Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

bruxxx Author

Level 1

45 points

After new iphoto upgrade 9.3 under Lion - photos distorted

I can barely express how enraged I get at Apple's incompetence sometimes. This is one of them.

I entrusted my photos to iPhoto, most of them taken with my iPhone.

When I got back to view photos I have not seen for a while I find some percentage of them either

1. Gone, and I get a black screen saying the photo cannot be found, even though the thumbnail was there.

2. Randomly rotated. Some photos are taken rotated and I rotate them to the correct aspect when I upload them to my computer. I go back at some point and these photos are rotated. I rotate them back, and then go back and forth and they get rotated again.

3. The latest one is the aspect ratio of the photo is distorted, like looking through a funhouse mirror ... usually way stretched out horzontally.

Does anyone else have these kinds of problems? The missing and rotated pictures I have always seen a few of, but the distortion is new - immediately after the last upgrade of a day or two ago.

I am pretty sure I am not doing anything wrong but this is really bugging me that I cannot trust Apple with my data, especially photos.

What could explain this ?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 27" and 24"

Posted on Jun 14, 2012 12:12 AM

61 replies

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,362 points

Jun 14, 2012 1:29 PM in response to bruxxx

Remember, in the forum you're not talking to Apple. Only other Users here. If a post is deleted or edited it's because it was reported by another user. People do come here for help.

iPhoto menu -> Provide iPhoto Feedback is the route to the developers.

bruxxx Author

Level 1

45 points

Jun 14, 2012 1:52 PM in response to Yer_Man

> iPhoto menu -> Provide iPhoto Feedback is the route to the developers.

Done it many times, believe me.

Jun 21, 2012 2:46 AM in response to bruxxx

Just so you know you are not alone...

I also had many portrait style photos 'squashed' to horizonal after the upgrade. Not all portrait photos were affected and then only ones taken with a high resolution camera, i.e. no photos taken with a point-and-shoot or scanned ones were affected.

I tried to rebuild the thumbnails by holding down the command and option keys while launching iPhoto and choosing that option, several times, to no effect. I then tried the next two options, with disastrous results... grey squares in a 'rescued photos' folder and photos missing. Fortunately I had a back up and was able to revert to the original library (with the 'squashed' distortions).

The only way I was able to correct the 'squashed' photos was by replacing them with originals that I always keep in my Pictures folder... a painstaking task. I have had this happen once before after an update. Pity anyone who uses iPhoto exclusively!

bruxxx Author

Level 1

45 points

Jun 21, 2012 11:16 AM in response to Wooroonden

> Just so you know you are not alone...

I have to assume I am not. I am not doing anything wrong, and this (corruption of my iPhoto images) has been going on almost since I got my first iMac.

I had thought it was minimal and non-destructive, but the reason I am so steamed at this is that it is not.

All the program would need to do is to keep the original copies of the images, and maybe some kind of checksum to ensure they can be audited for problems and a recovery alert sent out.

How on Earth could something alter the aspect ratio of a photo? THEY HAVE THE ORIGINAL RIGHT THERE.

So when I ran the different fix modes there is no explanation of what they do, when you should run them, and not to mention none of them work.

This program is unworthy to be included in Apple's set of programs.

AND additionally it has a real knack for losing connections to my video files as well which I pull in from my iPhone for convenience's sake.

What is the point of this program if I have to manage all my photos myself outside of iPhoto to ensure I don't lose anything.

If there is something I am doing wrong, then tell me what it is or fix the program so it does not let me do that.

I'd really like to hear the program manager for iPhotos explain why this product does the exact opposite of what they charge me money for to do? Is he being rewarded inside Apple for making a program so bad that customer have to buy up to the next level to get a program that works? Is this the toxic future we are doing to see from Apple in the future to keep their profits high?

The other thing is YES I have backups ... but where do I look and what do I do to get photos back? The backup software also ought to be smart enough to work with iPhoto to point out phots that might have disk problems and then offer the user alternative files to restore from.

Jul 16, 2012 4:18 AM in response to Wooroonden

How does one keep originals somewhere else? Could someone maybe explain this to me. Surely one still has to allow iphoto to upgrade the library in order to view them. I am trying Terence's fix as I too have this problem this morning. Are there other programmes that I should use instead of iphoto that anyone can recommend that are more reliable?

many thanks,

Joanna

Jul 16, 2012 5:07 AM in response to bruxxx

I have run Terence's fix twice now and while the distortion has disappeared and the photos are all back on their sides (the ones I rotated previously, sigh) I now have big warning triangle things on some of my pictures, can only see them in thumbnail view. What should I do now? Ring Apple Care?

Just clicked Revert to Original on one of those warning triangle things and my image has reappeared, this is not a good update is it? I feel my photos are very vulnerable. Apart from making an iphoto back up which I do using Time machine, what is the best way to preserve one's photo library in a non iphoto format?

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,362 points

Jul 16, 2012 5:34 AM in response to JoannainBristol

The problem is that your Library is corrupted, not the update.

Regards

Jul 16, 2012 6:16 AM in response to Yer_Man

I accept that the triangle thing might be that Terence, but the distortion thing wasn't there before I ran the update. I have rebuilt the library several times now and the distortions as I said have gone, thanks to your advice.

Are there any other tips for dealing with corrupted libraries then that you might have? I am always appreciative of any help you give.

thanks,

Joanna

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,362 points

Jul 16, 2012 6:30 AM in response to JoannainBristol

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.

Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

Jul 16, 2012 6:33 AM in response to Yer_Man

I will do that. Thanks again, you are very kind 🙂

bruxxx Author

Level 1

45 points

Jul 16, 2012 7:52 AM in response to Yer_Man

I tried the iPhoto Library Manager many times and many different ways. I tried to copy my library, ran all the fix routines, nothing worked. I even restored a copy of my iPhoto library from Time Machine, as I surmised this has been an ongoing problem happening for whatever reason over time.

Nothing worked and Apple Support keeps asking me to send in a copy of my iPhoto Library itself. Either that means they are clueless or they know I am not going to do that and are just asking me to make me go away.

I am in a way relieved to see at least I am not making this up and that other people have the same problem. What on Earth could screw up photos like this, I really do not understand it?

bruxxx Author

Level 1

45 points

Jul 16, 2012 8:02 AM in response to Yer_Man

> The problem is that your Library is corrupted, not the update.

Blaming the poor customer? Just exactly how does the library get corrupted without the iPhoto software being buggy? At the very least there should be copied of every photo under the masters directory, or originals, whatever it is.

If those exist and are not randomly corrupted for some reason, then why can't iPhoto just rebuild everything around them? Without any iPhoto Manager or other external software?

The answer is the software is too complex and buggy. It is or should be a criminal offense for Apple to put out a product like this that mangles people's data. And then blaming it on poor backup methods is really low class because as I said you cannot tell when some photo is corrupted like this, and what do you do if 1 photo is or gets corrupted?

In iMovie you can find any clip in the finder. However in iPhoto there seems to be no way to get back to the original photo. As I said there is or should be some liability on Apple's part for this pointless corrupted and destruction of customer data. That is the or a number one rule of releasing software, dont destroy people's data.

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,362 points

Jul 16, 2012 8:18 AM in response to bruxxx

I tried the iPhoto Library Manager many times and many different ways. I tried to copy my library, ran all the fix routines, nothing worked.

Most folks report that using the Rebuild command with Library Manager - which creates a whole new Library - solves their issues. For some, the degree of damage is such that it won't work. In that situation either restoring from a good back up or starting over from scratch are the options

Apple Support keeps asking me to send in a copy of my iPhoto Library itself. Either that means they are clueless or they know I am not going to do that and are just asking me to make me go away.

Or, and this is just a wild (but non-paranoid) guess here, they want to see if they can figure out what the issue in your Library is. No?

Blaming the poor customer? Just exactly how does the library get corrupted without the iPhoto software being buggy? At the very least there should be copied of every photo under the masters directory, or originals, whatever it is.

Well I have no customers here, so hardly. There are several ways a library can be damaged without the software being buggy. For instance, if it's sitting on a damaged or inappropriately formatted disk, if it's interrupted while writing to the DB by a crash or power outage or force quit. In a Managed Library there is a copy of every Photo in the Master's Directory. It can be found using the Finder.

I'm delighted that you have found an answer that (doesn't) work for you. I would note that when you state "The answer is the software is too complex and buggy" you fail to account for the millions of people who use iPhoto every day with no issues. How can that be? Is it remotely possible that you have a local issue on your machine that is not replicated everywhere else?

Regards

Jul 16, 2012 3:56 PM in response to Yer_Man

In response to your question to bruxxx,

"Is it remotely possible that you have a local issue on your machine that is not replicated everywhere else?"

Please refer back to my previous statement:

"I also had many portrait style photos 'squashed' to horizonal after the upgrade. Not all portrait photos were affected and then only ones taken with a high resolution camera, i.e. no photos taken with a point-and-shoot or scanned ones were affected.

The only way I was able to correct the 'squashed' photos was by replacing them with originals that I always keep in my Pictures folder... a painstaking task. I have had this happen once before after an update. Pity anyone who uses iPhoto exclusively!"

My photos have not been:

"sitting on a damaged or inappropriately formatted disk, nor interrupted while writing to the DB by a crash or power outage or force quit."

and since this is neither the first time... NOR an issue every time... after an iPhoto update, I continue to believe that the problem lies within iPhoto's updating properties.

I would strongly suggest that people do a backup before an update, so that any damage done while trying a 'fix' can be undone, as I had to do. I would also strongly recommend that people download from their camera into folders in their Pictures folder, not straight into iPhoto, and that they keep their originals there. I only import photos to iPhoto as needed, to do books etc., as I use several photo editing programs.

"you fail to account for the millions of people who use iPhoto every day with no issues"

It is, unfortunately, more likely that all people who suffer the issue do not post here, (or elsewhere,) even if they read about it here.

Your advice is helpful as it works for some people, although not all, so it is appreciated.

bruxxx Author

Level 1

45 points

Jul 16, 2012 4:16 PM in response to Wooroonden

> Is it remotely possible that you have a local issue on your machine

> that is not replicated everywhere else?

I have other machines, but i have not used iPhoto on then. Anything is remotely possible, but what kind of issue do you imagine could re-dimension and rotate iPhoto content without doing anything else?

IPhoto should have a damage control facility better than TimeMachine.

The problem is who has room to do backups everytime an iPhoto or other S/W update comes out, let alone go through them at the picture level to replace them. If iPhoto is not what is is billed then it should be fixed or workarounds should be released. The other thing is if you do backups how long can you keep them and remember them - let alone re-import all the photos since?

Software and database technology is advanced to the point that one of the best databases is absolutely free, so the iPhoto group ought to be able to fix that is obviously so complicated that no one on the staff can find something as glaring as this.

After new iphoto upgrade 9.3 under Lion - photos distorted