Missing Thumbnails and Missing Photos

**** iLife!!
I updated iphoto to 6.02, and now I'm getting blank spaces for a bunch of photos in the thumbnail section, and I'm getting the empty grey square with the exclamation point in regular sized photos.
Everything was just fine before the upgrade.
HELP!!!

Yes, ditto. I have same problem as Ted if not worse with iPhoto 6.02. There must be 10000s of us out there which means that someone must have figured out a solution by now. Please!
I followed Niantic's instructions but nada. I also updated my OS and followed the link to the Apple com article on images with !s but Show file got no response nor did show original file etc.
Before I rebuilt the library I could click on some (but not all) the blank thumbnails and see the whole photo, but now all the blanks remain blank with the ! in the middle.
Checking the missing photos I noticed two things that might help. First, a great wodge disappeared from those taken between July and September 2005. Although some were still showing.
Of the other that went missing it seemed pretty random with a few here and there from the beginning of my library (2002) onwards.
Also a bunch of photos I gave names to so I could identify them easily in the iPhoto library folders got jumbled in the library so they are now out of sync with when they were taken.
Also some photos have renumbered themselves so 015_13 has duplicated itself as 015_12
Also the dates are wrong (this must be pretty easy to fix), so for example photos I took in March 2006 say Jan 2005
Also when I examine the file directory on iPhoto library none of the dates correspond to when I took them (one strand starts 1970) and many of the subfolders are empty (so I cant quite understand how they came to be created).
Finally, yes I do have backups though I am not looking forward to the hours it will eventually take identifying all the missing photos by number and then reimporting one or several at a time.
I already tried to do this with several different photos and each time it read: "Unreadable file: the following file could not be imported: users/etc/etc/IMG_xxxx.jpg (The file is in the iPhoto library folder). Please could someone translate what this means!
Please excuse the length of this posting but I figured the more info I give the more likely there might be a clue for some bright spark to figure out what the xxxx is going on. Like Ted, my digital photo life was simple and peaceful until iLife 6 came along.
I suspect that messy file management that was tolerated in my earlier version is no longer tolerated by this new version. Whatever the reason i am completely stumped. Over to you, Sherlock…
iMac G5 (3.0) 512 MB Mac OS X (10.4.6) Bought July 2005

Similar Messages

Click on thumbnail and different photo appears

this just happened yesterday...when i click on a thumbnail, a different photo appears...help! do i need to redo all of my albums?
Mac mini Mac OS X (10.4.6) library is on LaCie drive

FBSC:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. You shouldn't have to redo all your albums. Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed and follow the instructions to rebuild the library. Select the first three options regarding the thumbnails and database. That should reset the library correctly.
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.

Help keeping track of originals, thumbnails, and modified photos

My free hard drive space has dwindled to about 3GB (out of a 100-ish GB drive) because I have about 1100 high-resolution photos. The challenge: copy lesser-used photos to an external drive, but keep often-viewed photos on the internal drive. Problem is
1) I can't figure out how to differentiate between originals, thumbnails, and modified versions to know what to move (or not).
2) Do I have to create two different iPhoto libraries, one for/on the external drive and one on the internal drive？
There has GOT to be an easier way. iPhoto is eating my hard drive up but I'm worried about losing photos or sacrificing accessibility for storage space. Help!

revsue
See my answer to your other post.
1) I can't figure out how to differentiate between originals, thumbnails, and modified versions to know what to move (or not).
Don't differentiate. Period. Never root around in the iPhoto Library Folder - any time you do you risk damaging your library.
2) Do I have to create two different iPhoto libraries, one for/on the external drive and one on the internal drive？
Yes you do, and it's not difficult at all.
Remember: It is strongly advised that you do not move, change or in anyway alter things in the iPhoto Library Folder as this can cause the application to fail and even lead to data loss
Regards
TD

Thumbnail and actual photo orientation out of sync

The thumbnail shows the image sideways, I rotate to it shows properly, then double-click on the image and the image is shown as sideways...
I've rebuilt the library twice and things still aren't sync'd up.
Any ideas?

David Yutzy
I imported some images from a photo. CD to my Pictures folder. A couple of then were wrongly oriented in the Preview thumbnail but when double-clicked (in Preview) they opened correctly!! So I imported them "as is" into iPhoto OK, they show properly without needing to rotate them.
I copied the same images from my Pictures folder to my Panther iBook and this time all the Preview thumbnails werre correctly oriented. Again they imported and viewed correctly in iPhoto without the need to rotate.
So perhaps there is a bug in one of my versions of Preview? (They are 2.1.0 and 3.0) The moral is (maybe) to take Preview's thoughts with a grain of salt!

Damaged links between thumbnails and photos

I replaced my HD and used Time Machine to restore. Everything appears fine. iphoto '08 shows al the thumbnails and movies as being there but come up black when you click on an individual photo and give error 50 when trying to play a movie. i believe the damage is the link between the thumbnails and the photos. I need help! thanks.

What exactly do you see when you try to view the Photos? Just a Black Screen? Or one with an Exclamation Mark?
Regards
TD

IPhoto shows original as thumbnail and in non-edit mode

Hey guys,
my problem started when my MacBook Pro turned of
when iPhoto '11 was open
without going into safety mode (battery needs replacement; haven't planned on it since it is only 3 years old and 550 cycles)
then no thumbnails were displayed at all, so I started the rebuilding. But that did not work out at all.
my problem is that if I use iPhoto:
Thumbnails displays the original photo not the edited one
If I look at the Photo in fullscreen (double-click the photo) it shows the original
If i go into edit mode (pressing ENTER) the "real" photo shows up,
and i can go back an it is the original again
i can edit it, undo it and then the thumbnail and fullscreen photo is ok
RAW photos just show up in edit mode, else it is blackscreen with a "/!\"
Please help me, since iPhoto is totally unusable to me now and I'm sad
Thank you for your help!
//Alkoholfrei

Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one. .
Regards
TD

Missing Photos but Have Thumbnails in iPhoto

I have a new MacBook Pro Retina running Yosemite (10.10.1) and iPhoto 9.6 (910.29) and I upgraded from a previous MacBook Pro running 10.9.4 and iPhoto 8.1.2 (424).
After the migration I noticed that many pictures have thumbnails but I get errors viewing the images. The error is either the exclamation point in a triangle or the error “The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -54.)”. The images are on my old computer and open without a problem. On the new computer I get the error and when I search in spotlight for the image it isn't found on the hard drive.
My research so far shows this might be because the images didn't transfer or because permissions weren't applied correctly when they came across. Is there an easy way to test those two problems? Is there an easy way to move forward from here?
I'm tempted to upgrade iPhoto on my old laptop and run the migration again on just the photos but I'd like to avoid a catastrophic failure.
All of the images are backed up in Time Machine so I'm not particularly worried about losing the images I just don't want to have to import individual images for the hundreds (thousands?) missing.
Thanks,
Keith

This indicates a disconnect between the Thumbnail and the original
this can be caused by two things
1 - User action deleting items from inside the iPhoto library - can be directly - can be from the All images list (never delete from there) - can be from running cleanup software like MacKeeer, CleanMac2 or other dangerous, defective software that improperly deletes or changes things in the iPhoto library - if you have done any of these things you must restore your backup from before you did them and damaged your iPhoto library - and I recommend getting rid of any "clean up software" ASAP (although being essentially MalWear it is not easy)
2 - corruption of the iPhoto library - If it is not #1 then Back up your iPhoto library, Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - repair permissions and if needed rebuild your database
LN

IPhoto thumbnails disappear - missing photos

iPhoto crashed a few days ago, and I had to rebuild the library. After this was done, my events were all out of order but the photos were still in tact. However, there were about 100 photos in one event that were missing. They were represented by black squares. The thumbnails would show for an instant while I was scrolling through the event, but then the thumbnails would disappear and turn black. When I selected a photo, it showed a black exclamation warning sign.
I back up to Time Machine, so I tried to restore my iPhoto library from an older backup. Those same 100 photos seem to be corrupt in every single backup since the photos were taken. To make it even harder for me to understand, I actually viewed these 100 photos in iPhoto last week and they were fine, so I know they haven't been corrupt since they were imported to iPhoto.
Are these photos recoverable?

The exclamation mark is an indication that the link/file path between the thumbnail and the master photo has been broken. Try the following:
1 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down to open the First Aid window. Be sure to follow the circled recommendation in the screenshot.
2 - apply Option #4, Rebuild Database.

Missing Photos after rename and organize Rolls

Hi. I had a bunch of Rolls in my iPhoto Library\Originals folder for each year. In many cases there was just 1 picture in a Roll and hundreds of rolls. So I renamed a few Rolls to more meaningful names and moved pictures around into these Rolls. Then I deleted the empty Roll. I thought I was doing a great job in reducing hundreds of Rolls down to a handful.
Problem is, now when I open iPhoto, the thumbnail still seems to be there ( meaning I can see the pictures) but when I click on the picture I get the "Missing Photo Indicator", i.e. the gray box, instead of the actual picture. I even Emptied the Trash so I fear I have lost the photos.
I thought I read somewhere about re-indexing iPhoto in cases like this. Is that correct. If so How?
Otherwise, Please help me figure out how to get iPhoto to find my photos in their new / renamed Rolls.

Brad
You made these changes in the Finder, yes?
It is strongly advised that you do not move, change or in anyway alter things in the iPhoto Library Folder as this can cause the application to fail and even lead to data loss
If you have made these changes in the finder, then I'm afraid that you'll either have to return things to the way they were or if you cannot then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same film rolls and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, books, calendars etc.
Move the iPhoto Library Folder to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library Folder on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual rolls to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library Folder on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Rolls in the iPhoto Window (View -> Film Rolls) correspond exactly with the Roll Folders in the Originals Folder in the iPhoto Library Folder. You can move photos between Rolls, you can rename rolls, edit them, create them, as long as you do it via the iPhoto Window. Check out the Info Pane (wee 'i', lower left) the name and date fields are editable. Edit a Roll Name using the Info Pane, the Roll Folder in iPhoto Library Folder/Originals will also have the new name.
Regards
TD

Best strategy for dealing with a mixed library and missing photos

Looking at the package contents of my iPhoto Library, it appears that I have a "mixed" library (i.e. part managed and part referenced). I'm not sure how this happened--I originally created this library about three years ago when I first bought my Mac with iLife '06, then later upgraded to iLife '08 which I'm currently still using. Maybe the default setting was to have a referenced library in iPhoto '06? Don't know. I don't recall ever changing this setting.
Anyway, I was starting to manually recover some missing photos but it just occurred to me that iPhoto is simply updating the aliases to point to the photos I'm telling it to use, and not actually copying the photos into the library (I'm guessing that only happens when you import a photo). This is not what I want. I want my library to be completely managed. I understand that, as my current Preferences settings dictate, any new photos I import now will be copied into the iPhoto Library. But for the existing photos that I am able to recover, I don't want to have to keep the originals outside of iPhoto.
I read in another topic about an application called AliasHerder and I'm thinking of trying that. The problem is, I no longer have original copies of all of the missing photos. I can recreate the folder structure for some of them but not all. I'm not sure what this will do to my iPhoto Library (I have emailed the vendor for clarification). I'm wondering if I'll still end up with a mixed library containing aliases that point to a non-existent file. Perhaps someone who has some experience with the tool could enighten me.
Based on suggestions given to me in previous posts I made, I tried both rebuilding my iPhoto Library and using the iPhoto Library Manager tool. Neither of these produced the results I had hoped for. Am I better off just starting off from scratch and creating a whole new library? And if so, what's the best way to get all of the existing photos from my current library to the new one? Do I export them out and then import them into the new library? Is there any way to salvage events, albums, etc. from my existing library or will I have to recreate these in the new library?
Thanks in advance!

First check iPhoto's Advanced preference pane to make sure you're running a "managed" library.
Click to view full size
Since you don't have the "source" photos available to relink to your best bet, IMO, would be to continue using your current library and delete those missing photos from it whenever you come across them in day to day use. If you click on the thumbnail of a missing photos and drag it to the iPHoto trash and empty it that will delete it from the library. This way you will retain all of your organizational efforts, i.e. albums, books, keywords, etc.
When you rebuilt with iPhoto Library Manager what did the resulting library contain? If it contained your photos without the missing photos you could use it. You would retain your albums, keywords, faces, places and other metadata. You will lose any keepsakes, i.e. books, slideshows, cards, etc.
Or, you could start over as follows:
Creating a new library while preserving the Events from the original library.
1 - Move the existing library folder to the desktop
2 - Open the library package like this.
3 - Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
4 - Drag the Originals folder from the iPhoto Library on the desktop into the open iPhoto window.
You will end up with all your photos (no missing photos) in the same events as in the original library. But there will be no albums, metadata or keepsakes. It's for this reason I made the original suggestion of continuing with your current library above.
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.
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 08 has missing photos and wheel of death

Bought new imac and upgraded to iLife 08. Upgraded my photo library of some 4000 photos all looked fine at first.
Noticed that in the middle of the photo library are about 20 or so missing photos they display as dashed grey squares. If you scroll so you have these thumbnails on the screen or open an event with these photos in you get the wheel of death and you either have to force quit iphoto or wait for ever to quit iphoto.
I have rebuilt the photo library and used the batchmod tool as described on another post. I have also searched for and removed alias links etc.
Now at a loss as to next move. I have the photos on my old laptop running previous iphoto version plus a few older DVD backups.
Is it anything to do with my old photo ipod?
I could just delete the iphoto library and start over importing from scratch but what if it happens again? Any advice?

It means that your main Library has a damaged database file.
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
TD

Missing Photos and jumbled library and sub folders

Hi. I am having trouble opening photos in iPhoto. The thumbnails are squashed out of shape and when I double click on the image, a different photo appears. There are also blank squares in place of some thumbnails. All the photos in my library are also out of order, most of my subfolders are now empty and if there are photos in a subfolder, they do not correspond to the folder name. Everything appeared to be okay two weeks ago.
Any help in retrieving my lost photos and resetting the subfolders would be appreciated.

Hi Ben,
First try a rebuild:
Try this:
Before doing a rebuild make sure iPhoto's trash bin is emptied. You can do this by control clicking on the trash bin, or from the menu bar under iPhoto.
Close iPhoto
Duplicate the iPhoto Library folder
Drag the duplicate to the desktop (hopefully you have enough room on your hard drive for the duplicate.)
Launch iPhoto holding down the Command and Option keys until you see the rebuild options screen.
Choose the first three options. If you were missing photos in your library, also choose the last option. Be advised that you will get a roll of orphaned photos and it might be quite huge. Most of them will already be in your iPhoto library, but use caution when deleting anything from this roll until you are sure the photos are still in your library in another place. It might be a good idea to share/export this roll of photos just in case you need to import them again.
Back to the rebuild, depending on the size of your library it might take some time. When it is done, hopefully your photos will be there.
You might see some unexpected results as I did when I did a rebuild. Photos had been moved to wrong dates, video clips had lost their duration info and some were even orphaned from the jpg pointer file. It took me some time to straighten it out again.
This is the reason to make a duplicate before you rebuild, in case you do not like the result. If you don't like the result, close iPhoto, then delete the rebuilt library and drag the duplicate back into the Pictures folder making sure the name is iPhoto Library. Launch iPhoto and it should open the library in the Pictures folder.
iPhoto 4 or later: Rebuilding the iPhoto Library
If that doesn't work, create a new library:
Close iPhoto
Rename your messed up iPhoto Library to "iPhoto Library_old"
Drag this library to your desktop
Hold down the Option key and launch iPhoto
This is the window you will get
Create a new library or choose a library to open
Choose to create a new library
Once this new empty library is open it is time to import the images from your old library
Go to File>add to library
Navigate to the old library on your desktop and highlight it in the window, then click the "import" button.
iPhoto will start importing the images from your old library
This is what to expect:
Your images will be imported in nice dated rolls. (make sure your view is set to sort by rolls to see it) There are a couple of caveats to this. You will get rolls named "Originals" These rolls will contain your video clips and your original images that you had edited. If you had RAW files they would be in those rolls too (I don't do RAW, so I don't know for sure) Delete what you don't want from those rolls. You will also get the jpeg pointer files to your video clips imported. They will just be jpegs and will not point to the video clips anymore as iPhoto made new ones when the clips were imported again. You can delete those. they should be in a roll right next to the newly imported video clips so they are not hard to find. The thumbnail files don't get imported as iPhoto makes new ones when the images are imported.
Once all you images have been imported, check through the library and make sure everything looks ok.
You can now start making your Albums, and do your keywords or any other organizational steps.
You can also delete the old library on the desktop.
It is also a good time to backup this new library to CD/DVD by burning the iPhoto LIbrary folder in the Finder, or copying the iPhoto Library folder to an external drive formatted for Macs, or copying the iPhoto LIbrary folder to an iPod.
Good luck!

I Have Issues - missing photos and the like

I dunno. I used to never bat an eye every time Apple came out with an update. Not the story of my life lately - since 10.4.4 and up and with related products iTunes 6.03, and iPhoto 6.
Re: i Photo - missing photos, more and more. I went investigating and the JPG's themselves are missing even missing in some cases (not just messed up thumbnails). Restoring from backup now as I speak. But this gives me the Fear. This recent list of problems in various parts of my system.
iPhoto problems have included - date stamps got whacked, so my albums are all out of tune and not in order. Missing files & directories. Thank God for backups. Also dupe files eg. img6013.jpg and img6013_1.jpg etc. etc. Also, I just bought a new Canon 20D and have been trying to import lately and during or when it attempts to import from my card, it bombs and I have to say open/reopen. Am I the only one with the Plague? After about 4 tries it worked. Larger files than my old cam, but still...
I just noticed that some of my new pics I previously imported (that showed up, but after disappeared) are in /Music/Import/Data/2000/12/ - not in the correct path and not even in the correct directories, because the dates are all indeed the correct dates - oh wait, these are thumbnails - ???
The originals are in /Music/Import/Originals/2000/12/ ???? ***!?!?!?!
I have the Fear. Any tips on what the heck might be going on here would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Hi Mike,
this is the new organization:
iPhoto 6 Library folder in the Finder
As you can see the structure is now related to rolls. Rolls are created for each folder you import and each import session from a camera.
It is very easy to change the names of film rolls within iPhoto to make them easier to find images within. Open the info panel in iPhoto by clicking on the "i" icon. Once it is opened, click on the roll title in the viewing window.
Click on the word "title" in the info pane and type in your new title. I like to use a date and text format such as 12/25/05 Christmas at Mom's, 1/05/06 my birthday, etc. Once the roll names are changed within iPhoto, they are also changed within the Finder, making it easy to locate an image.
When importing from a camera, make sure you name the roll with a date and text before the import.

Explain finding missing photos by copying to another disk and back

I would appreciate if someone can explain what is happening to my iPhoto file under Lion.
Here are the sequence of events in my iPhoto library of about 5000 photos and about 44GB of data:
1. I noticed that several photos would not display when I clicked on the thumbnail. I got a black triangle indicating no photo present.
2. I found this to be a random occurence in many events.
3. I copied my iPhoto file to an external disk.
4. Then I used the rebuild database option with all options checked.
5. The resulting database was rebuilt with many problems. The missing files were still missing and most of the thumbnails had a different orientation than the base photo. The base photo was basicly correct and the thumbnal was randomly upside down or right or left.
6. I started correcting the thumbnails and after several hours I decided that I would never get through them and the problems with the original database weren't as bad.
7. So I chucked the rebuilt database into the trash.
8. And then copied the original database back from the eternal disk.
9. Then when I got into iPhoto all my photos were in the correct orientation and!!!!!! all of the missing photos were present again with their thumbnails. There were no problems in the database.
So what happened? WHy did this fix the problem? What I did was a straight finder system copy from one disk to the other and back.

I now have to decide wheter to use this new database or try to fix the old one.
There is no way to fix the old one. That databse file is unstable. It would be unwise to invest further effort in it.
My suggestion would be
a: restore from a known-good back up if you have one
Or
b: Stick with the rebuilt library and try recover the missing 69 pics from the damaged library and import them to the new one.
Regards
TD

Is there any way to recover files when the back up catalog has been deleted accidently. I can see a preview of the photos, but I cannot access or edit them. They say "the folder cannot be located" and "the photo is missing". I have gone through multipl

I can see a preview of the photos, but I cannot access or edit them. They say "the folder cannot be located" and "the photo is missing". I have gone through multiple Adobe tutorials to try and recover them to no avail. Any tips?

Backup catalogs wouldn't have helped with this problem anyway, but naturally, you shouldn't delete backup catalogs for a while.
The solution to reconnecting the folders is given here: Adobe Lightroom - Find moved or missing files and folders

Missing Thumbnails and Missing Photos

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