iPhoto permissions error and syncing

[iGal]

I'm sure this has been discussed before (obviously), but my forum searches are yielding nothing, for some reason. I'm very well versed in the passive-aggressive "do a search, newbie" mantra, so if that's all you've got, just know that it's unnecessary


Here's what's happening:
iPhoto displays an exclamation point in place of a photo. Not the small thumbnail, the zoom/edit thumbnail.
iPhone cannot sync all the photos I have organized into albums. It grabs some of them, but not others.

My understanding of why it's happening:
I'm an epic photoshoper. Every picture I import gets processed... whether it's just to change the image size from my camera's default (I keep important photos big, downsize less important ones, to save disk space - I have a LOT of photos) or to do the whole levels/contrast/redeye/cleanup shebang. Call it an occupational hazard: I NEED to process all my photos.

So, all that editing and re-saving is what causes the error, from what I understand. iPhoto can't "find" or access my pics, therefore my iPhone can't sync up with my designated albums.


I've tried:
-rebuild the thumbnail cache (first small, then all)
-recover orphaned photos
-examine and repair permissions
-... basically all the options on the rebuild photo library command panel. -I've even backed up, deleted, and re-imported all my photos into iPhoto, which also has not fixed the issue.

The only reason I care is for sake of porting photos to my iPhone, otherwise this get in my way at all. So, question is, is this a fatal flaw for me with iPhoto, that I can't have my cake (free photoshop reign of my photos) and eat it too (organized iPhoto albums for iPhone sync)? If so, that's okay - I just would like to know definitively.

Thanks for reading, and for any advice in advance!