Photos 6.0 app on Big Sur doesn't export keywords in EXIF data

This appears to finally be fixed in macOS 11.4!

What's new in the updates for macOS Big Sur

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT211896#macos114 has this gem:

This release also fixes the following issues:

Keywords may not be included when exporting a photo from the Photos app

I can confirm that adding arbitrary keywords to an original JPG image in Photos on macOS 11.1 does not export that IPTC information, but changing the export image type to TIFF does include them, and they are viewable in Preview, and other applications that reveal the IPTC info. These are also exposed by the command-line mdls application's kMDItemKeywords.

Keywords are normally kept in the IPTC data, not EXIF data, and in some image types, the keywords may appear in the XMP data. In Photos 6 on macOS 11.2.3, I can export the unmodified original of a selected photo containing IPTC keywords, and retain those keywords in the exported image using these settings:

The exported image retains the keywords viewable in Preview, the third-party ExifTool, etc. There is also an image named .xmp ASCII data file created.

Obviously Big Sur Photos.app 6.0 has been updated (from 330.0.150 to 340.0.221 in macOS 11.2 to 11.3) but I guess major fixes (and new bugs...) will be introduced in the next major macOS update.

I just tested macOS 11.3 Photos.app and the Captions, Titles and Keywords are not exported to .jpeg. They are exported to .tiff (and also .png although I did not verify it now). Location is exported to .jpeg and .tiff (although Preview does not show it in .tiff) but if I re-export .tiff with Preview as .jpg or .heic, the location is not included.

One workaround is to export unmodified originals with IPTC and join the metadata that Photos.app has updated in the .xmp to the original .jpg with GraphicConverter or exiftool (but do notice that the .xmp error in western and Southern Hemispheres needs a workaround in exiftool):

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252258329

With Photos in macOS 11.2.2, exporting as Unmodified Original for 1 Photo… retains the IPTC keywords in the resulting JPG image. I confirmed this via Preview Inspector, ExifTool, and a standalone application that I wrote.

Try exporting in PNG format rather than JPEG. Applecare told me it is format related. I've now exported a large amount of my bbacklog in PNG (a better format than JPEG for what I want anyway) and the data has been retained.

Apple care have shown me it will work exporting to PNG. PNG seems better than JPEG in some cases anyway.

Export the photo as a TIFF to include all metadata.

Another option might be to export unmodified original with IPTC metadata and then combine the with GraphicConverter or exiftool's tags from file command.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252097447

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252105573

This is a know bug in Photos. However, tell Apple about it again via Feedback - macOS - Apple so the squeaky wheel gets the grease. We're all users like yourself.

Just an iPhone and photos from the web I've added descriptions, keywords and locations to.

Try this: boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what might be causing the problem.

It's working for me on some photos but not all. I checked a few and those I got via Messages don't include the metadata. So far those are the only photos that don't export properly.

Have you tried it on several randomly selected photos that you've added keywords, titles and descriptions to?

How are you checking the exported jpeg file for the metadata? I use Preview to check the IPTC metadata.

Hi all. When 11.4 dropped I di some tesrting and found the solution did not work. I angrily got on the phone to Apple Care and spoke to a senior specialist. We worked togther on it and found the it workd using PNG file format. Turns out there are reasons to use PNG over JPEG anyway so I've adopted it. Hope this helps.

The TIFF workaround preserves keywords and captions, but bear in mind that you lose EXIF data from your camera.

This seems to be fixed in 11.3. Can anyone else confirm?