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Forum Discussion

senator12's avatar
senator12
Helpful | Level 5
8 years ago

UPLOADING RAW PHOTO FILES TO DROPBOX

Why does Dropbox not upload RAW photos from Mac Photos. It seems to alter them to JPEG
Sync
upload
  • Maple's avatar
    Maple
    8 years ago

    Hi senator12,

    I did a quick google search and it sounds like drag-and-drop from Photos to Finder exports those files using whatever the selected or default export method is. In this case, it sounds like it is exporting as jpg. You need to go back to Photos and select the original files to add to Dropbox. I don't use Photos myself, but if you go back to Photos and right click on the image you might be able to open it in its real location in Finder, or be able to "export original" somehow.

senator12's avatar
senator12
Helpful | Level 5

Cant do a screen shot but it is a simple click and  drag from Photos to a new empty folder in Dropbox Folder opened in Finder. It then uploads to Dropbox but only as  .jpg even though the image in Photos is .cr2 ie a Canon RAW image. I have tried this with a group of images and also with a single image. All end up as .jpg even when dowloaded back to my Mac. Any more ideas?

Maple's avatar
Maple
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
8 years ago

Hi senator12,

I did a quick google search and it sounds like drag-and-drop from Photos to Finder exports those files using whatever the selected or default export method is. In this case, it sounds like it is exporting as jpg. You need to go back to Photos and select the original files to add to Dropbox. I don't use Photos myself, but if you go back to Photos and right click on the image you might be able to open it in its real location in Finder, or be able to "export original" somehow.

  • senator12's avatar
    senator12
    Helpful | Level 5
    8 years ago

    Photos exports in jpeg, tiff or png. It is possible to export in RAW/CR2 but it is very long winded but I am looking for a better way. Overall it seems to be a Photos problem that wasn't there in iPhoto. Maybe the simple way would be to save on an external drive!! Thanks for all your help.

  • Maple's avatar
    Maple
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    8 years ago

    You're welcome! We're here to help.

    The Dropbox desktop client has a Camera Uploads feature that uploads the original files to Dropbox. It may work better for your needs if you want to save the original files in Dropbox. The dialog should appear when you plug a camera into your computer. See 

    https://help.dropbox.com/create-upload/camera-uploads-overview 

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