iPhoto question

[MavsX]

So my girlfriend has a mac book and uses iPhoto to manage her photos. I've never used iPhoto so i dont know what is going on. Basically, some of her photos she can see the thumbnails but when she trys to view the full size photo it enlarges the photo and then the photo disappears and a "question mark" icon appears instead. I'm assuming that means she has moved or deleted the photos and they are no longer there? is the thumbnail photo just like indexed or something?

how can i rebuild or refresh the iPhoto index file?

where are the raw jpegs saved on the mac? She doesn't know what i mean by that, but i'm hoping you will. If i wanted to copy some pics to a flash drive, where would i go to actually drag my files over to be copied?

thanks fellas

 

[Dave Braine]

Yes, it would seem that the picture is missing. It may not have been imported into the main library. Go into iPhoto Preferences>Advanced and see if Copy items to the iPhoto Library has been ticked. If it hasn't then if the original was on a pendrive, or a folder somewhere, and that drive/folder has been removed, then it won't show.

If the picture has been deleted then a rebuild won't help, but see here for info:
http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/Documentation/iPLM/pgs/faq_corrupt_library.html

If that option has been ticked then iPhoto stores all original within Home Folder>Pictures>iPhoto Library. However, don't go in there, as messing with the folders/photos inside can seriously mess up iPhoto.

If you want to copy photos to your pendrive you havr two options. You can select the ones that you want from the main iPhoto window, and then export them via the iPhoto File menu>Export. This way you can adjust their resolution if required. The other, simple way, is to just drag them out of the iPhoto window onto your pendrive.

 

[MavsX]

Yes, it would seem that the picture is missing. It may not have been imported into the main library. Go into iPhoto Preferences>Advanced and see if Copy items to the iPhoto Library has been ticked. If it hasn't then if the original was on a pendrive, or a folder somewhere, and that drive/folder has been removed, then it won't show.

If the picture has been deleted then a rebuild won't help, but see here for info:
http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/Documentation/iPLM/pgs/faq_corrupt_library.html

If that option has been ticked then iPhoto stores all original within Home Folder>Pictures>iPhoto Library. However, don't go in there, as messing with the folders/photos inside can seriously mess up iPhoto.

If you want to copy photos to your pendrive you havr two options. You can select the ones that you want from the main iPhoto window, and then export them via the iPhoto File menu>Export. This way you can adjust their resolution if required. The other, simple way, is to just drag them out of the iPhoto window onto your pendrive.

its an exclamation point not a question mark. haha, my bad.

it looks like i'm having the same problem as the dudes in this thread..

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1251926&start=0&tstart=0

i have also been trying to track down which files this is happening to. It looks like some of the files that are "missing" are files that she edited. If i go into finder and then iphoto library. i then 'right click" to "show package contents", i can see the raw jpegs, i can see a originals and a modified folder, and i see a lot of jpegs that are then not being shown up in iPhoto.

How can i just nuke the database file? Can i delete the albumdata.xml and albumdata2.dml files? will that do it for me? I should probably copy all the raw jpegs to my desktop before doing any of this, just to make sure i dont lose any pics..

i saw one guy in the thread talk about how to create a new database...here is what he posted..

Dovek

When you change thins in the iPhoto Library Folder you change the address of the photos, and then iPhoto has no idea where they are. Hence the !

To create and populate a new library:

Note this will give you a working library with the same Rolls and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.

Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop

Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.

Go into the iPhoto Library on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Roll Folders 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 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.

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

should i do that or your thoughts? thanks for your time by the way..

 

[Dave Braine]

I've not had any problems with my iPhoto, so I've never had to try any repairs to the library.

With the copy of your iPhoto Library on the desktop as a backup, it's probably worth a try.