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iPhoto '11 All Photos Lost

Hello,


First lets start off by me telling you there is no back up ;( and I learned my lesson.


It all started( a month ago) when I opened up the explorer and went to "All Images" and saw thousands of photos in there. Being new to Apple after switching from Windows based for years I thought these were duplicate images stored on the computer(******** me). So I selected roughly 10,000 images and sent them all to the Trash. After realizing this was a huge mistake I tried to mass select all of them and select "put back" but some of the images could not be put back, for whatever reason I do not know. So I had to select each photo individually and select put back. There were many duplicate images from the "faces", "places", and other categorized options in iPhoto.


After getting all of the 10,000 photos that I put in the trash, "put back", I went through iPhoto and started checking my images. Many of them were there, but many of the thumbnails would show the picture but when I double clicked it a screen with a triangle with an exclamation point in it would display.


So I tried to google it to find out what the problem was and many forums with previously asked questions from other people would be answered by depressing the option key + command key while opening iPhoto and repairing/rebuilding the library. So, I did this.


Then iPhoto stuck on the same screen for a very long time, I let it sit there for about 16 hours before I had to close it for class. Then when I reopened iPhoto, every thing was gone. It looked like the very first day I got my MacbookPro and and iPhoto hadn't been used yet.


I went to the explorer, clicked on my user profile, went to pictures, and opened up iPhoto but no pictures were there either.


How can I get my photo library back? Thanks for any help in advance.


It is iPhoto '11 version 9.1.5(615).

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), iPhoto '11 version 9.1.5(615)

Posted on Sep 6, 2011 6:30 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Sep 6, 2011 7:34 PM

Can you tell if the photos are still on your hard drive? Open your iPhoto Library with the finder:

User uploaded file

Click to view full size


and look inside the Originals folder and its subfolders to see if your original files are there. If so I think your best bet would be to do the following:


Start over from scratch with new library


Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:


1. Move the existing library folder to the Desktop.

2. Open the library package with the Finder like this.


User uploaded file

Click to view full size


3. Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.

4. Drag the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package on the desktop into the open iPhoto window.


User uploaded file

Click to view full size


This will create a new library with the same Events as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.


OT

6 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Sep 6, 2011 7:34 PM in response to BeagleTail

Can you tell if the photos are still on your hard drive? Open your iPhoto Library with the finder:

User uploaded file

Click to view full size


and look inside the Originals folder and its subfolders to see if your original files are there. If so I think your best bet would be to do the following:


Start over from scratch with new library


Start over with a new library and import the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from your original library as follows:


1. Move the existing library folder to the Desktop.

2. Open the library package with the Finder like this.


User uploaded file

Click to view full size


3. Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.

4. Drag the Originals (iPhoto 09 and earlier) or the Masters (iPhoto 11) folder from the open iPhoto Library package on the desktop into the open iPhoto window.


User uploaded file

Click to view full size


This will create a new library with the same Events as the original library but will not keep the metadata, albums, books slideshows and other projects.


OT

Sep 6, 2011 7:59 PM in response to Old Toad

Both the Masters Folder and Original folder are in my iPhoto library when I go to "Show Contents". And they both have the pictures in them. Will it make a difference if I import from the Master's folder over the Original's folder or vice versa? Also do I have to import the whole folder at one time or can I do the sub folders individually so that it keeps the albums organized? Much thanks, Old Toad!

Sep 7, 2011 10:30 AM in response to BeagleTail

Starting over from scratch like this will lose all added keywords, titles and other metadata.


You can delete the library after the new library is finished importing and you're satisfied that you have all of the photos safely in it. But if you keep it you can try other methods of ressurecting the library so that you will have your metadata, slideshows, etc.

iPhoto '11 All Photos Lost

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