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Troubleshooting Media File Problems in Legacy


The first thing to do when troubleshooting Legacy picture problems is to make sure that you have the latest build (update file) downloaded and installed to the program.  Some picture problems and related error messages have been fixed in recent builds. You can download the latest build from http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Download.asp.
Pictures Won't Display  
Legacy can't open the following format:
TIFF (*.TIF - Tagged Image File Format)
Legacy cannot display TIFFs with LZW compression. 
Please use an image editing program to save your pictures in a different format and reload them. (See Image Format Basics for further details.)
[Picture or media file name] was not found within the media subdirectories
Pictures, sound, video, or document files are missing. When you import information from a GEDCOM, PAF or Legacy file from a different computer containing references to picture, sound, and video files, Legacy needs to know where they are located on the new computer. Most of the time, when you receive a GEDCOM from another person, the media files do not accompany it.
To reconcile picture, sound and video links, you should have Legacy search for them. To do this:
1. Select Customize from the Options tab on the Ribbon bar and click the Locations option on the menu panel.
2. Click on the Test All Media Paths button and at the next screen click the Proceed button.
3. In the Find File screen, click the Have Legacy Search for the File button.
4. See Managing Picture, Sound and Video Locations for further details.
You can also get this warning message when picture, sound or video files have been moved, deleted or renamed.  If the files have been moved then:
1. Select Master Lists from the View tab of the Ribbon bar and then choose Media Folder List.
2. You can add, edit or import picture locations from the Master Medis Folder List window. (See Managing Picture, Sound and Video Locations for further details.)
3. Alternately, you can reload the picture(s) manually.
If the picture, sound or video file has been deleted or renamed reload the file or remove the reference to it.
Pictures Didn't Transfer with GEDCOM File
When you import information from a GEDCOM file containing references to picture, sound, video, and other files, Legacy needs to know where they are located on the new computer. Ask the individual who gave you the GEDCOM file to provide the media files also so that you can access them.
Media Files Didn't Get Included in Backup
Family File back up does not include media (picture, sound, video, and document) files.  These must be backed up by clicking Backup File on the File tab of the Ribbon bar and selecting Media Files from the Customize Backup screen. To restore backed up media files, you must use a utility like WinZip.
Picture Takes a Long Time to Load
On slower computers, the time needed to display individuals in Family and Pedigree View can be speeded up by turning off pictures.  If you would like to turn off pictures, choose Customize from the Options tab on the Ribbon bar and click the View option on the menu panel. Next in the lower right area of the screen, uncheck the Show Main Picture on Family Pedigree View box and click the Save button.
Occasionally an extremely large picture file can take a very long time to load.  Likewise, pictures being loaded from a floppy, tape, Zip drive or CD drive can take a long time to load.  There are two possible solutions: 
1. Check the file size of the picture. If it is extremely large, save it to a compressible format, and/or reduce its resolution and dimensions to decrease the file size. (See Image Format Basics for further details.)
2. Move the picture to your hard drive for faster access. (See Managing Picture, Sound and Video Locations for further details.)
Picture Appears Pixilated (Grainy or Mosaic-like)
Very small images when scanned to sizes larger than the original can appear grainy and indistinct. Small graphic image files, when stretched to a bigger size can look pixilated (like a mosaic). Try rescanning at a higher resolution and/or scaling factor.
Can't Fill a Blank Frame in the Media Gallery
If you can't fill or move a picture into a blank frame in the Media Gallery it probably because the program is referencing a picture that cannot be found or is seeing a format that cannot be recognized.  To load another picture in its location, you must first remove the existing reference by clicking in the caption box for the blank and then clicking the Options button and choosing Remove. (See Adding and Scanning Pictures for further details.)
Printed Pictures Are Dark or Washed Out
Color pictures sent to a black and white printer often come out either looking dark and muddy or washed out. Color pictures can be converted to gray scale (black and white) by opening the Media Gallery, clicking the Options button and then choosing Edit and then clicking To Gray Scale on the Display Picture screen. This is often necessary if you are printing reports with pictures on a non-color printer such as a laser printer. (See Displaying and Editing Pictures in Legacy for further details.)
Pictures Won't Print on Reports
Recheck your report picture options (click the Report Options button and see both the Pictures tab and Include tab for selections) and also make sure that the pictures you want printed are tagged and/or set to preferred in the Media Gallery.  Also make certain that you have the most recent build (update file) installed to the program.
Please note that pictures attached to birth, christening, marriage, death and burial events currently do not print on reports, even though it seems they should.  In the future we plan to expand our reports to include these images.
Pictures Won't Print (Printer Problem)
Rarely an extremely large picture file can take a very long time to load or will exceed the capacity of the printer buffer to hold them. Check the file size of the picture. (See Image Format Basics for further details.)
Pictures Not Included in RTF File
Reports saved in as Rich Text Files (RTF) do not include pictures unless you have the Embed the pictures in the file option selected by going to Report Options > Pictures tab > When Printing RTF Reports with Pictures box. If this option is not selected, only the picture path and file name are shown in the report where the pictures can be manually inserted. 
Pictures Not Included in HTML File Attached to E-Mail, Etc.
When creating reports as HTML files that include pictures, you must attach and/or include the picture files that go with it. For example, if an e-mail attachment Smith.htm has a picture called JohnSmith.jpg, both must be attached to the e-mail message, otherwise the recipient won't be able to see the image. (When opened the HTML attachment will show be a box with a small red x for the missing picture.)


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