Forwarding Images with Metadata Between Mac Photos and Windows/Microsoft

[jparker402]

I have been spending time lately going through all the images I have in Photos and scanning photographs for inclusion. For the sake of posterity, I guess, I have been trying to detail who/what is in them, when they were taken, and where. And in some instances, genealogical notes so that later generations will know who relatives were. I was hoping (until now not actually checking) that people I sent them to would automatically see the notes that I am making. Then I emailed a photo with some metadata to a friend who uses Windows and Google Photos. He got the image, period.

I would like some suggestions on what I can do to achieve my goals. My friend sent me some links to Google Photos tutorials. But the idea of changing all my work in Photos into Google Photos doesn't thrill me, particularly since I remember Beta Max, VHS, CDs and DVDs, not to mention Lotus 1-2-3, et al. A lot of work that turns obsolete within my lifetime. But that aside, does anyone have any options that would be reasonably workable for a novice? I am thinking as a last resort I could integrate images into a word processing document that would provide all the information I want attached. Basically I would be writing a book. When I was really hoping that just transferring images from Photos would be so much easier!

Edit: Should have also said that I am interested in Microsoft because many of my family do not use Apple products.

 

[anotherscotsman]

Unless you are dealing with RAW or similar files that use a sidecar-type file to store the image metadata, it should be within the image file itself. For example jpg, tiff etc all have the metadata stored as part of the image. See https://iptc.org/standards/photo-metadata/photo-metadata/

You can get software that allows you to edit metadata. There was a recent thread on this and Adobe Bridge seemed a good option.

It may be a case that your recipient isn’t using software that actually displays or uses the metadata already in the file.

This, of course, only applies to metadata covered by the iptc standards. “Tags” that you may have added yourself using eg Photos would need to be treated by bespoke methods as you highlight. If you only have a few key tags to include, you could always incorporate them into the title of the specific photo eg name_place_event_year.jpg or combine with a folder title.