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How to determine if full size photos are on mac

I use iCloud sharing for Photos (mostly from iPhone), and choose to keep full-size photos on my Mac in my Photos Library. In Info, they show the full dimensions, but are only 1-2MB. If I export them to my desktop (usually as TIFFS), they average around 30MB. I want to ensure that the images in my Library on my Mac are full size. Is the size discrepancy just the conversion from HEIC to TIFF, or are the local library images actually thumbnails and full size images being downloaded from iCloud when I export to my desktop? Thanks.

iMac 27″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 21, 2023 6:18 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 23, 2023 8:05 AM

The Info in Photos is showing you the current size of the photo, which is not necessarily the size of the original image file. When you edit a photo and add adjustments to it, the size may change. The Info in Photos will show you the size of a high quality preview of the edited version with the adjustments applied, usually a JPEG. When you export the edited version as a TIFF the size will be much larger.


The size shown in Photos does not depend on the download from iCloud. Photos will show the same size in the Info whether the original has been downloaded from iCloud or not. But if you want to be able to make backups of all your photos on your Mac, ensure that all originals will be downloaded from iCloud, using the setting pointed out by bbesspete. Only then the Time Machine backup of your Photos Library will be complete and contain all high resolution originals.

But even after we enable "Download Originals" we cannot be sure, that the originals have been downloaded, because there is no status message that tells us, that the download has been completed. I am occasionally copying my Photos Library to an external drive to have a backup copy. When I then open the copy in Photos and get a warning about "incomplete items", I will know, that some originals do still downloading.






5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 23, 2023 8:05 AM in response to goldwolf01

The Info in Photos is showing you the current size of the photo, which is not necessarily the size of the original image file. When you edit a photo and add adjustments to it, the size may change. The Info in Photos will show you the size of a high quality preview of the edited version with the adjustments applied, usually a JPEG. When you export the edited version as a TIFF the size will be much larger.


The size shown in Photos does not depend on the download from iCloud. Photos will show the same size in the Info whether the original has been downloaded from iCloud or not. But if you want to be able to make backups of all your photos on your Mac, ensure that all originals will be downloaded from iCloud, using the setting pointed out by bbesspete. Only then the Time Machine backup of your Photos Library will be complete and contain all high resolution originals.

But even after we enable "Download Originals" we cannot be sure, that the originals have been downloaded, because there is no status message that tells us, that the download has been completed. I am occasionally copying my Photos Library to an external drive to have a backup copy. When I then open the copy in Photos and get a warning about "incomplete items", I will know, that some originals do still downloading.






Jul 22, 2023 4:12 PM in response to goldwolf01

Hello goldwolf01,


There is a setting you can check to ensure that you have access to full-resolution photos even when your Mac is offline. Open Photos, then select Photos > Settings in the menu bar. You should then see an iCloud tab. On this tab you'll have two options for iCloud Photos: Download Originals to this Mac and Optimize Mac Storage.


From what you've described, it sounds like you want Download Originals to this Mac selected. More information about these settings can be found here: Download iCloud photos and videos - Apple Support


Cheers!

How to determine if full size photos are on mac

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