Photos.app metadata export broken, keywords missing, other data improperly encoded

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Level 1

46 points

Photos.app metadata export broken, keywords missing, other data improperly encoded

In Big Sur 11.1 Beta (20C5048k) the Photos app does not properly export metadata.

I have made a test with an old photo A with keyword, description, and location data, where I have successfully exported the metadata under Catalina, and a new photo B that I imported in Big Sur and then assigned similar metadata. Exporting under Big Sur will only process the Description data, but this data is only visible in Finder and not properly encoded in the file.

Apart from the missing keyword data in the Finder, I can see an issue when uploading to the Squarespace site. If I export photos A and B from a Big Sur Photos export and upload them to Squarespace, neither carries its description information with it. Bit, if upload a Catalina exported version of Photo A from my archive to Squarespace, the description metadata does carry over, (but the keywords do not - this is a long standing issue I have, and not urgent).

Has anyone else noticed photo metadata export issues with Big Sur Photos?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Nov 25, 2020 1:24 AM

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Answer 1

sig eigei Author

Level 1

46 points

Nov 25, 2020 1:42 AM in response to TonyCollinet

I have filed beta feedback already, but I don't think this is a beta issue. When Catalina was released, the Photos app had a similar issue with changing the order of exported files, which was eventually fixed in a subsequent update. I appreciate your policing the forum, but I still think this is the place to ask if anyone is having issues with exporting from the Photos app.

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Answer 2

Nov 25, 2020 1:38 AM in response to sig eigei

This is not the place to ask questions about Beta software, there is specially set up beta feedback for that.

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Answer 3

sig eigei Author

Level 1

46 points

Nov 25, 2020 1:57 AM in response to sig eigei

After more testing I can see that I will get healthy XML description data if I DRAG the files from Photos to the Finder and avoid the export dialogue box. This may be a workaround, but requires batch renaming outside of the photos app.

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

200,519 points

Nov 25, 2020 4:41 AM in response to sig eigei

Since the Big Sur upgrade, I am only getting the keywords and titles embedded for my HEIC and JPEG image files, if I export them as a TIFF, not when I export them as a JPEG. It does not matter for me, as I am usually using the TIFF format to export images, but it is a disaster, when we exporting our edited versions to make a backup.

Photos does no longer respect the option "Titles, Keywords, and Caption" when exporting as a JPEG. Only the caption is saved.

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Answer 5

sig eigei Author

Level 1

46 points

Nov 25, 2020 6:39 AM in response to léonie

Leonie, thank you for your insight! I can now also confirm that if I export from Big Sur Photos into TIFF that the metadata is retained. As I need JPEGs, I now must batch convert (Export) them to JPEG with Preview, but the metadata is retained. Fantastic!...cumbersome, but Fantastic. I will update my bug report for Apple and hopefully they will look into it.

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Photos.app metadata export broken, keywords missing, other data improperly encoded

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