Sort Photos by Capture Date (NOT File Creation Date)

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Level 1

6 points

Sort Photos by Capture Date (NOT File Creation Date)

Is it possible to sort Photos Library by the Capture Date (to Apple, via Preview/Tools/Inspector, aka Date Time Original or Date Time Digitized) vs the File Date? If not who do I contact to make that request? (Ditto for location info).

The only practical way to use Lightroom's RAW capabilities alongside iCloud Photos is to export an edited RAW file from Lightroom and then import that file into Photos. However, while the exported file retains the EXIF capture date (and location info), Photos uses the file date for its library sorting (and ignores the location data), which results in a terrible UX. The effect is particularly bad if the shooter is re-processing an older shot or catching up on processing, so that events are displayed in complete disarray (i.e. sorted by processing date).

iMac, OS X 10.11

Posted on Dec 12, 2023 10:41 AM

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Answer 1

markwmsn

Level 6

16,613 points

Dec 12, 2023 08:49 PM in response to FineThanks

If you drag out of Photos, you are dragging a preview copy, which is created at drag time and has no history or camera data. Try your experiment again using the Export menu item instead of drag-and-drop.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

199,927 points

Dec 12, 2023 11:43 AM in response to FineThanks

Where in the library are you looking in Photos for the sorting?

The Days, Months, Years, and All Photos are supposed to be sorted by the oldest Capture date. You can see this, if you look at the menu item "View > Sort" while viewing a library item, like "All Photos". The predefined sort order is shown as grayed out.

Only the Imports and Recents album are sorted by the "date added".

Photos may be using the wrong timezone however, when importing the photos.

If the photos are having GPS location data assigned, Photos will use the timezone of the GPS location as the timezone reference for the capture date. And if the GPS is missing, it will use the timezone of the region set in the System Settings. That is not necessarily the correct timezone for the date and time embedded by the camera when the photo has been taken. In that case we need to correct the timezone setting for the imported photos after importing them with "Image > Adjust Date & Time".

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Answer 3

FineThanks Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 12, 2023 05:57 PM in response to léonie

The menu you highlight purports to sort the Library by capture date, but turns out it plainly does not, and since my O.P. I now think Apple inexplicably wipes the EXIF/IPTC upon import. Screenshots below shows my file exported from Lightroom today (with true capture date of Feb 2022); and then the Info on the file after import (the only date not scrubbed off being the import date 12/12/23). My wipeout theory seems confirmed with then dragging the photo into Finder from Photos and running the same view of EXIF data, now almost completely blank. And I’m not a conspiracy type, but note that Apple does not wipe the EXIF data from files produced on its devices: same process on an iPhone pic shows a full slate of EXIF before import and after re-export, so Apple has the capability to retain but maybe on the margin doesn’t mind making life more difficult using an unrelated device (I’ll have a friend send me an android pic to see if the data is preserved).

So I think I’ve answered my own question - that it is not possible in Photos App to sort by capture date because Apple wipes it from the file as it imports it. The app is simply unusable by anyone that wishes to use it for both professional (DSLR) and casual (iPhone) art.

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Answer 4

Gspusi

Level 1

8 points

Dec 31, 2023 06:20 PM in response to FineThanks

I had the same problem. When I had images from my iPhone and from my Nikon which are in RAW format, the Nikon images would not sort properly according to their capture date. The solution for me was to select the RAW images and adjust time and date and make sure, there you have the right time zone. Apple didn’t take the time zone from the photos and assumed a different zone which mixed things up quite a bit. I hope that helps.

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Sort Photos by Capture Date (NOT File Creation Date)

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