IPhoto won't import jpeg photos from camera

I've been using the same method to import photos from my camera to iPhoto '09 with no problem ever since we got this computer. All of the sudden, the photos will not import and the error message says the file format is unreadable. All photos have the name.jpg format.

Welcome to Apple Discussions, Julie.
Remove the following to the trash and restart the computer and try again:
Home > Library > Caches (I remove the whole folder. It will be re-generated upon restart.)
Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iPhoto (There will may be more than one. Remove them all.)
If the issue persists these jpeg files may be damaged. Try importing them using Image Capture found in Macintosh HD > Applications.
If Image Capture can import them you can then try to add them to iPhoto.
If you still get the same error message try opening the files with Preview by double-clicking on them. You can then go to File > Save As > Format > TIFF and add those files to iPhoto.
Consider using these best practice tips to avoid or minimize the impact of issues in the future:
_Ensure your camera has a full charge on the battery before you import (Or run off of AC if possible).
_Ensure the date and time on the camera are correct before importing.
_If you are using a media card reader and are getting regular failures, try using a different reader or the camera itself (The same is true about importing directly from the camera. Try a reader instead.)
_Plug the camera directly into the computer with a solid connection, no loose cables. Don't use a hub.
_Reformat the camera's media card using the camera itself between uses.
_Alternate between multiple media cards during photo shoots (trips, etc) so that if one card goes bad (they are just little bits of plastic after all) you don't lose the entire shoot.
Hope that helps.

Similar Messages

  • IPhoto won't import new photos from Photo Stream.

    Hello,
    iPhoto won't import new taken pictures from Photo Stream. When I disable and then re-enable Photo Stream, all pictures will be imported to iPhoto. But when I take some more pictures, these won't appear in Photo Stream (until disabling/enabling Photo Stream in iPhoto).
    Anyone with similar experience?

    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 new photos from ipad

    It showed 20 photos which I then imported into iPhoto from my iPad.
    But there are MANY more which have not been previously imported into iphoto
    How can I get those photos FROM my iPad into iPhoto on my mac?????

    You can only import photos that are in the camera roll into iPhoto on your Mac. If the photos are in the photo stream, you have to save them to the camera roll before you can import them. Does what I am describing fit your situation?

  • IPhoto won't import JPEG pics from iPhone4

    I'm not able to import photos taken with my new iPhone 4 into iPhoto; I get the warning 'unrecognized file format' and a list of files, and they're all in JPG format. Any suggestions how to solve this problem?

    Search the forum. There have been a number of reports of this issue over the last few weeks and some suggestions for how to resolve it.
    Regards
    TD

  • Iphoto will not import my photos from my digital camera because it says it is having a problem downloading my photos. I'm using the same digital camera I have always had and have the current version of iphoto and am usuin snowleapord. Any thoughts?

    iphoto will not import my photos from my digital camera because it says it is having a problem downloading my photos. I'm using the same digital camera I have always had and have the current version of iphoto and am using snowleapord 10.6.8. Any thoughts?

    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 .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
    2.53 GHz Intel Core i5

    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 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.
    We were able to retrieve the videos and copy them to her hard drive using Image Capture; however, she would still like to import them to iPhoto.
    Any help is appreciated.
    Thanks.
    -tri

    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)

  • Importing jpeg images from camera to IPhoto

    I get the following error message when uploading jpeg images from my camera to IPhoto in my macbook air- "iPhoto cannot import your photos because there was a problem downloading an image".- any ideas?
    If I try to import just one image at the time I get the following error-
    "The following file cannot be imported. The file is in an unrecognisable format"

    What version of iPhoto? Of the OS? What camera? Does your camera mount to the desktop? Have you tried image capture? Have you tried a USB card reader? When did you last reformat your camera memory card using the camera's format command?
    LN

  • IPhoto won't delete the photos from my iphone once I have imported them and indicated to delete the photos from my phone.  Am I doing something wrong?

    I have imported several hundred photos from my iPhoen 5C into iPhoto library.  I selected yes to delete them from my iPhone but the photos remain on the phone.  Am i doing something wrong.  I don't want to pay apple a fee to get this answered via their support system.  This should be straight forward, shouldn't it?  Thanks.

    Are you asking about iCloud Photo Library (Beta) as described in: iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ - Apple Support   ?
    In that case you will still see all photos on your iPhone, even after uploading the Photos to the iCloud Photo Library.  The photos on your iPhone may be light-weight optimized previews, if you have the setting
    Settings > iCloud > Photos or Settings > Photos & Camera > iCloud Photo Library > Optimize [device] Storage   enabled.
    But as long as you have enough free storage, will the your iPhone keep the full resolution versions of the photos you access most frequently.

  • IPhoto 6.06 won't import recent photos from iphone

    I've been importing photos from my iPhone for over a year, and suddenly now iPhoto 6.06 doesn't seem to see the most recent pictures on the iPhone, and won't import them. iPhoto simply seems to ignore the last 18 photos on the iPhone. If I repeat the process, it imports the same 44 photos again.
    Does anybody know what's going on, and how to fix it? I think something like this happened several months ago, and just when I was about to bring it to the Genius Bar, it started working correctly again. I'm not confident that it will fix itself this time, and even if it does, I want to know what's happening.

    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 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 pictures from CD or DVD

    I've spent all day trying to import all my photos from my G5 iMac to the new MBP but so some reason it won't let me "import to Library". All the photos show up then I click FILE - IMPORT TO LIBRARY - iPhoto Library - import. It reads "unreadable Files" the following file could not be imported (the file is in iPhoto Library folder). I've been racking my brain all day and I can't face calling up Apple care for an hour of stress. I also tried loading some pictures through my Sony T1 camera and the USB don't seem to accept. This is all working perfect with my G5 iMac so is their a problem because its the latest version of OS X ?
    Help me please....
    Paul.

    What format are the original images - jpg gif bmp ?
    Try opening iPhoto and then drag the image files individually into the iPhoto window to Import ?
    In iPhoto/Preferences/Advanced, have you checked "Copy files to iPhoto Library folder when adding to Library" ?
    And, there seems to be a problem with that camera/OSX ...
    References:
    http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/cameras.html
    http://www.macfixit.com/search.php?query=&keyType=&platform=Mac+OSX&type=&topic= &mode=search&productID=13097
    http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/11/24/sonyccd/index.php

  • IPhoto will not longer download photos from camera or memory card

    Ok, I have iPhoto '08 and a Nikon D70 camera. This morning I went to download photos from the camera and it was slower than usual to connect to the computer. All the photos show up as usual but when I click to import them I get a message and it can't download any of the photos because they are an unknown format.
    I took the card out of the camera and put it in a card reader and got the same message.
    Neither the camera OR the card reader showed up as a device when I ran the image transfer app.
    Using the card reader and the Finder, I was able to copy all the pictures to a folder which I was then able to import into iPhoto. After than I used the camera to reformat the card and took a test picture and got the same error messages.
    So, any ideas?

    I found a solution in a couple of other threads. The main problem is when you start iPhoto from the dock, the unix process is owned by root, and not as it should be, by you. If you start iPhoto from the Terminal by entering /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto, iPhoto is able to import the images.
    I don't believe that starting the applications from Terminal is a good solution, so I looked for another - reinstalling Leopard seems to be the best option, and it actually works. I can now import images to iPhoto again.

  • IPhoto repeatedly tries to reimport photos from camera

    Every time I plug in my iphone the the compute, in addition iphoto opens and wants to reimport the same photos all over again. How do I stop this?

    iPhoto will try importing photos every time you connect a camera. However, it should detect duplicates so that it does not import multiple copies of the same photo.
    If you want to avoid that iPhoto opens when you connect iPhone, go into preferences in the "image capture" application, and set "when a camera is connected, open.." to "no application." However, then you manually have to import photos from any camera (as far as I know there is no way to disable iPhoto for iPhone specifically).

  • Iphoto does not import all items from camera

    I have been importing photos into Iphoto from my canon SD300. I have noticed that on occaissions it has skipped a few files while importing. In particular it has skipped movie clips. When the camera is connected Iphoto says it is ready to import and tells you the number of images and movie clips, and it recognizes all of them. However, once the import function is over on the last occaision I noticed that two clips and one image was not imported. I manage to get the missed image/clips by inserting the memeroy card in a card reader and dragging the missed image/movie clips into Iphoto.
    I would appreciate if any one knows why Iphoto does not import all the items from the camera even though it recognizes that they exist and how I should fix this problem.
    Thanks.

    Hi imac2,
    I don't know why iPhoto skips some of your files. I can tell you that I use Image Capture to download my images and video clips. My video clips from my Canon can get quite large (over 1010 mg). iPhoto can import smaller clips that digital camera made, but now a lot of the newer camera can create very large video clips and I don't think iPhoto can handle importing them.
    Once I download my images and video clips I put them in dated folders. This makes it much easier to back up the video clips and images. I then import the folders of images into iPhoto. I like having more control.
    Lori

Maybe you are looking for