Is there a way to export photos from my mac to a usb drive, but it stating the original date it was taken on? I want the dates to stay with the photos, but when I click 'info' on the pictures, it says todays date.
MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.13
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 if what the file date says, this is the actual time recorded by the camera.
Photo applications like Photos, Aperture, Lightroom, Picasa, 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.
There are several apps that will reset the Finder date based on the Exif date. One of them is 'A Better Finder Attributes'.
https://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderAttributes/index.html
There are others. Search on the App Store.
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 if what the file date says, this is the actual time recorded by the camera.
Photo applications like Photos, Aperture, Lightroom, Picasa, 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.
There are several apps that will reset the Finder date based on the Exif date. One of them is 'A Better Finder Attributes'.
https://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderAttributes/index.html
There are others. Search on the App Store.
Wow! Thank you that was such a great answer. That makes a lot of sense and I will look for other apps.
Is there a way to export photos from my mac to a usb drive, but it stating the original date it was taken on?
