IPhoto loosing and mixing up photos

iPhoto is confusing old photos with new photos. After a recent import, the new photos disapeared, leaving behind only a dotted outline of where they once where. The disk was searched, they completely diaspeared. Suspecting director damage, I ran disk first aid, but no problems found. Too bad diskwarrior has not been updated yet. So, moving forward, I did another import of our next photos, this time I left the originals on the camera. The photos stayed this time, but it wasn't a few days before some of my new photos were "replaced" with an old photo. Fortunately I made a back-up before moving to my Mac Book, unfortunately, the backup appears to contain the directory daamage because I have replaced the iPhoto library twice now with the DVD backup, and it follows this patteren of curruption. I've tried the rebuild iPhoto database, rebuilt thummbnails, no go. I'm officially giving up. Exporting all my iPhotos out of the corrupt version, starting a new iPhoto library from scratch, and reimporting. Of course this is going to cause a major loss of data and organization (all my photos from the past 4 years (over 5k of them), will al be in one import time). Hopefully the EXIF data will be preserved. I'm just posting this to make Apple aware of this issue. I don't know if its an Intel issue, an iPhoto '06 issue, or combination of the above.

What is going on with iphoto 6. This is the second time in 3 months I'm going through this nightmare of a corrupted library. I'm really frustrated with this otherwise cool software. At it's most basic level it has to be able to keep your data in order. Otherwise all the other bells and whistles have no point.
The problem manifests as ghost (dotted line) outlines and insanely slow response. Also most photos never come up in the edit mode, terminal spinning wheel.
I've tried all the same steps the previous poster tried and them some. I emptied the trash then rebuilt the library(had 2k photos in it mostly deleted duplicates from the last time it screwed the pooch). I exported the entire library then went through it looking for corrupted files and set them aside to reimport from a previous library. I searched for duplicate numbers in the corrupted files that might confuse the database in iphoto and removed them from iphoto or changed the title. Between these step I rebuilt hoping for a miracle, it never came.
I have now restored from a back up (apple) from before the first problem occurred and still it's no good. During the restoration, back up kept stopping to tell me about files it could not restore (21 of them). Only one of these was a corrupted file I found through my previous labors, the others seemed OK in the finder using preview to check them.
Whats my next step? Deleted the current library and create a new one!? This cant be corrected? WHAT AM I DOING to bring this 3 days of horror on!? Just before it all went bad THIS time I had built a web site using iweb. Is there weirdness here?
Is there known issues with iphotos stability as you add and delete and edit photos? Can I avoid operations which are known to cause corruption. Just tell us please! I've seen the other threads that sound eerily like this is common. Please some light.

Similar Messages

I have just installed iPhoto 11 and all of photos on my iphone have now all disappeared and ended up in my photo stream and the library in iphoto does not display all my pictures?? Can anyone help?

I have just installed iPhoto 11 and all of photos on my iphone have now all disappeared and ended up in my photo stream and the library in iphoto does not display all my pictures?? Can anyone help?

And I cant work out why all of my pictures are not diplaying in iphoto?
Is this iPhoto on your Mac? Are you referring to the photos that were in your iPhoto LIbrary prior to the upgrade to iPhoto 11? If so then apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
1 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
2 - run Option #4 to rebuild the database.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 - click on the Add Library button and select the library you want to add in the selection window..
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option.
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
If that's not what you're referring to then you should describe what is happening in more detail. Remember we can't see your Mac or your iPhone so need detailed and accurate descriptions of what you're experiencing.
Also we need infomartion like do you have an iCloud account and are you logged into it on all of your devices, iPhoto and Mac? do you have Photo Stream enabled on both.
OT

I went into the original files in the iphoto library and organised the photos there, now when I try to look at the photos in iphoto the tiles are there but when I try to enlarge or put into a slide show a big grey explanation mark occurs?

I tried to organise my iphoto originals to it would be easier to back them up onto my hard drive, so I renamed them and grouped them in the orinigal file. Now when I go onto iphoto to view the photos in a slide show a big exclamation mark comes up and if I click on the photo to see the original file it can't find it. Any ideas?

You won't be able to run the rebuild function and restore your library becaue you renamed and regrouped your original photos from the Finder. I doubt if you can change the names back to their original names and put them back in the folders they were in originally so your only option is get your backup library and replace the one you damaged.
If you don't have a backup copy of the library from just before the problem that contains all of your photos you will need to start over from scratch as follows:
Start over from scratch with new library
Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:
1. Move the existing library folder to the desktop.
2. Open the library package like this.
Click to view full size
3. Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
4. Drag the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the iPhoto Library on the desktop into the open iPhoto window.
Click to view full size
This will create a new library with the same Events as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.
In the future stay out of the iPhoto Library package and only access the photos using iPhoto.
OT

IPhoto 6 and Epson Stylus Photo 2200 Printer

The photos that I print from iPhoto 6 to my Epson 2200 printer are all coming out way too green. What settings do I need to use in the print dialog -- and color management? -- to get decent results? I can print beautifully from Photoshop CS2 to the 2200. I just can't figure out what settings to use in iPhoto. Thanks in advance for your help with this question. _sidpink
G5 Tower Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Kingstone's reply was helpful even though a little discouraging. But it made me realize that the problem probably lies with the choice of which software is doing the color management. The Epson 2200 printer driver provides some "advanced" settings in the print window, and I had been specifying "No color adjustment," because that's the setting recommended when printing from Photoshop. I had simply been trying the same setting when printing from iPhoto. But I went back and printed a photo from iPhoto using the "Color Controls" setting (without changing any of the variables), and the print came out perfectly! So I've answered the question to my satisfaction thanks to Kingstone's reply -- and I don't have to go out and invest in Photoshop Elements.
G5 Tower Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Lost the iphoto library and all the photos

I have recently installed some updates and upgraded to Yosemite 10.10.1. When I opened up Iphoto today there was no library and therefore no photos. I've searched the whole computer and can't find any jpegs so the library hasn't been moved.
I have been using the Time Machine with an external hard drive but today when I plugged in the drive to try to restore iphoto from my back up, the drive won't show, it's not recognised.
Has anybody got any ideas on what I can do to find my photos?

Restart your system and try again
This is not an iphoto issue - it is either a TM issue or an issue with you computer - maybe something here will help - https://www.apple.com/support/timemachine/ - or here - http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
LN

I have deleted the iphoto library and lost my photo's......

i have deleted the iphoto library and cleared my trash and now all my photo's are gone. I have bought software to retrieve deleted data but not sure what file I am looking for. Can anybody help?

best solution is to restore yoru backup form before you made this error - that is the reason you must always have a good backup
If you don't you should start backing up immediately
to use the photos you recovered you look for photos (typically they have a .jpg or .jpeg extention to the name - and select the largest version of each photo and import it into iPhoto
Note that for not much more that the cost of the data recovery software you could have had an extrnal hard drive and been running TimeMachine so none of this would be required
LN

Automatic creation of photo album and mixing of photos post sync

hey,
i am facing a very unexpected issue:
- once I start syncing my iphone 5 with my laptop the below issue arises
   ~ there are around 7000 photos under 21 folders and size of all album is around 6GB (only photos and I don't sync videos)
   ~ the itunes starts by syncing all the albums available by creating it on the iphone
   ~ however, the photos don't get get sync in one go (so it breaks the total photos packs as 4500-2000-500 to sync all 7000 photos and I need to sync it three times)
   ~ to reslove this issue, I have deleted all photos and again synced multiple times and changed the data cable already
   ~ it has twice happened that some of the album didn't show up and the photos didn't sync also
   ~ after using it for sometime, on the iPhone, there are recreation of albums first with the same name and photos from different albums get mixed and be a part under different albums (when I check on the iTunes - the size of the total album doesn't change though)
   ~ the original albums remain intact with the right photos initially but over a period of sometime, their photos also get jumbled up automarically and in the end I would get to see around 45-50 photo albums (with original album being duplicated twice or thrice and Atleast 2-3 times the number of original photos being jumbled up and lying in different album groups)
   ~ however there is no change in the size of the photos on iTunes and if I sync it further, more album duplication happens
i have deleted all photos from iPhone numerous time and re-synced it but it doesn't work
i have changed the data cable but it remains the same
i have deleted the full folder on my laptop with the ipod cache and re-sync it but still it doesn't work
My phone is always updated to the latedt software update (iOS 8.3 and whatever updates are there on iTunes or other applications)
this has started happening after iOS 8 update and specially with the introduction of 'recently deleted' folder on the photo app And the above picks great speed if I edit / delete photos from my camera
this could also be some bug or error and since there is no option to my best of understanding to delete and re-install the default photo app, I am finding hugely difficult to fix up the issue and seek advise
regards,
piyush

so total of my photos on iphoto are 1768, and i tried delete some of it, and when i sync back, i though oh maybe the space isnt enough ( worth to try though, cz i really dont know whats wrong) and instead of sync correctly, ITS NOT!!! its now sync only for 1683 photos, while on iphoto contains 1717 photos, and please i have 5,5 gb free space at the moment!
* i actually dont know how I gain so much free space after backup and restoring.

Deleted iPhoto library and folders containing photos but hard drive still show 32GB of photos?

I have a new MacBook Pro Retina. Was having all sorts of problems setting up with Time Machine/Time Capsule back-ups. To cut a long story short I moved to trash a whole lot of photos I had imported, including the iphoto library. Have emptied trash - normal and within both iphoto and aperture - but About this Mac is still showing 32GB of photos. Where are they? And if I wanted to reconnect them to iphoto, how do I do that?

Open a Finder Window and go to your Username then to the Pictures folder. In there you will find a file, actually a folder but I won't get into that, called "iPhoto Library.photolibrary". It is that files (Folder listed as a Package) you need to Copy to your external drive.

Updated to iPhoto 6 and lost all photos!!!

i just updated my iphoto to the newest version and when i tried to open it all of my photos were gone. i still have them saved in my iphoto library but when i try to import them back onto iphoto it will not work. this is very frustrating and i would appreciate it if someone could help me out here because i am on vacation in europe at the moment and cannot access my photo albums i have been updating!

natasharileyparish:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. If Terence's suggestion regarding rebuilding the library does not bring your library back you'll probably have to start with a new library and import the Originals folder from the old library. Here's how:
Creating a new library while preserving the rolls from the original.
Move the existing library folder to the desktop.
Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
Drag the Originals folder from the iPhoto Library on the desktop into the open iPhoto window.
This will create a new library with the same rolls as the original library. However dates on the rolls may be different but can be edited as you would the roll title.
Once this is completed you can delete the iPhoto library folder from the desktop. If desired, you can keep the older library folder to try other fixes on it.
In the future I recommend you make a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto file after each import and after doing a lot of editing and organizing in the library. Then if you experience a similar crash all you need to do is replace the damaged database file with the backup copy and you'll be back to the same place in the library as when you make the backup. See the tip at the end of my signature.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

HT1229 iPhoto 6 and 8 with photos on two macs need merged

I've got iPhoto 6 on my iMac and iPhoto 8 on my Macbook, and want to move the newer Macbook photos into the old iMac library, which is set up with time machine to back up. Any way to do this without destroying the exisiting old iMac library?

Try use iPhoto Library Manager to move the images from one to the other. You can do a trial without paying to be sure it works.

Migrating older iPhoto library and losing latest photos

So i bought a new iMac (lion) and upon set up transferred my previous backup of my files (via the external hard drive i used for Time Machine) from our Macbook (OS X 10.5) and everything went fine - all the previous iPhoto pics were there. Then i wanted to add additional pics from previous time machine backups(since the laptop didn't have a huge HD, we had to backup photos on Time Machine and then delete them from the current hard drive in order to not run out of disk space on the Macbook) in order to have ALL of my photos on the new hard drive. Well when i did this, the original pics i had from the most recent backup disappeared. And now all i have is a small subset of photos. When i try to import the photos via iPhoto, the iPhoto and library icons on the external drive are shaded so i can't click on them. Help!! I figured starting fresh and restoring the factory settings would be the easiest though when i hit the command R keys at boot nothing happens. How do I restore my iMac to the most previous backup of the Macbook (or restore to factory settings and start over with migrating my data), plus add the previous iPhoto libraries from various time machine backups from the Macbook to my new iMac when I can't click on the iPhoto library?

what do you mean it will be deleted from Time Machine?
I'm not sure how else to parse those words.
Time machine is a back up tool. It keeps a rolling back up of whatever data set you tell it to back up. However, once it reaches the limit of the disk it is on, it will delete data from the back up if it has been deleted from the data set. In other words, over time, you lose the ability to roll back to a specific date. How far back you can go will depend entirely on the size of the disk you use for storing your Time Machine back up.
An archival app does not roll. It keeps the data regardless of whether it's deleted from the Data set or not.
Of course i also saved all the photos to DVDs incase (but they won't have the correct time stamp on them - thus when i try to categorize them in iPhotos it will be a mess).
It won't be unless you also stripped the Exif data from them. iPhoto gets the date and time from the Exif.
To choose which Library to open:
Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'

IPhoto imported and deleted my photos today.

That's it. I see others seem to be having a similar problem.

Same question - same answer
have charged batteries, try rebuilding and never have iPhoto erase your photos - if necessary use media recover to try to recover the photos on the memory card
LN

When I connect Iphone to PC (Win7), then Iphoto opens and starts importing Photos from Iphone to PC automaticly. Ho do I stop this?

Hi all,
when connecting Iphone 3GS with the pc, then photos starts automaticly to import photos from Iphone to PC.
How can I stop this? Operating System is 4.3.5
It`s nerving.
Duistergast

How to do it:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083

Upgraded to iPhoto '11 and all photos gone!

Upgraded to iPhoto '11 this evening from iPhoto '09 and all my photos were showing up as blanks. All my events were there and the photo outlines with the correct meta data were all there. But the photos themselves were all blank with a triangle with exclamation point in them.
The Photo Library still showed 44GB in size so I knew it was all there somewhere but nothing was rendering. Tried holding down option/command and rebuilding but that didn't help.
I finally opened up Terminal and went into the photo library and found something that was definitely not right. First the Originals directory now seemed to be a symlink to a new Masters directory and that directory was empty! I also saw a bunch of new "Old ..." directories in there for example "Old Masters". And guess what, inside the Old Masters directory were all my photos!
So I moved all those directories inside Old Masters into Masters and started iPhoto again. All my photos are still blank but if I actually double click on a picture to look at it, it shows up this time instead of the triangle with ! point in it.
I've now restarted iPhoto with option/command and am waiting for the thumbnails to rebuild. It's now taking much longer to rebuild (compared to the first time I tried the trick) and it still has not finished the rebuild process. I'm hoping once this is complete that I'll be back in business.
Looks like Apple was doing some cleaning as part of the upgrade and for some reason, it did not finish it properly. We'll see if I'm back after this rebuild.

Note, here's the sequence of events in my case:
1. Bought new iMac from Apple store
2. Copied iphoto library onto external HFS+ sata disk (~44GB in size) from my old mac's internal disk
3. Copied iphoto library from external HFS+ sata disk onto iMac internal disk
4. Ran iPhoto on iMac and it did some upgrading, etc and then came up just fine
5. Read up on the features for iPhoto '11 on Apple's website and discovered I didn't have some of the new features
6. Discovered in About iPhoto menu that I was actually running iPhoto '09 which was the default installed on my brand new iMac
7. Found that iPhoto '11 was on a DVD that came with my iMac but not pre-installed
8. Used the DVD to upgrade to iLife '11 (iPhoto '11)
9. Launched iPhoto but it did not launch saying I must run an upgrade first using Software Update
10. Launched Software Update and it found iPhoto v9.1.
11. Upgraded to it.
12. Re-launched iPhoto.
13. Started upgrading my photo library
14. Took a long time but finally finished
15. Library came up but with blank thumbnails and blank pictures with a ! triangle in them if you open the photo; but all meta data is correct
16. Ran Get Info on iPhoto Library and saw that it was still the right size (~44GB)
17. Used Terminal to go into the iPhoto Library and saw there was an Old Masters directory which contained all my photos still (hopefully)
At this point tried reading all sorts of forum posts and blogs and found nothing that worked. All pointed to upgrading to 9.0.1 and unfortunately I'm already on 9.1 as part of the software update above. Tried rebuilding, repairing, everything. Nothing works. Eventually copied out the Old Masters into my home directory and created a brand new iPhoto Library and imported everything back in. Just hoping I did not lose any of my photos but I definitely lost all the events and books (obviously).
I have some backups but they are a few months old unfortunately. And I did not even think to back up before upgrading to iPhoto '11 since I have never had an issue with an Apple iPhoto upgrade in the past. Sigh

Imported photos, deleted originals, then iphoto crashed and lost everything

I imported photos from my iphone, deleted the originals (i never do this, but figured, it's a new year so i should start cleaning up my phone!), and then iphoto crashed and now the photos i imported are nowhere to be found! help!

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. There's still a good chance that the photos are in the library but just not being recognized by iPhoto. Backup the library and try the three fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your User/Library/Preferences folder.
NOTE: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding the the Option key. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.
Fix #2
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed and follow the instructions to rebuild the library. Select last three options.
Click to view full size
Fix #3
Rebuild the library using iPhoto Library Manager as follows:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 -Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 -Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your User/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File->Rebuild Library menu option
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier versions) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
NOTE: this is not the same as routinely backing up your entire iPhoto library folder to protect your photos. It only protects the loss of your organizational efforts that the database file contains.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. There are versions that are compatible with iPhoto 5, 6, 7 and 8 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
NOTE: The new rebuild option in iPhoto 09 (v. 8.0.2), Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup" makes this tip obsolete.

IPhoto loosing and mixing up photos

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