Elements organizer 2023 has Thumbnail issues (at least) with HEIC files

[Greg23879962zmaw]

I was running elements2022 and just upgraded to 2023.  Organizer in 2022 was working fine with HEIC images. I updated the catalog when installing 2023.

Organizer 2022: thumbnails were correct and there were no issues with HEIC images.

Organizer 2023: thumbnails sometimes show up correctly but change even with no user actions occurring.  Sometimes they change to black (no thumbnail?)  sometimes the thumbnail for one HEIC image will be propogated to multiple other HEIC images.  Different things seem to happen randomly each time.  If you scroll down to other images in organizer, then back up to the HEIC files it happens all over again (with different results each time).

Additionally when one clicks on a thumbnail of a HEIC file the image will sometimes be corrupt.

Importing HEIC files into 2023 has the same issue - thumbnails of images to be imported are incorrect.  There were no issues in organizer 2022.

Organizer has also crashed on several ocassions while investigating the above.

[Greg23879962zmaw]

I did repair and optomize the catalog which changed nothing.

[Greg_S.]

Have you updated the problem thumbnails? (Shift+Ctrl+U in Windows)  This should fix the issue.

[Greg23879962zmaw]

The windows thumbnails are fine.

The Organizer 2022 thumbnails are fine.

The Oraganizer 2023 thumbnails are not fine - and they keep changing.

[Greg23879962zmaw]

here's a video that might make it easier to understand what's happening.  Every time the Organizer goes to display the thumbnails on this set of files something different happens...

[LUMIXdude]

Thanks for the tip, worked like a charm.  Couldn't find this anywhere in Adobe support knowledge base....go figure.

[Greg_S.]

Thanks for the video but I understood your description since I have seen it myself.  Perhaps you did not understand my response.  My reference to Windows was to the Organizer keyboard shortcut in that OS.  Try selecting the files with the problem thumbnails in Elements 2023 and press Shift+Ctrl+U.  (You can also use the Update Thumbnail command from the Edit menu.)

[Greg23879962zmaw]

Yes, I didn't understand what you meant.  Tx for clarifying.   I did update the thumbnails and that did put the correct thumbnails up - but it didn't fix the issue because, after less than a minute they got randomly corrupt just like before 😞

[Greg_S.]

What happens if you double-click on a file and view it in full screen view?

[Greg23879962zmaw]

usually you see the image correctly - other times the image is corrupted.  Seems inconsistent and random.

I took a picture to demonstrate the image corruption - it's attached

[martino15496011]

I have exactly the same issue

[Greg23879962zmaw]

One less than optimal workaround is to save iPhone images as jpegs.

[Greg_S.]

@martino15496011, have you tried updating the thumbnails?

[martino15496011]

Yes, and like the author, it fixes it on the current screen but then scroll up and down and the problem is back - sometimes not the same images.
The only fix that seems to work is converting to jpeg (rotate left and right converts it).

HEIC is not a new format anymore and it is supposed to be supported.

I bought 2023 version thinking this would all be fixed. After >12 yrs of Adobe Elements I think it's time to look for another product with less bugs.

[Greg23879962zmaw]

I agree.  If there was some mechanism for submitting bug reports and if bugs were ever fixed it might be different.  I have been using elements since version 1...

[Johannes274792608nkw]

Hi together,

Is there already a patch available? I still have the same problem when the thumbnails are generated. Somethimes also images of a completely different folders are shown as thumbnails. The tumbails are completely random. As software developer I would say there is somewhere a memory leak. Moreover, the HEIC images are shown interleaved, i.e. as four columns showing the same image content. It's disappointing that an iphone standard format is still not supported after years of development and that technical depts were never fixed and still persist. Please provide a software patch asap. Thanks in advance. I bought the software this week. Is there any chance to get my money back?

[Greg_S.]

OK, I have been able to easily reproduce this issue and I shall be reporting it to Adobe. 

[Greg23879962zmaw]

How is that done?

[Greg_S.]

@Greg23879962zmaw, if you are asking about how to submit a bug report about Elements to Adobe, the simple answer is there is no easy way (and if I told you, I would have to kill you 😉 ).

Fortunately, I know the right people.  But I can't tell you whether or when any action will be taken.

Up until a few months ago, Adobe had a Feature Request and Bug Reporting Form online for all of its products.  The Photoshop CC forum now has an area for reporting Ideas and Bugs.  This Elements forum does not.  And if you use the online form it will take you back to this forum. 

[Greg_S.]

. . .  and has anyone contacted Adobe Support about this issue?  They may have an answer that I am not aware of.  And, if not, I imagine that if they get enough complaints about this issue, they have an internal method for reporting it.  Just a thought.

[Greg23879962zmaw]

Is there Adobe support for elements? If so, how does one contact them?
Everything I see points to this forum which is not Adobe support...

[Greg_S.]

You can start a chat session by clicking on the blue Contact Us button under the Help & Support menu at Adobe.com. Or you can contact Support by telephone using the numbers listed here: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html. Hours of operation outside of the United States are limited. See the phone link for details.

[Bob27125445uvev]

Has anyone found a solution for this?  This is anorganizer bug that renders it almost unusable. I tried deleting the thumbnail cache and I've tried unchecking generate thumbnails faster under the performnace section to see if those had any affect and they do not.

[martino15496011]

I gave up and converted all heic to jpeg and then the problem goes away. 

[Greg_S.]

I have been able to reproduce this bug and have reported it to Adobe.