I just noticed that while iCloud archives/stores photos by date created, subsequent downloads from iCloud do not retain the creation dates.
Is there a trick to preserving the info for files such as this, other than manually labeling the downloaded files?
The creation date is saved in the EXIF data, but the file creation date for the file is the date it was exported from iCloud. To see the basic EXIF data, open the exported photo in Preview and then open the Inspector window via Tools->Inspector. The initial window is a summary window with the creation date field being the date the photo was taken and the modification date being the date the exported photo was exported or further modified. If you click the ‘circled i’ in the window, you can see the full EXIF data.
There are several apps including Graphic Converter and the donationware EXIFRenamer that will change the file creation date to match the EXIF date. EXIFRenamer’s primary purpose is to use change the File name to the EXIF date. However, via the app’s preferences, you can create and use a style that leaves that unchanged. Under the File Handling tab of the advanced options, there is a checkbox for changing the File creation date to the EXIF date.
I’ve had EXIFRenamer on my computers for a long time, from the time when I was using digital cameras for photos and importing photos via Image Capture. I still have an alias to the app on my desktop so that I can drag folders of imported photos to the app and use the EXIF date-time information in the file name.
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I think I should use GC to directly download from my phone, instead of from iCloud