Ventura generates corrupt preview files of RAW images in Photos after initial edits (error 3306)

This is an issue that seems to have been floating around these forums since Ventura was introduced (I only recently upgraded). It has completely broken the Photos application and I can assume has gone unfixed because nobody inside Apple is using Photos on Mac to manage and edit RAW images.


The issue occurs for me both on a 2017 iMac Pro (Intel) and 2022 Mac Studio (M1 Max), so it's not machine or library-specific. And it can be replicated using any RAW image from either my iPhone 14 Pro or from my Nikon DSLR.


Once a RAW image is imported into Photos, the first initial edits to the image triggers Photos to generate a jpeg preview of those edits. What's happening in Ventura seems to be that the jpeg preview is corrupt; returning to the image in Photos will display a low-resolution pixelated preview. Attempting to export or share the image will fail. Attempting to edit the image in an external editor will trigger the attached error message:


An error occurred while preparing external edit. The operation couldn't be completed. (PHPhotosErrorDomain error 3306).


The only workaround I've discovered is to either not apply any edits in Photos or use the "Revert to Original' option after the image is corrupted and then re-apply the edits. This process must be repeated for every single image. If anyone has discovered a solution please advise, although I suspect this is just something Apple's going to have to fix in a software update.




Mac Studio, macOS 13.3

Posted on May 16, 2023 11:52 AM

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Posted on Aug 15, 2023 06:48 PM

Hi, Yes, this is happening to me as well on a new M2 14" MacBook Pro with 32 Gb RAM. Same problem as widely reported elsewhere on this site, and by David Palmer. Nothing seems to work, including the "revert to original" and re-apply the edit solution that you proposed. Once I've done that, the blurriness returns once viewed in the main library. Apple's refusal to acknowledge is infuriating. I guess, as David Palmer mentioned, that Photos is for casual iPhone snaps of the family dog and kids. I shoot in Canon RAW (.CR2) and have for years. iPhoto was fine. Photos is a lousy attempt to put an mediocre iOS app on the desktop. I am forced to look for alternatives.


Many thanks,

Michael

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 15, 2023 06:48 PM in response to Cory Bauer

Hi, Yes, this is happening to me as well on a new M2 14" MacBook Pro with 32 Gb RAM. Same problem as widely reported elsewhere on this site, and by David Palmer. Nothing seems to work, including the "revert to original" and re-apply the edit solution that you proposed. Once I've done that, the blurriness returns once viewed in the main library. Apple's refusal to acknowledge is infuriating. I guess, as David Palmer mentioned, that Photos is for casual iPhone snaps of the family dog and kids. I shoot in Canon RAW (.CR2) and have for years. iPhoto was fine. Photos is a lousy attempt to put an mediocre iOS app on the desktop. I am forced to look for alternatives.


Many thanks,

Michael

Jan 18, 2024 04:07 AM in response to Michael Force

Hmm yes, and the issue extends to external editing. I spent most of yesterday editing raw files in Photos and then switching to (edit with) Affinity Photo for other editing - until later in the afternoon I start getting the error 3306 message. The 'edit with' (Affinity) options work only if I don't use Photos to edit first. Seems really weird that has only just started to happen after using it successfully she some time.


I'm Ventura 13.6.3 on a 2020 MacBook Air, so any solutions would be appreciated as I don't want to update to Sonoma just yet.


All of which makes me wonder why am I using Photos in the first place

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Ventura generates corrupt preview files of RAW images in Photos after initial edits (error 3306)

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