diff --git a/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/recommind/logs/ScatterPlot.java b/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/recommind/logs/ScatterPlot.java
index e7d5a22..8383987 100644
--- a/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/recommind/logs/ScatterPlot.java
+++ b/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/recommind/logs/ScatterPlot.java
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ public class ScatterPlot implements ConcretePlotter {
 			final int thumbnailMaxHeight) {
 
 		Path result;
-		if (thumbnailMaxWidth > 0 && thumbnailMaxHeight > 0) {
+		if (thumbnailMaxWidth > 0 && thumbnailMaxHeight > 0 && Files.exists(originalImage)) {
 			try {
 				final long start = System.nanoTime();
 				final BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read(originalImage.toFile());
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ public class ScatterPlot implements ConcretePlotter {
 				ImageIO.write(thumbnail, "JPG", thumbnailPath.toFile());
 				LOGGER.info("thumbnail creation: " + (System.nanoTime() - start) / 1_000_000.0 + "ms");
 				result = thumbnailPath;
-			} catch (final IOException e) {
+			} catch (final IOException | RuntimeException e) {
 				LOGGER.warn("failed to scale image", e);
 				result = null;
 			}