Date modified wrong for some images

[JxxIT]

Hi, I exported my whole library with this command: osxphotos export /Volumes/photo/photos --library /Volumes/photos2/photos.photoslibrary --download-missing --filename '{original_name}' --retry 3 --ramdb --exiftool --report ~/Documents/export.json --exiftool-option '-m' --export-by-date --touch-file --update --verbose --timestamp.

The creation date looks right for both images, but for image A, the date modified is today. For image B, it works correctly, and the date modified is the same as the creation date.

For image A, it is wrong in Finder, but the EXIF data shows two dates.

The EXIF data for image A (right date):

ExifTool Version Number : 13.00

File Name : 2013-06-05 18.43.59.jpg

Directory : /Volumes/photo/photos/2013/06/05

File Size : 3.5 MB

File Modification Date/Time : 2013:06:05 18:43:59+02:00

File Access Date/Time : 2025:03:29 11:49:52+01:00

File Inode Change Date/Time : 2013:06:05 18:43:59+02:00

File Permissions : -rwx------

File Type : JPEG

File Type Extension : jpg

MIME Type : image/jpeg

Exif Byte Order : Little-endian (Intel, II)

Make : samsung

Camera Model Name : GT-I9100

Orientation : Rotate 90 CW

X Resolution : 72

Y Resolution : 72

Resolution Unit : inches

Software : I9100XWKE7

Modify Date : 2013:06:05 18:43:59

Y Cb Cr Positioning : Centered

Exposure Time : 1/530

F Number : 2.6

Exposure Program : Aperture-priority AE

ISO : 32

Exif Version : 0220

Date/Time Original : 2013:06:05 18:43:59

Create Date : 2013:06:05 18:43:59

Offset Time : +02:00

Offset Time Original : +02:00

Shutter Speed Value : 1/530

Aperture Value : 2.6

Brightness Value : 8.46

Exposure Compensation : 0

Max Aperture Value : 2.6

Metering Mode : Center-weighted average

Flash : Off, Did not fire

Focal Length : 4.0 mm

Maker Note Version : 0100

Device Type : Cell Phone

Raw Data Byte Order : Little-endian (Intel, II)

Raw Data CFA Pattern : Swap

Face Detect : Off

User Comment : User comments

Flashpix Version : 0100

Color Space : Unknown (0)

Exif Image Width : 3264

Exif Image Height : 2448

Exposure Mode : Auto

White Balance : Auto

Scene Capture Type : Standard

Image Unique ID : SCEE09

Compression : JPEG (old-style)

Thumbnail Offset : 912

Thumbnail Length : 60619

Current IPTC Digest : 029f008a0ee9d3ca717fd05a5a1f8306

Coded Character Set : UTF8

Envelope Record Version : 4

Date Created : 2013:06:05

Time Created : 18:43:59+02:00

Application Record Version : 4

Image Width : 3264

Image Height : 2448

Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding

Bits Per Sample : 8

Color Components : 3

Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:2:2 (2 1)

Aperture : 2.6

Image Size : 3264x2448

Megapixels : 8.0

Shutter Speed : 1/530

Date/Time Original : 2013:06:05 18:43:59+02:00

Modify Date : 2013:06:05 18:43:59+02:00

Thumbnail Image : (Binary data 60619 bytes, use -b option to extract)

Date/Time Created : 2013:06:05 18:43:59+02:00

Focal Length : 4.0 mm

Light Value : 13.5

The EXIF data for image B (wrong date):

ExifTool Version Number : 13.00

File Name : IMG_4539.JPG

Directory : /Volumes/photo/photos/2013/06/05

File Size : 2.2 MB

File Modification Date/Time : 2025:03:29 09:23:25+01:00

File Access Date/Time : 2025:03:29 12:00:10+01:00

File Inode Change Date/Time : 2025:03:29 09:23:25+01:00

File Permissions : -rwx------

File Type : JPEG

File Type Extension : jpg

MIME Type : image/jpeg

Exif Byte Order : Big-endian (Motorola, MM)

Make : Apple

Camera Model Name : iPhone 5

Orientation : Horizontal (normal)

X Resolution : 72

Y Resolution : 72

Resolution Unit : inches

Software : 6.1.3

Modify Date : 2013:06:05 11:26:36

Y Cb Cr Positioning : Centered

Exposure Time : 1/20

F Number : 2.4

Exposure Program : Program AE

ISO : 80

Exif Version : 0221

Date/Time Original : 2013:06:05 11:26:36

Create Date : 2013:06:05 11:26:36

Offset Time : +02:00

Offset Time Original : +02:00

Components Configuration : Y, Cb, Cr, -

Shutter Speed Value : 1/20

Aperture Value : 2.4

Brightness Value : 2.455126566

Metering Mode : Multi-segment

Flash : Auto, Did not fire

Focal Length : 4.1 mm

Subject Area : 1631 1223 881 881

Flashpix Version : 0100

Color Space : sRGB

Exif Image Width : 3264

Exif Image Height : 2448

Sensing Method : One-chip color area

Exposure Mode : Auto

White Balance : Auto

Focal Length In 35mm Format : 33 mm

Scene Capture Type : Standard

Compression : JPEG (old-style)

Thumbnail Offset : 942

Thumbnail Length : 11047

Current IPTC Digest : 23709e96da00eda3747b154224dd1aac

Coded Character Set : UTF8

Envelope Record Version : 4

Keywords : Photo Stream

Date Created : 2013:06:05

Time Created : 11:26:36+02:00

Application Record Version : 4

XMP Toolkit : Image::ExifTool 13.00

Subject : Photo Stream

Tags List : Photo Stream

Image Width : 3264

Image Height : 2448

Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding

Bits Per Sample : 8

Color Components : 3

Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)

Aperture : 2.4

Image Size : 3264x2448

Megapixels : 8.0

Scale Factor To 35 mm Equivalent: 8.0

Shutter Speed : 1/20

Date/Time Original : 2013:06:05 11:26:36+02:00

Modify Date : 2013:06:05 11:26:36+02:00

Thumbnail Image : (Binary data 11047 bytes, use -b option to extract)

Date/Time Created : 2013:06:05 11:26:36+02:00

Circle Of Confusion : 0.004 mm

Field Of View : 57.2 deg

Focal Length : 4.1 mm (35 mm equivalent: 33.0 mm)

Hyperfocal Distance : 1.89 m

Light Value : 7.2

How can I fix this? Did I forget a flag, or is this a bug? Any help would be appreciated!

[RhetTbull]

I assume you're referring to the Finder modification date being right/wrong. The --touch-file flag should have "touched" the file to update the modification date in Finder to match the creation date. Did this happen to many photos or just the one in this issue?

[RhetTbull]

Sounds like an issue with the NAS. If you open a new issue for this I'll look into other options for doing the touch on NAS.

[oPromessa]

I tried exporting 1 photo with a issue to my local disk, and that worked correctly! When I export the same file to my nas, it showed for a split second, but then disappeared again. Do I need to export my whole library again and then copy it to the nas? Edit: using touch manually works fine and keeps the date.

@JxxIT one last couple of checks:

• I'm on "DSM 7.2.2-72806 Update 3". What DSM version are you on?
• my iMac is on Monterey. Maybe here's a difference. Will make a test with Sequoia in a few days.
• check my SMB settings and compare with yours

[oPromessa]

Boom! Was able to reproduce the issue with Sequoia (15.3.2) !!!

• In my case all files exported get "File Modification Date/Time" to the actual export date and it seems the touch has no effect.
• and yes, if I export locally it gets updated correctly

$ stat -f "Created: %SB  Modified: %Sm" Test/2012/12/12/DSC04311_Par.JPG               
Created: Dec 12 07:12:12 2012  Modified: Dec 12 07:12:12 2012
$ stat -f "Created: %SB  Modified: %Sm" /Volumes/photo/Test/2012/12/12/DSC04311_Par.JPG
Created: Dec 12 07:12:12 2012  Modified: Mar 31 00:18:40 2025

[oPromessa]

The plot thickens:

• A local osxphotos export followed by rsync --progress -a does keep atime and mtime on the destination NAS Folder.
• A cp -p local/X.jpg /Volumes/photo/X.jpg does not keep atime and mtime

[JxxIT]

Wow, that's very strange.

I am on DSM 7.1.1-42962 Update 5, and my smb settings are the same. Using the touch command manually to my nas works, thanks for investigating!

[RhetTbull]

I will look into a fix for this (which might entail using the system /usr/bin/touch instead of python's utime) but in the mean time you can try using --post-command to run touch on the files after exporting. I'm curious if this works consistently or is intermittent like --touch-file?

Add this option to run touch on the files after they are exported:

--post-command exported "/usr/bin/touch -t {created.strftime,%Y%m%d%H%M.%S} {shell_quote,{filepath}}"

[JxxIT]

Strangely, that also doesn't work. Maybe it is a permissions issue? It logs 'executing command', but the file date doesn't change. When I run the command manually, it does change.

[JxxIT]

I got it to work! When adding sudo to the start of the osxphotos command and to the start of the touch command, it changes the file date.

[selenecodes]

I'm having the same issue but it seems to only be affecting the RAW files.
Left: JPEG version with correct date
Middle: RAF version with wrong date
Right: Finder showing that they were both put in the right folder (2025/01/01)

[RhetTbull]

@selenecodes are you also exporting to a NAS?

[oPromessa]

I'd say so @RhetTbull based on this:

[selenecodes]

Yeah i'm also using a direct export to a NAS (Unraid)

…

On Wed, 2 Apr 2025 at 01:08, Rhet Turnbull ***@***.***> wrote: @selenecodes <https://github.com/selenecodes> are you also exporting to a NAS? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1819 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AE4K33G6I7VCL4B2UFAWTTL2XML5LAVCNFSM6AAAAAB2BILEOSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTENRZGM4TMNI> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[RhetTbull]

Interesting. There's an open issue for this (#1820) but at the moment I'm not sure how to solve this.

[JxxIT]

Fixed by #1826