My wife edits locally photos on her MB, now wants to upload the modified raw photos (mostly NEF) to her iCloud account. I can’t export modified raw photos from my Mac mini to her by email, thumb drive or iMessage. What good is editing a raw file if it can’t be moved?
Mac mini 2018 or later
Hi
A raw file is never edited (the file is not changed). The raw file is used as the input to an editing process that results in a conventional image format such as jpg or tiff.
You must always convert to a standard image format to export the edits. In the photos app - select the edited image, and then file>export.
If she wants the raw files in iCloud then she should sync her Photos library with iCloud. Then the original raw file will be in iCloud, and the edits (assuming she made the edits in the photos app) will be stored in the database in iCloud.
Hi
A raw file is never edited (the file is not changed). The raw file is used as the input to an editing process that results in a conventional image format such as jpg or tiff.
You must always convert to a standard image format to export the edits. In the photos app - select the edited image, and then file>export.
If she wants the raw files in iCloud then she should sync her Photos library with iCloud. Then the original raw file will be in iCloud, and the edits (assuming she made the edits in the photos app) will be stored in the database in iCloud.
Hi
Revert to original just removes the edits that are applied to that photo. I'm guessing the edits were made with a different app in the past (eg iPhoto or aperture), and are no longer compatible with photos.
Once they are removed any new edits applied in photos should be fine, AND will be exported to TIFF files. If you export to TIFF there is no jpg (except as stored inside your library). The export operation takes whatever you have tagged as your current version (raw or jpg) applies the edits you have made, and converts the result to whatever export format you have asked for. Export format can be jpg, png or tif. Note, even if you export jpg to jpg, the exported file will be different, since the exported file is always resaved with the options you have chosen for size/quality, plus edits if they exist.
How are you exporting? I don't know why you are getting a folder with a tif file inside, I just get a tif file with the standard filename, and the extension .tif (unless this is something to do with raw/jpg pairs, which I don't use)
So are you saying that for her, file>export doesn't work. (To TIFF)?
Or is it not working for you?
Or both.
The external copy she has is on an external drive? Is it correctly formatted for a photos library?
It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives). If you have not formatted it after purchase it will most likely be ExFat - which is not compatible.
It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)
It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked.
It must be directly connected (No ethernet or wifi)
See
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517
Helpful suggestions all Tony, but the last one is the key.
When I try to export a Nikon D500 Raw + JPEG file from 2012 in Photos from either her MB Pro or my Mac mini using “export 1 photo” as a TIFF, 16 Bit, Full Size to a Documents sub folder, I get the “Export Complete with Errors” window showing the file name and error “the operation couldn’t be completed. (Cocoa error -1.)”
When I export the same file using “export unmodified Original for 1 Photo” with Export IPTC checked and sub folder format “none” I get both the JPEG and the RAW file successfully exported.
If I select the same file in Photos (tagged top left as “RAW + JPEG”) and press return I get a “Cannot Start Editing, Photos cannot load adjustments for this image” box. According to one thread on another site I should be able to select which file (RAW/JPEG) I want to edit when I hit enter.
Looks like only solution is to export combined file (RAW and JPEG) then use the separated files. Same apparently goes for old RAW only files.
She tried that when we separated our files and gear into separate Apple accounts several years ago - and had her photos of many years (and many cameras/phones) throughly mangled. Apple support even threw in the towel on how to get it straightened out. She has used Photoshop, Aperture, Affinity and iPhoto so I suspect I’m not explaining the problem correctly. Basically, she’s not ready to just toss her laptop library into the iCloud at this point when export won’t let her export a modified raw file in a TiFF format. FWIW, my iCloud account still has her old library and she has an external copy. Right now most new pics are being taken with our iPhones (12 and 13 Pro) and those aren’t a problem. Guess she’ll just have to export them w/o touch up and go from there.
That gives me a new folder in the export location with the photo file name and inside is a very large TIFF file tagged as xxx.nef.tiff. So is this now a regular TIFF file and the associated JPEG is gone? If I select “rename” the .net.tiff is highlighted but not the first three numbers. I can rename the file test.tiff with no problem.
Since I can now edit the “original photo” - which says it’s still a RAW + JPEG - before exporting it, do those edits carry over to the exported TIFF file? If so, that should make my wife happy..😊
Hi
Try selecting one of these images, then from the image menu, choose "revert to original"
Thanks for all your help Tony! Between camera and editing SW changes over the years it’s no wonder Photos burps once in a while…
How do I export a modified raw photo?
