Problem parsing large TIFF files

[Tanya]

I save my photos as TIFF files - most are quite large. Once I imported these into PSE 5 Organiser and added tags (multiples) many of the files have become unreadable with error message "unable to parse TIFF files". Does this mean that the files are too big to handle by PSE? Are those files salvageable?

[Wendy]

Hi Tanya ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

What size are these Tiff files ??


Wendy

[Tanya]

Thanks Wendy

2+ MB

Tanya

[Wendy]

Hi Tanya ...

Oh those are not really very big and I am sure that the Otganiser can cope with far larger files than those ....

Being a Mac user (our version doesn't have the Organiser) I am not going to be able to help on this one ... but hopefully one of the Windows users will be along soon and will be able to help you. :)

Wendy

[genevh]

Those files aren't that big at all. The question I have is, you say you are putting multiple tags on each file. How many tags are you using on each one? I wonder if there is a limit on the number of tags per file you are running into. :confused:

[Tanya]

Hi Gene

Yes, I'm using multiple tags (3-4 per file). I've not seen anything limiting the number of tags but in that I've never run into this preblem before (I used PSE 2) I can't help but think that is the problem. I can't see any clearcut pattern in which files are corrupted and which aren't and it does seem that the number of corrupted files seems to increase each time I access the catalogue.

Tanya

[genevh]

It may not be the TIFF files that are being corrupted, but for some reason your catalog file may be corrupted and getting worse. Are you only getting that message when you are opening the organizer? Have you tried opening one of the "corrupted" files by clicking it directly in Windows Explorer? If you can open them that way, I would say the files themselves are OK, its the catalog and/or Organizer that is having the problem. The catalog itself is just a database used by Elements to keep track of your picture files, it is not the files themselves. So if the catalog is having the problem, your pictures are probably OK. :)

[Steve Cat]

I have run into that message when trying to load tiffs and jpegs into RAW. size is 200 megs.

[Tanya]

The files are definitely corrupted and when opened with another program are either unable to be opened or only a fraction of the top of the photo is seen.

It's only happened with TIFF files (I haven't used RAW). I batch process JPEG to TIFF so it's lossless but then end up with giant files (I'm a fanatic photo taker). If I use JPEG files in the organiser will opening and closing them without editing in any way result in any loss of data?

Tanya

[genevh]

Simply opening and closing a JPEG doesn't result in any more loss of data. Its only when you re-save the file that more data loss occurs.

I don't use TIFF files, so not sure if there are any limitations on the conversion from JPEG to TIFF and what is being gained other than the lossless of the TIFF format. Would have to research that a bit. Maybe someone else has experience in that.

[Ellen]

Gene answered the jpeg question while I was typing so no help here but this made me wonder where Ward Grant is. He knows the organizer and file types well. He hasn't even been in the challenges.

[Tanya]

Thanks Gene

I think if I can't solve this problem I'll store my files as JPEG files after I have edited them. I suspect that my problem has something to do with saving huge numbers of large files with multiple tags. I'd love to solve the problem as I have >6000 photos to file!

Tanya

[genevh]

Found something on the Adobe site that is worth looking at. It addresses the issue of Photoshop not being able to open TIFF files, with the error message you are getting. The solution in the case they are addressing was to make sure the saved files have the correct extensions. In other words, JPEG files should have the extension XXXXX.jpg. TIFF files should have the extension XXXX.tif. Anything else, and the program is going to try and open them based on the extension it sees and if it can't, you are going to get an error. What I am reading can be found here (http://www.adobe.com/products/adobemag/archive/pdfs/9701qaps.pdf) on page 1.

[Tanya]

My proplem files are .tif files. I had a look at the site you suggested. The error message is the same as mine but the answer does not seem to apply.

Tanya

[genevh]

Did you try the "Open As" from the file menu and try various file types? And are these the only files you are having problems with? :confused:

[Tanya]

It won't open the files as any other type. It's only with TIF files that I've had this problem with but most of my files are TIFs with just a few JPEGs

Tanya

[genevh]

OK....my brain's nearly fried on this one, but not quite yet. :eek:

A couple more questions then:

What are you using to batch convert the JPEG's to TIFF's?

Do they immediately start showing up as corrupted in the Organiser, or only after you have opened and edited them?

Have you tried removing the tags from some of the corrupted TIFFs to see if that does anything?

[Tanya]

I used PSE 2 batch processing originally and then simply catalogued them using my newly installed PSE 5. I've tried removing the tags, it doesn't recover the files. They show up in the catalogue immediately as corrupted files. I've accepted that the corrupted files can't be saved but I am wary of cataloguing the files until I work out what it is that I am doing wrong!


Tanya