If your photos show a gray, crossed-out thumbnail in Narrative, Narrative can't display them. This can happen because it can't find the files, it's still processing them, or the file type isn't supported. Work through these steps in order.
Can Narrative find my photos?
First, check your photos are where Narrative expects them.
Connect the drive your photos are on.
Open the folder in Finder or File Explorer and check your photos are there.
If they're in iCloud, OneDrive or another cloud service, download them to your computer.
If you've moved or renamed the folder, go to File → Change Source Folder... in Narrative and choose the folder your photos are in now.
Is Narrative still processing my photos?
If you've just created the project, give Narrative time to finish processing your photos. Thumbnails appear as each photo is ready.
If faces or assessments are missing too, see Narrative is missing faces or face data. That's a different problem from a missing thumbnail.
Is my file type supported?
Update Narrative to the latest version, then check your camera and file type in Which cameras and file types does Narrative support?
Sometimes a supported RAW file has a damaged preview inside it. If only some photos show gray thumbnails, write down their file names.
What if my photo loads but looks blurry?
If your photo loads but looks soft or blurry, it's a different problem. See My Images Are Blurry, or for small RAW previews, Why do my DNG or ARW files look blurry or pixelated?
What if my thumbnails are still gray?
If your thumbnails are still gray, contact us through the chat bubble or at [email protected]. Tell us your Narrative version, operating system, camera model, file type, and whether all or only some photos are affected. If we ask for your logs, go to Help → Troubleshooting → Send Logs to Support.
We may ask for a sample file. Don't change your original files in the meantime.