Available export types

When exporting, you can choose from three different export types:

Unmodified original: Exports the unedited photo that was originally imported into the library. When exporting unmodified originals, none of the other options to modify the exported photos will be available. For RAW+JPEG photos (photos that were imported as both RAW and JPEG), both the RAW and JPEG files will be exported.

Original with metadata: Exports the original photo with any metadata you’ve added in Photos (such as keywords, titles, captions, etc.) embedded in the photo. This allows you to preserve your metadata while keeping the original pixel data intact. Unlike “Edited” mode, PowerPhotos preserves the original pixel data without any recompression, only updating the file’s embedded metadata.

Note: Only certain formats support embedded metadata (JPEG, HEIC, PNG, TIFF, MOV, and MP4). For other formats, PowerPhotos will export the unmodified original even when “Original with metadata” is selected.

For RAW photos, since RAW files cannot have their embedded metadata modified, PowerPhotos provides two options:

• Export with metadata: Converts the RAW file to your chosen format (JPEG, HEIC, PNG, or TIFF) and applies both your edits and updated metadata. Click the gear icon next to this option to configure the format, quality, and size settings that will be used when converting the RAW file.
• Unmodified RAW: Exports the RAW file exactly as-is, without any metadata changes or format conversion. You can use XMP sidecar files to preserve your metadata alongside the RAW file.

Edited: Exports the current version of the photo, including any edits that have been made in Photos.

Note that animated GIFs will always be exported as original since converting them to a format that only shows a single still photo doesn’t make sense.