IPhoto won't import corrupts existing pics

On May 1st, iPhoto would not import all the pics taken that day from my SD card. It saw the card, saw the 100 images and began the import, even showing previews as they came in. But only two ended up in the "last import" folder. Further, several exisiting images (some a couple of years old) have been corrupted, with their dates changed being changed to the 1st of May 2012.
I tried to restore my iPhoto library with TimeMachine. That didn't work. My MacBook thought it had 200GB (of 500) of backups. I erased old iPhone backups and the iPhoto library (copying it to to another hard drive first). The TimeMachine restore then got to 182GB of the 188GB library before I got a "ran out of space unepexectedly mesage."
How can I go on?

As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?

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As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?
Post back with the result.

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As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?

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IPhoto won't import .mov video from iPhone

I just got my wife a new Mac mini. It is running the latest versions of Mountain Lion and iPhoto.
She's recorded some short videos of the kids with her iPhone (4s), and wants to organize these in iPhoto alongside pictures of the kids (she's done this before).
However, since getting her new computer, when she tried to import the videos, she got an error message that said the files were an unrecognized format.
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There are many, many posts of this nature in these forums. See, for example:
iphoto won’t import mov video
For many, rebuilding the XPC helper cache solves the problem off the bat. In terminal try this, and reboot:
sudo /usr/libexec/xpchelper --rebuild-cache
The above posted by Andy Ball on a thread related to a similar problem with Aperture:
Re: Import video to Aperture library on Mountain Lion
Other things to try:
1. create a fresh iPhoto library and try that. (hold down opt while launching iPhoto)
2. create a new OS X user (in system preferences) and try there.
In my case – and many cases – neither of those things work either, which means the problem is system wide. Again suggesting that the xpc helper solution might work. But for me it did not either.
There are other suggestions that there are conflicts with Perian (on Yosemite) and flip4mac. In my case uninstalling both of those didn't solve it either.
So maybe one of those solutions will work for you, results apparently vary. But this is a huge unresolved issue many others are having as well. I have a case with a senior apple advisor open, still unresolved. His suggestion of course, at this point, is an archive and re-install. I'm not ready to go there yet.
BTW, another thing he had me try was to import the file with Image Capture (which works). Then open it in QuickTime Player X. Then try exporting to 480p. Does QuickTime crash? It does for me.
My summary:
1. Files successfully import with Image Player.
2. Files play with QuickTime Player X.
3. QuickTime Player X crashes when exporting to 480p.
4. Files import with iMove.
5. Files fail to import with iPhoto (unrecognized format as with OP)
6. iPhoto import failure/errors are system wide and not specific to a library or a user.
7. rebuilding xpchelper cache and rebooting in my case does not resolve issue.
8. same videos import fine in iPhoto on a totally different system (laptop running same versions of OS X 10.10 and iPhoto 9.5.1)

IPhoto won't import .mov files from iPhone

I'm trying to import the photos and videos from my iPhone and the following screen shows up:
I've only had this trouble since updating to Yosemite. Any help is appreciated.
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010)
8GB Memory
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There are many, many posts of this nature in these forums. See, for example:
iphoto won’t import mov video
For many, rebuilding the XPC helper cache solves the problem off the bat. In terminal try this, and reboot:
sudo /usr/libexec/xpchelper --rebuild-cache
The above posted by Andy Ball on a thread related to a similar problem with Aperture:
Re: Import video to Aperture library on Mountain Lion
Other things to try:
1. create a fresh iPhoto library and try that. (hold down opt while launching iPhoto)
2. create a new OS X user (in system preferences) and try there.
In my case – and many cases – neither of those things work either, which means the problem is system wide. Again suggesting that the xpc helper solution might work. But for me it did not either.
There are other suggestions that there are conflicts with Perian (on Yosemite) and flip4mac. In my case uninstalling both of those didn't solve it either.
So maybe one of those solutions will work for you, results apparently vary. But this is a huge unresolved issue many others are having as well. I have a case with a senior apple advisor open, still unresolved. His suggestion of course, at this point, is an archive and re-install. I'm not ready to go there yet.
BTW, another thing he had me try was to import the file with Image Capture (which works). Then open it in QuickTime Player X. Then try exporting to 480p. Does QuickTime crash? It does for me.
My summary:
1. Files successfully import with Image Player.
2. Files play with QuickTime Player X.
3. QuickTime Player X crashes when exporting to 480p.
4. Files import with iMove.
5. Files fail to import with iPhoto (unrecognized format as with OP)
6. iPhoto import failure/errors are system wide and not specific to a library or a user.
7. rebuilding xpchelper cache and rebooting in my case does not resolve issue.
8. same videos import fine in iPhoto on a totally different system (laptop running same versions of OS X 10.10 and iPhoto 9.5.1)

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I plug the Canon camera into the USB and attempt to import pics as have always done. Currently have 18,000 pics so have done this lots before. All of a sudden, the camera shows up on the left side of the screen, the pictures show up, but I can't get the IMPORT ALL or IMPORT SELECTED to activiate. I disconnect the camera (appropriately) and try to exit out of iPhoto only to have a warning tell me to wait until Import is complete. No photos ever show up and no import ever completes. I can't force quit so have to hard quit and restart my computer. What to do?

As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?

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As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?

IPhoto won't import photos from iPhone

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I have this problem now. I have MacOS 10.5.1, iPhoto '08, and iPhone running 1.1.2.
In my "camera roll" on the iPhone are 260 photos, all the pics I have taken since I got the phone. I imported some of them weeks ago with no problems into iPhoto. But now iPhoto can't import anything from the iPhone.
iPhoto does know there are photos on the phone, because there is set of blank thumbnail squares that I can select to import. When I look at the photo info, I can see the file name, size, date, but all the other info is missing or incorrect. It doesn't have camera maker or model. Most worrying though is the height and width of the pictures are zero.
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I'm getting this warning when I try to drag pics from a Time Capsule backup into iPhoto. I was able to import 6500 pics after a crash (thank god), but for some reason From Jan 1, 2011 I can't do it. They are in .JPG format.

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Iphoto won't import photos from Kodak EasyShare Camera

I have alsways been able to import photos from my canon camera directly into iphoto. I just purchased a Kodak Easyshare Camera. When I hook it up to my computer, it won't import the photos. The camera does come with it's own EasyShare Software - but I really don't want to import it into my computer. I want the photos to import directly into iphoto library. My Canon Camera still imports into the library. Help.

sunnydays:
Does System Profiler recognize the camera when it's connected? What version of iPhoto and Quicktime are you at. If not the latest then I suggest you update to 6.0.0 and 7.2 respectively. I'd also update to 10.4.10 via the COMBO updater followed by a repair of disk permissions.
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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.

IPhoto won't import all photos at once

I just got iPhoto 08 and also got a new camera. The iPhoto will not import all the photos from the camera (more than 100), but will importa a few selected, seems to accept about 5-6 max. Also, after doing that a couple of times, it won't import any more. It seems that if I start all over, unmount the camera and start all over, it will again allow me to import a few more photos. I still have 96 more to go. This is just awful. With the old iPhoto and the old camera, it was just so easy to import all the photos from my camera at once. I have over 5000 photos on the computer. I am really frustrated. I did not see this question addressed on the discussion board, and I'm wondering what I should do. The camera is a Sony Cybershot DSC-W80.

Lisa C:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. I don't know of a solution but as a workaround you can use Image Capture, its preferences set which application to open when a camera is connected, to upload to a folder on the Desktop and then import the folder. If you title the folder as you want the Event to be titled it will create the Event with that name.
I use a card reader to do the same as it will save the camera's ports and battery and avoid possible upload aborts due to low battery and large number of photos to upload.
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 created 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. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. 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.

IPhoto won't import my iPhone pictures.

I updated my iPhone to the new iOS 7.0.3 software and now iPhoto '09 won't import my photos from my iPhone. It keeps saying The file is in an unrecognized format. How do I fix this?

As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?
Post back with the result.

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I had the same prob with my mac and my D70.
I did an upgrade to leopard from tiger. After that, iPhoto would not import photos. The camera and pics would show up in the app, and would let me try an import, but it would come up with an error saying "20 photos were in an incompatible format and could not be imported".
Since upgrading to Leopard, image capture wouldn't work either. App would run and then wouldn't. Would crash and error. Wouldn't import photos at all either.
I was able to manually drag photos from my camera to the desktop and then import into iPhoto.
iPhoto wasn't the only thing playing up on my mac (networking, file permissions, backlit keyboard, software update, ffmpeg app were all problematic), so I backed up everything I wanted to keep to an external drive and did an erase and install of Leopard. This has fixed practically every problem I had. Do the same if you can, cos it has made my mac a pleasure to use again.

IPhoto won't import corrupts existing pics

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