diff --git a/pyPhotoAlbum/async_backend.py b/pyPhotoAlbum/async_backend.py
index d081982..331a40b 100644
--- a/pyPhotoAlbum/async_backend.py
+++ b/pyPhotoAlbum/async_backend.py
@@ -745,18 +745,26 @@ class AsyncPDFGenerator(QObject):
 
         # Patch Image.open to use cache
         def cached_open(path, *args, **kwargs):
-            # Try cache first
-            # Note: We cache the unrotated image so rotation can be applied per-element
-            cached_img = self.image_cache.get(Path(path))
-            if cached_img:
-                logger.debug(f"PDF using cached image: {path}")
-                return cached_img
+            # Only use cache for file paths, not BytesIO or other file-like objects
+            is_file_path = isinstance(path, (str, Path))
 
-            # Load and cache (unrotated - rotation is applied per-element)
-            img = original_open(path, *args, **kwargs)
-            img = convert_to_rgba(img)
-            self.image_cache.put(Path(path), img)
-            return img
+            if is_file_path:
+                # Try cache first
+                # Note: We cache the unrotated image so rotation can be applied per-element
+                path_obj = Path(path) if isinstance(path, str) else path
+                cached_img = self.image_cache.get(path_obj)
+                if cached_img:
+                    logger.debug(f"PDF using cached image: {path}")
+                    return cached_img
+
+                # Load and cache (unrotated - rotation is applied per-element)
+                img = original_open(path, *args, **kwargs)
+                img = convert_to_rgba(img)
+                self.image_cache.put(path_obj, img)
+                return img
+            else:
+                # For BytesIO and other file-like objects, just use original open
+                return original_open(path, *args, **kwargs)
 
         # Temporarily patch Image.open
         try:
diff --git a/pyPhotoAlbum/frame_manager.py b/pyPhotoAlbum/frame_manager.py
index e187e1f..54befdc 100644
--- a/pyPhotoAlbum/frame_manager.py
+++ b/pyPhotoAlbum/frame_manager.py
@@ -303,8 +303,14 @@ class FrameManager:
                 output_height=target_size,
             )
 
-            # Load as PIL Image
-            img = Image.open(io.BytesIO(png_data))
+            # Validate png_data type
+            if not isinstance(png_data, bytes):
+                print(f"Warning: cairosvg returned {type(png_data)} instead of bytes")
+                return None
+
+            # Load as PIL Image from bytes buffer
+            buffer = io.BytesIO(png_data)
+            img = Image.open(buffer)
             if img.mode != "RGBA":
                 img = img.convert("RGBA")
 
@@ -314,7 +320,9 @@ class FrameManager:
             return img
 
         except Exception as e:
+            import traceback
             print(f"Error loading SVG {svg_path}: {e}")
+            traceback.print_exc()
             return None
 
     def _recolor_svg(self, svg_content: str, color: Tuple[int, int, int]) -> str:
@@ -388,11 +396,17 @@ class FrameManager:
             return frame._image_cache[cache_key]
 
         if frame.asset_path:
-            svg_path = self._frames_dir / frame.asset_path
-            img = self._load_svg_as_image(svg_path, corner_size, color)
-            if img:
-                frame._image_cache[cache_key] = img
-                return img
+            try:
+                svg_path = self._frames_dir / frame.asset_path
+                img = self._load_svg_as_image(svg_path, corner_size, color)
+                if img:
+                    frame._image_cache[cache_key] = img
+                    return img
+            except Exception as e:
+                import traceback
+                print(f"Error getting corner image for {frame.name}: {e}")
+                traceback.print_exc()
+                return None
 
         return None
 
diff --git a/pyPhotoAlbum/pdf_exporter.py b/pyPhotoAlbum/pdf_exporter.py
index f2f9d55..b5ca275 100644
--- a/pyPhotoAlbum/pdf_exporter.py
+++ b/pyPhotoAlbum/pdf_exporter.py
@@ -62,20 +62,28 @@ def _process_image_task(task: ImageTask) -> Tuple[str, Optional[bytes], Optional
         if not isinstance(task.image_path, str):
             return (task.task_id, None, f"Invalid image_path type: {type(task.image_path).__name__}, expected str")
 
-        # Import here to ensure fresh imports in worker process
+        # Import PIL first with basic load
         from PIL import Image
 
-        # Load image first (before other imports that might cause issues)
-        img = Image.open(task.image_path)
+        # Try to open the image - this is the most likely failure point
+        try:
+            img = Image.open(task.image_path)
+        except Exception as open_err:
+            import traceback
+            return (task.task_id, None, f"Image.open failed: {open_err}\n{traceback.format_exc()}")
 
         # Now import the rest
-        from pyPhotoAlbum.image_utils import (
-            apply_pil_rotation,
-            convert_to_rgba,
-            calculate_center_crop_coords,
-            crop_image_to_coords,
-            apply_rounded_corners,
-        )
+        try:
+            from pyPhotoAlbum.image_utils import (
+                apply_pil_rotation,
+                convert_to_rgba,
+                calculate_center_crop_coords,
+                crop_image_to_coords,
+                apply_rounded_corners,
+            )
+        except Exception as import_err:
+            import traceback
+            return (task.task_id, None, f"Import image_utils failed: {import_err}\n{traceback.format_exc()}")
 
         # Convert to RGBA
         img = convert_to_rgba(img)