iphoto won't let me view SOME of my photos..

[decemeber3]

i try to browse through my photos but all that comes up is a dotted line square box with an explanation point in it...

someone help please

 

[VirtualTracy]

You have moved the originals since importing them to iPhoto. You'll need to find them, wherever they are on your hard drive and re-import them. In iPhoto Prefs, there's an option to have iPhoto copy to it's own directory (YourUserAccount ~> Pictures ~> iPhoto Library) whenever images are imported. Check whether you have enabled this. If you haven't and after importing images, you relocate the originals or accidentally remove them, then this is when you will experience issues.

 

[skybolt]

That is correct -- doing anything to or with your photos (even changing the date or the order, or rotation, etc.) in the library in finder will cause this behavior. Once you have found and reimported your photos, stay out of the finder. iPhoto organizes things so that it can work, and if you mess with that organization, iPhoto cannot find what it is looking for. There is never a need to go into the library in finder.

 

[decemeber3]

what if the photos are just in iphoto and no where else on my harddrive...when i try to reimport it says: The following file could not be imported.(The file is in the iPhoto Library folder.)

 

[VirtualTracy]

what if the photos are just in iphoto and no where else on my harddrive...

To be clear, this implies (correctly) that the photos (actually alias') are viewable in thumbnail size in the iPhoto Library Window (iPhoto.app, that is) and at the same time (the parent image/s) are stored by iPhoto in the iPhoto Library Directory (YourUserName ~> Pictures ~> iPhoto Library), but remember this only applies if you have enabled the "Copy item to the iPhoto Library" option in iPhoto Preferences ~> Advanced ~> Importing.

when i try to reimport it says: The following file could not be imported.(The file is in the iPhoto Library folder.)

Not clear about this part ... if you are reimporting an image/s into iPhoto, where are you pointing the import dialogue window? If you are seeing an error message, what does it say exactly?