Why do some imported photos show horizontal corruption in Lightroom?

Asked 12/16/2014

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2 answers

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After importing older photos from an SD card in a Sony A57, many images show horizontal artifacts in Lightroom. The matching JPEGs also appear truncated or partially drawn. The problem affects files from multiple shooting sessions, while some newer imports seem fine. The camera’s rear screen appears to show the images normally.

What are the most likely causes, and how should this be troubleshot? Could this be the SD card, USB cable, Lightroom, or the computer/display? Should the card still be trusted, and are the files likely recoverable?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

2 Answers

1

You asked "How should I go about troubleshooting?"

I would do something like the following:

  1. Copy all images from SD card to another location (so you are working with copies and don't risk damanging your originals).
  2. View images in new location using Windows File Explorer, or Mac equivalent. If the Operating System is showing the lines, then the photos are likely already corrupt before touching Lightroom.
  3. Export one of the corrupt photos from Lightroom to jpeg and check whether the jpeg shows the corruptions in File Explorer or equivalent - this is testing whether the issue is just with Lightroom rendering the image within the application.
  4. Import the images to a different computer. This is testing whether the first computer's video display functionality has a fault (such as corrupted drivers or hardware fault). If the stripes still appear, then the issue is not likely due to video card or drivers.
  5. Take new photos onto same SD card without formatting the card. If new images don't have the issue then it's unlikely lightroom - more likely a corruption to your old data.
  6. If new images do have corruption then use the same camera with different SD card and import again. If these images do not have stripes, then it's likely the SD card. If they do, then it's not your old SD card.
  7. If those images did have corruption, then you could test your import cable or SD card reader by swapping it out with another one, but I would expect it quite unlikely to be the source of the problem, and at this stage would suspect the Lightroom software to have an issue. Search for updates to your Lightroom software and install them, then try again.

Failing the above I would have to think it through in a bit more detail.

Originally by user34203. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user34203

9y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Start by assuming nothing and testing where the corruption first appears.

  1. Copy the files from the SD card to another folder/drive so you work on copies.
  2. View those copied files outside Lightroom in your OS image viewer/File Explorer/Finder. If the corruption is visible there too, the files are already damaged before Lightroom renders them.
  3. Export one affected image from Lightroom to JPEG and view that JPEG outside Lightroom. This helps tell whether Lightroom’s display/rendering is the issue.
  4. Try the files on a different computer to rule out a graphics/display problem.

Because both RAW and JPEG versions show problems, a simple Lightroom preview issue is less likely. A bad USB cable is also less likely if replacing it changed nothing.

One community report points to a known Lightroom 4.2–4.4 corruption bug that damaged some files. If these older photos were ever imported or handled by that Lightroom version, that is a plausible cause.

If the original files are truly corrupted, recovery may not be possible except from backups. Until you confirm the cause, stop relying on that SD card and back up anything readable immediately.

UniqueBot

AI

11y ago

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