A problem in importing photos in "Photos" app

Where are these image files located? How is the volume they are in formatted?

The following is from Wikipedia regarding metadata:

Photographs[edit]

Metadata may be written into a digital photo file that will identify who owns it, copyright and contact information, what camera created the file, along with exposure information and descriptive information such as keywords about the photo, making the file searchable on the computer and/or the Internet. Some metadata is written by the camera and some is input by the photographer and/or software after downloading to a computer. Most digital cameras write metadata, and some enable you to edit it;^[10] this functionality has been available on most Nikon DSLRs since the Nikon D3 and on most new Canon cameras since the Canon EOS 7D.

Photographic Metadata Standards are governed by organizations that develop the following standards. They include, but are not limited to:

• IPTC Information Interchange Model IIM (International Press Telecommunications Council),
• IPTC Core Schema for XMP
• XMP – Extensible Metadata Platform (an ISO standard)
• Exif – Exchangeable image file format, Maintained by CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) and published by JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association)
• Dublin Core (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative – DCMI)
• PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System).

Can you open these files with Preview or any other app?

I am having there same issue. My files/photos are located in my Aperture photo library. I just tried to open on with Preview and like Photos would not recognize the library. I can open the photos in Aperture. Suggestions?

Use Aperture's feature to show the source file of one of those problem files in the Finder. Once you've located the source file try to open it with Preview. Can you?

I decided to open Photos by pressing the Alt/Option key and selecting the library. It worked like a charm.

Are these photos in your Aperture library and are you running a "referenced" library?

I had the same problem while trying to import my iPhoto library. Importing in groups didn't help. However, I was able to get around the issue by:

1. In iPhoto, select all photos (ensuring you're in the Photos view)

2. File > Export. Use the max quality settings so you're not losing anything, and save to a folder on your desktop.

3. Once complete, drag 'n' drop that folder onto Photos.

I got a 100% clean import. Hope this helps.

I can't make this work at all. I have hundreds of photos that are giving me this error. Tried exporting from Aperture, Photoshop, and iPhoto but every time I try to import into Photos all I get is the 'unable to read metadata' error. I've had these JPG's for years and used them with every photo program in the past without a problem... clearly this is a huge bug with Photos. On top of that, since I have nearly 17,000 photos I now have to go through folder by folder to figure what synced and what didn't. Perhaps they took the 'beta' label off too soon.

Here's a test that you can do. If it works you can batch change all of the files and then import. The only downside to this is that it will apply one level of JPEG compression to the file. I don't find it to be detrimental to the quality or resolution of the image but your eyes are probably a lot younger than mine and may be more discerning.

1 - to to Toad's Cellar and download "http://oldtoad.net/ToadsCellar/downloads/ConverttoJPGandEmbedsRGBprofile.ziphttp://oldtoad.net/ToadsCellar/downloads/ConverttoJPGandEmbedsRGBprofile.zipConv ert to JPG and Embed sRGB profile.zip".

2 - unzip the package and put the app on the Desktop.

3 - Control (right) - click on the app and select Open for the first time - due to the sandbox feature of OS X.

4 - drag one image file onto the app for conversion.

5 - try importing the converted image file.

If the above works you can drag all of the photos onto the app for batch conversion. Be sure to run this on copies of the files as it will convert the original file and if it's not to your liking you can return to the original.

NOTE: The curent app puts the new files on the Desktop. Will have to edit it with Automator to create a new folder and put the newly converted files in it.

NOTE 2: Have edited the app so that the original files are copied to a new folder on the Desktop named Converted Files and converted there. The original files are not touched.

My first post had messed up links. The link to Toads Cellar is: Toads Cellar

The long link before is shouldn't be a link but just the title of the download: Convert to JPG and Embed sRGB Profile.zip.

I've been having this problem as well for the past two days and it was driving me crazy. I tried the stuff suggested here and in other threads to no avail. Then, after some more trying, Photos crashed. I sent the report and reopened it. Once reopened, the files which had been impossible to import previously started importing without a hitch.

In short, this has been working for me everytime I get that "unable to get metadata". Simply quit and relaunch photos and that's it. Hope it helps someone else.

Where are the photos located when you import them?

Yep, quitting and restarting Photo also worked for me.

I had similar problem importing but it was from my Canon Movie camera that has worked with the old Photo app for several years. This time it said FORMAT not recognized but the remainder of the message could not be viewed. I tried importing all the photos and just selected photos but kept getting the same message. I then imported them to my windows PC and then dumped them onto a thumb drive. They imported with no problem into the mac using the photo app. IT seems to have carried the metadata (Canon iVIS HF M32) with the double transfer. So why did it not like the JPG format from the camera but had not problem importing from the thumb drive?