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Can't edit photo imported from iphone 4S

After importing my photos to my PC (Windows 7) from my iPhone, I'm unable to edit them (for example, rotate, crop). I get the following error "this photo can't be saved because of a problem with the photo's file properties"

I check the properties, but they seem fine - all the right permissions, not read-only etc.

Occasionally, I will be able to edit a photo. Say 1 out of 10 of those imported. I can see no differences between these files.

I've also tried using different photo editors/viewers with no luck.


Any ideas?


Thanks!

iPhone 4S, iOS 5

Posted on Oct 28, 2011 6:15 PM

Reply
248 replies

Nov 13, 2012 5:27 AM in response to MontrealPaul

This 'answer' has been shared here before and it makes me as mad seeing it again as it has in the past. It implies that there is a problem with Windows whereas the problem is with Apple. Pre iPhone 4 this was NEVER a problem. My wife and I went through several iPhones up to the 3GS since the beginning of the iPhone. Only after the iPhone 4 did this problem appear and has not yet been solved. Yes, you can open in paint one at a time. It's a slow painful process, especially if you have a lot of problem pictures. Yes, you can abandon the software you use and use only Apple video playback software to play back movies. Love that 'solution'. Not!!!


I still contend that the best solution, that I've found, for rotating multiple pictures directly in Windows Explorer after importing is Jpeg Lossless Rotator:


http://www.daleisphere.com/easily-rotate-locked-iphone-4-and-4s-photos-in-window s-7-with-the-free-jpeg-lossless-rotator/


And the best solution, that I've found, for the video problem (aside from taking the videos with the control buttons at the bottom in the first place) is Freemake software:


http://www.daleisphere.com/easily-rotate-iphone-4s-videos-with-freemake-video-co nverter/


...Dale

Nov 13, 2012 6:03 AM in response to Dale Dietrich

Agreed - it's a lame, and kludgy option, but it is an option which doesn't require the installation of more workaround software. I'm in a corporate environment, fairly locked down, so I try to find as many Portable apps as I can. This (from Freemake) requires .Net 4.0, which must be installed with Admin privileges, so can't (yet) be portable. It seems to be a popular request over at PortableApps.com, so who knows...


Usually, I just remember to orient the camera properly, thus avoiding the issue, but we all know that in the heat of the action we sometimes snap pics or vids in the "wrong" orientation. For me, it's an occasional thing, so I don't have to orient or otherwise edit stuff in bulk, but I can understand the need.


I also agree that this looks like an Apple problem, probably with their proprietary properties.


Your blog looks interesting, Dale! I've bookmarked it and will have a closer read next chance I get.



Salutations,

-Paul

Nov 13, 2012 6:40 AM in response to MontrealPaul

You make some interesting points Paul.


I didn't know .net was required for Freemake. Probably because with consumer versions of windows since Windows 7, at least, dot NET is installed by default. As far as I know you are the first person (on this forum) trying to solve this in a locked-down corporate environment. So, for you, it's easier to get permission to install QuickTime or iTunes on a corporate PC than dot Net?


The QuickTime/iTunes answer doesn't actually solve the problem as the videos still won't play properly with most any other device or software other than proprietary apple devices and software. In our case we mostly watch our home movies on our Xbox - streaming them from our home server. There's no Apple solution that works for us other than, I guess, buying an Apple TV - and even then I don't know if the Apple TV will connect through my PC-based home network and play back our videos. Plus, as a rule I don't like kludgy 'solutions' thst work only on this or that device. I want a solution that will work with every piece of hardware or software that I may use in the future.


Yes, if you only have to rotate the occasional picture AND you are fine with the fact that paint.exe will degrade the picture quality once rotated and saved than that is a viable solution. In my case we have a new born. As you can imagine, as excited parents of our first child, we take tons of pictures. We purposely take portrait pictures because that's the orientation that makes sense for about half of them. So I need a safe solution that retains the picture quality and let's me rotate literally dozens of photos every time I import them. JPeg Lossless rotator fills the bill. The pictures are imported and rotated in seconds - without quality degradation.


...Dale

Nov 25, 2012 1:02 PM in response to ecbtx

I bought the IPhone 4S 16GB 5 days ago. I thought this would be a trouble free smartphone with a good cam which was the reason I was willing to spend the extra money. After taken some pictures and viewing them on my computer I saw the pictures were in the wrong position and I tried to rotate them. Editing of the pictures seemed inpossible and I ended up in this forum. I upgraded to IOS 6 but without success. Some of the files which were copied to my computer ended up corrupted and couldn't be deleted anymore.


At this moment I am totally dissapointed in the IPhone and I really ask myself how people can still be enthousiastic about this phone as this problem still isn't fixed by Apple. UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Nov 29, 2012 10:06 AM in response to ecbtx

Good morning End-Users:

This is common problem that happened to me when using “Apple devices” especially using the iCloud on a Window 7 laptop or computer to stream photos. Have no worries! It is very simple and easy to fix it. Here is a list of instruction that can unlock those entire photos:


  1. Right-click photo, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
  2. Click Edit to open the Permissions for <Object> dialog box.
  3. Click Add. Type User to set permissions for, and then click OK.


Best regards

Steve Polydor

Nov 29, 2012 10:11 AM in response to ecbtx

Good morning End-Users:

This is common problem that happened to me when using “Apple devices” especially using the iCloud on a Window 7 laptop or computer to stream photos. Have no worries! It is very simple and easy to fix it. Here is a list of instruction that can unlock those entire photos:


  1. Right-click photo, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
  2. Click Edit to open the Permissions for <Object> dialog box.
  3. Click Add. Type User to set permissions for, and then click OK.


Best regards

Steve Polydor

Nov 29, 2012 1:15 PM in response to iammotivated

Sorry to say, Steve, this does not work for me.


I am already administrator of my machine, and so have all rights inherited.


Nevertheless, "just in case", I followed your instructions and added myself specifically, but it changed nothing; Same error message.


BTW, iCloud is not a part of this issue for me. Though I do use iCloud, the file in question is on my local hard disk.



Salutations,

-Paul

Can't edit photo imported from iphone 4S

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