Why is there two ways to export a photo?

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Shmanzoid Author

Level 1

9 points

Why is there two ways to export a photo?

Hi. I wasn't sure how to phrase the question, but...

In my Mac Photos, I can drag a photo on to my desktop. Fine.

Then I tried to File/Export the same photo in full size onto my desktop. Both pictures appear now.

But the photos are different when I click the info on each:

The first is less than half the file size (ie 2.1 MB) and is titled '.jpeg'

The second has a bigger file size (ie 5MB) and is titled '.jpg'

Both are the same resolution (ie 4032 x 3024) and 72 pixels/inch.

No big crisis, but why does it happen like this? Is there a useful reason? I've tried the same thing on different photos.

Thanks!

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jul 15, 2022 9:13 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

214,710 points

Jul 15, 2022 10:02 AM in response to Shmanzoid

Dragging a thumbnail from the library to the Desktop will get you the preview version of the file which is often smaller in file size and pixel dimension.

The correct way to get a photo out of the library is to Export either the Unmodified Original or the edited version choosing the quality and size of the image at that time.

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Answer 2

Jul 15, 2022 10:36 AM in response to Old Toad

AFAIR in older Photos/iPhoto versions dragging to a Finder window did the same as exporting original. I wish it still did the same because the current setting is potentially destructive for a careless user.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

214,710 points

Jul 15, 2022 2:19 PM in response to Matti Haveri

Matti Haveri wrote:

AFAIR in older Photos/iPhoto versions dragging to a Finder window did the same as exporting original.

That's not entirely accurate. If the original is a jpeg then it is with the latest Photos version.

However, if the original is an HEIC image file the resulting jpeg will be larger than the original.

Also if the original file is a RAW file the resulted dragged jpeg will be smaller than the original. By smaller I'm referring to the file size, not the image size.

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Answer 4

Shmanzoid Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 15, 2022 10:03 AM in response to Old Toad

Makes sense. Thanks!

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Why is there two ways to export a photo?

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