Exported images lose a lot of EXIF metadata

[Perceptes]

I discovered that when I export an image from Affinity Photo, a lot of the EXIF metadata that was in the original image is lost in the exported version, even if I have the "Embed metadata" option in "More" panel checked. For example, I've included a diff of the metadata present in a RAW file compared to a JPEG exported from it. Lines beginning with < are unique to the original, while lines beginning with > are unique to the export. In some cases, such as file access times, the values differ in a way that is expected, but there are many fields that are removed completely, such as "Lens ID" and all the autofocus information. Is there something I can do to make Affinity Photo preserve all EXIF metadata in exported images? I've tried on both the desktop (macOS) and iPad versions and the problem is present in both places. The closest existing topic I could find from searching is this one:

 

1,17d0
< AEB Bracket Value               : 0
< AF Area Heights                 : 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 0 0 0 0
< AF Area Mode                    : Auto
< AF Area Select Method           : AF area selection button
< AF Area Widths                  : 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 278 0 0 0 0
< AF Area X Positions             : 1438 1089 497 0 -497 -1089 -1438 -1788 1089 497 0 -497 -1089 -1438 -1788 1788 497 0 -497 -1089 -1438 -1788 1788 1438 0 -497 -1089 -1438 -1788 1788 1438 1089 -497 -1089 -1438 -1788 1788 1438 1089 497 1788 1438 1089 497 0 0 0 0 0
< AF Area Y Positions             : 699 699 860 860 860 699 699 699 349 430 430 430 349 349 349 699 0 0 0 0 0 0 349 349 -430 -430 -349 -349 -349 0 0 0 -860 -699 -699 -699 -349 -349 -349 -430 -699 -699 -699 -860 -860 0 0 0 0
< AF Assist Beam                  : Emits
< AF Image Height                 : 4000
< AF Image Width                  : 6000
< AF Micro Adj Mode               : Unknown (3)
< AF Micro Adj Value              : undef
< AF On AE Lock Button Switch     : Disable
< AF Point Display During Focus   : Selected (constant)
< AF Points In Focus              : 10,17,18
< AF Points Selected              : 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44
< Ambience Selection              : Standard
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> Application Record Version      : 4
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< Aspect Ratio                    : 3:2
< Auto AF Point Color Tracking    : On-Shot AF only
< Auto Exposure Bracketing        : Off
< Auto ISO                        : 100
< Auto Lighting Optimizer         : Off
< Average Black Level             : 511 511 511 511
< Base ISO                        : 100
< Battery Type                    : LP-E17
< Bits Per Sample                 : 8 8 8
< Black Mask Bottom Border        : 0
< Black Mask Left Border          : 0
< Black Mask Right Border         : 0
< Black Mask Top Border           : 0
< Blue Balance                    : 1.865234
< Bracket Mode                    : Off
< Bracket Shot Number             : 0
< Bracket Value                   : 0
< Bulb Duration                   : 0
< CR2 CFA Pattern                 : [Red,Green][Green,Blue]
---
> Bits Per Sample                 : 8
> Blue Matrix Column              : 0.14305 0.06061 0.71391
> Blue Tone Reproduction Curve    : (Binary data 32 bytes, use -b option to extract)
> By-line                         : REDACTED
> CMM Flags                       : Not Embedded, Independent
41,51c11,16
< Camera Temperature              : 23 C
< Camera Type                     : EOS High-end
< Canon Exposure Mode             : Aperture-priority AE
< Canon Firmware Version          : Firmware Version 1.0.1
< Canon Flash Mode                : Off
< Canon Image Height              : 4000
< Canon Image Size                : Large
< Canon Image Type                : Canon EOS Rebel T7i
< Canon Image Width               : 6000
< Canon Model ID                  : EOS Rebel T7i / 800D / Kiss X9i
< Chromatic Aberration Setting    : On
---
> Chromatic Adaptation            : 1.04788 0.02292 -0.05022 0.02959 0.99048 -0.01707 -0.00925 0.01508 0.75168
> Chromaticity Channel 1          : 0.64 0.33
> Chromaticity Channel 2          : 0.3 0.60001
> Chromaticity Channel 3          : 0.14999 0.06
> Chromaticity Channels           : 3
> Chromaticity Colorant           : Unknown (0)
53c18,19
< Color Data Version              : 15 (6DmkII/77D/200D/800D)
---
> Coded Character Set             : UTF8
> Color Components                : 3
55,64c21
< Color Temp As Shot              : 4428
< Color Temp Auto                 : 4428
< Color Temp Cloudy               : 6000
< Color Temp Daylight             : 5200
< Color Temp Flash                : 6272
< Color Temp Fluorescent          : 3688
< Color Temp Kelvin               : 5200
< Color Temp Measured             : 4428
< Color Temp Shade                : 7000
< Color Temp Tungsten             : 3200
---
> Color Space Data                : RGB
66d22
< Color Tone                      : Normal
68,69c24
< Compression                     : JPEG (old-style)
< Continuous Drive                : Single
---
> Connection Space Illuminant     : 0.9642 1 0.82491
71d25
< Control Mode                    : Camera Local Control
72a27
> Copyright Notice                : REDACTED
74,84c29,30
< Create Date                     : 2018:09:06 16:52:58.46
< Crop Bottom Margin              : 0
< Crop Left Margin                : 0
< Crop Right Margin               : 0
< Crop Top Margin                 : 0
< Cropped Image Height            : 4000
< Cropped Image Left              : 0
< Cropped Image Top               : 0
< Cropped Image Width             : 6000
< Custom Picture Style File Name  : 
< Custom Rendered                 : Normal
---
> Creator                         : REDACTED
> Current IPTC Digest             : ecefffb351e3d6cf038c92bd05d463f2
86,95c32,37
< Date/Time Original              : 2018:09:06 16:52:58.46
< Daylight Savings                : On
< Depth Of Field                  : 0.94 m (2.35 - 3.29 m)
< Digital Gain                    : 0
< Digital Zoom                    : None
< Directory                       : /Volumes/RAW Photos/09-06-18
< Drive Mode                      : Self-timer Operation
< Dust Removal Data               : (Binary data 1024 bytes, use -b option to extract)
< Easy Mode                       : Manual
< Exif Byte Order                 : Little-endian (Intel, II)
---
> Device Attributes               : Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color
> Device Manufacturer             : 
> Device Model                    : 
> Directory                       : .
> Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
> Exif Byte Order                 : Big-endian (Motorola, MM)
101d42
< Exposure Level Increments       : 1/3 Stop
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< File Access Date/Time           : 2018:09:06 17:35:35-07:00
< File Inode Change Date/Time     : 2018:09:06 17:35:35-07:00
< File Modification Date/Time     : 2018:09:06 17:35:35-07:00
< File Name                       : IMG_1167.CR2
< File Permissions                : rwxrwxrwx
< File Size                       : 25 MB
< File Type                       : CR2
< File Type Extension             : cr2
< Fisheye Filter                  : Off
---
> File Access Date/Time           : 2018:09:06 18:13:39-07:00
> File Inode Change Date/Time     : 2018:09:06 18:12:38-07:00
> File Modification Date/Time     : 2018:09:06 18:11:10-07:00
> File Name                       : IMG_1167_PROCESSED.JPG
> File Permissions                : rw-r--r--
> File Size                       : 2.8 MB
> File Type                       : JPEG
> File Type Extension             : jpg
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< Flash Activity                  : 0
< Flash Bits                      : (none)
< Flash Exposure Compensation     : 0
< Flash Exposure Lock             : Off
< Flash Guide Number              : 0
< Flashpix Version                : 0100
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< Focal Plane Y Resolution        : 6734.006734
< Focal Units                     : 1/mm
< Focus Distance Lower            : 1.99 m
< Focus Distance Upper            : 3.5 m
< Focus Mode                      : AI Servo AF
< Focus Range                     : Not Known
---
> Focal Plane Y Resolution        : 6734.006711
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< Grainy B/W Filter               : Off
< HDR                             : Off
< HDR Effect                      : Natural
< High ISO Noise Reduction        : Off
< Highlight Tone Priority         : Off
---
> Green Matrix Column             : 0.38512 0.7169 0.09706
> Green Tone Reproduction Curve   : (Binary data 32 bytes, use -b option to extract)
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> IPTC Digest                     : ecefffb351e3d6cf038c92bd05d463f2
151,158c78,81
< ISO Expansion                   : Off
< Image Height                    : 4000
< Image Size                      : 6000x4000
< Image Width                     : 6000
< Internal Serial Number          : AG0649670
< Interoperability Index          : R98 - DCF basic file (sRGB)
< Interoperability Version        : 0100
< LCD Display At Power On         : Display
---
> Image Height                    : 4020
> Image Size                      : 6022x4020
> Image Width                     : 6022
> JFIF Version                    : 1.01
160,161d82
< Lens                            : 50.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 77.7 mm)
< Lens ID                         : Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
165d85
< Lens Type                       : Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
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< Linearity Upper Margin          : 10000
< Live View Shooting              : Off
< Long Exposure Noise Reduction   : Off
< MIME Type                       : image/x-canon-cr2
< Macro Mode                      : Normal
---
> MIME Type                       : image/jpeg
173,187c89,91
< Manual Flash Output             : n/a
< Max Aperture                    : 1.8
< Max Focal Length                : 50 mm
< Measured EV                     : 9.50
< Measured EV 2                   : 8.5
< Measured RGGB                   : 620 1024 1024 528
< Megapixels                      : 24.0
< Metering Mode                   : Evaluative
< Min Aperture                    : 23
< Min Focal Length                : 50 mm
< Miniature Filter                : Off
< Miniature Filter Orientation    : Horizontal
< Miniature Filter Parameter      : 0
< Miniature Filter Position       : 0
< Mirror Lockup                   : Disable
---
> Media White Point               : 0.9642 1 0.82491
> Megapixels                      : 24.2
> Metering Mode                   : Multi-segment
189,193d92
< Modify Date                     : 2018:09:06 16:52:58.46
< ND Filter                       : n/a
< Normal White Level              : 11435
< Num AF Points                   : 49
< Optical Zoom Code               : n/a
196,208c95,105
< Painting Filter                 : Off
< Per Channel Black Level         : 511 511 511 511
< Peripheral Illumination Corr    : Off
< Peripheral Lighting Setting     : On
< Photometric Interpretation      : RGB
< Picture Style                   : Auto
< Picture Style PC                : None; None; None
< Picture Style User Def          : Auto; Auto; Auto
< Planar Configuration            : Chunky
< Preview Image                   : (Binary data 880693 bytes, use -b option to extract)
< Preview Image Length            : 880693
< Preview Image Start             : 25226676
< Quality                         : RAW
---
> Primary Platform                : Apple Computer Inc.
> Profile CMM Type                : Little CMS
> Profile Class                   : Display Device Profile
> Profile Connection Space        : XYZ
> Profile Copyright               : No copyright, use freely
> Profile Creator                 : Little CMS
> Profile Date Time               : 2018:09:07 01:00:19
> Profile Description             : sRGB IEC61966-2.1
> Profile File Signature          : acsp
> Profile ID                      : 0
> Profile Version                 : 4.3.0
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< Raw Image Segmentation          : 0 6288 6288
< Raw Jpg Size                    : Large
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< Record Mode                     : CR2+JPEG
< Red Balance                     : 1.707031
---
> Red Matrix Column               : 0.43604 0.22249 0.01392
> Red Tone Reproduction Curve     : (Binary data 32 bytes, use -b option to extract)
> Rendering Intent                : Perceptual
216,220c112
< Retract Lens On Power Off       : Enable
< Rows Per Strip                  : 400
< SRAW Quality                    : n/a
< SRaw Type                       : 1
< Samples Per Pixel               : 3
---
> Rights                          : REDACTED
224d115
< Self Timer                      : 2 s
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< Sensor Blue Level               : 0
< Sensor Bottom Border            : 4047
< Sensor Height                   : 4056
< Sensor Left Border              : 276
< Sensor Red Level                : 0
< Sensor Right Border             : 6275
< Sensor Top Border               : 48
< Sensor Width                    : 6288
---
> Sequence Number                 : 0
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< Set Button When Shooting        : Normal (disabled)
< Sharpness                       : 3
< Sharpness Frequency             : n/a
< Shooting Mode                   : Aperture-priority AE
< Shot Number In Continuous Burst : 0
---
> Sharpness                       : Hard
242,257d121
< Slow Shutter                    : None
< Soft Focus Filter               : Off
< Specular White Level            : 11892
< Strip Byte Counts               : 23727565
< Strip Offsets                   : 59110
< Sub Sec Time                    : 46
< Sub Sec Time Digitized          : 46
< Sub Sec Time Original           : 46
< Target Aperture                 : 8
< Target Exposure Time            : 1/13
< Thumbnail Image                 : (Binary data 7047 bytes, use -b option to extract)
< Thumbnail Image Valid Area      : 0 159 7 112
< Thumbnail Length                : 7047
< Thumbnail Offset                : 52062
< Time Zone                       : -07:00
< Time Zone City                  : Los Angeles
259d122
< Toy Camera Filter               : Off
261,282d123
< VF Display Illumination         : Auto
< VRD Offset                      : 0
< Valid AF Points                 : 45
< Viewfinder Warnings             : Monochrome, WB corrected, [6], [7]
< Vignetting Corr Version         : 16
< WB Bracket Mode                 : Off
< WB Bracket Value AB             : 0
< WB Bracket Value GM             : 0
< WB RGGB Levels                  : 1748 1024 1024 1910
< WB RGGB Levels As Shot          : 1748 1024 1024 1910
< WB RGGB Levels Auto             : 1748 1024 1024 1910
< WB RGGB Levels Cloudy           : 2024 1024 1024 1565
< WB RGGB Levels Daylight         : 1889 1024 1024 1675
< WB RGGB Levels Flash            : 2081 1024 1024 1544
< WB RGGB Levels Fluorescent      : 1570 1024 1024 2241
< WB RGGB Levels Kelvin           : 1889 1024 1024 1675
< WB RGGB Levels Measured         : 1748 1024 1024 1910
< WB RGGB Levels Shade            : 2180 1024 1024 1458
< WB RGGB Levels Tungsten         : 1334 1024 1024 2389
< WB Shift AB                     : 0
< WB Shift GM                     : 0
< Watercolor Filter               : Off
284,285d124
< White Balance Blue              : 0
< White Balance Red               : 0
286a126,127
> XMP Toolkit                     : XMP Core 5.5.0
> Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:4:4 (1 1)
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< Zoom Source Width               : 0
< Zoom Target Width               : 0

[DWright]

Can you please PM me a link to the exported JPEG file and the original RAW image and are you using the Apple RAW or Serif Labs RAW engine

[Perceptes]

Thanks for the reply, @DWright. I sent you the links you requested. I am using all the defaults Affinity Photo was set to when I installed it, so I assume that means I'm using the Serif Labs RAW engine. I opened up the file again to see if there was an obvious way to tell which engine I was using and I didn't find anything. If there's a specific way I should check which engine I'm using, please let me know.

[firstdefence]

[Perceptes]

Ah, ha! Thanks! I can confirm that I'm using the Serif Labs engine.

[DWright]

I will log this with our developers as the lens info is included in the JPG but it has not been given a field tag as shown in the screen shot 

[DivadPir]

Hi,

 

This seems to happen too when editing a JPEG. Some of the EXIF tags are gone after saving the JPEG in Affinity Photo.

On example is the DateTimeDigitized tag. My original JPEG had both DateTimeOriginal and DateTimeDigitized tags, but after editing a few photos and save them (overwriting the original JPEGs) the resulting images contain only DateTimeOriginal. 

Is this a known bug? Any way to make affinity photo preserving all EXIF Data in JPEGs?

[DivadPir]

HI guys, any news on this?

[derek tabron]

I have a similar problem with exif data missing. In my case it is the AF Fine tune info. It is in the original jpg but after

editing and exporting it disappears from the exported file.

[Ron P.]

57 minutes ago, derek tabron said:

I have a similar problem with exif data missing. In my case it is the AF Fine tune info. It is in the original jpg but after

editing and exporting it disappears from the exported file.

Welcome to the forums @derek tabron,

When exporting, check to see if the box is checked beside Embed Metadata. It's found in the dialog when you click the More.. button.

[derek tabron]

'Embed metadata' is checked. Most metadata is there in the modified jpg, but not all of it.

[JustMeJ]

Hey there,

I wanted to ask if anything on this has (recently-ish) changed? I just exported a bunch of images and they've lost their original creation date, which is a pain. I keep jpg copies of my edited RAW images in Apple Photos, and if the original creation date is lost, I have to manually fix this after export.

Strangely enough, this didn't happen until after I had to reinstall Affinity from scratch (Mac died, had to set it up clean as the original problem had also been corrupting my backups). After the clean reinstall (sometime at the end of April) I didn't touch Affinity much because of work and only now got around to work on some shots from last year, and that's when I noticed the problem.

Inside of Affinity, the meta data shows up just fine (you can see the correct creation date – ignore the Lens info, it was a manual lens).

But after exporting, the original creation date is wiped and replaced with today's date. I checked everything that was discussed in this thread and all my settings are the same as the other users reported. I've also quit and relaunched the app, as well as rebooted my Mac. Is there *anything* that can be done about this, as it used to work just fine for years prior to the clean reinstall.

In case it's of any relevance, here's the workflow I've been using for years with Affinity now:

1. Import RAW into LR for basic editing.
2. Export TIFF from LR to Dropbox.
3. Import TIFF from Dropbox into Affinity Mac, do all my major editing.
4. If necessary, save resulting file as .aphoto to Dropbox, import it into Affinity on iPad to do fine-tuning with the Apple Pencil, save the file back to Dropbox.
5. Finish editing in Affinity on the Mac and export to jpg.
6. Import jpg into Apple Photos.

Cheers.

[R C-R]

4 hours ago, JustMeJ said:

But after exporting, the original creation date is wiped and replaced with today's date.

That is the expected behavior for the creation date shown in Finder Info windows because by exporting the file, you are creating a new one made on that date.

This Finder info is different from the Date Shot & other EXIF metadata encapsulated in the file's content.