How do I export only edited photos? I want to keep all unedited photos in their original format. Must I do it all by hand??

Question

How do I export only edited photos? I want to keep all unedited photos in their original format. Must I do it all by hand??

I fear there's no hope. Hundreds are edited and thousands are unedited. So the goal is to:

Export all modified photos
Keep all unmodified photos as HEIC a.k.a. "export unmodified originals" so I can save file space and quality.

The only solution I can think of is going through every single photos by hand to see if it's edited or not. Is there some other way to automate the process or am I just stuck in the Apple straight jacket?

Thank you for the help!

Posted on Jan 5, 2020 2:25 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

197,309 points

Jan 5, 2020 5:44 AM in response to SilverLobster

Which version of Photos are you using? Here is another way, that will work only in the recent versions of Photos.

In Photos 4.0 on Mojave or 5.0 on Catalina you can use the filter to show only the edited items.

Switch to the All Photos view.
Click the "Showing" filter in the upper right corner and set it to "Photo is Edited".

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Answer 2

Jan 6, 2020 4:43 AM in response to Yer_Man

Hi Terence, thank you for the help! While I was a little frustrated when making the straightjacket comment, I'm still a little bothered as to why Apple makes me jump through extra hoops to make sure I'm only converting the files that actually need converting. Now that Samsung phones also uses HEIC, meaning more format support on PC and web, I think Apple should be less aggressive in format changes when doing a mass export.

Still, I really appreciate the help. Thank you.

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

163,872 points

Jan 5, 2020 2:28 AM in response to SilverLobster

File -> New Smart Album

Photo -> is. -> Edited.

Enjoy your straightjacket

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Answer 4

Jan 6, 2020 4:36 AM in response to léonie

Hi, Thank you so much for this reply! This is exactly what I need! It's weird, I never really noticed that "Showing" filter in the corner. Thanks for helping us dummies!

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

197,309 points

Jan 6, 2020 5:56 AM in response to SilverLobster

You're welcome, SilverLobster. 😊

I think, the Showing Filter is one of the most useful features, that came with Photos 4.0 on Mojave.

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How do I export only edited photos? I want to keep all unedited photos in their original format. Must I do it all by hand??

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