only the exclamation point shows up.
How do I get Iphoto to recognize/ find my pictures.
I checked for updates already and my computer is up-to-date.
Do I ned to buy the new Ilife in order to get my Iphoto to work properly?
Please Help, i want to find my photos!

Vicoria
Welcome to the Apple user discussion forums
Do I ned to buy the new Ilife in order to get my Iphoto to work properly?
No - this had nothing to do with the version of iPhoto that you have - if fact you should NOT upgrade until you solve your library problem - upgrading a corrupted library makes it harder to solve
click on the thumb nail a BIG exclamation point comes up instead of the photo-
This is an indication that iPhoto has lost contact with the photo - it is often caused by user activity within the iPhoto library, moving, changing or deleting photos using the finder or an external program instead of using iPhoto to control the iPhoto library
but the ones that I have already gone through an edited, then seem to disappear so that the next time i go and click on the thumb nail
Exactly how are you "going through and editing" your photos?
How do I get Iphoto to recognize/ find my pictures.
Answer the above questions to help make sure this is the right path
Do you have a good current backup of yoru iPhoto Library?
If not then Probably the first step will be to rebuild yuor library -quit iPhoto, back up your iPhoto library and launch iPhoto while depressing the optin (alt) and command (apple) keys and use the resulting dialogue to rebuild your library
If that does not work then you can download iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - and use it's rebuild function to attempt a rebuild - it will make a new library and leave your old one untouched so there is no risk
If none of these work then you will have to create a new library - quit iPhoto and drag your iPhoto library to the desktop then launch iPhoto and it will create a fresh, new library - go to the originals folder in the iPhoto library on your desktop and drag each folder onto iPhoto to recreate yur library without edits, albums or projects
Good luck
LN

IPhoto can not find several photos, shows icon, but not pic itself and I did not move anything

I have more then 12'000 photos on iPhoto. After the last update it shows me all pics in the small icons, but when I click on them, severals are not whown - a black background with a grey triangle opens and a "!" in the mid. I suppose this means that iPhoto can not find the data. I already looked into the database and the files are really not there. But I did NOT move them! What happened? What can I do? (I would highly appreciate if I would not have to check every single photo and reimport it again!!!) Thank you in advance for your help!

Restore from your back up.
Regards
TD

Iphoto can't find my photos -- how can I force it to recognize them?

I initially used iPhoto in referenced mode, but after a few years, I switched to managed mode, and then I inquired about how to make my iPhoto library entirely managed. About 2 years ago, Larry HN suggested Alias herder. I finally got around to using it, and there are no more aliases in iPhoto Library/Masters. The problem is that once I removed the referenced photos from ~/Pictures, iPhoto is acting as if the original photos are lost -- even though they're right inside the iPhoto library.
Now I did some searching on these threads, and the advice to those who have iPhoto libraries that are entirely referenced is to start afresh. But I can't do this, because a good part of my library consists of imported photos that don't reside anywhere else. And there's no way to drag photos from one iPhoto library to another, is there? My library has over 12,000 photos.
Isn't there a way to get iPhoto to recognize the originals inside the iPhoto Library. I've tried rebuilding the iPhoto library, to no avail

This is split across two threads... might be best to consolidate onto one, no?
Library Manager doesn't recover one shot plus all the associated metadata, then next shot, plus all associated metadata..., it recovers the related data in difference stages, so the Faces Data may not be lost, but it may not be able to get to then stage of recovering that data before the crashes...
You could try create a new Library. Set it to be Managed. Then use Library Manager to copy over an Event to the new Library. Does that get all the data? Faces too?
If so, repeat and so on...

IPhoto can't find original photos after volume name change

I had to reformat my drive and do a fresh install of Mountain Lion. I was pleased that the Migration Assistant imported all the user accounts, apps, etc. from a Time Machine backup. Never could have done *that* with Windows...
However, in iPhoto, I *do not* copy pictures from my Pictures folder into the iPhoto library and iPhoto can't find them. I expect that this is because I changed the volume name when I reformatted the drive, which is embedded somewhere in the iPhoto package in my Pictures folder.
Does anyone know which iPhoto files I can edit or batch edit to change references from the old volume name to the new one? Is this information stored in text or XML files that I can edit or is it embedded in binary files? I thought I might be able to reimport the photos from the current volume and iPhoto would sort out the duplicates (not a great option if I get prompted for each one though...) but I wasn't sure if that would preserver events, faces, etc.
When I try to rebuild the iPhoto library, I get a dialog indicating each file cannot be found on the volume. While it provides an option to browse for the location, this isn't practical due to the 1000's of photos and movies on the drive.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

As OT says, the primary reason not to run a Referenced Library, and, most especially, not one where you have the Library on one Volume and the photos on another.
You're going to have this problem again and again any time you make a change to your hardware set up - including upgrading your machine and so on.
Going forward: Do you have Aperture? This has a command to Locate Referenced Masters which should help. Other than that, how are you at hacking SQL databases? That's what this guy did:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3216539?tstart=30
back up first...
Regards
TD

I recently downloaded the latest version of Mountain Lion and imovie and now I can't find my photos. When I click on the camera it tells me that I need to open iphoto before I can see any of my pictures but that didn't work. Any help would be appreciated.

Is there a reason why I can't see my photos from iphoto?

Trashing the iMovie and iLife preference files may fix the problem you are experiencing. See this User Tip by AppleMan1958 for full details:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4061
In Lion and Mountain Lion, an alternative way to open your user Library folder (to access the Preferences folder), is to click and hold down Go in the Finder menu bar and then press and hold down the Option key on the keyboard. The Library folder will appear in the drop-down menu. Slide the pointer down until Library is highlighted. As you release the mouse button, the Library folder will open.
John

Iphoto can't find my photo

I've just imported photos from a vacation, and when I click on the photo now that it's been imported into my photo library, I get this error message. The image is there, but for some reason iPhoto thinks that it's only a thumbnail, and it can't find the source file. What gives? Steve would be rolling in his grave if he knew how screwed up Apple has become without him, just had to say that.
Help!!

As Larry mentioned do you have a managed or referenced library?
That error message is typical of a "referenced" library where the photos were imported from the camera and the camera disconnected from the Mac. So check to see how that particular iPhoto preference is set.
OT

Iphoto can't find original photo

Back when I was new to iPhoto I imported some high resolution photos and apparently renamed the folder where they were located in the Originals folder. I now know this is a big "no no". I've searched using Spotlight for the file name of one of the photos. The only results I get are for the small res file located in the Data folder. I can see the thumbnail of the photo in iPhoto but when I double click to edit it doesn't show anything. However, the photo info still says its 3 MB. I don't believe I deleted the high res photos - just renamed the folder. Is there any way to find the high res files on my computer? I've search the Originals folder and the Modified folder and can't find them.

I've search the Originals folder and the Modified folder and can't find them.
Well if there are not in either of those folders, then they are not in the Library.
Regards
TD

I can't remember my apple id and apple can't find me if I create a new apple id what happens?

My daughter can't remember her Apple ID and for some reason Apple can't find her ID. It's suggesting she create a new Apple ID if she does that what happens? She's worried she will lose the items she has purchased. Oh and somehow her IPOD touch 4th gen got linked onto her sisters account so it doesn't show the username unfortunately when you try to purchase something. I can't find where I wrote all this down either

Is there a way to find my Apple ID Name if I can't remember it?
Yes. Visit My Apple ID and click Find your Apple ID. See Finding your Apple ID if you'd like more information.
How do I change or recover a forgotten Apple ID Password?
If you've forgotten your Apple ID Password or want to change it, go to My Apple ID and follow the instructions. SeeChanging your Apple ID password if you'd like more information.
If y can't find the old ID/password then you are limited to the things yo can do with items purchased with the account. Like not being able to update apps and transfer purchases.

IPhoto can't find server volume after migration to new iMac with 2 HDs

Hi all,
I recently moved to a new iMac from an older Mac Pro. The new iMac has 2 hard drives (256GB SSD & 2TB HD) with all the programs installed on the SSD and the HD is used as the main file storage drive. iPhoto is installed on the SDD and its library of pictures are on the HD. My latest photo imports are working fine but the older pictures can't be properly opened, I get the following warning everytime I double click on a thumbnail:
Clicking on "Cancel" gets the following responce:
When I look at the info of the premigration thumbnails it says the pictures are located on the correct HD. The new pictures also show them as being in the same location but I'm having no problem opening the post migration pictures.
I'm thinking about trying out Aperature but want to get this linking problem sorted out first.
Any ideas how I should go about relinking "thousands" of pictures..?

Are you running a Managed or a Referenced Library?
A Managed Library, is the default setting, and iPhoto copies files into the iPhoto Library when Importing. The files are then stored in the Library package
A Referenced Library is when iPhoto is NOT copying the files into the iPhoto Library when importing because you made a change at iPhoto -> Preferences -> Advanced. (You unchecked the option to copy files into the Library on import) The files are then stored where ever you put them and not in the Library package. In this scenario you are responsible for the File Management.

I no longer can download my Canon photos to my iPad Mini. The only change to my technology is that I download IOS7 to my iPad. What am I doing wrong?

Did someone ever experience not being able to download photos to their iPad? Everything worked well when I was on a trip. Today, I tried to download photos and nothing happens. My camera seems to shut off. The only change I can see to my iPad is that I downloaded IOS 7 and I've recently purchased an iPhone 5s. I'm not sure what this has to do with it but perhaps I should do something to my settings on my iPad? I would really appreciate some help if you've experienced something similar? Thank you so much.

That was the fix! Thanks for the quick reply. Great to be back on Firefox!

ITunes can't find iTunes folder nor create a new one

ONce I moved my iTunes folder to an external drive. Now I cannot start iTunes if my notebook is not connected to this external drive, like while on a trip. Appears like iTunes has made the external drive location as dafault location. I have even tried uninstalling and installing from scratch again. How can I make my local harddisk be default location again?

Try the instructions in this article.
(32171)

When I create a new library the previous one disappears

I was trying to create a library for different members of the family and it looked OK until I tried to get back to my original library which seems to have vanished. I tried it again and this time the third one looked OK but the second one has gone! What am I doing wrong? Has it all gone forever or can I retrieve it? I am not very good at moving/dragging bits around so could you explain it as in 'Dummy' language, please? I'm on Windows Vista.
Thanks.

When you are using multiple libraries you can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. You need to open iTunes while holding down the Shift key and choose to open an existing library, navigate to where you have your various libraries and open the one you want: Using multiple iTunes libraries -Windows

Iphoto can´t find my photos, is creating a new library the only solution?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for