little software knowledge--need examples of full commands

[sla-yerwy]

I want to be able to write a full backup of my icloud photos library to an external hard drive through a windows pc

I also want to be able to make a specific backup of a file type, like screenshots, for instance

I have docker installed but i'm not sure how to put together an argument with the information available in help

I also want to clarify to make sure the photos will retain all of their metadata--and also if they will retain edit history or what to do about that.

[AndreyNikiforov]

I want to be able to write a full backup of my icloud photos library to an external hard drive through a windows pc

I also want to be able to make a specific backup of a file type, like screenshots, for instance

I have docker installed but i'm not sure how to put together an argument with the information available in help

Considering "little software knowledge" from the title of the post, I don't immediately know how to help here. icloudpd is the program that uses Command Line Interface (CLI), so you should know what that is and how to use CLI on Windows. Docker brings complexity to the next level - it may be better to start just by downloading binary for Windows from GitHub release.

I also want to clarify to make sure the photos will retain all of their metadata--and also if they will retain edit history or what to do about that.

All assets are downloaded as is, unless you specifically instruct icloudpd otherwise. AFAIK history of changes is not maintained by Apple in iCloud, so it is not available in icloudpd.