Elyca_86
Level 1 (4 points)
iLife

Q: lost some photos after system update

Hello,

 

I did an update on my Mac to OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 . After that I realized that I lost some of the pictures that were stored in the app iPhoto. When I open one the app (the same if I use the app "Photos"), I can visualize only the photos that were taken with my iPhone (therefore the pictures that are on my Cloud) but I can't visualize all the other pictures that I added to the Library. I tried to search in the Trash, but I couldn't find anything. I have checked and I have two files in the "Picture" folder, one called iPhoto Library and one called Photos Library. They are of different dimension, but they store the same photos (when I open one of the two app, they show the same photos). Please help me finding them! I haven't deleted them so I can't understand how and why they are not anymore in the iPhoto app.

 

Many thanks,

Elisa

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 8, 2016 6:43 AM

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Elyca_86

Q: lost some photos after system update

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  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 8, 2016 9:05 AM in response to Elyca_86
    Level 10 (85,697 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 8, 2016 9:05 AM in response to Elyca_86

    Your question is not clear - are you expecting photos importing into Photos to show in iPhoto too? If so that is not the way it works - iPhoto and Photos each have their own separate  library and nothing done in one application affects the other  one

     

    And iPhoto is a dead product so it would be best to earn and use photos as it has a future

     

    LN

  • by Elyca_86,

    Elyca_86 Elyca_86 Aug 8, 2016 9:19 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    Aug 8, 2016 9:19 AM in response to LarryHN

    Hi,

     

    sorry if my question was not clear. No I don't expect that. It's just that photos that were in iPhoto disappeared. But only the one that I loaded from different sources than iPhone. And this happened after I did a software upgrade. I understood that the two apps have their own library. But for some reasons some photos that were in iPhoto disappeared. I was wondering if it was a problem related to the update. Before the photos were there. The photos don't appear in both apps. In the folder "Pictures" I have library files for both apps (they have a different dimension, but the apps show the same photos).

     

    Thanks,

    Elisa

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Aug 8, 2016 11:01 AM in response to Elyca_86
    Level 10 (85,697 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 8, 2016 11:01 AM in response to Elyca_86

    again your post is not clear

     

    these statements can not be reconciled

    for some reasons some photos that were in iPhoto disappeared

    photos that were in iPhoto disappeared.

    Since this statement Contradicts the above  statements

     

    the apps show the same photos

     

    What version of the OS do you have and what version of Photos and of iPhoto

     

    And Migrating to Photos has no effect on iPhoto - the iPhoto library is untouched except for its extension being changed to show that it was migrated

     

    LN

  • by Elyca_86,

    Elyca_86 Elyca_86 Aug 9, 2016 1:05 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    Aug 9, 2016 1:05 AM in response to LarryHN

    I agree that the iPhoto library SHOULD be untouched, BUT all the photos that were saved there from a different source than iPhone are not there anymore. This is the problem. (And these photos do not appear in "Photo" either, otherwise I wouldn't be writing here). I wrote all the rest to give some extra information that I thought could be useful. I have OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 , iPhoto 9.6.1, Photos 1.5.

     

    Thank you for any advice,

    Elisa

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 9, 2016 2:30 AM in response to Elyca_86
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Aug 9, 2016 2:30 AM in response to Elyca_86

    How many Photo Libraries do you have?

  • by Elyca_86,

    Elyca_86 Elyca_86 Aug 9, 2016 2:44 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    Aug 9, 2016 2:44 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    I can see only one library per application (one "Photos Library" and one "iPhoto Library"). I searched in the Trash but there's nothing. I've also searched with the search function for other Photo libraries but I haven't found anything.

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 9, 2016 2:52 AM in response to Elyca_86
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Aug 9, 2016 2:52 AM in response to Elyca_86

    Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. How many libraries are listed?

  • by Elyca_86,

    Elyca_86 Elyca_86 Aug 9, 2016 2:54 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    Aug 9, 2016 2:54 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Only one

  • by Terence Devlin,Helpful

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 9, 2016 4:56 AM in response to Elyca_86
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Aug 9, 2016 4:56 AM in response to Elyca_86

    Go to your Pictures Folder and find the iPhoto Library there. Right (or Control-) Click on the icon and select 'Show Package Contents'. A finder window will open with the Library exposed.

     

    Look there for a Folder called 'Masters' (or Originals in some versions).

     

    Are your Photos within? Just look. Make no changes.

  • by Elyca_86,

    Elyca_86 Elyca_86 Aug 9, 2016 4:57 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    Aug 9, 2016 4:57 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Yes there are photos, but only until 2015 (when I stopped using my iPhone to make pictures)

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 9, 2016 9:15 AM in response to Elyca_86
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Aug 9, 2016 9:15 AM in response to Elyca_86

    Let's try and fix iPhoto then.

     

    Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)

     

    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.

     

    If that fixes iPhoto then you can migrate to Photos again.

  • by Elyca_86,

    Elyca_86 Elyca_86 Aug 15, 2016 8:52 AM in response to Terence Devlin
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iLife
    Aug 15, 2016 8:52 AM in response to Terence Devlin

    Thank you for your advice. I tried already twice last week, but both times the program encountered an error and stopped. I tried again today, it almost finished and then again the same error (basically iPhoto quits, and iPhoto Library Manager can't reopen it. I tried both with waiting or re-opening iPhoto manually, but then iPhoto Library manager can't continue). Today the program manage to analyze many more pictures than last week, so I will try again tomorrow. Do you have any suggestion about what to do if I get this error again? The error it's just "iPhoto quit unexpectedly, click reopen to open the application again". Should I wait until iPhoto Library Manager opens iPhoto again, or should I re-open iPhoto? Or you think it doesn't matter?
    Thanks for all your support!

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Aug 15, 2016 11:05 PM in response to Elyca_86
    Level 10 (139,597 points)
    iLife
    Aug 15, 2016 11:05 PM in response to Elyca_86

    I'd wait ofr Library Manager to re-open the Library.

     

    If this doesn't work your options are to either restore from back up or, if that's not possible, recover the masters from the library and start over from scratch.