Trying to download photos from camera to iPhoto, get "unreadable" message

Am trying to download photos from camera to iPhoto, and iPhoto won't take the photos, saying "unreadable files". I've downloaded from this memory card and camera before. Why is it now saying my photos are "unreadable" and how do I correct it?

Have you tries Image capture (in your applications folder)?
Will the camera mount to the desktop?
When did you last reformat the card?
LN

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Problems downloading photos from camera to iPhoto

All -- I'm running iPhoto 6 on a Mac Mini with the latest version of OS10. I have a Canon PowerShot G3 and shoot 4-megapixel JPEG photos, and AVI movies. Downloading photos from the G3 to the Mac is slow, and deadly slow (as is 15 minutes or more) when there's an AVI movie or two mixed in with JPEGs. I've had to abort several downloads when they just flat out stalled.
Today when downloading a total of 58 JPEGs and 6 AVI's I got an error message - "unreadable files". 51 JPEGS and 3 AVIs downloaded fine. 7 JPEGS and 3 AVIs didn't download. The error message says "The following files could not be imported. They may be an unrecognized file type or the files may not contain valid data."
Any help you all can offer would be much appreciated.
Greg

Isn't technology great? The more you learn, the more you need to learn more.
Have you viewed the iPhoto 6 tutorials? http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/iphoto/new.html The section on Organizing, "Add Ratings, Titles and Comments" could be helpful.
Click on the little blue i on the lower left of the iPhoto window, and the Info Panel should pop up. Select a picture, and it shows the info for it. Select a film roll's name, and you can see and edit the info for the whole roll. Click on the roll's title in the info panel to highlight it and you can type in a new name. You can edit the date of the roll this way, and it will affect how your rolls are listed in the library. The dates "from" and "to" are generated by the dates of the items within the roll. If you type comments about a roll they will be shown below the roll's name in the library when the roll is closed. I like to keep rolls that match my camera cards, but they can be very large. So I use comments to list the events contained in the roll, so I know which roll to open when I want to find a specific photo.
If you view your library in Film Roll view then you see the rolls' names with a little triangle to the left. As in the Finder, clicking on the triangle to make it point right conceales the contents of (closes) an item, while clicking on it to turn it down reveals the items inside the item.
Now the hard part - all those dates. If the dates and times are totally wrong, I would use iPhoto's Batch change to correct them. However, only iPhoto will recognize this date change, because it won't correct the real problem, which is that the EXIF info is wrong for those pictures. There are ways of changing EXIF info which involve downloading other programs, running batch changes, and re-imprting into iPhoto. I've never done it, but I searched the iPhoto 6 forum for "EXIF rename file info" and restricted by user name Old Toad. Try this thread http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1734147&#1734147 and note Old Toad's last post about PhotoInfo.
If you don't mind about the EXIF, then you can just redate them within iPhoto. Select a series of photos from the same date, then go to the Photos menu and select Batch Change. Select Set Date. Type the correct date and give a time for the first picture. To force iPhoto to maintain the same order within the series, check Add 1 minute between each photo. This way, although the times will be wrong, at least they will have the correct chronological sequence. (Or type in the times manually after the batch change if the order is not correct.) I always do this with rolls of actual film I get processed at a store. The photo CD I get never has the correct dates or times, so I add these to at least get them to display in my library in the correct order. As far as I know, you have to run a seperate batch change for each date that you want to change to. Unless you have a series with one photo for each day and wish to check "Add X Days between each photo."
The highest rated member (very talented) of the iMovie forum, Karsten Schluter, still tells people he's just an amateur. We all learn what we need when we need it. I am grateful for the support on these forums. Let me know how it goes.

Trying to download photos from camera but have no icons

i am trying
to download some more photos to my macpro from camera, I do not have any icon to import

Open iPhoto - it's in the Applications folder.
When iPhoto is running, click iPhoto in the menu bar, and select Preferences.
On this pane, the third line from the bottom - click what ever is shown there, and select iPhoto.
To display icons of connected devices, you need to do something else. Click anywhere on the desktop, then click Finder in the menu bar, and select Preferences / General. Check all the boxes as shown:

Downloading photos from camera to iPhoto

Each time I go to download new photos, my iPhoto program wants to import ALL the pictures on the memory stick, instead of just the new ones. What am I not doing? What should I be doing? I don't want to erase the pix from the memory because I use them. But I don't want to re-invent the wheel each and every time I go to download. My camera is a Cannon. The Cannon software recognized the new photos and would ask me what I wanted to do. Anybody.....?
radish

radish,
It's been reported here by many folks that iPhoto 6 often fails to ignore the duplicates upon import from a camera.
Since Canon cameras don't mount on the Desktop, you can use a USB card reader. Remove the card from the camera, pop it into a reader, and it will mount as an external hard drive. If iPhoto brings up its +Ready to Import+ dialog, ignore it. Then do File > Import to Library, and a navigation window will open where you can preview the files on the card and select only the files you wish to import. It's similar to importing with Image Capture, with the advantage of importing directly into your iPhoto library. If you have a photo printer with camera card slots, it may be used as a card reader.
You are wise to not allow iPhoto to delete the photos from your memory card after importing. There have been too many reports of failed imports followed by total deletions.
Regards.

Unable to download photos from camera to iphoto

All of a sudden when I try to import photos from my camera to iPhoto it's as if iPhoto is not recognizing the camera. iPhoto doen't open like it usually does when I plug camera in. Any thought?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities!
Your Signature says you are running 10.4.8. Yet you posted to 10.6 forum. Did you recently upgrade? If not, have you installed anything new since you were last able to read the camera? And are the camera's batteries fully charged, and the camera actually showing it is powered on?

When trying to download videos from any site i get the message cannot create target file

I have tried uninstalling firefox and video download helper then reinstalling them and changing the destination folder and resetting the commands .

Do you see a "3G", "E", or "o" next to the carrier name and signal indicator on the phone? If not, then you are not connected to a cellular data network at all. It's not impossible that you're not in range of their data network. Who is your carrier and where are you located?
If you do see one of those, you may want to call them again and ask explicitly to have them check the provisioning on your account. Just because it looks right in the billing system does NOT mean they have it set up correctly.

I am trying to download photos from my camera to iphoto on my mac book (which I have done many times before). This time I am getting an alert that saysThe photo "IMG_5965.JPG" could not be opened, because the original item cannot be found. Help?

I am trying to download photos from my camera to iphoto on my mac book (which I have done many times before). This time I am getting an alert that saysThe photo “IMG_5965.JPG” could not be opened, because the original item cannot be found. How can I fix this?

There is a fair likelihood of an explanation of this symptom
in another ASC discussion thread; see the reply by léonie:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/20165563#20165563
You may have to research any newer possibilities in trouble-
shooting or resolving issues by use of iPhoto Support page.
Since I don't use iPhoto as a primary editor or storage, the
details on the topic aren't so good. I prefer ToyViewer editor.
•iPhoto Support
•iPhoto Video Tutorials
Hopefully the error is easily corrected.
Good luck & happy computing!

IPhoto won't download photos from camera.

iPhoto won't download photos from camera. iMac 10.6.8; iPhoto updated. No Name comes up, says "downloading," but color wheel only goes round and round. I've let it go on for 20" to no avail. Only way to get out of iPhoto then is to Force Quit. Tried downloading pictures through a Card Reader with same results.
Same camera, same procedure for last 5 years and never had this problem. Thanks for any advice.

Try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete the contents the following folder:
User/Library/Containers/com.apple.iPhoto
3 - reboot, launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE: For Mavericks, 10.9, go to your Home folder and use the View ➙ Show View Options menu to bring the this window:
where you can check the Show Library Folder checkbox.

TS1315 when trying to download photos from my digital cameras I keep getting the message that pics can't be downloaded because of an unrecognizable format. It shows that they are all jpeg files. One camera is a Canon, the other a Panasonic.

when trying to download photos from my digital cameras I keep getting the message that pics can't be downloaded because of an "unrecognizable format". It shows that they are all jpeg files. One camera is a Canon, the other a Panasonic. I have had these cameras for a few years and have never had a problem downloading.

I am having the same problem which has happened very infrequently before. Generally it's one photo and happened when my battery died.
However today I tried to download six photos.
None would download including several others for a total of 21 that would not download.
Since I had just installed a new powered hub and added three new external 4T hard drives, I got concerned that it was the hub. Then got really worried that I'd have problems with the data I have been backing up.
However following this sequence of events, I've determined it's not the hub, but still don't know what is causing the problem.
(1) Put a fresh battery in the camera - same results
(1.5) Used a different port in the new hub - same results
(2) Put the card in the card slot in the back of my iMac - no problems except that one image I knew about last week. The six new images imported.
(3) Tried again using the cable - still same error
(4) Changed cables - my husband has the same camera - still same error
(4) Put the card in his camera with his cable - still same error
(5) Put the card in a card reader and used the same slot in the new hub - no problems - same one wouldn't import but message that there are no new photos to import.
(6) Moved the offending one image to the Trash while the card was in the card reader
(7) Put the card back into my camera and used my cable. iPhoto had no error and displayed the message there are no new photos.
Conclusion:
Not the camera
Not the cable
Not the hub
Must remove bad photo from the card
However, I have not had to do that before. I went through several imports on vacation when there was one bad image and just ignored it each time.
Any idea why this is happening now?
Thank you

After downloading yosemite, can't import photos from camera to iPhoto

After downloading Yosemite 10.10.1 to my Macbook Air, I can't import photos from camera to iPhoto. Had no problem before. It recognizes camera and says loading, but it never does load photos.

That's the latest version.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take the actions that you're having trouble with. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

I keep getting "camera not detected" every time I tried to download photos from my Powershot SD1000?

I keep getting "camera not detected" every time I tried to download photos from my Powershot SD1000? I tried different USB cables and still didn't work,

Hi garyliban!
Please ensure that your camera's software is up to date. The older versions that came with your camera were out long before Windows 8, so they need to be updated to be able to work with Windows 8. Please click here to go to the download page.
If this is a time sensitive-matter, additional support options are available at Contact Us.
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

HT3258 After downloading Mac OS X I can no long download photos from Safari to iPhoto. How do I fix this problem?

I downloaded Mac OS X Mountain Lion and now I can't download photos from Safari to iPhoto.

Open iPhoto and then try it. I got the same error message you did when I tried to download an image. iPhoto then opened and I was able to add the image. Not exactly perfect.
Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.
Feedback

How do I download photos from Facebook to iPhoto

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Hi Mark...
Right or control click an image then select: Add Image to iPhoto Library.

Trying to download photos from my ipad to my PC. Have done it before, but this time, Itunes recognized the ipad, but the computer itself did not recognize the ipad.

Trying to download photos from my ipad to my PC. Have done it before, but this time, itunes recognized the ipad, but the computer itself did not recognize the ipad.

Hey BJDaugh24,
Thanks for the question. If I understand correctly, the iPad is not in iTunes for Windows. I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help the issue.
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch not recognized in iTunes for Windows - Apple Support
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a good one,
Mario

Trying to download photos from Dropbox onto computer, but each time it says Decompression Failed. Can anyone help?

I am trying to download photos from Dropbox onto my computer. Each I time I attempt this, it just says Decompression Failed often after 1 hour of downloading. Can anyone assist me? I am not hugely technical!

Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.

Trying to download photos from camera to iPhoto, get "unreadable" message

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