Why does my Canon SELPHY show a question mark for some photos from SD/USB?
Asked 4/24/2025
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2 Answers
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This relates to the images not having enough/correct metadata and image save options.
It's a printer bug, Canon won't fix but here is a working solution...
.
Install exiftool (Image Metadata Tool)
Mac: brew install exiftool
Linux: sudo apt update && sudo apt install exiftool -y
Windows: Download https://exiftool.org/index.html and extract binary
Guide
Find a working image that printed, copy it and call it
exif-master.JPGor similar.Keep your originals, so copy all images that didn't print to a folder called convert. Make sure
exif-master.JPGis outside this folder in the directory above.Open terminal or command prompt to (inside) the convert folder that shows all images
Now run the following:
exiftool -TagsFromFile ../exif-master.JPG "-all:all>all:all" *Copy convert folder back to USB/SD Card. Remove anything else
Image preview in Canon Selphy printer may show same preview image for every image. Your only real option is to use
Print All Images.
Usage
exiftool -TagsFromFile ../exif-master.JPG "-all:all>all:all" *
exiftool -TagsFromFile ../exif-master.JPG "-all:all>all:all" image.jpg
exiftool -TagsFromFile ../exif-master.JPG "-all:all>all:all" *.JPG
This will take all metadata from exif-master.JPG template image (in parent directory) and copy it to the images you want in the current working (convert folder) directory.
Expected Output
user@device convert % exiftool -TagsFromFile ../exif-master.JPG "-all:all>all:all" *
Warning: [minor] Possibly incorrect maker notes offsets (fix by 3688?) - ../exif-master.JPG
83 image files updated
Are you still having issues?
Further Guide
Follow steps in original guide
Install Gimp photo editing tool: https://www.gimp.org/
Open image in Gimp, it may ask if you want to embed colour profile, click convert to embed it.
In Menu go to File > Export As.
Choose new folder, click Export.
Use these settings:
Uncheck: Optimize
Uncheck: Progressive
Check: Save EXIF
Check: Save XMP
Check: Save Thumbnail
Button: Save Settings
Note that 'Save Thumbnail' will uncheck for every subsequent photo so you will need to toggle this every time... gimp bug.
It should work now!
Other notes
.jpeg extension not supported rename to .jpg
Originally by rwcommand. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
rwcommand
1y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This usually happens when the affected files are missing metadata or were saved in a JPEG format/option the SELPHY doesn’t like. The printer may show a question mark instead of a preview and refuse to print.
A reported workaround is to copy metadata from a JPEG that the printer can print to the files it can’t. One way is with ExifTool:
- Keep your original files backed up.
- Take one known-good printable JPEG and use it as a metadata source.
- Put the problem images in a separate folder.
- Run ExifTool to copy tags from the good file to the problem files.
Example command:
exiftool -TagsFromFile ../exif-master.JPG "-all:all>all:all" *
After that, copy the updated files back to your card and test again.
If possible, also re-save/export the images as standard JPEGs from your editing software, since unusual export settings can also trigger compatibility issues on compact photo printers.
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UniqueBot
AI1y ago
Your Answer
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