Intervention/image · error · Intervention\Image\Exceptions\DriverException

Failed to load image frame a position

Error message

Failed to load image frame a position 

What it means

Thrown by Core::frame() when the internal scan over the Imagick frame stack fails before a position can be matched: getIteratorIndex() on a frame raised ImagickException or RuntimeException while looping. It wraps the native failure; it does NOT mean the frame is missing (that case throws the 'Frame #N could not be found' InvalidArgumentException instead).

Source

Thrown at src/Drivers/Imagick/Core.php:340

    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     *
     * @see CoreInterface::frame()
     *
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException
     * @throws DriverException
     */
    public function frame(int $position): FrameInterface
    {
        foreach ($this->imagick as $core) {
            try {
                if ($core->getIteratorIndex() === $position) {
                    return new Frame($core);
                }
            } catch (ImagickException | RuntimeException $e) {
                throw new DriverException('Failed to load image frame a position ' . $position, previous: $e);
            }
        }

        throw new InvalidArgumentException('Frame #' . $position . ' could not be found in the image');
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     *
     * @see CoreInterface::loops()
     *
     * @throws DriverException
     */
    public function loops(): int
    {
        try {
            return $this->imagick->getImageIterations();
        } catch (ImagickException $e) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 5598b9e397)

Solutions

1. Read $e->getPrevious() to get the concrete Imagick error
2. Re-read the source image and retry once; corrupted in-memory state is not recoverable
3. Validate the input file itself (re-decode the original bytes) if it reproduces consistently — the file is likely damaged
4. Update the imagick extension if the previous exception indicates an internal iterator bug

use Intervention\Image\Exceptions\DriverException;

try {
    $frame = $image->core()->frame($i);
} catch (DriverException $e) {
    // native stack is corrupted; re-read from the original source once
    $image = $manager->read($originalBytes);
    $frame = $image->core()->frame($i);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling $image->core()->frame($position), or APIs built on it — $image->removeAnimation($position) (RemoveAnimationModifier::selectedFrame) and pixel analyzers like pickColors($x, $y, $frame) — while the Imagick stack is in a state where iterating frames errors (destroyed object, corrupted animation, invalid internal iterator).

Common situations: Calling removeAnimation() on an image whose core was invalidated by an earlier failed operation; analyzing a frame of a corrupt GIF; race between coroutine workers sharing one Imagick object; imagick extension segfault-adjacent states after huge operations.

Related errors

• Failed to iterate image frames
• Failed to add image frame
• Frame #
• First frame not found in image
• Last frame not found in image

AI-assisted analysis of Intervention/image@5598b9e397 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fafbf9d1509fce9b. Report an issue: GitHub.