Corrupted Image with black bar on photo?

[jennyk98495637]

I was culling through a gallery in Library mode and a the preview shows the photo in full, but then in Develop mode there's a black bar across the middle of the photo. HELP! Is this corrupted? I've tried to import again and the same thing. I shut LR down and tried again and it's still there. What can I do!? This is LR Classic

[Rob_Cullen]

Yes, most likely a corrupt photo. 

Try 'opening' it into Photoshop directly from Windows File Explorer- If it shows in Adobe Camera Raw with the black bar- then confirmed corrupted.

Photos imported to Lightroom-Classic may be initially showing an embedded preview in the raw file (ie. initially looks OK), but when the raw data is rendered the corruption becomes evident.

[jennyk98495637]

What I'm confused about it how there's enough information to show me the
image in Library module. Is there a way for me to use that info from the
library module to deliver the image or complete the corrupted image?

Also, this is my first corrupted image in two years of business. Is this
card still safe to use? Do i need to do anything to restore the card?

[Chris 486]

Regarding your worry of your SD card, you can use windows to check the card and fix most errors if they pop up. You will have to make your own decision if you feel your card is still up to the task of working. You issue as descibed does not necessarily point to your SD card failing.

Windows through command prompt can help you diagnose if your card is showing bad sectors or other corruptions in a basic fashion. There are also commands there to try to fix disk issues as well.

*Please save all work off your SD card before you try to diagnose or fix anything on your SD card.*

chkdsk | Microsoft Docs

You can also format the card as well to start fresh.

[Conrad C]

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@jennyk98495637 wrote:
What I'm confused about it how there's enough information to show me the
image in Library module. Is there a way for me to use that info from the
library module to deliver the image or complete the corrupted image?

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All modules except Develop show you the pre-rendered preview of the raw image data. When straight from camera, the preview may be the one generated by the camera (depending on your Lightroom import settings). After you begin editing in software, the software updates the preview. When a preview is rendered by the camera or by software, it’s stored together with the raw data, but separately. Software can either grab the preview (faster) or render directly from the raw data (slower but more up to date). If the current preview was generated before the corruption happened, that’s how corruption can appear in the preview but not when the raw data is directly rendered.

When you view a camera raw file in the Develop module or in other raw processing software, it’s rendering directly from the raw data. If the raw data is corrupted, you see a different result than its preview.

If you have Lightroom Classic re-generate the preview, then the Library view should also look corrupted from that point on, because Lightroom Classic would be working from the corrupted raw data to replace the older preview.

@jennyk98495637 wrote:
Also, this is my first corrupted image in two years of business. Is this
card still safe to use? Do i need to do anything to restore the card?

---

It might be hard to tell if the card is OK, because it depends on whether the raw data was corrupted by the cable, the card reader, the camera, or software.

If you can definitively isolate the cause of the corruption as being caused by the card, then after doing your best to recover the image, you can reformat (not just erase) the card. Reformat the card using the camera, not a comptuer.. If the card still corrupts images after reformatting, it should be taken out of service.

[Conrad C]

To get a “second opinion” to see if the problem really is the file, if you have another application that can read the raw data directly instead of the preview (such as Adobe Camera Raw or RawDigger), try viewing the image there too. If the corruption also appears in another raw processor, it’s in the file before it even gets into the Lightroom Classic catalog.

If you have alternate card readers or cables, try importing with those. One time I thought I had some corrupted images, but the corruption disappeared after I switched card readers. I got rid of the old card reader.

[jennyk98495637]

It is showing corrupted in other programs and even in camera 😩 What I'm
confused by is how the Library module is showing me a complete image. How
does it have the data at all if it's corrupted? Is there a way for me to
use that info to save the raw image? I need this photo!

Also, is this card still safe to use?? Do I need to do something to ensure
it doesn't happen again?

[Chris 486]

Have you tried to open and resave the file with another program? Even Windows Photos can open and resave most formats. When you save it a new fresh file should be created that should work in photoshop.