Digital photo frames not supporting altered files

SJPhotog

Hi, I just bought a Sony digital photo frame, model DPFD95. I want to take it to a wedding I'm shooting tomorrow to show off the couple's engagement photos during the reception. I downloaded both high and low res images from my SmugMug account, unzipped the files and loaded them onto a memory card. When I inserted the memory card into the frame, I got an error code. I tried every which way I could think of -- high-res, low-res, etc. to put the files on the memory card so they would be read, with NO LUCK. I got to the second tier of Sony support and they say the frame can only read memory cards DIRECTLY FROM THE CAMERA. Really? Reeeally? So altered images cannot be shown on these digital frames? Has anyone else ever had experience with this problem, and is there another brand digital photo frame that DOES support altered images? It seems REALLY dumb that only straight-from-the-camera memory cards can be read by a SONY photo frame!!! (My camera uses CF memory cards and the files have been altered in Photoshop.) Any suggestions???

Thanks so much!
~Susan
www.suejohnsonphotos.com
SJPhotog@aol.com

jfriend

Probably you weren't putting them in the right directory structure on the card so the frame wasn't finding them. Take a card and format it clean, place in a camera, take a couple pictures, then remove the card and look at the directory structure on the card to see where the images are. Put your JPEGs in that same type of structure and it should work.

You were probably getting the oversimplified answer from Sony tech support that all-too-often happens.

BradfordBenn

This is a pure guess but it is a problem we hit at work, have you changed the color space? Someone changed the color space for every image on the website and none showed up.

pilotdave

SJPhotog wrote: »

Hi, I just bought a Sony digital photo frame, model DPFD95. I want to take it to a wedding I'm shooting tomorrow to show off the couple's engagement photos during the reception. I downloaded both high and low res images from my SmugMug account, unzipped the files and loaded them onto a memory card. When I inserted the memory card into the frame, I got an error code. I tried every which way I could think of -- high-res, low-res, etc. to put the files on the memory card so they would be read, with NO LUCK. I got to the second tier of Sony support and they say the frame can only read memory cards DIRECTLY FROM THE CAMERA. Really? Reeeally? So altered images cannot be shown on these digital frames? Has anyone else ever had experience with this problem, and is there another brand digital photo frame that DOES support altered images? It seems REALLY dumb that only straight-from-the-camera memory cards can be read by a SONY photo frame!!! (My camera uses CF memory cards and the files have been altered in Photoshop.) Any suggestions???

Thanks so much!
~Susan
www.suejohnsonphotos.com
SJPhotog@aol.com

Same problem here with a Sony digital picture frame. No idea why they do that but I did read about it in reviews. But when I use owner save to get them off smugmug, they work fine. Don't think I've ever tried using images downloaded with the bulk download tool though. It's unfortunate that sony puts this limitation on their frames because they tend to get much better reviews than anything else in the price range.

Dave

SJPhotog

pilotdave wrote: »

Same problem here with a Sony digital picture frame. No idea why they do that but I did read about it in reviews. But when I use owner save to get them off smugmug, they work fine. Don't think I've ever tried using images downloaded with the bulk download tool though. It's unfortunate that sony puts this limitation on their frames because they tend to get much better reviews than anything else in the price range.

Dave

I will try the "owner save" route, Dave -- I appreciate your suggestion. For today's wedding, I ended up shooting pix of the engagement images on my monitor with my little camera and then putting the memory card from the little camera in the Sony frame. Of course this wasn't the optimum way of displaying the photos, but I was able to show them in the smaller size on the frame and have them change in 3 second intervals, so no one was wiser. The pix on the frame looked a lot like the hipstamatic prints from my iPhone -- so it all turned out ok in the time span I had to work in -- but now with some down time I will play with the "owner save" idea. Thank you again.
~Susan

SJPhotog

BradfordBenn wrote: »

This is a pure guess but it is a problem we hit at work, have you changed the color space? Someone changed the color space for every image on the website and none showed up.

Hi Brad -- Hmm, I wouldn't begin to know how to change the color space.. so hopefully that wasn't the issue, but thank you for you reply, I appreciate it!

Regards,
~Susan

SJPhotog

jfriend wrote: »

Probably you weren't putting them in the right directory structure on the card so the frame wasn't finding them. Take a card and format it clean, place in a camera, take a couple pictures, then remove the card and look at the directory structure on the card to see where the images are. Put your JPEGs in that same type of structure and it should work.

You were probably getting the oversimplified answer from Sony tech support that all-too-often happens.

Hi John,
I did try this route, putting the corrected images in the same folder on the memory card that the frame WAS able to read; and your idea made so much sense that I was SURE it was going to work.. but no luck. Arrgh. I can't understand why SONY, of all the manufacturers on the planet, can't figure this out. And if they can't, then they should have a HUGE disclaimer on the box saying that. I wonder if other brands of digital frames are the same way -- there are certainly a million of them out there!!

Thanks again for writing --
Best,
~Susan

jfriend

SJPhotog wrote: »

Hi John,
I did try this route, putting the corrected images in the same folder on the memory card that the frame WAS able to read; and your idea made so much sense that I was SURE it was going to work.. but no luck. Arrgh. I can't understand why SONY, of all the manufacturers on the planet, can't figure this out. And if they can't, then they should have a HUGE disclaimer on the box saying that. I wonder if other brands of digital frames are the same way -- there are certainly a million of them out there!!

Thanks again for writing --
Best,
~Susan

Very bizarre. I agree it's dumb and pretty misleading of Sony. I'd suggest it's some shoddy software engineering (if it's just busted) or a really stupid product definition (if it was done on purpose). In either case, it makes it a crummy product.

pilotdave

jfriend wrote: »

Very bizarre. I agree it's dumb and pretty misleading of Sony. I'd suggest it's some shoddy software engineering (if it's just busted) or a really stupid product definition (if it was done on purpose). In either case, it makes it a crummy product.

From http://www.digital-frames-connect-people.com/Sony-DPF-D70.html

"Be aware that there has been compatibility issues with pictures altered in some versions of Photoshop. If you have a problem with those versions, a JPEG should be saved as “Save for Web”. In the preview window, un-click “progressive” in JPEG export properties, but leave the “optimized” checkmark on. As a general rule, Sony does not display progressive JPEG images. It may also help to put the quality slider to 100."

I have no prob with lightroom edited photos with owner save, but smugmug downsized copies don't work. So it's more than a Photoshop compatibility problem. But maybe this advice will help.

The Sony frames are awesome but this is an annoying issue.

Dave