what is the .AAE extension?

Hi,

Why can there be at least an automated designated album called "Edited"?

Thank you.

That's a great idea. Please submit it to Apple at http://apple.com/feedback.

After reading up a bit on this topic I was sure that the aae file extension could be safely deleted as they are only information files and do not affect the copying process. Boy was I wrong. I deleted all of the aae files from my iPhone direct. Biggest mistake I ever made because it made all of the adjoining jpg files useless and unreadable. I lost a lot of photos because of this mistake. The fix I have now learnt through this horror scenario is to copy all of the jpgs from the camera roll first, then it is ok to delete the aae files, not before.

Mind you, just like in previous ios versions, all of the edits are still lost. My workaround has been to e-mail my edited photos to myself. Long tedious process. If anyone finds any other solutions, I would be most grateful.

techluvver wrote:

If anyone finds any other solutions, I would be most grateful.

Enable iCloud photos. The transfer of both the original and edited photos then becomes near real time and automatic.

Brilliant, thanks very much. I shall give that a go. Is there any way to enable only photo backup on icloud ? The reason I ask is that is because video would take up the 5GB limit in no time.

techluvver wrote:

Brilliant, thanks very much. I shall give that a go. Is there any way to enable only photo backup on icloud ? The reason I ask is that is because video would take up the 5GB limit in no time.

Yes, it includes videos. You can up the 5 GB to 50 GB for 99¢ A month, however.

Try Quicktime

This is ridiculously complicated. Apple creates a newer, cooler, format... great... fine and dandy... But what are the developers thinking, by not putting (1) - a warning com informing users when a jpg is being converted to an aae, and (2) a simple add on to convert the aae back to the more portable jpg?
Pages of thread here... representing hours of wasted user time... why? Because developers couldn't be bothered to create a way to deal with the most likely, and most obvious problem with their newer, cooler thing...
I've got news for Apple - this kind of oversight turns a cool - expensive device (like an i-pad air 2) into an annoying piece of crap. If I encounter one more stupidly complicated problem like this - my first Apple product in 20 years - will be my last - ever.

GMacFromZtown wrote:

This is ridiculously complicated. Apple creates a newer, cooler, format...

Apple did not create a new format. Adobe created it, got it accepted as an international standard. All newer photo management apps are adopting it. Apple was one of the earlier ones, but not the first.

Hi all,

I can see it is a hot topic on AAE files. Could you help me with my case? When I was on vacation I was connecting my iPhone to a Windows PC via USB to back up the phone photos and clean for new photos (no internet to sync to anywhere).

As a result I have multiple folders with both JPG and AAE files (the naming is correct). I got to this thread only now, when I connected my drive to my PC to check and share the photos with my friends. Bingo - no effects. Last batch of fotos that are on iPhone right now I exported accordingly - so no issues 🙂

The question is, how do I get photos back to camera roll? I tried iTunes option "Sync" specifying a folder both with JPG and AAE. Fotos appear in my phone ("From my computer" album), but no effects.

Having no Mac, only Win&Nix PCs.

Thanks in advance.

You cannot put photos back into the camera roll. You should be able to view the photos with effects using a tool such as Photoshop Elements (Adobe invented the .aae format), and I think Google Photos now understands it. The image file and the .aae file must be in the same folder and with the same file name.

I just got a new iMac, running ElCapitan. Surprise, surprise, all those added files on my first download!

So to understand this for my purposes. I am a graphic artist, I use Photoshop for everything that goes out of my computer. This is my workflow, and would appreciate clarification on the use of these .AAE files. I am a bit confused. I only edit a few original photos on my iPhone, so thank goodness most have no .AAE files attached.

When I get 50 or so images on my iPhone, I download them with Image Capture, and delete them automatically from the iPhone (to clear out my Camera Roll).

I download them to a temporary folder on my desktop, where I then open them in "Adobe Bridge" and assign keywords to them (for ease of later searching).

1. I then copy each image to it's appropriate folder on my hard drive, according to how I have them sorted (yard, work, family etc). They are there for future use as I need them. I almost always open them in PS first, crop, color correct etc, before they end up for their intended final use.

2. I ALSO, select the photos from my original download folder (from Image Capture), and put a copy of a selected few BACK in the appropriate folders on my computer (that will sync back to my iPhone in their respective folders on the iPhone).

I do not use the "Photos" app. at all.

Do I need the the .AAE files in either case? Once synced back to the iPhone in their respective folders I never intend to edit them again.

I'm hoping when I open the images up the first time in "Adobe Bridge" and see the .AAE files I can just delete them. ??

Thank you.

This explains what .aae files are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Metadata_Platform

They are an international standard originally designed by Adobe as a way of keeping a history of edits to an image. The image itself is not edited; instead any edits made to the image are saved in an aae file with the same name as the original image file, but the extension .aae instead of .jpg. The maintain a history, so you can use them to undo any edit if you have a tool that recognizes them. All current Adobe products should recognize them; the only restriction is that the .aae file and .jpg file must be in the same directory.

When I drag the .jpg without the .AAE file to my desktop, separating it from the .AAE file, then open it up in PS, it is just fine, it appears, and is completely editable in PS. I guess it is, as it is, when dragged in (without the iPhone edibility). So that is fine.

What will happen when I put the file back in the folders to sync with my iPhone without the .AAE files? Will it just appear as a finished photo, as is (without the editibility)? Which is fine. If so there would be no reason in my workflow to keep the .AAE files in either case, right?

Thanks

If it isn't important to keep the on-phone edits you do not need the .aae sidecar file. The whole point of the "sidecar" .aae file is to leave the original photo untouched by putting all of the edits in a separate file.