Photos with Keywords

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Level 1

11 points

Photos with Keywords

When I place my photo albums from my MAC to an external SSD, the keywords associated with the photos do not transfer over or transfer back. My SSD is formatted as EXFAT. Any ideas on how to transfer keyword data?

Mac Pro

Posted on Dec 1, 2021 7:39 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

200,651 points

Dec 1, 2021 9:39 PM in response to Andy2213

Which system version do you have installed? On macOS 11.1 Big Sur I could not get the keywords exported at all, as long as I exported the edited versions as JPEGs. I had to export the photos as TIFF and then convert them to HEIC. This seems to have been fixed now on macOS 12 Monterey.

You have to specify in the export dialog, if you want to include the keywords.

Try to select the photos in Photos, then use "File > Export > Export ... files" and check these checkboxes in the export dialog:

Alternately, if you prefer to export the unmodified originals, you can export an XPM sidecar file with the keywords and other metadata together with the image files and videos. To restore the metadata, you have to import the sidecar together with the original image file.

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Answer 2

Dec 1, 2021 9:11 AM in response to Andy2213

External disks should be formatted as Mac OS Extended (HDD or SSD) or APFS (SSD). Non-Mac formats might corrupt the Photos library.

> Any ideas on how to transfer keyword data?

We need to know the workflow and software versions to answer that.

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Answer 3

Dec 1, 2021 1:02 PM in response to Andy2213

Again how are you exporting?

Different ways of exporting may have different results regarding keywords. For example, if you drag/drop from photos you are only copying the preview files which are unlikely to have metadata added (as well as potentially being lower resolution and quality.

Videos will also be problematic, since video files don't have standardised ways of storing metadata, so even if added by photos might not be recognised by other apps. I'm not even sure keywords can be added to video files.

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Answer 4

Andy2213 Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 1, 2021 12:46 PM in response to Old Toad

EXFAT allowed me to put photos and larger files of drone movies I created ( some 5-10 GB ) onto SSDs and flash drives to give to others. It seems to be compatible with PCs as well as MACs and anyone could view them. I only recently started using keywords on photos and realized this wouldn’t transfer. I will format a different way for an SSD for my MAC that I can access the metadata when on my MAC later if that’s the solution. I prefer an SSD for photos and videos rather than iCloud if possible.

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Answer 5

Andy2213 Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 1, 2021 5:49 PM in response to TonyCollinet

If you have a link to an article or video which describes the exact steps to take, boxes to check, etc. to export photos WITH metadata intact, I would be most appreciative. Dragging and dropping has worked for individual videos and limited photos I saved, but I am now trying to organize an old 12,000 photo library of kid photos and I realize the metadata attachments are very helpful. ( And other than using iMovie and FCP editing software, my MAC knowledge has been limited. )

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Answer 6

Andy2213 Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 1, 2021 5:49 PM in response to Old Toad

If you have a link to an article or video which describes the exact steps to take, boxes to check, etc. to export photos WITH metadata intact, I would be most appreciative. Dragging and dropping has worked for individual videos and limited photos I saved, but I am now trying to organize an old 12,000 photo library of kid photos and I realize the metadata attachments are very helpful. ( And other than using iMovie and FCP editing software, my MAC knowledge has been limited. )

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Answer 7

Old Toad

Level 10

215,784 points

Dec 1, 2021 4:52 PM in response to Andy2213

You shouldn't have to use an ExFAT EHD to store files for transferring to other SSDs and flash drives.

Also how are you exporting out of Photos.

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Answer 8

Old Toad

Level 10

215,784 points

Dec 1, 2021 11:18 AM in response to Andy2213

How are you exporting the files to the EHD? If you're exporting the Unmodified Original they will not have any of the metadata, i.e. keywords, titles, descriptions, that you added in the library. Those would be added to an XML file that is exported with the originals if you check the option to include the XML file.

Only the "edited" photos with the checkboxes for includeding the metadata will have the keywords embedded in the image file as IPTC data.

What is the reason you have the EHD formatted for ExFAT?

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Photos with Keywords

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