TIFF Files Not Importing!! Help!!

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Level 3

810 points

TIFF Files Not Importing!! Help!!

I have a whole batch of Photoshop illustrations (NOT photos) that are in TIFF format. each one is about 20MB each, and for some reason i cannot load them into iPhoto, nor can I open them in Preview.

any thoughts as to why this is? I want to put the drawings together and order a book using iPhoto 5, but obviously I can't get them in.

I CAN convert them to JPEG and they load in fine and look correct, but i'm afraid i'm going to lose crucial color data by compressing them.

Help! any thoughts, solutions, or shoulders to pout on?

Posted on Aug 12, 2005 7:56 AM

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Answer 1

SamKva

Level 4

2,260 points

Aug 12, 2005 10:12 AM in response to Fizzlestix

Although iPhoto should import them fine, 20MB is a big file. What are the specs on your system? Can you import one at a time?

Converting to JPEG should not be an problem as the book program will turn the entire thing into a PDF anyway. You will want to check the PDF for color accuracy.

Hope this helped!
Sam

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

215,688 points

Aug 12, 2005 1:36 PM in response to Fizzlestix

Where are the files located? If they are inside the iPhoto Library folder then that's the reason they won't import. To be importable files must be outside that folder.

But, since you can't view them in Preview there probably is more going on here. Try opening them up in PS and save as tiff to another file name. Maybe the first save got corrupted somehow.

OT

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Answer 3

Fizzlestix Author

Level 3

810 points

Aug 12, 2005 6:00 PM in response to Old Toad

to answer both comments, i am hoping that the JPG conversion won't mess things up too much. if these illustrations go to press, i just don't want anyone to call me saying, "we can't use the files."

as for location, the files are on my hard drive, outside any library including iPhotos. there seems to be no logical reason for them not to import, but i can't figure it out. my system is pretty peaked out for a year old G5 tower.

I did try saving them with different fileneames, in RGB, in CMYK, even grayscale, all with the same results as a TIF file. it's infuriating, but i dunno. they open up just fine in Photoshop. i can't explain it.

thank you both for the kind feedback!

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Answer 4

Ricktoronto

Level 6

11,560 points

Aug 12, 2005 7:42 PM in response to Fizzlestix

I would not in a million years convert TIF files to JPEG just to get them into iPhoto unless I kept the TIF files as well and kept them for possible publication. The JPG conversion will lose a lot of data vs. TIF and there is no need to eliminate the originals.

No idea why they won't import as I have TIF, PSD, the works just fine on a G5 dual 2.5 and a G4 dual 1.25 and a powerbook.

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

215,688 points

Aug 12, 2005 8:20 PM in response to Fizzlestix

Do you get any message when you try to import it? Check the permissions on those files and on the iPhoto Library folder. You can manually set the permissions for that folder and it's contents as follows:

Setting Permissions for iPhoto Library Folder
1 - Select the iPhoto Library folder and type Command-I.
2 - When the Info window comes up go to the Ownership and Permissions section and make sure You have Read & Write permission and that the Owner and Group have Read & Write also. Others - Read Only.
3 - Then click on the "Apply to enclosed items..." button.

There is definitely something different about these files as iPhoto will handle tiff files.

Since you're using this for commercial purposes you might give serious consideration to using iView MediaPro. If you go to the site and look for and click on the link to compare the pro version to the entry level version you'll see that it can do. It's my primary media management application.

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Answer 6

Fizzlestix Author

Level 3

810 points

Aug 12, 2005 8:58 PM in response to Old Toad

I checked the permissions and they are Read & Write - thank you for that advice.

I went back to trace some steps and here's what i'm doing. maybe this might shed light? i don't know for sure:

1. create the illustrations in Photoshop (RGB)
2. Flatten the layers, convert to CMYK
3. Save image on hard drive as TIF with a name like: XX XXX01.tif

* now here's where a problem begins

4. i noticed that when i save in Photoshop, a message like, "Some files being saved contain non latin characters, they will be incompatible with some browsers"
5. the file is saved and can be opened again, without problem, in Photoshop.

I am guessing that perhaps this might have some relation to why the files may not import into iPhoto the way they should.

in retracing my steps, i tried saving these files with different names, as RGB, as .RAW, as .EPS and in as many profile configurations i could think of - all with the same final result: could not import into iPhoto.

I really appreciate the consideration in trying to help me with this. any further thoughts or feedback would be very much appreciated.

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Answer 7

Old Toad

Level 10

215,688 points

Aug 12, 2005 9:42 PM in response to Fizzlestix

Did you have any text layers in the original RGB? Even if you did and it had some "non Latin" text in it I shouldn't think it would carry over when you flattened it. This really is a puzzlement.

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Answer 8

Aug 12, 2005 9:46 PM in response to Fizzlestix

Hi fizzle,
I got that same error when I was trying to upload a movie file to a web site that had spaces and an apostrophe in it's name. I took out all the spaces and apostrophes and just kept the letters and was successful in the upload.
I know this really has nothing to do with your problem but just might, you never know.

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Answer 9

Aug 12, 2005 10:22 PM in response to Fizzlestix

This may be far too simple-minded for what youre up against, but just in case. . .

I had a problem getting TIFF files into iPhoto and found that if I changed the extension to .tiff instead of just .tif all my importing troubles went away.

As I said, probably way to simple, but just in case. . .

Ray

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Answer 10

Fizzlestix Author

Level 3

810 points

Aug 12, 2005 11:57 PM in response to Ray Choiniere

hehe... you know, it's funny, i just tried renaming the test file .TIFF but, alas, no luck... i'm still trying everything i can think of. i'll update if anything happens. thank you all again!

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Answer 11

Fizzlestix Author

Level 3

810 points

Aug 13, 2005 12:03 PM in response to Fizzlestix

Great news! I have solved the problem. it was not necessarily an iPhoto issue, but rather a final file error on my end.

I was looking through the files, when i found a leftover artifact from the original template used to create all the illustrations: a Layer Mask Alpha Channel.

the TIF files were being saved with the Alpha Channel still existing, which, apparently, caused a lockout from importing into iPhoto.

I removed the Alpha Channel, resaved and sure enough, the TIF imported without a hitch.

On other hand, i was surprised to find how poorly CMYK TIF files look in iPhoto. ah well, that's another brick to lay.

thanks to everyone for your wonderful help in this. much appreciated!!

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Answer 12

Old Toad

Level 10

215,688 points

Aug 13, 2005 12:16 PM in response to Fizzlestix

Alpha channels! That's a know problem with iPhoto. Sorry I didn't remember that. Haven't seen it discussed in a long time. Thanks for posting back. It will be a good reminder to users about that potential problem in the future. Good detective work!

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Answer 13

jimhere

Level 2

465 points

Aug 19, 2005 2:29 PM in response to Fizzlestix

But what if you want to keep an alpha channel?

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Answer 14

Old Toad

Level 10

215,688 points

Aug 19, 2005 2:59 PM in response to jimhere

Maybe change it to the Photoshop format, with alpha channel, and see if it will import. The Photoshop format is lossless or nearly so as I understand.

But before you do anything make a duplicate copy of the file and remove the alpha channel in it and see it it truly will import. If not, then we're barking up the wrong tree and have to change trees.

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Answer 15

jimhere

Level 2

465 points

Aug 19, 2005 6:14 PM in response to Old Toad

As you may know, Old Toad, I use iView for all of this stuff. I'm just trying to find a way to place my picts in my iPod in an organized way, and it seems that it wants me to use iPhoto. Just syncing my iPod to my own custom folder re-organizes the images based on Creation Dates (bad for scanned images), not file names (it's an iPod thing).
So I'm trying iPhoto. But since I do a lot of my own retouching, alpha channels are in there, causing images to have some parts knocked out. PSDs would probably be to large.
Just dragging them to the iPod would render them invisible to iPod's photo viewer (they must be "synced").

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