I had a number of JPEG images attached to my project, character pictures etc. They’ve all disappeared although a blank “holding page” is still visible as if expecting the picture to be there.
Does anyone have any ideas how I can restore these images?
Were they linked to the file system or fully embedded into the project? If they were linked, and if you use the version sold by Apple, it might be a matter of having lost authorisation to view the links (perhaps in a recent system update).
If you have the menu command, Scrivener ▸ Authorize Folder Access..., then use that, and make sure that the location where your images are stored is included in this list. It is okay to include your entire user folder if you wish, or large areas of it, as it works in a top-down fashion. After applying changes, reload the project and see if the thumbnails return.
Beyond that, there are more common problems, such as if the images were moved to a location Scrivener cannot locate them at. Another problem might be a partially synced copy of the project, if it is stored in a cloud folder, which could impact even fully imported images.
Many thanks for this AmberV. I’m not currently at my PC, but will try what you’ve suggested tomorrow.
I’ve looked for the menu command as you outlined above but don’t seem to have it. I believe I bought direct from L&L and not via Apple so I’m guessing that’s why I’m unable to find it.
What do you mean by “attached”.
I’m not sure what this is. Could you provide a screen shot?
Many thanks for getting back to me. I had imported them into the project but I don’t appear to have a “Research” folder. I remember at the time I imported the files in from a separate folder on my Mac and now none of the pictures are in my project, although they are still in the folder I created on my Mac.
I’m not too computer literate but am I right in making an assumption that I should create a folder in the Scrivener project and store the JPEGs etc in there rather than having them in a separate folder on the Mac?
That’s not possible, but it is surely possible to change its name and icon. If you have a folder that refuses to be nested under other folders, or be moved to the trash, then it’s probably your research folder—though it doesn’t really matter too much. It’s just an example of a place you can stash stuff, since some people never figure out you can make other folders at the top level, along with Draft, Trash and Research.
At any rate, I think a screenshot would help a lot, since right now nobody really understands what you are describing.[1]
Also my earlier questions about how the images were imported haven’t yet been explored, perhaps lost beneath the main question about whether you use the Apple version or not. If you do not know how to check whether they are linked or not, select the image item in the binder, and examine the Documents menu. Do you see “Replace Media File” listed, or “Change Alias Source”, toward the bottom? The former means it is embedded, the latter means it is linked. The icon will also be different, having a little “alias” arrow in its corner, just like aliases do in Finder.
The other question I had is whether you use cloud software, and whether the project is stored some place they might tamper with it. If you use Dropbox, here is a help page on making sure projects are fully present on the disk. Normally that manifests in errors, as described there, but I suppose it might be possible for only some things to be removed from the local copy.
I’m not too computer literate but am I right in making an assumption that I should create a folder in the Scrivener project and store the JPEGs etc in there rather than having them in a separate folder on the Mac?
There is no should, here, in any of that. All of what you are describing is preferential, or what might work best for one project or another.
Use ⇧⌘4 and then click and drag to draw a rectangle around the part of the screen you wish to capture. This way you can avoid parts you might not want to share, like the binder titles. ↩︎
I agree. There are lots of ways to accidentally render part of the project invisible. There are very few ways to accidentally remove large chunks of it. (Although, have you looked in the Trash folder?)