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Answered

Error "could not be read" when importing in LR5

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
July 1, 2013
8 replies
43412 views

Import problem

Lightroom 5

Mac OS X 10.8.4

Try to import CR2 files from CF card - files show in import screen but then will not import

"Import Results

Some import operations were not performed.

The following files were not imported because they could not be read (1):......."

Then lists ALL files on CF card

I tried copying CR2 files to a temporary folder on my desktop but get exactly the same message. Also tried importing iPhone images and get exactly the same message.

This all worked for the first week LR5 was installed and has just started happening after a week

Have no problems at all in Lightroom 4.4

Message title was edited by: Brett N

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Brett N

Typical image file (hope you're a cricket fan)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/52204261/HOC_0143.CR2

Thanks for the file. I was able to import it without issue. This means that the file is not the source of the issue, but neither is Lightroom itself. There is something going on on your side that is preventing things from working.

Generally, when things work at first and then suddenly stop working, the problem is with the preference files. These tell Lightroom how to behave and if something goes wrong with them, it tells the program to behave in a way that causes errors.

We'll want to recreate the preference file. Simply delete, rename, or move the file while Lightroom is closed and then reopen. On launch, Lightroom attempts to read this file for instructions, if it not there a new one is created with all default settings.

Here is where the file is stored:

Preference and other file locations in Lightroom 5

O

olvea30296313

Participating Frequently

Hi!

I have the exact problem you have described a solution for. My problem is that i dont have that file in my prefrences. Is that maby the source of my problem? How can i fix it if i cant delete the file?

I only have these adobe files i my prefrence folder:

com.adobe.acc.AdobeDesktopService.plist

com.adobe.CSXS.3.plist

com.adobe.headlights.apip.plist

com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist

I guess the should be a file named: com.adobe.Lightroom6.plist right?

Thanks in advance if you can be of any help!

Brett N

Adobe Employee

You are likely looking in the wrong Preferences folder. The system default preferences are stored in //Library/Preferences. Your Preferences are stored in //Users/[Your User Name]/Library/Preferences. This secondary Library folder (sometimes called "~/Library") is hidden by default and stores your personal settings files. See the following for ways to reveal the Library folder: Access hidden Mac OS library files

O

olvea30296313

Participating Frequently

Found it! Thanks

C

carla76165551

Participant

I had the same problem - new user and couldn't figure it out. Was not working for phone or camera SD card. Searched many postings looking for an answer and in my case it was that the destination folder did not have write permission. The problem was the Default folder was not to the pictures folder. As soon as I changed the destination everything worked! Stupid error though, since it isn't that the files couldn't be read!

MikeS_DC

Participant

I was having this same problem. After reading this, I checked and had changed the default destination location to a place that didn't have write privileges. Changing it back to the pictures folder resolved my issues. Thanks for the help.

danblank

Participant

Just an update: I was able to successfully import from a Canon camera, so the issue seems to be some kind of permissions with the iPhone. it can access my photos to show previews, but not import them. Will keep digging.

-Dan

danblank

Participant

Attached is the screenshot of the error I am having when trying to import to Lightroom from my iPhone 6s. I updated to the latest version of LR, and have a library of 37,000 photos that I imported from a backup drive. But when I connect my iphone to import new images, Lightroom connects to the iphone, shows all of the previews correctly, and then goes through it's copy and import status bar before giving me this error.

I did delete the preference files as instructed above, but the error continues. Help!

-Dan

Brett N

Adobe Employee

It says that Lightroom can't read the files, which means one of two things: either the files are locked in some way or they are corrupt in some way. Try copying them off of your iPhone to your desktop in Finder and then import them from there.

danblank

Participant

Brett: The photos aren't corrupt. I was able to:

1. Download one to the desktop and import it into Lightroom, just as you said.

2. Download them to Aperture without a problem.

I agree that there is something that is preventing the connection between Lightroom and the iPhone, yet LR will show me previews of all photos on the phone in the import process, and then when it errors out, shows me the list of filenames. I tried it with the phone unlocked as well, to ensure that wasn't the issue. I haven't had any others issues like this with any other applications. For instance, Aperture can download the iPhone images without a problem.

Any other ideas? Thanks.

-Dan

D

dm035

Participant

I found this thread while searching for a solution to my problem today. Photos from my camera's memory card imported fine to an existing folder but I got this error message after creating a new folder then trying to import to it. But then I decided on my Mac to click on the new folder in Finder and select "Get Info", only to find out that my Sharing & Permissions was set to "Read only". Once I set it to "Read & Write", I re-opened LR 5 and importing to that folder worked, no problem.

mariposaland

Participant

I am having the same problem as listed above. It just started. I am running LR 5.6 which I just upgraded to. I beleive this is the first import since the upgrade so I don't know if that is the problem. I did rename the com.adobe.Lightroom5.plist to com.adobe.Lightroom5.plist.old and then opened LR and it asked to rebuild the file which I said yes. After about 30 minutes it was up. I tried to import again and I get the "Can't read" error message. I can import into iPhoto fine. I can see the files in the thumbnails on the preview screen before I import. I have nearly 60,000 photos in this catalog and recently spent hours taging them so I can't afford to lose all of that effort. HELP!!!!

mencos1

Participant

I had the same issues, all of a sudden I couldn't import photos into LR5, latest version, Mac Mavericks, from the card, camera, folder on HD... anything. I closed Lightroom, deleted the preferences folder (/Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/com.adobe.Lightroom5.plist), reopened LR5, took a little bit longer to open, it recreated the preferences file and for now works like a charm.

A

austin_kessler

Participant

I also have been having this issue, the dialogue box telling me that LR either cannot read, move or copy files.

I tried making a new catalogue, rewriting my prefs file and I tried other files. Nothing worked even when I used files that I had previously imported. There was no issue with my files, or permissions of where I was copying from or to. I had just finished a lot of rearranging my system, which is probably where something got changed. I tried everything that I found in multiple different threads, and nothing worked.

I did however, just fix the problem, and I don't know how or why it fixed it, but it did, so here's another thing that y'all can try.

Instead of moving, copying or copying as dng, I put the files on my desktop (or wherever) and just added them to my catalogue. This did't move the files or changed them in any way, it just adds them as an entry to your catalogue file.

This worked, however, thats not how I like to structure my system, so I removed the file from my catalogue. I tried again the old way (copy as dng), and everything worked out.

Somehow, simply adding an entry to my catalogue file reverted whatever setting change had happened and put me back to a fully functioning system.

This may not help anyone, but it worked for me. Just another thing to try if you are having issues.

R

RobW-e3WOov

Participant

Fix:

Create a band new catalog, import all existing photo's from your hardrive into the new catalog (Do not use 'import from existing catalog in LR5). I made sure that I copied all files from the old locaiton to a new one to make sure there was no permissions issues. All my files are DNG, but I guess if you use RAW you'll need to manually copy across the side files. Probably best that during the import you mark it to keep the same folder structure from source to destination. It's not quick I'm afraid, (the more files you have the slower it is) but it works.

The background (For Adobe to learn from):

Recently moved from Mac to PC (so many reasons) and moved my LR catalog etc across. I was on LR5.1 ( I think) and now on LR5.3.

I can delete photo's from the catalog, edit them and do all sorts. But when I tried to import directly from the SD card it gave me an error about reading from the card.

When I copied the files to the harddrive first then tried to import them, I was given an error about not being able to write them to the destination folder.

I then created a new catalog, and was able to successfully import directly from the SD card. So I know that the SD card, the new files, the computer and LR5.3 itself is fine. It had to be something wrong with the catalog.

Tried:

I tried creating a new catalog and using the 'file -> Import from another catalog' option but then got the same issues as above.

Brett N

Adobe Employee

Some recent work with someone else indicated that the Recent Folders list in the Import window can cause some strange behavior. The Recent list is tied directly to your catalog, which may explain why a new catalog has made things work here. I'd suggest simply clearing the Recent Folder list in the Import window to remove any bad entries which may be causing an issue. Use the Clear Recent Paths command to remove these items.

DdeGannes

Community Expert

Have a look at this thread.

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1231573?tstart=0

Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.3; PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.

G

GaryTWAuthor

Known Participant

I came from that thread.

My problem is not based on erroneous XMP files.

I have deleted the one XMP file I had, which was actually associated with Elements, and it has made no difference

A

Anonymous

I am having the exact same issue. Completely unable to import photos of any kind into LR5 from any source. I have been having to import all of my photos into LR4 and then open LR5 to "Copy from another Library", but I think that is a ridiculous step to have to take.

My workflow is that I copy all photos from my memory card directly to a RAID I have and then I import that folder, in place, into LR. Every time I try to do this, the import window is completely blank. The same workflow I have been using since LR version 1 no longer seems to apply in LR5. I have even tried importing the photos to that same folder directly from the memory card through LR5, but it hasn't worked.

This really seems like a gigantic BUG that Adobe, somehow, overlooked in their zeal to get LR5 out the door and into consumer's hands. I have tried importing RAW (NEF) files, JPEGS, copying to DNG and nothing seems to work.

There are tons of features in LR5 that I am using (after the workaround I have laid out) and it is frustrating that I simply can't move forward. I realize that it is a new release, but this seems very basic to me. You should AT THE LEAST be able to import the photos that you are wanting to work on. I just don't know how this release made it.

Thank you for opening this thread. I also have no XMP files in any of my folders. Not quite sure why that is working for other folks. I have also tried to import directly from my iPhone and iPad with no significant results.

I am wondering if it may have something to do with the Camera Raw filter that came with LR5? I should try telling LR5 to "Open Photos in Camera RAW 6.0 and later" and see if that helps at all.

Preference and other file locations in Lightroom 5

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