IPhoto Won't Import my iPhone Photos!

I have searched and ready the other threads with the same name, as listed below. Those threads are closed and archived, even though they did not create a solution for me. Please help. This is a frustrating problem that I can't seem to fix.
I'm using iPhoto '09. This may or may not be the issue as far as compatibility with the iPhone.
I had the issue before and still could not find a solution. Then once an update came out it fixed the problem. I currently have over 100 photos on my phone and don't want to lose any of them. I have tried deleting some but it doesn't change anything.
I've tried the suggestions in these threads to no avail:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7246540
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7860077

I had a similar problem with importing impages from my USB SD card reader. I tried importing images using my iMac, Macbook Pro, and a new Macbook Pro unibody and got the same error, "iPhoto cannot import your photos because there was a problem downloading an image." I finally realized that the problem was either the memory card or the card reader itself. I switched to an older usb card reader and had no issues after that.
I am not sure if this is the same problem that you are facing with your iphone but if you cannot import images using a fresh iphoto db and or os test account, then I would seriously look into the possibility that the iphone itself could be the source of your issues.
Trey

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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.

IPhoto won't import my iPhone 4 photos

Hi everyone! I've been looking around, and none of the other related discussions have helped so far.
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When I connect my iPhone to the mac, it will only import my Camera Roll and not all the other photos I have in the photo app, such as Photo Library, Last 12 Months etc.
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That is how it works - your camera roll photos are imorted
Additional Information
You can import only photo and video content taken with the built-in camera or captured on the device. You cannot import photo or video content synced from iTunes.
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IPhoto isn't importing my iPhone photos?

When I try and import my photos off my iPhone into iPhoto, it says there was an error downloading one photo and doesn't import any of the photos? PLEASE HELP, I realllllllllly need to get these photos off my phone.
If you don't know how to fix it, is there any where else or way I can download them on to my laptop?

Close itunes and try.
Sometimes iTunes tried to access the iPhone at the same time and that it what causes issues.
There is a great app built into OSX that is rarely used but great to get photos off cameras or iPhones.
Look for Image Capture in your apps folder.
This can grab the photos and video off easily and much faster then iPhoto.
You could also use a wifi transfer app, wifi photo transfer is a great app that I use all the time.
Look at which photo or video is giving you the problem, and you could download just that one via Wifi Photo Transfer, and then delete it off the iPhone.
Then try with iPhoto again.

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I haven't been importing files for some months, and now I notice it doesn't work anymore.
Last time I did that and it worked I probably had Android 2.1 and OSX 10.5, now I have Android 2.2 and OSX 10.6, so either OS could be at fault.
I mount the SD card, it mounts successfully, iPhoto (8.1.2) opens and detects the SD card, but it doesn't show any photo. Yes there are photos, they are new, and even if I uncheck "hide photos already imported" it's still empty.
The photos are located in /DCIM/Camera

I have the same issue. Definitely broke with an iPhoto update. See here:
http://www.droidxforums.com/forum/droid-x-help/11644-mac-users-photos-no-longer- show-up-iphoto-9-ilife-11-a-3.html
"Figured out the Problem, Attempting a solution
I am having the same issue, and after reading this whole thread I did some tests.
The phone is not the culprit; I copied ALL of the files from the phone card to a standard SD card and placed it into my card reader and got the same result (iPhoto not working, as described in this thread).
I then deleted all of the folders/files that were not one of the following:
the DCIM folder
standard system folders (normally hidden), like .Trahes, .fseventsd, etc.
iPhoto worked with the phone files after that.
Based on this, it seems that iPhoto cannot read the card if it has more than one folder, and since the Android OS requires other folders, this is keeping it from working.
So then, with the phone still plugged in, I made a new "virtual disk" (just a small disk image with Disk Utility) and in it I created a symbolic link named DCIM pointing to the DCIM folder on the phone. (For those that don't know, a symbolic link is similar to and functions like an Alias, but its compatibility with the system level is better than an Alias, making it more transparent.)
Mac supports Folder Actions, running scripts in response to changes in folder contents. I am working on a script that will watch the /Volumes folder for newly inserted disk drives. When one is found, it will search for a DCIM folder. If it has one, then it will see if there are other folders. If there are other folders (which will keep iPhoto from working), then the script will generate a small disk image, mount it, then create a DCIM symlink pointing to the DCIM folder on the non-working drive.
When all is said and done, iPhoto will be able to read the virtual disk, and the symlink will reroute all changes back to the real phone disk as if the disk image weren't there. Thus, it will be usable again. Downside is iPhoto shows two disks, one for the non-working phone and one for the disk image, but it works. I have tried it all manually, so all I have to do is write the script. Hopefully I can finish it."

Iphoto won't import from iPhone at all

I can't figure it out. At first it said there was a file which wouldn't allow it to continue. I do have iCloud photos turned on but I want to back up all photos onto my hard drive so I have them securely elsewhere too. Suggestions? Usually I back up my iPhoto Library to external hard drive but now I can't. iPhone 6+, latest iPhoto on a new iMac, latest updates installed everywhere. Should I back up elsewhere?

Most Simple Back Up:
Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
Slightly more complex: Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically.
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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.
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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 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).
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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 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.

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As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
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Regards
TD

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IPhoto Won't Import my iPhone Photos!

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