What does the exclamation point mean?

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Level 1

1 points

What does the exclamation point mean?

I just started designing a photo album and when I try dragging a photo to an open spot, the page suddenly goes gray with a box outline made of dashes and an exclamation point in the middle. I successfully made a calendar without this problem and cannot figure out what it means, or how to fix it. I checked out the various manuals, but must have missed it. Sorry if this is beginner's ignorance. I have iPhoto 6.0.6 — any suggestions?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 2, 2008 8:17 AM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Aug 2, 2008 8:23 AM in response to k027

K027

Welcome tot he Apple user discussion forums

a box outline made of dashes and an exclamation point in the middle

This indicates a corrupt library - iPhoto has lost contact with the photo.

This can be caused by computer failure but most often is caused by user activity within the iPhoto library - have you moved or changed anything inside the iPhoto library using the finder?

You can try rebuilding your library with iPhoto - backup your iPhoto library and launch iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) and command (apple) keys and rebuild using the dialogue that comes up

If that does not fix it try downloading iPhoto Library Manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - and use its rebuild function

LN

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Answer 2

k027 Author

Level 1

1 points

Aug 2, 2008 11:16 AM in response to LarryHN

Just a quick follow-up question (and thank you for your speedy response!). I've backed up everything on an external hard drive, but will the rebuilding cause me to lose everything and then have to replace it? I know it needs to be done... but again, my ignorance scares me.

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Answer 3

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Aug 2, 2008 11:46 AM in response to k027

No rebuilding will not cause you to lose anything - it may or may not fix everything but your photos are safe

and you have a backup (I recommend testing the backup by launching iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) key and using the select library function to try it out - be sure to do it again and select the original library on your boot drive after doing this so you do not add photos to the backup instead of the original)

LN

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Answer 4

k027 Author

Level 1

1 points

Aug 2, 2008 1:42 PM in response to LarryHN

Okay... so rebuilding through iPhoto was not successful and I downloaded the iPhoto manager as you suggested. Now I have two libraries, the original default library with all of my photos, and a rebuilt library with about half. I can still access both libraries by launching them individually with the iPhoto manager. But it seems that I can only use the rebuilt library for creating a book, is that correct?

I can still print photos from the default library, etc. but only the photos from the rebuilt library can be supported in creating a book. Is there anyway to get back the photos that were not transferred in the rebuild?

Thanks again, and sorry for all the questions. Now I know, never, ever, ever rename a roll in finder after it's been created.

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,314 points

Aug 2, 2008 1:48 PM in response to k027

Now I know, never, ever, ever rename a roll in finder after it's been created.

If that's what you've done then rebuilding with iPhoto Library Manager won't help because it won;t find the pics you've moved/changed either.

In your case you need to start over.

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.

Regards

TD

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Answer 6

k027 Author

Level 1

1 points

Aug 2, 2008 4:31 PM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks for the tips. It was a lot of work, but I finally have everything working the way I want it to. I did have to rebuild my library from scratch, fortunately I didn't have that much in the way of modified pics or anything else. Tomorrow I'll try setting up my new Airport Express — we'll see how that goes. Thanks again to both of you.

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