Poor quality of photos in shared albums?

It is even worse - not only are the shared photos downsized, most of the metadata we are adding diligently may be stripped. All advanced sharing methods will require to use iCloud Photos, where you need to subscribe to a paid cloud storage plan, while the Shared albums are using free cloud storage.

When sharing from iCloud Photos, you have two options:

• An iCloud Link: You could export the photos you want to share to a folder on iCloud Drive and share an iCloud Link to this folder or share directly from the iCloud Photos Library at www.icloud.com. Share photos and videos with an iCloud Link on iCloud.com – Apple Support (UK)

• Or, if your Mac is running Ventura, you could share the photos from this album as a shared iCloud Photos Library. Set up or view an iCloud Shared Photo Library on all your devices

Which system version do you have installed?

Photos in a shared album have a max resolution of 2048 pixel for the long side.

File types that you can use in Shared Albums

Shared Albums support these image formats:

• HEIF
• JPEG
• RAW*
• PNG
• GIF
• TIFF

Shared Albums also support special formats that you capture with your iPhone, like slo-mo, time-lapse, Live Photos, and Memory videos. When shared, photos are reduced to 2048 pixels on the long edge, except panoramic photos, which can be up to 5400 pixels wide. You can share GIFs that are 100MB or smaller.

How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Apple Support

You could use DropBox, but you would have to pay for an account.

Ralf

Hello AppatEagles,

Are you using Ventura, by chance? We ask because if you are, you may be able to test this further by using the iCloud Shared Library instead. Learn more here: What is iCloud Shared Photo Library in Photos on Mac? - Apple Support

What is iCloud Shared Photo Library in Photos on Mac?

iCloud Shared Photo Library lets you and up to five other people share photos and videos in a separate iCloud Photos library, so everyone can collaborate on the collection and enjoy more complete memories. You can create or participate in one Shared Library at a time.

All participants can view, add, edit, favorite, and caption photos and videos from the Shared Library as if the items were located in their own libraries, and the changes sync to everyone’s devices. Participants can add existing photos from their Personal Library and capture or import new items directly into the Shared Library. iPhone or iPad users can also send photos and videos to the Shared Library automatically when other participants are nearby.

In case you're not, how are you importing these photos in the Photos app exactly? Are you taking them from the camera or files you've downloaded? That might tell us more about their quality.

Hoping to hear back, take care.

AppatEagles,

Try exporting the photos before sending it. This will allow you to select a format for the export. This article explains how to do so: Export photos, videos, slideshows, and memories in Photos on Mac.

If you're still having trouble with the quality, check to ensure all macOS updates are installed: Update macOS on Mac.

Cheers!