Why is photos 5.0 changing image extension from jpg to jpeg when exporting?

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Level 1

8 points

Why is photos 5.0 changing image extension from jpg to jpeg when exporting?

It never used to force jpeg extensions on files that had jpg but now it is forcing all exported images to be .jpeg.

In the photos program it shows the image with the original format, it only changes it on export and there is no option that I can see in export to keep original file extension or original file format in the case where the original image was a tiff or bmp.

The scenario is that I have photos which are online in a wordpress site, the images are located in a folder on my external drive which is automatically synced to the online server and I often use photos to open the images for minor tweaks, adding keywords, descriptions etc then I export them back to the folder overwriting the original which is automatically mirrored to the web server. nice and easy..

This is what I have done for years and never had a problem until recently after updating to Catalina.

Previously photos aIways saved as expected with the original . jpg extension if that is what the original image was however lately photos is forcing all exported .jpg to be .jpeg which is causing big problems by creating additional images with . jpeg extension instead of overwriting the original .jpg extension as needed. This is then causing additional problems with the online images after they sync as it is not updating my online images as I require it to do and of course online links go to the original .jpg extension.

So my question is first of all WHY is it changing the extension when it never used to before?

and second question is there some option I can adjust that I don't know about to preserve the original jpg file extension?

Posted on Oct 8, 2020 7:01 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

léonie

Level 10

195,511 points

Oct 8, 2020 11:43 PM in response to Demonstoned

This is a new "feature" in Photos 5 on macOS Catalina. Is that the system version you have installed?

Photos 5 is the first photo application by Apple, that is no longer storing our original images unmodified, as we import them. Internally the files will be renamed with unique, cryptic filenames, and when we export the files, the original filename will be restored. Unfortunately, Photos does not remember the original filename extension, and we get a jpeg instead of an original JPG. It has been worse in the first version of Photos 5. Then we even lost the name part of the filename. But that has been fixed in the later versions: How Photos 5.0 on Catalina Manages original Files and Filenames

I would export the photos to a folder on the Desktop and manually change the extension to the one you want to use.

You can export files as TIFF, but not BMP.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

195,511 points

Oct 10, 2020 12:32 PM in response to Demonstoned

You may want to send feedback to Apple. If more users request to be able to recover the original image files completely unmodified, Apple might listen. I already send feed back some time ago.

The feedback form is here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html

My workaround is to save all original image files on an archive external volume before importing them to Photos, and to keep a backup of this archive as well.

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Answer 3

Demonstoned Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 9, 2020 5:49 PM in response to ckuan

I realise they are the same.,

you missed the point completely .

the issue is that photos CHANGES the extension automatically, and this causes PROBLEMS because the images are LINKED TO online so it totally makes photos a useless way of viewing, editing or adjusting images that are used online with a specific filename already.... if it changes filenames and filetypes automatically... it gets worse... it is now also changing the original media filenames not just the extensions so we cannot go into the library and pull media out quickly any longer...

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Answer 4

Demonstoned Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 9, 2020 7:46 PM in response to ckuan

because the original filename is used in the original file paths and URL's to those files in the web pages and galleries online and they get broken when photos changes the file name or/and extension so those webpages and galleries then show missing image icons.

and for me it is not exporting the filename unless selecting export "unmodified original" in which case the edits are lost.

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Answer 5

Demonstoned Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 9, 2020 8:11 PM in response to léonie

Yes It is the system version,

I did not realise it would do this to the original images, why would I ? never have I heard of any program taking over our own files and media to this degree.. (how rude) : (

apple forget that our media is our media... not theirs ...

and how we use and name our media may be on purpose to suit our own individual needs..

they should not modify it without asking..

Also it is not restoring the original filenames when exporting unless you select to "export unmodified originals", in which case there is no point to use it for editing when we cant export those edits.

eek, what are they thinking?

changing my original media without my consent is basically vandalism and has wreaked havoc on a huge library of images mirrored online where the filenames are extremely important to websites and galleries of my own and my clients and important when opening the images in other applications. (external slideshows, video editing) even final cut lost access to media in old projects.

I never anticipated they would do this to filenames and so have trusted the photos app completely and it has worked fine for a couple of years managing my media in the same way I had been so I was unknowingly using it to lately to make minor edits to images for the past few weeks after upgrading to Catalina before I caught onto to what was going on when I started seeing unmodified images still displaying online or missing images in Final Cut Pro and on clients websites after having tweaked them in the photos app and letting the normal automatic syncing occur.. This has been so frustrating and wasted a huge amount of waisted and lost time.

now apple has made photos totally useless as an image management tool to use with other software and applications or especially for web masters who need the original file names to remain exactly as they were originally imported as.

I honestly can think of no legitimate reason for them to have the photos app do this and many reasons for it NOT do this.

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Answer 6

Demonstoned Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 10, 2020 4:52 PM in response to léonie

ok thanks for that Leonie,

I already have the originals on an external drive which are mirrored (synced via GoodSync software) to online locations.

the workflow was ideal when photos left the original filename alone as I could import the external images entire directory structure for a website into a new photos library and look over them, make any changes, add keywords and descriptions etc to all images whether individually or in bulk and simply export them back out individually or in bulk to the same directory structure on the external drive overwriting the previous versions and that was my job done with automatic syncing to the required web servers being handled by GoodSync to update the websites where the images are used. nice and simple workflow for managing website images without having to even know the filenames at all.

this move by apple has destroyed that workflow entirely..

now to keep using photos I have to look up any image edited and take down the original filename then export the edited image to desktop or other location and change the name back to its original format then transfer the image to the external drive manually. its complicated the workflow and turned the photos app into a limited home consumer product rather than an actual useful image management solution that it was.

Anyway I have provided the feedback in the form you provided me with , thanks for that.

In the mean time I have to move away from photos as I cant trust apple with filenames and meta data anymore so I am trialing a combination of luminar 4, Pixelmator and exif editor to do the same job photos was doing by itself in photos 4.0

thank you for your help though :)

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Answer 7

pande85

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2020 12:58 PM in response to Demonstoned

There is a workaround: If you download photos via iCloud.com, the files come out with .jpg extension (as they should always if you ask me). So use your browser to solve the problem.

I also didn't realize this change at first. I did some exporting and importing in the Photos app and then I ended up having two versions of my photos, one with .jpg and another with .jpeg extension. I was confused first and I sent feedback to Apple. I asked them to solve this problem but so far nothing has changed.

This issue is not a joke. It can cause serious trouble, like having multiple versions of each photos, or break links etc.

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