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gregw822
Participating Frequently
May 10, 2021
Question

Preview unavailable

  • May 10, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 4522 views

This seems to be a longstanding problem. I'm getting that "Preview unavailable for this file" message.

 

Here are the data from Help/System Info:

 

Lightroom Classic version: 10.2 [ 202103041821-226a1211 ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en-US
Operating system: Mac OS 10
Version: 10.16.0 [20E241]
Application architecture: x64
Logical processor count: 4
Processor speed: 3.5 GHz
SqLite Version: 3.34.0
Built-in memory: 8,192.0 MB
Real memory available to Lightroom: 8,192.0 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 229.5 MB (2.8%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 7,758.6 MB
Memory cache size: 52.1MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 13.2 [ 738 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 3
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2,AVX,AVX2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 120MB / 4095MB (2%)
Camera Raw real memory: 122MB / 8192MB (1%)
Displays: 1) 5120x2880

Graphics Processor Info:
Metal: AMD Radeon Pro 575

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    TheDigitalDog
    TheDigitalDog
    Inspiring
    May 10, 2021

    First, try using the free Adobe DNG converter and convert to DNG, any better?:

    https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic/quot-preview-unavailable-for-this-file-quot-sony-arw-help/m-p/10424109

    Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
    G
    gregw822Author
    Participating Frequently
    May 10, 2021

    I had a support guy from Adobe online this morniung. He spent more than an hour tracking down the problem, which he said came about because the newest version of LRC haas differnt permission functions. I had to give the tech access to my computer, and I watched as he went through Security & Priacy/Privacy/Files and Folders to give full access to LRC, PS and Bridge. Upon reestart, the import woerked fine. I'm not entirely sure that's all he did. It took a bit of poking around before he was able to work it out. It was good to actually have the problem solved rather than find a work around. 

    B
    billdavies
    Participating Frequently
    January 13, 2024

    There was a bug in LR 12 with similar symptoms importing from IOS devices via USB cable, but it was fixed for most people with LR 12.6.   Please do these initial troubleshooting steps:

     

    1. Do the menu command Help > System Info and copy/paste or attach the entire contents here.

     

    2. Which model phone and version of IOS?

     

    3. Are you importing via a USB cable or some other method?

     

    4. Try using the Mac Image Capture app to copy from the phone to the hard drive and then importing to LR from there.  Does that work?


    iPhone 12 Pro for me, but if my daughter sends a photo to family group chat, I may add it to mine and she is using iPhone 15 Pro.  Or my wife may text a photo I like (iPhone SE2) and I add it to my camera roll.   It happens with all these different photographers, hrandomly.  All our phones are IOS 17.2 with the exception of mine which is on 17.3 public beta.

     

    Once the photo is on my phone camera roll, I utilize iCloud sync and the photos show up in Apple Photos on my iMac Pro.  Used to do the cable and Image Capture, but not for 3-4 years now.

     

    All these photos show up fine in Apple Photos.  No trouble seeing the image.


    From there I select the ones I want and export them to my Synology NAS, where the pictures are organized into folders by year and/or event.  Some may go into Jan 2024 folder, some may go into folders for a property we own up at Donner Summit.  This is my sorting system.

     

    From there, I launch LR and import the photos into the LR catalog.

     

    Lightroom Classic version: 13.1 [ 202312111226-41a494e8 ]
    License: Creative Cloud
    Language setting: en-US
    Operating system: Mac OS 14
    Version: 14.3.0 [23D5051b]
    Application architecture: x64
    Logical processor count: 20
    Processor speed: 3.0GHz
    SqLite Version: 3.36.0
    Built-in memory: 65,536.0 MB
    Real memory available to Lightroom: 65,536.0 MB
    Real memory used by Lightroom: 1,917.7 MB (2.9%)
    Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 50,374.5 MB
    Memory cache size: 764.6MB
    Internal Camera Raw version: 16.1 [ 1728 ]
    Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
    Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2,AVX,AVX2
    Camera Raw virtual memory: 30MB / 32767MB (0%)
    Camera Raw real memory: 32MB / 65536MB (0%)
    Standard Preview Size: 5120 pixels
    Displays: 1) 5120x2880

    Graphics Processor Info:
    Metal: AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64
    Init State: GPU for Export supported by default
    User Preference: Auto

    Application folder: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
    Library Path: /Users/bdavies/Pictures/Lightroom/Lightroom Catalog-2021/Lightroom Catalog-2021-v13.lrcat
    Settings Folder: /Users/bdavies/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

    Installed Plugins:
    1) AdobeStock
    2) Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plug-in
    3) Flickr
    4) Nikon Tether Plugin

    Config.lua flags: None

     

     

    johnrellis
    johnrellis
    Legend
    May 10, 2021

    I assume you're seeing that message on grey thumbnails in the Import window?  What is the exact file type and camera model of the photo or video you're trying to import?

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