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

> Your proposal might work but it reads as if this is very cumbersome

No, those workarounds are not practical ;-]

The workflow depends on whether the user want to preserve any pixels edits or metadata edits, or both. And whether s/he wants to prevent any generation loss in decoding/encoding the pixels in lossy formats like .jpg.

> How do I combine sidecar .xmp to .jpeg? You can use tools like GraphicConverter or exiftool. But there is yet another annoying Photos.app 6.0 .xmp error in western & southern GPS (see below).

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

It seems Photos.app 6.0 should automatically combine .xmp to .jpg when importing. I was surprised to find out that Photos.app 4.0 does that (but it imported all times as 00.00 at least when I briefly tried it).

> "convert .jpeg suffix to .jpg"

That simple task can be handled by manually correcting the suffix or with one click in apps like GraphicConverter. But there is a risk for duplicates if that detail is ignored.

No, that was what I was talking about. Perhaps it is just my camera (I have just got a Canon R5), but I have been talking to an app developer who has said the same thing about the data shared by Photos now, i.e. that it is almost non-existent.

If anything, the Photos bugs have worsened for me in 11.3. As well as the metadata failure, the crashes are now more frequent than before! I edit a photo and click "Done", then come out of that photo only to see it go grey in thumbnail form, and white in full screen. Only by starting another edit on the shot can I then see it again. Closing photos completely and/or a full re-boot SOMETIMES cures it, but usually not. The whole thing appears to be very unstable and prone to crashes/glitches. As the photographic credentials of Apple are/were attractive, I went with them, but that benefit has evaporated with this extreme unreliability.

My experience is rather random. I have a project with pictures from four different cameras (a DSLR, two iPhones, a drone). But no matter what camera, whether the picture has been edited or not, some of them have the keywords embedded after the export, and some don't.

I've submitted a bug report. Let's see.

Yes, worth a try, but it's clear to many that Apple have more or less given up on Photos (and many other of their apps). Two updates recently (within a week or two of each other) ignored the issue and it's been around for a long time. They are not listening - it's a sad confirmation of the typical downhill route that colossal organisations inevitably take when they lose their way.

No, this is still happening for me with certain photos on 11.3.

Nope - nothing has changed for me having updated to 11.4 today! Various data missing from photos, most obviously ISO data.

Hello,

I do not understand what you want to tell me by referring to the User Guide and the Apple Support ?!?!?

1) User Guide: I know the user guide and this user guide "claims" that I am able to export photos including keywords. However it does not work !!!!! I can read the user guide again and again, but it will not help. I do need a solution and a bug fix but not a reference to an outdated user guide.

2) Apple Support: I tried to contact the Apple Support but after entering the serial number of my MacBook Pro 2016 I got the response "there is no Apple Support for your product". Therefore, please do not refer me to a support that does not want to help me.

As I can read from other users, this bug is linked to the introduction of BigSur. It would already be helpful, if Apple admitted this instead of leading me to nowhere.

Many thanks

I do want to have a fast and simple workflow. In particular when I am working with Apple hardware or software. However, exporting to TIFF (huge files) and the transform TIFFs into JPEGs is not fast and simple. Apple should have a better solution for this.

Thanks

Stefan

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

OK, as a workaround:

Export as .tif (to preserve pixel edits).

Also export originals with IPTC (to preserve edited metadata in sidecar .xmp).

Also export as .jpeg (to preserve camera data).

Then re-export that .tif as .jpg or .heic (to save space with some generation loss...).

Then combine sidecar .xmp to .jpeg (to save metadata edits -- use YA workaround to bypass the GPS reference bug).

Then convert .jpeg suffix to .jpg (to prevent unnecessary duplicates).

Viola!

Hello Matti,

Your proposal might work but it reads as if this is very cumbersome. Some questions regarding your process steps:

"re-export that .tif": does it mean that I first export as .tif and then re-import again. Those re-imported tifs would then be exported as .jpg or .heic?

How do I combine sidecar .xmp to .jpeg? Which software allows me to do that?

"convert .jpeg suffix to .jpg": Is it sufficient to rename the files or does the conversion require anything else?

Many thanks

Stefan

I can't even understand WHY they would hide the data - is it to stop third party use of the data when Apple wants to control it all for financial benefit? If so, that's a data monopoly legal issue waiting to hit them.

Yes - I seriously am. They have completely lost their edge for quality and photo/video preference. I can get superior performance and quality from others' products at a lower price. My next hardware change will reflect that.

I may try that, thanks, but I'm not going to do it every time I use it! My issue presents itself as a failure to show/export various metadata - for my Canon, for example, the ISO is missing, whereas for the Sony RX10mk4, it is there.

Here's my report: The battery issue is noted, but the term "service" is (almost) amusing as batteries are only replaced, not serviced! I use my MBP on mains power 95% of the time anyway.

Anyway, it would be interesting to see if anything concerning my Photos poor performance can be gleaned from the report.