Exporting photos

To export photos from Shotwell via drag and drop, drag the photos from Shotwell onto a file manager window or your desktop. The new files will be full-sized copies of the photos in your library. To export the original file, hold Shift while dropping the photo to the file manager.

Alternatively, select a set of photos and choose the File ▸ Export... command or press Shift+Ctrl+E, which exports photos while letting you fine-tune the size and dimensions of your photo files. A window will appear allowing you to make several choices:

  • A format for export.

    • Choose Unmodified to export photos in their original format without any edits made in Shotwell. RAW photos will be exported in their original RAW format.

    • Choose Current to export photos including edits made in Shotwell. RAW photos will be exported in JPEG format if you have edited them in Shotwell, and otherwise in their original RAW format.

    • Or you can choose a particular image format (JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP) to be used for exporting. Any edits made in Shotwell will be included, and Shotwell will convert photos to the destination format.

  • The image quality for exporting (Low, Medium, High, or Maximum).

  • A scaling constraint (which means how Shotwell will decide to scale the photos down), and the desired pixel size.

    Original size

    Image will be exported without any scaling applied

    Longest edge

    Image will be exported by having its longest edge scaled to Pixels and the other according to the aspect ratio

    Width

    The image width will have its width scaled to the given pixel size and its height according to the aspect ratio. This is equivalent to Longest Edge for landscape pictures.

    Height

    The image height will have its height scaled to the given pixel size and its width according to the aspect ratio. This is equivalent to Longest Edge for portrait pictures.

  • The option whether you like to export metadatas such as tags or ratings. This can help to save your privacy if you have geolocation tags or tags which shouldn't be seen by anyone.

If selected, Shotwell will write tags, titles, and other metadata to the new files.