Why are my photos so small? 300KB

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Level 1

26 points

Why are my photos so small? 300KB

When I export a photo from iCloud.com and select "original size", it barely exceeds 350KB. The image quality is so poor. I'm using an iPhone 6 to take these photos, and I see threads reporting similar issues with iPhone 7. So I will not waste my money with a new iPhone purchase. I'm paying a lot of money for the iCloud storage, and I expect my photos to be exportable in their original size.

How do I download my photos in their original / high resolution?

iPhone 6, iOS 12

Posted on Feb 27, 2019 10:52 AM

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Answer 1

emiliefromca Author

Level 1

26 points

Feb 27, 2019 1:14 PM in response to léonie

When I export from iCloud, I select "Original as captured and imported" (as shown in the screenshot). The downloaded image barely exceeds 350KB. Again, this is way too small and can't be the full resolution image as photo was taken with an iPhone. Where is the full resolution image in my iCloud? how come I can't download it? I pay for iCloud storage every month! I would like to know how I can download the full resolution image, wether from an iPhone or iCloud.com to my Mac.

P.S: No, I do not wish to you use the iCloud desktop app.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

200,627 points

Feb 27, 2019 3:37 PM in response to emiliefromca

How has the photo been taken, that you are exporting? Has the photo been taken with the iPhone? What is the file format of the file? The filename and the filename extension?

Did you use the zoom when you took the photo? Then the original image file may be quite small.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

200,627 points

Feb 27, 2019 12:54 PM in response to emiliefromca

How are you exporting from iCloud.com?

When I select a photo in Photos at www.icloud.com and click the download button, and select unmodified original, I am getting exactly the original image in the original pixel size.

if your downloaded photos do not have the full resolution, they may have been transferred by a shared album, or you have used an external editor, that is cropping the size, or you took photos with a large digital zoom value.

Or you may have edited RAW photos. Photos on the iPhone cannot edit RAW images in a high quality. it will use the embedded jpeg.

Downloading like in the screenshot below is giving me the best quality - here in Firefox:

The tiny arrow below the download button to open this dialog is barely visible.

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Why are my photos so small? 300KB

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