How can I preserve the date and time of photos when moving them from iPhone to iPhoto and then to other folders on my computer?

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Level 1

1 points

How can I preserve the date and time of photos when moving them from iPhone to iPhoto and then to other folders on my computer?

In the past I’ve had no problem moving photos from my iPhone 4 into various folders on my computer while retaining their original date and time. I would import into iPhoto, then drag the photos from iPhoto into other folders via the Finder or Adobe Bridge (which is my principal image organizer). The original date and time of the photo would always travel with the jpeg into iPhoto and then into other folders. However, sometime during a recent session transferring photos in this way, the dates of the photos started to change at the point when I copied them out of iPhoto. Within iPhoto itself, the various original dates of the photos are retained. But in Finder and Bridge, copies of those same photos all carry the same (worthless) date: the date and time that they were imported from my iPhone. I can’t figure out what would have changed on my Mac to make it start re-dating my photos. I was happily dragging and dropping photos, and suddently I started to lose the original dates. Did I inadvertently change some settings? (I am running OS 10.6.8 and using iPhoto 8.)

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), iPhone 4

Posted on Jan 21, 2013 1:57 PM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Jan 21, 2013 6:45 PM in response to Flekatgon

(I use iPhoto only to import from my iPhone; I organize all my images, including thousands of RAW files, in folders on a big external drive.)

Why are you using iPhoto at all? use image capture or drag and drop the photos

The problem is that the files I am copying are getting stripped of the EXIF metadata

eliminating iPhoto from your work flow will eliminate one oppertunity to have this happen For photos in iPhoto it is best to export them rather than drag an drop them - this assures your EXIF and IPTC data is correct and uptodate

Why would I be able, over many years, to retain EXIF metadata in photos imported from an iPhone--then one day find that the same workflow strips such photos of EXIF data?

Because exporting is the supported way to "export" photos - I never drag and drop photos out of iPhoto and I never use thrid party programs on the photos in the iPhoto library - try exporting as suggested above and see if that is the solution

LN

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Answer 2

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Jan 21, 2013 5:09 PM in response to Flekatgon

YOu are confusing file metadata and photo metadate

the photo date is placed in the EXIF data which is within the photo - this metadate is used by photo management programs like iPhoto -- the file that holds the photo has a different set of metadata that is totally different and has no necessary relationship to the photo metadata - the finder uses only the file metadata --

as to using Adobe Bridge on photos within the iPhoto library - very dangerous and should not be done - Bridge and iPhoto do similer things in totallly different ways and it is strongly recommended that you do not use both on the same photos - if you continue using bridge within the iPhoto library you will corrupt your library

LN

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Answer 3

Flekatgon Author

Level 1

1 points

Jan 21, 2013 6:34 PM in response to LarryHN

LarryHN, thank you for your reply. On the issue of Adobe Bridge: I am not using it to look at photos within the iPhoto library. I am using it to view duplicates of photos copied *from* the iPhoto library. (I use iPhoto only to import from my iPhone; I organize all my images, including thousands of RAW files, in folders on a big external drive.)

My problem is what happens to the metadata when I copy images from iPhoto and paste them into other folders. Your explanation of the difference between EXIF and file metadata has helped me locate the problem, but not a solution. The problem is that the files I am copying are getting stripped of the EXIF metadata. Previously, the files made it into other folders carrying both kinds of metadata (I can see this by viewing these photos in Bridge, where the metadata is plainly displayed). When a photo viewed in Bridge includes EXIF metadata, Bridge displays both a "date created" and a "date modified," which is useful for sorting. When the EXIF metadata goes missing, the "created" date defaults to the "modified" date, which of course makes it impossible to sort the images chronologically.

Why would I be able, over many years, to retain EXIF metadata in photos imported from an iPhone--then one day find that the same workflow strips such photos of EXIF data?

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Answer 4

Flekatgon Author

Level 1

1 points

Jan 21, 2013 8:08 PM in response to LarryHN

OK, I can see that using iPhoto's export functionality is a marginally better way to move photos into other folders. I just tried that with three selected images in one operation, and it preserved EXIF the metadata in two cases, but stipped it in the third. This kind of unpredictability feels like a bug. As for why I would use iPhoto at all, I thought it was the only way to get photos off my iPhone (besides emailing them). I was not familiar with Image Capture until you mentioned it. It's a nice, simple utility, and it does preserve the metadata! So I will do as you recommend and eliminate iPhoto from my workflow. Thank you.

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

166,170 points

Jan 21, 2013 11:10 PM in response to Flekatgon

My problem is what happens to the metadata when I copy images from iPhoto and paste them into other folders. Your explanation of the difference between EXIF and file metadata has helped me locate the problem, but not a solution. The problem is that the files I am copying are getting stripped of the EXIF metadata.

That's because you're only accessing your iPhoto Previews when you copy/paste or drag/drop like that. File -> Export preserves all the metadata.

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Answer 6

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Jan 21, 2013 8:29 PM in response to Flekatgon

Glad to help

LN

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