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Exporting photos description missing

Hi, I'm new to this forum so please be gentle! I'm using a 2008 Macbook Air running Mountain Lion and iLife 2011. Unfortunately somewhere down the line my iPhoto library has become corrupted and it won't save Faces information, often crashes etc. I took it to an Apple store and the guy managed to load on an older library from my Time Machine backup without me losing too many pictures, however the same thing kept happening.


As I didn't know when the problem started occurring and did'nt want to lose anything else he suggested I load all my photos onto an external drive and then re-import them to create a new library (he already tried re-building my current one with no success). This suited me anyway as I wanted a back-up of all my photos and then I can just import a selected few to run on Aperture instead, which I've just purchased. So my problem is...


My new back-up drive is a Seagate 1TB Back Up Plus so lots of room. I exported the files as TIFF's in order to keep as much information as possible, ticked all the boxes to save titles, places etc and have copied all the events in my library.


Before doing anything with my current library I tried re-importing a few pictures back in, just to make sure it was successful. The photos are there in TIFF format with the right titles, places etc, however all my descriptions are not. I noticed they show for a second, then disappear and if I had any old description on the photo from when I originally imported it years ago that shows instead.


Please help! I don't want to lose all my descriptions as it took me hours to enter and I have almost 10,000 photos!

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 30, 2013 6:55 AM

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31 replies

May 30, 2013 8:39 AM in response to jannabeech

Option 1

Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.


If that fails:


Option 2

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command)



This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places 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.

Regards


TD

May 30, 2013 10:49 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi thanks both of you for your replies. I already tried rebuilding the entire library but it lost an awful lot of my photos and accompanying information. I don't mind putting my photos on a separate drive as I like having a completely separate backup and am hoping to transfer to Aperture anyway. It's really the description loss which is troubling me as I've checked everything else including places and titles etc and it's all transferred nicely.


Do you have any idea why the description information might be missing? I get the feeling it's still there as it shows for a second or two before replacing itself with old information. Is it because of my damaged library, a glitch within iPhoto or is there a box I should've ticked when transferring the photos to my hard drive?


Thanks in advance

Janna

May 30, 2013 2:07 PM in response to Yer_Man

TD - I rebuilt the entire database, it lost so much I unfortunately had to reload my backup library from Time Machine.


Old Toad, I checked and it was formatted as NTFS. When I first set up the drive I was asked if I planned to use it on both Mac and Windows (which I would prefer to do as my partner has a PC) or just a Mac.

I chose both and that is how it was formatted. Is that a problem? The website boasts you can use the drive on both machines successfully without reformatting http://seagate.com/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/standard/backup-plu s/ but if that will cause me problems in the future I will think again.


As it is I have wiped the drive and reformatted it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) to see if that was the problem, it wasn't - the description is still reverting to the original.


I opened an exported photo from my external drive using preview as described and the description is not what I have on iPhoto.


I also exported the same photo to the desktop so as to outrule the external drive as the problem. When I opened it in Preview it showed exactly the same thing - old description details and not what I have on iPhoto.


I have also tried exporting it to the desktop as a JPEG to see if the description would also export but no luck.


It appears it is not exporting the description details successfully? Has anyone any ideas?


Many thanks,

J

May 30, 2013 2:39 PM in response to jannabeech

I checked and it was formatted as NTFS.


Yes that is a problem. And that explains why your library is corrupted.


iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos.


Simply reformatting the drive will not fix the Library. If the problem persists after restoring from Time Machine then the what you have is a back up of a corrupt library. If rebuilding with Library Manager doesn't fix it, then that data is gone. Make a new library and start over.


Regards



TD

May 30, 2013 3:19 PM in response to Yer_Man

Hi Terence

My library sits on my Macbook SSD which has always been Mac OS Extended (Journaled), it's just my new external hard drive that I'm trying to export photos to that was NTFS.

Unfortunately my library on my SSD appears to have been corrupt for a while and therefore so are many of my back ups, which I keep on another completely separate external hard drive.


I'm trying to move all my photos to a different drive (not within an iPhoto library) by creating brand new TIFF files, which seems to have worked so far except for the fact the 'description' field keeps reverting back. Places and Titles have exported. Do you know why the descriptions haven't? Am I missing something?


Regards, J

May 31, 2013 2:40 AM in response to Yer_Man

That's what I was thinking, so am I right in thinking descriptions are usually exported with the rest of the data? And if mine isn't due to the library being corrupt is there anything I can do to manually copy it across?


I'm hoping my TIFF files will be brand new clean copies of the Versions so I can transfer those into a new Aperture library, there shouldn't be any corruption within them to damage my new library should there?


Many thanks,

J

May 31, 2013 9:00 AM in response to jannabeech

so am I right in thinking descriptions are usually exported with the rest of the data?


Yes, as long as the proper checkboxes are selected during the export process.


Did you try rebuilding the library using iPhoto Library Manager as Terence suggested? The new library it creates (you can have the new library created directly on your EHD) should include the descriptions.


Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library


  • Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
  • Click on the Add Library button,

    User uploaded file

    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 Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option

    User uploaded file

  • 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. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.

    Note: your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.

    Jun 2, 2013 5:15 PM in response to jannabeech

    Try the following:


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

    User/Home/Library/ Preferences folder.


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

    User/Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder (Snow Leopard and Earlier).


    User uploaded file


    or with Lion and Mt. Lion from the User/Library/Containers/com.apple.iPhoto/
    Data/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto
    folder


    User uploaded file


    3 - launch iPhoto and try again.


    NOTE 1: 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.


    NOTE 2: In Lion and Mountain Lion the Library folder is now invisible. To make it permanently visible enter the following in the Terminal application window: chflags nohidden ~/Library and hit the Enter button - 10.7: Un-hide the User Library folder.

    Jun 4, 2013 7:31 AM in response to Old Toad

    Hi Old Toad

    I've done as you suggested but it doesn't seem to have fixed it. The photo shows the updated description for a second and then it disappears. The strange thing is I've triend re-importing photos with descriptions from other events and they're importing ok so I'm now wondering if it's just random events that are affected. In the meantime would you recommend I leave those cache and plist files in the trash or re-instate them?

    Thanks

    J

    Jun 4, 2013 7:45 AM in response to jannabeech

    In fact it appears that any photo that had a description added ages ago or was imported with a description originally entered on a PC, keeps that description upon export instead of the description I have entered more recently on my Mac.


    If the photo has never had any description assigned to it and I were to enter a new description now on my Mac the photo exports with the new description as it should!

    J

    Exporting photos description missing

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