How to Extract Still Frames from a Live Photo in Photos for Mac

by: léonie

Last modified: Nov 12, 2017 3:51 AM

8 64836 Last modified Nov 12, 2017 3:51 AM

Live Photos are a pair of a high quality still frame and a video.

In Photos 3 on High Sierra it is easy to select a frame and create a still photo from a selected frame of the Live Photo:

Select the Live Photo in Photos, double click it to view it enlarged and open the Editor.
In the film strip below the photo skim to the frame you want to see as the key frame and click Make Key Photo.
Close the editor, then select the photo again and use the command "Image > Duplicate". Select "Duplicate as Still Photo".

Now you have your original Live Photo as well as a still frame as a JPEG. If you only want to use the still photo, you can simply click the Live Button to disable the still photo. Edit a Live Photo - Apple Support

In Photos 2 on Sierra or Photos 1 on El Capitan you can turn the Live Photo into a still image, but not select a specific frame:

Change a Live Photo to a still image: Select the photo, then choose Image > Turn Off Live Photo. To restore the video later, select the photo and choose Image > Turn On Live Photo.

But how to select a different frame, then the embedded high quality JPEG? If the high resolution JPEG did not capture the right moment?

You can extract different frames, if you reimport the Life Photo as a video.

Use "File > Export > Export Unmodified original". And include the XMP sidecar file option to save the metadata.

This will export three files:

Use File > Import to import the .mov file.

You now have a video, where you can use the video editing tools in Photos to extract a still fame. It will be saved as a TIFF image to the Pictures folder. Import it to Photos from there.