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iPhoto 09no thumbnails in exported photos

I just upgraded to iPhoto 09, and find that exported photos no longer have the thumbnail in their EXIF data. Help?!

iPhoto '08, Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on May 2, 2012 4:31 PM

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11 replies

May 2, 2012 11:51 PM in response to Old Toad

thanks, but that's not my issue.


The Finder preview is just fine. I have an app that depends on the EXIF thumbnails being present. They were in there in photos I exported from my old iPhoto, but with the newer iPhoto (v 8.1.2) I got when I reinstalled SnowLeopard on a new hard drive, they are not there, and I am perplexed and annoyed.

May 3, 2012 9:50 AM in response to johnpfree

I've just tried to duplicate the problem with the iPhoto 8.1.2 library and app and have been unable.


Try this: launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and create a new, test library. Import some photos and check to see if the same problem persists. If the problem persists in the test library do the following: make a temporary, backup copy (if you don't already have a backup copy) of the library and try the following:


1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your

User/Home(User uploaded file)/Library/ Preferences folder.


2 - delete iPhoto's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your

User/Home(User uploaded file)/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder.


User uploaded file

Click to view full size


3 - launch iPhoto and try again.


NOTE: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding down the Option key when launching iPhoto. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.


If the new library preserves the thumbnail on exported photos then your current library is damaged. In that case make a temporary, backup copy (select the library and type Command+D) and apply the two fixes below in order as needed:


Fix #1


Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.


User uploaded file


Select the options identified in the screenshot.


Fix #2


Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library


  • Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
  • Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
  • Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
  • In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
  • Click on the Create button.

  • Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.

    May 3, 2012 1:39 PM in response to Old Toad

    hi again,

    thanks for hanging with me on this.

    I have tried the easy parts of things you said above with no good results, but before I tackle the more involved steps, I want to make sure we're on the same page:


    Here is the first part of the results of calliing PHP function exif_read_data() on a "good" photo export and the new (un)improved "bad" photo export. Note that the THUMBNAIL and COMMENT sections are jsut gone.


    Old iPhoto (good!):

    --------------

    dump IMG_5091.jpg:

    FileName => IMG_5091.jpg

    FileDateTime => 1315628085

    FileSize => 322655

    FileType => 2

    MimeType => image/jpeg

    SectionsFound => ANY_TAG, IFD0, THUMBNAIL, COMMENT, EXIF


    New iPhoto (bad ):

    ----------------

    dump gtest011.jpg:

    FileName => gtest011.jpg

    FileDateTime => 1336075626

    FileSize => 125940

    FileType => 2

    MimeType => image/jpeg

    SectionsFound => ANY_TAG, IFD0, EXIF

    May 3, 2012 2:26 PM in response to johnpfree

    I'm not familiar with the exif_read_data function. Just to be sure we're on the same page exported photos from your library do not include built in thumbnails, right?


    What app requires the thumbnail being present?


    Have you tried using EXIF Viewer on the two files? Is the problem obvious in it? You can take screenshots of the window and post here.

    User uploaded file


    If you haven't tried deleting the preference file give it a try. Also the other two.

    May 3, 2012 2:45 PM in response to Old Toad

    Just to be sure we're on the same page exported photos from your library do not include built in thumbnails, right?


    correct



    What app requires the thumbnail being present?


    my app, an app I have written and that I am quite attached to.



    Indeed, the viewer shows the same thing the exif_data function shows, that the thumbnail is missing.

    May 4, 2012 8:46 PM in response to Old Toad

    you mean these steps from above?

    1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your

    User/Home(User uploaded file)/Library/ Preferences folder.


    2 - delete iPhoto's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your

    User/Home(User uploaded file)/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder.


    Yes, I did finally do this just now, and still no success. I even just tried this:


    1. re-upload the images from my camera with Image Capture rather than iPhoto

    1.1 so the good news is that I at least have the source images on my hard drive with the thumbs

    2. confirm with Exif Viewer that they DO indeed have the thumbnails

    3. Import a couple into my new cleaned-up test iPhoto library

    4. export them resized

    5. find with Exif Viewer that they sadly do NOT have the thumbnails


    so unless you have more things to try, I am sort giving up on iPhoto for this and will wander the google to find another solution for batch resizing that includes thumbnails.


    thanks for your suggestions.

    May 5, 2012 9:19 AM in response to johnpfree

    I do thave a couple of more troubleshooting suggestions:


    1 - boot into another user account on your Mac and see if iPhoto does the same there. If so then it's a system wide issue. If not then it's a probem with just your user account.


    2 - boot into Safe Mode and try there. If the problem goes away then there's some system files that are interfering with iPhoto. If not then it definitely is a system wide problem.

    May 10, 2012 3:24 PM in response to johnpfree

    in the spirit of sharing, this is the solution I have come to, and which I am quite happy with:


    - upload photos to iPhoto as always, tweak, rotate etc, remove the baddies

    - export at my preferred size (800px box) to some folder

    - from Terminal, got to that folder and run this script:


    For each jpeg:

    - use sips to create a thumbmail and put it in a small subdir

    - use exiftool to cram that thumb into the original file


    #!/bin/sh


    echo '=========='

    mkdir small

    for i in *.jpg

    do

    sips --resampleHeightWidthMax 160 $i --out small/$i

    exiftool "−ThumbnailImage<=small/$i" $i -overwrite_original_in_place

    done

    rm -r small

    echo '=========='

    iPhoto 09no thumbnails in exported photos

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