Disappearing photos on iPhoto

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Level 1

8 points

Disappearing photos on iPhoto

Hello,

I have a problem with iPhoto. I have searched the threads and see others with same issue, but wanted to check about this further. In my library on small icon view I can see all my pics, but if I drag the slider to a larger view, many from one year, 2012, are not visible - I get the triangle with exclamation in it. These pictures can not be viewed either when double click. I have tried "reveal file" to which I get "file missing" error. I have tried all 4 options rebooting iPhoto with CMD and OPTION. Also rebuilt library in iPhoto manager, still no joy. However, the previews do remain in their folder within the iPhoto library. As a last resort, should I just reimport these? Of course quality will be low, but on a choice between that and no pics, there's no choice.

Can any kind person recommend another route, is there a hidden folder the originals may all be in?

I did go through a period of iPhoto crashing a lot and stupidly I force quit it which I suspect was the root of the problem, but hindsight is a wonderful thing eh?

Any help much appreciated. Of anything that I could loose on my Mac, this is indeed the worst. I do back up to 2 separate drives, but as was unaware of the issue for some time, my backups contain the same folders as my Mac.

Thank you!

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), iPhoto 9.5.1

Posted on Jun 1, 2015 9:46 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Jun 1, 2015 9:52 PM in response to Rudyard23

That indicates the link to the original is broken - if rebuilding does not solve then the original is probably missing

Have you deleted any photos using the finder or run any 'clean up" software like CleanMyMac2 or MacKeeper or others? (note they are not needed and are very destructive and should not be used)

If you have done any of these your only solution is to restore a backup from before you did

LN

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Answer 2

Rudyard23 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 1, 2015 10:05 PM in response to LarryHN

Hi Larry,

Thanks for your response. I did, a few months ago, use Duplicate Cleaner for iPhoto and Dupe Away. I had a fair few dupes. I am regretting this now. My backups would not go back further than this point. In your experience, does iPhoto keep copies of Thumbs or Previews that I could use as low quality replacements?

Cheers

Adam

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Answer 3

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Jun 1, 2015 10:48 PM in response to Rudyard23

It does - it also keeps originals - but since you used external software that apparently deleted things from the iPhoto library directly there is no way to tell was you have left

Since your iPhoto library has been trashed you should make sure you have a good backup of what you have and hen you can right click on the iPhoto librarian show package contents - the original photos will be in the masters folder, the previews in the previous folder and the thumbnails in the Thumbnails folder

You can create a new library (hold down the option key while launching iPhoto and create a new library) and import your photos into it using the best quality copy of each

LN

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Answer 4

Rudyard23 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 1, 2015 10:53 PM in response to LarryHN

Thank you again.

Rebuilding Library now with iPhoto Library Manager so will see what that returns. And then will do as you suggest and start a new Library. The strange thing is in "package contents" for iPhoto, Masters folder for the year 2012, all the folders are there, but they are empty apart from 2 months - however, approx 50% of the pics for the whole year are available to view full resolution through iPhoto. I've made a new backup of individual folders of Masters and Thumbs so I am sure I have everything I am going to get back at this point.

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Answer 5

Rudyard23 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 1, 2015 10:54 PM in response to LarryHN

When I start new Library, what should I select to import, the old Library?

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Answer 6

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Jun 1, 2015 11:07 PM in response to Rudyard23

NO!

Never import an old library - it does not work and creates a massive mess

import your photos into it using the best quality copy of each

If the IPLM rebuild is good you can use that rebuild library and import missing photos from masters if they are there, Previews if the masters are not there but previews are and thumbnails as last resort (thumbnails are very low resolution and are not usable for anything except viewing )

LN

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Answer 7

Rudyard23 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2015 6:53 AM in response to LarryHN

The IPLM rebuild worked pretty well - I lost around 1000 photos (out of 9000). It could of been worse. 300 of those I can get back from Thumbs and searching further today. IYO what should I do with the old Library once I have taken all I can from it? I suspect it's corrupted - it stalls a lot - I didn't realize how much until I used the new one. Could the corruption spread if I leave it on the system? Or is it safest to not mess with things any further?

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Answer 8

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Jun 2, 2015 8:23 AM in response to Rudyard23

No leaving it will not hurt - but if it is not needed then save space by trashing it

LN

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Answer 9

Rudyard23 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2015 9:17 AM in response to LarryHN

Thank you, you have been incredibly helpful. One final question if I may?

Not everything can be found in Previews to replace lost pics, but on the smallest Thumb view I can still see the images, so I suspect somewhere lurking on my HD some sort of reference file exists. Can you direct me to where Thumbs are stored (or similar) by any chance?

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