Why does Apple strip exif data, change original creation date and now strip other data like keywords, captions, etc., with no clear methods EVER offered to maintain image information integrity? I may no longer be able to use this platform because I can't keep required information intact without complicated workarounds or physically attaching information individually. Have I missed something?
Apple does not strip exif data. If you export the unmodified (or even the modified one) the exif data will be there. It will change the creation date of the file since it is creating a new file.
However, if Photos does not meet your needs, there is a lot of software out there which might be a better fit, like LightRoom.
Yes - it's complicated. 😄
Some hints. There are different types of metadata:
Data put inside the file (EXIF, IPTC etc) normally by the camera. But can also be put there by editing apps.
In the photos app (and I think eg lightroom), data like keywords, titles, favourites etc are kept in the database. Photos can add this into an exported file but not the "unmodified original" file (or else it would be modified). For unmodified originals, Photos can export the database metadata into an xmp sidecar file instead.
Then there is confusion around image creation date (found inside the files metadata) and the file creation date - which may not match the image creation date if a new copy of the file is created. This is problematic for scanned images which may not have an image creation date inside the metadata, unless added manually.
Keith, you are right, and further research has identified a number of issues with how metadata is handled by both operating systems and applications. It's clearly a muddy area in the world of digital archiving, with at least three types schools of metadata information being treated differently by different systems and applications. I have used Lightroom for years, but just a few. Tens of thousands of images I moved around over the years, from successive generations of computer hardward and software, has muddled the metadata to the point where recovery is a painful process. So far, Photo Mechanic looks like the best alternative in that it seems to offer the most information and choices about coping with metadata, and at least puts dealing with it upfront for those who care about it. I recognized that most people don't, thus applications designed for the mass market don't need that level of options.
Thanks for the update.
That's what I've been educating myself about: EXIF, IPTC/IIW and XMP, and how various apps and systems deal with these flavors of metadata. They are prioritized differently, evidently, as well as favored or shunned, depending. Like most digital 'standards,' they ain't ... It's still the Wild West out there. We just think the issues have been resolved. As always, education pays and I thank you for your help, Tony.
I have pretty much stuck with iPhoto->Photos for my DAM for the last decade or two and have never had issues, but I tend to stay in the Photos ecosystem where everything is contained. I can understand having issues with portability.
Tony,
I just retired and am spending time making sense of 30 years of digital photos piled into my system since getting my first Mac Plus in 1989. Like most people, I just wanted snapshots and memories. I moved into newspaper publishing and only used caption and title information, with a storage folder hierarchy that didn't require understanding metadata much beyond that. I now have photos scattered over five hard drives and a complete mess in Lightroom that I'm seeking to sort out, adding scanned slides from way back (without adding decent metatdata info) and just learning about how to establish creation date using info from the actual slides (like SEP75), which at least gets it down to a year, and I can guess a month most of the time.
Creation dates are particularly troublesome with operating systems and applications, applying different standards to IPTC,
I have just learned how to tap into all of the existing exif info in digital photos along with XMP info found on newer instances and am working out ways to batch process scans and older digital images with incorrect image creation dates (not drive creation dates). As I mentioned, Photo Mechanic seems like a pretty full featured program to do that, and will have a steep learning curve. I don't even know the right questions to ask yet. But I'm learning.
Thank you for reaching out. I will come back when I have a better idea of what to ask. Teach me to jump in before I get the facts right. I didn't realize it was so complicated.
Tell us exactly what you are doing, what you expect to happen, what is happening - and we might be able to help.
MR
