I would like to share RAW photos from my Photos library, so that family and friends who are both Apple and non-Apple users can view and download full-resolution images I've taken. What are the best ways to do this please?
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.6
You can put files into shared folders on iCloud Drive, if you have a subscription for enough cloud storage. See: Share files and folders in iCloud Drive on iCloud.com – Apple Support (UK)
You can also share RAW files by Mail as an attachment, if you compress the files before you send them and then send the compressed file by Mail Drop. But it will be difficult for the recipients to keep track of the many air dropped files. Sharing a folder on iCloud Drive will be easier.
You can put files into shared folders on iCloud Drive, if you have a subscription for enough cloud storage. See: Share files and folders in iCloud Drive on iCloud.com – Apple Support (UK)
You can also share RAW files by Mail as an attachment, if you compress the files before you send them and then send the compressed file by Mail Drop. But it will be difficult for the recipients to keep track of the many air dropped files. Sharing a folder on iCloud Drive will be easier.
You may find this interesting:
Share files and folders in iCloud Drive on iCloud.com - Apple Support
It looks like if you stored Raw files in iCloud Drive, as files, you could share folders with others, possibly with non-Apple users. If you were sharing an entire folder, you would make permission settings (a list of participants, and the "Can Make Changes" / "View Only" setting for each participant at the folder (not the file) level.
It looks like with Photos and iCloud Photos, there may be several sharing options. You might want to study these carefully. For instance, MacWorld indicates that if you're using Family Sharing in Photos, that implies that you are sharing your credit card with other members in the family group. That's probably not the sharing mechanism you would want to use to get Raw photos to family friends.
How to use iCloud Shared Photo Library - Apple Support
How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Apple Support
https://www.macworld.com/article/225594/how-to-set-up-family-sharing-in-photos.html
I'm not ruling out the possibility that one of the Photos sharing options will work for you, but it looks to me as if there are more things that you would need to learn about (more things to possibly trip over) than if you export copies of the Raws that you want to share, and share them via iCloud Drive.
macophiletoo wrote:
I'm aware that simply uploading them to others' cloud servers, or sending images to them via email or messaging, is only sharing with them reduced size jpeg images.
There is a difference between cloud photo-sharing services, and generic cloud file-storage services. A photo-sharing service may well do things like converting images to JPEG or HEIC format, reducing their resolution, etc. You'd need to research the details for any particular service, but chances are great you'd run into that.
With a generic file-storage service, you'd just upload your Raw files as-is. The service would not try to alter the files in any way. That sounds like exactly what you are looking for.
The two caveats here are that:
I imagine that there must be some companies out there that offer this kind of multi-user "storage in the cloud" service for medium-to-large-sized organizations. (Amazon, IBM, Microsoft come to mind.). The question is, what's out there that both meets your needs, and is affordable for an individual?
To clarify, I may have a few hundred photos from each trip I take that I'd like to share with family or friends, who might like to download some of my images from which to make enlarged prints, or alter and enhance to their own desires with digital photo editing software.
I'm aware that simply uploading them to others' cloud servers, or sending images to them via email or messaging, is only sharing with them reduced size jpeg images. Short of loading and sending out multiple flash drives to several people each time I travel, are there ways to share original images taken in RAW format with others who are not within AirDrop proximity so they may use copies of my full-resolution masters as and to the extent they wish?
Thank you very much Léonie, I appreciate your advice and I will try this option out.
As I begin to think more than I ever did about taking, managing, editing, and sharing photographic images and videos, many “how to”, “what happens when”, and “what if” questions arise. Do you have any suggestions for excellent references or practical guides that may be useful to those of us wanting to learn more about best practices for handling digital images, especially in the Apple ecosphere?
would like to share RAW photos from my Photos library, so that family and friends who are both Apple and non-Apple users can view and download full-resolution images I've taken.
Do you mind if I ask why you're sharing Raws? Unless the person receiving it is into processing their own images, and has a good raw processing app, all they will see is the jpeg preview that is part of the Raw. If they are not into photography to that extent you will be far better off sharing jpegs with them.
Thanks Servant of Cats. I have an Apple iCloud account with family sharing and plenty of storage capacity, so I hoped that might be the best first option to allow sharing among users I choose, including those who are not in the Apple ecosphere.
If sharing through iCloud isn’t adequate, I’d gladly pay for an alternative service that offers the ability to set the kinds of permissions you mention, with security and privacy (I don’t use social media-related services for the very risks you note).
Thanks Yer_Man. That is precisely why I want to share images in RAW format.
Using pro-level camera and lens equipment, I’m able to capture lovely images, but am unskilled in the post-processing arts. I want to share my images with family and friends who are avid and talented photographers who enjoy post-processing using pro-level software to enhance images for enhanced, more beautiful results than I can achieve from camera and glass alone. RAW format will give them all the image data with which to work.
Plus sometimes friends like to make print enlargements from my images, and print services always prefer best-quality originals to work with.
Post-processing also can improve JPEG images, but depending on how these images are shared or uploaded, it may not be possible to have control over the size or resolution of the JPEGs being shared.
Thanks Servant of Cats. This is exactly what Léonie suggested the other day, and which mechanism I’ll experiment with and report results back.
how best to share RAW photos with others
