ImageVerifier test files Probably Invalid

[Dano_M]

Hi Marc,

Was hoping you could shed some light on the message IV gave me on a test run. I ran the software on a folder, with 3 sub-folders, containing various TIFF, JPEG, and NEF files which I've worked with and appear fine (the JPEGs are finals of the TIFFS). Here's the main window message:

Verifying folder /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/01_From_LR_to_PS/061219_2Master.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/070914_03008.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/080120_12665.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/080120_12663.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/080120_12667.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/City_grant/070408_7214Master.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/City_grant/070624_10031Master.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/City_grant/070625_10251Master.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/City_grant/070627_10495Master.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/Double Take/080118_03519.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/City_grant/070627_10544Master.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/03_Flat_8b_burn_delivr/Double_Take/080118_03508.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/Double Take/080118_03508.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/03_Flat_8b_burn_delivr/Double_Take/080118_03519.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/City_grant/10544_Local Contrast.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/03_Flat_8b_burn_delivr/Double_Take/080118_03529.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/03_Flat_8b_burn_delivr/Double_Take/080118_03530.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/Double Take/080118_12619.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/Double Take/080118_12621.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/Double Take/080118_03530.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/Double Take/080118_03529.tif
Probably invalid: /Users/DMP/Desktop/TEMP_Holding_PS/02_Masters_Back_to_LR/Double Take/080118_12622.tif

I did a random check of the files and everyone opens fine in PS. Some are not flattened...would that matter? Downloaded your latest beta for MAC on 10.4

Any help appreciated,
Dan

[Marc Rochkind]

Dan--

TIFF files vary a lot, as the rules are often -- indeed, usually -- violated. So, IV often finds formats it doesn't understand, which doesn't mean the file is invalid. Maybe it should say "Might be" instead of "Probably".

If you get a message for a JPEG or a raw (DNG or native), the message is most likely correct, however.

PSD validation is still new, so I'm not sure what's out there.

I designed IV to return false positives (positive = invalid in this case) rather than false negatives.

--Marc

[Dano_M]

Thanks, Marc. So how would I proceed using IV on my TIFF archives? Or is the software designed more for checking at import time? (yes, guilty of only casually glancing at the instructions).

Dan

[Marc Rochkind]

Dan--

It may be that IV won't work on your TIFFs. There's no way to verify the format of a file if the format isn't known.

It's a feature of IV that maybe shouldn't be there at all.

--Marc

[peterkrogh]

Marc,
I like the "Might be" language better.  (While we're at it, the "Choose" button in IIP should probably read "Examine")

As to the TIFF problem, I understand exactly what you mean about the many flavors of TIFF, but I'd still like to examine what could be done.  How about the following:

All TIFF files that show up as possibly corrupted are put in a group to batch through Photoshop.  THis could be as simple as an open and close, or it could also include a manual dismiss, so that the photographer could visually examine.

Once the examination is done, a note is made in the database in the file's record.  If a hash has been made of the file prior to visual examination, then this would at least give you confirmationt hat the file was the same as when it was visually inspected.

IV would then know not to validate the TIFF, except by checking the hash.

Peter

[Marc Rochkind]

Sounds reasonable to me. I've also just thought about some way to manually mark files as "good enough to hash," on the theory that the state of the current working files (this week's shoot) is well know to the photographer.

--Marc

[peterkrogh]

Marc,
I think that might be an improvement.

I recently ran IV on my newly migrated archive. It's a 1TB drive, with 130,000 or so DNG and JPEG files.  It flagged 2 DNGs and 4 JPEGs as bad.  One of those DNGs (an image of no consequence) was also bad on the DVD backup, and another one (the client select) was good on the backup.

600 other DNGs were also flagged as Probably Invalid.  These were all in 3 different buckets, and a quick conversion of the images with the DNG converter produced no errors.  Any idea why this shows up? 

It would be really great if IV could hand the images off to another application (like over to iView) to get a comprehensive visual survey of the images, as well as a record of the issues.
Peter