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Dragging from Photos to Finder sometimes changes date, not always

I use Photos to collect all my photos and then I pull them out of Photos into a folder on my computer to free up iCloud space. In my perfect world, the file's date created/modified would be the exact date of the photo being taken. Unfortunately most of the time it is the date the photo was dragged out of photos.


Strangely, this weekend it actually worked, that simply dragging gave me the photo's original creation date. But today, it's back to the file creation date. Same process, I am not holding down the option key, just dragging and dropping into a folder's window.


Why would this work sometimes and not others? The only thing new is I installed 11.6.1 in between. Wonder if it altered the behavior?


See screenshot for what was exported today versus was was exported two days ago:

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Nov 1, 2021 9:54 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 7, 2021 12:36 AM

There are two kinds of metadata involved when you consider jpeg or other image file.


One is the file data. This is what the Finder shows. This tells you nothing about the contents of the file, just the File itself.


The problem with File metadata is that it can easily change as the file is moved from place to place or exported, e-mailed, uploaded etc.


Photographs have also got both Exif and IPTC metadata. The date and time that your camera snapped the Photograph is recorded in the Exif metadata. Regardless of what the file date says, this is the actual time recorded by the camera.


Photo applications like Photos, CaptureOne, Lightroom, Mylio, Photoshop etc get their date and time from the Exif metadata.


When you export from iPhoto to the Finder new file is created containing your Photo (and its Exif). The File date is - quite accurately - reported as the date of Export.


However, the Photo Date doesn't change.


The problem is that the Finder doesn't work with Exif.


So, your photo has the correct date, and so does the file, but they are different things. To sort on the Photo date you'll need to use a photo app.


There are apps that will edit the file data to match the Exif. This is one:


https://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderAttributes/index.html


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5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 7, 2021 12:36 AM in response to JeremiahM

There are two kinds of metadata involved when you consider jpeg or other image file.


One is the file data. This is what the Finder shows. This tells you nothing about the contents of the file, just the File itself.


The problem with File metadata is that it can easily change as the file is moved from place to place or exported, e-mailed, uploaded etc.


Photographs have also got both Exif and IPTC metadata. The date and time that your camera snapped the Photograph is recorded in the Exif metadata. Regardless of what the file date says, this is the actual time recorded by the camera.


Photo applications like Photos, CaptureOne, Lightroom, Mylio, Photoshop etc get their date and time from the Exif metadata.


When you export from iPhoto to the Finder new file is created containing your Photo (and its Exif). The File date is - quite accurately - reported as the date of Export.


However, the Photo Date doesn't change.


The problem is that the Finder doesn't work with Exif.


So, your photo has the correct date, and so does the file, but they are different things. To sort on the Photo date you'll need to use a photo app.


There are apps that will edit the file data to match the Exif. This is one:


https://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderAttributes/index.html


Nov 6, 2021 10:57 PM in response to JeremiahM

When you export the original file (File > Export > Export unmodified original) the original file creation date may be preserved, as long as the file has not been uploaded to iCloud or the library moved between drives, or you are not exporting o a different volume. But any photo taken with a camera or will usually have an embedded EXIF tag with the original capture date, and you can see this date in any program designed to work with photos, for example in Preview > Tools > Inspector. Even the Finder can show you the "content Created" exif tag, if you are browsing the image files in the column view. My Mac is currently set to use the German language - with Englich as the primary language the tag "Inhalt Erstellt" would appear as "Content Created".

Nov 1, 2021 11:59 PM in response to JeremiahM

It has been always this way. When you are dragging a photo from Photos, you are saving the current preview of the photo. Sometimes the original image file doubles as the current preview (if the photo has no adjustments applied and is small enough to suffice as a preview), but if the photo has been edited or the original is very large, a preview for the media browser will be rendered, and the preview will be an image file with a new creation date.

A new preview file will have a new creation date, while the original may still have the original creation date. But even, if the original image file is used as the preview and a copy of the original dragged to the Desktop, the file creation date may have become changed, for example, if you are syncing your Photos Library with iCloud Photos. Files downloaded from iCloud Photos may be downloaded with a new creation date.

Dragging from Photos to Finder sometimes changes date, not always

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