MGrange

Q: photos in iPhoto book are blank

i created an iPhoto book, and at first everything was fine.  Now the photos in the photo roll are showing up blank, as well as when i am looking at "all pages".  When i click on a single page, some of the photos blink and then show up, but they are still blank in the photo roll.  it is difficult to work on this book now, and I'm afraid to order a print version, in case something is wrong with the files.  any ideas?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Jan 25, 2014 12:46 PM

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Q: photos in iPhoto book are blank

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  • by LarryHN,Helpful

    LarryHN LarryHN Jan 25, 2014 12:54 PM in response to MGrange
    Level 10 (84,565 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 25, 2014 12:54 PM in response to MGrange

    Before ordering your book preview it using this method - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1040 - and save the resulting PDF for reference - the delivered book will match it

     

    Do they show in the event they came from?

     

    LN

  • by MGrange,

    MGrange MGrange Jan 25, 2014 1:09 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2014 1:09 PM in response to LarryHN

    thanks LarryHN,

     

    i realized they do NOT show in the events.  I have quite a few blank events...the name and square are still there, but with a photo count of zero.  How did these photos disappear?

     

    I will try the book preview, but now i'm thinking if the files are missing, it's not going to print.

  • by MGrange,

    MGrange MGrange Jan 25, 2014 1:11 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2014 1:11 PM in response to LarryHN

    the Preview doesn't work.  it tries to compile it, then i get this error: The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.chameleon.componentGenerator error 8.)

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jan 25, 2014 1:20 PM in response to MGrange
    Level 10 (84,565 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 25, 2014 1:20 PM in response to MGrange

    Missing files are usually result of user error

     

    Right click on the iPhotolibrary and show package contents - look in the Masters folder (do not change anything) and see if the original files are there

     

    If they are then a rebuild may resolve - Back up your iPhoto library, Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - rebuild your iPhoto library database

     

    If the files are gone Have you done any clean up of the all files list (Do Not ever do that) or run any cleanup software like MacKeeper or CleanMyMac 2 or Tidy Up (do not run any of them ever - not needed and very dangerous)

     

    LN

  • by MGrange,

    MGrange MGrange Jan 25, 2014 2:34 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2014 2:34 PM in response to LarryHN

    There are so many folders in the Masters folder to look through to see if the missing ones are there, but i'm working on it.  would a rebuild be okay to try either way?  (to save time looking through each folder)

     

    I ran mackeeper or cleanmymac (i forget which) last year maybe, and only for about a minute until I stopped it.  it kept coming as a pop-up on my new imac and i didn't know 3rd parties could send pop-ups to a mac, so i figured at first it was a mac thing.  then i looked it up and realized it was a bad idea and stopped it.  however, i began this iphoto book after that, and the picture files were all there originally.  that is what is so strange.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Jan 25, 2014 2:48 PM in response to MGrange
    Level 10 (84,565 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 25, 2014 2:48 PM in response to MGrange

    Yes both are considered Malware by experianced users -

     

    a rebuild can not hurt since steop one of the instruction is to make a backup - Back up your iPhoto library, Depress and hold the option (alt) and command keys and launch iPhoto - repair permissions and if needed  rebuild your iPhoto library database

     

    LN

  • by MGrange,

    MGrange MGrange Jan 25, 2014 6:24 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2014 6:24 PM in response to LarryHN

    ok, i will do this.  i do have backups of all my photos on an external hard drive, which i'm glad for.

     

    thanks so much for your help!!!

  • by MGrange,

    MGrange MGrange Jan 29, 2014 7:39 PM in response to MGrange
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 29, 2014 7:39 PM in response to MGrange

    for anyone else's benefit who has this problem...repairing and rebuilding did not work for my problem.  I had to re-import all the photos in the events that were blank, and then go back through my book and replace the newly imported picture for the one in the book that had no real file attached.  a lot of work!  but at least it's getting fixed.

  • by MGrange,

    MGrange MGrange Feb 5, 2014 12:11 PM in response to MGrange
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 5, 2014 12:11 PM in response to MGrange

    I can't believe it.  I re-imported all the missing pictures for my book and replaced each blank file with it's matching new file.  I was going through to edit the pictures before printing it, and iPhoto quit unexpectedly.  When it reopened, all of the photos were gone AGAIN.  the photos i re-imported are gone, the book is blank AGAIN.  i spent a few hours fixing this, and now all of that work is gone.  WHAT IN THE WORLD??  I would do it all again, but how do i know it won't just disappear?  Something is wrong with my iphoto.  help!!!!!

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Feb 5, 2014 2:51 PM in response to MGrange
    Level 10 (141,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 5, 2014 2:51 PM in response to MGrange

    Uninstall that malware accroding to the developer's instructions.  Not only does it corrupt iPhoto libraries it can damage and slow down the system. 

     

    To make sure you've removed every file download and use Find Any File   to search for "mackeeper" and/or "cleanmymac". FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't and will find any file with those names in the file name.  You can drag them to the Trash in the Dock from the search results window.

     

    OT

  • by MGrange,

    MGrange MGrange Feb 5, 2014 3:59 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 5, 2014 3:59 PM in response to Old Toad

    sweet, thanks.  I purchased FAF and found 10 files for mackeeper, which are now in the trash (and emptied!).  I hope this is the answer.  Now i will have to re-import the photos AGAIN!!  and rebuild my book AGAIN!!! 

     

    I really appreciate your help!!

  • by MyDogMaggieMoose,

    MyDogMaggieMoose MyDogMaggieMoose Jan 16, 2016 11:44 AM in response to MGrange
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2016 11:44 AM in response to MGrange

    We made a 60 page photo book of our son and ordered 4 copies for us, our parents, and grandparents for Christmas.  They arrived with 34 of the photos blank.  I called Apple support, and they apologized, refunded our money (~$500) and transferred me over to tech support who guided me through ordering again.  I asked for them to put a note in to double check the book had the photos, but the second round of books came blank again (thanks for looking at them for us Apple!  Great that you do Quality Checks :-) (Sarcasm)

     

    So after reading this post, I learned how to preview the book as a PDF and the photos were blank on it also.  Here's what worked for me to fix it:

     

    - Duplicated the photo book and shortened it to 20 pages, so preview worked faster.

    - Put just the photos that were blank in the duplicate book.

    - Edited each photo, and clicked 'enhance'.

    - Reviewed the preview, this fixed all but 5 blank photos.

    - Edited each photo again, and clicked 'revert to original'.

    - Reviewed the preview, now I was down to 3 blank photos.

    - Exported these 3 photos, changed their name, and Imported the photos back into Photos

    - Reviewed the preview, now I was down to 2 blank photos.

    - Can't remember whether I clicked 'enhance' or 'revert to 'original', but one of them worked, and now all the photos showed up in preview.

     

    So, After 4 hours of playing around, I'm ready to call Apple Support, and get them to refund me so I can order again.  Hopefully the steps above will help someone else...

     

    The new Photos software is definitely buggy.  We ordered books the last two years from the iPhoto app with no problems.

    Suggestion to Apple:  Show users the PDF preview by default before allowing the order to be placed!