Can't rotate some photos in Windows 7 (but can rotate others)

Anonymous
2011-10-27T10:30:27+00:00

Hi all. I cannot rotate some pictures that I've recently copied from my new iPhone to my hard drive.

I've copied them from my iPhone 4S to my Windows 7 PC, to a Subfolder within Pictures.  I can view them all without problems.  If I highlight any/all pictures that need rotating, right click, 'Rotate Clockwise', then sometimes the images will rotate successfully.  But sometimes I get an error saying 'You cannot rotate this image. The file might be in use or open in another program, or the file or folder might be read-only.'  Before I got my iPhone 4S, I have had no problems rotating images.  I'm a bit doubtful that the new phone / iOS5 is somehow to blame, as it's not attached to the computer, but who knows.

The files are not read only.  I've tried doing a clean boot to minimise the number of running processes, but I still can't rotate some of my images.  Does anyone have any other clues what the problem might be, or how I might investigate it further?  Thanks...

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2012-02-19T17:17:31+00:00

Just transfer all the pics you took to a a file in windows (as you would if you back up your iphone and ipad to your PC) and open the file in using Windows Office Picture Manager. This program is included as part  the Microsoft suite so it was free for me. I run windows vista  Choose to see the folder in "thumbnail view" the little box with 4 little rectangles on it right under the Shortcuts menu command. You will then see all the pics in the folder. Now you can individually rotate pics or highlight a bunch of them and rotate them at once using the rotate button up on top. Its a button with too little triangles on it. One of the triangles is laying on its side. Then hit "save" and voila! All your pics are now saved right side up! I didn't experience any sacrifice in quality of the pics or any changes. I hope this provides further clarity. These links have some add' info on Office picture manager-

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/about-picture-manager-HP001001721.aspx

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Anonymous
2011-10-28T16:54:23+00:00

If you search the web, many people have this issue only with iPhone 4s.

It appears that the Meta data attached to the picture by iPhone is corrupt and that is why the picture can't be rotated, etc.

It is suggested that the meta data be remove from the picture an then it can be manipulated.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-08-26T02:39:17+00:00

    Here's another way to fix things that doesn't strip all the EXIF data.  It only strips the offending EXIF data that (i have found).

    1. Get the exiftool from: http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/
    2. Unzip the file, you should get a file named: [b]exiftool(-k).exe[/b]
    3. Rename the file to "exiftool(-RegionAppliedToDimensionsUnit= -XMPToolkit= -k).exe"
    4. Now drag and drop your "broken" iphone 4S images on to this executable.

    A command prompt window will appear, then shortly after, it will output "1 image file updated". 

     :D  Your image is now fixed!!  :D

    This tool makes a backup of the original and names it image.jpg_orginal gives the fixed-up file your original file name.

    What does this tool do?

    This tool only removes the "RegionAppliedToDimensionsUnit" and/or "XMPToolkit" EXIF Tag if found from the image file.  In my tests these seem to be the only tags that cause the non-rotatable trouble.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-08-12T21:05:03+00:00

    Or, as I suggested a couple times, install JPeg Lossless Rotator and save yourself all those steps. I've been participating in this and other forums on this topic for many months and despite all the ideas and suggestions, nothing out there is as easy and complete a solution as this one:

    http://www.daleisphere.com/easily-rotate-locked-iphone-4-and-4s-photos-in-window s-7-with-the-free-jpeg-lossless-rotator/

    ...Dale

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-08-12T20:35:47+00:00

    Hi all. I cannot rotate some pictures that I've recently copied from my new iPhone to my hard drive.

    I've copied them from my iPhone 4S to my Windows 7 PC, to a Subfolder within Pictures.  I can view them all without problems.  If I highlight any/all pictures that need rotating, right click, 'Rotate Clockwise', then sometimes the images will rotate successfully.  But sometimes I get an error saying 'You cannot rotate this image. The file might be in use or open in another program, or the file or folder might be read-only.'  Before I got my iPhone 4S, I have had no problems rotating images.  I'm a bit doubtful that the new phone / iOS5 is somehow to blame, as it's not attached to the computer, but who knows.

    The files are not read only.  I've tried doing a clean boot to minimise the number of running processes, but I still can't rotate some of my images.  Does anyone have any other clues what the problem might be, or how I might investigate it further?  Thanks...

    This worked for me 100%

    Right click once on picture, select open, click on edit and organize, click on create, click on more options, open with paint, next to select click on the rotate symbol with the picture of the arrow over the triangle. Once rotated in the direction you want, you must click the save icon which is the picture of the floppy disk.

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