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Metadata Exports

Control over your data doesn't end with the ability to create and restore a database backup. PhotoPrism additionally provides you with human-readable YAML files that allow you to view and restore the metadata of your albums and photos, even if you didn't create a regular database backup or have lost it.

If backups have not been disabled in the Advanced Settings, metadata exports of all your albums and photos are automatically created in your storage folder. They will also be updated when changes are made.

Be aware that the original data remains in your database. Any changes you make to the files therefore have no effect on it and will not become visible on the user interface, unless your database gets lost and the index is restored from the files.

Album Backups

Album backups are created for the following album types: album, folder, state, moment and month. You find those backups inside your storage path in /albums.

Album Backups

For each album the following metadata is stored in the YAML file:

  • UID, Slug, Type, Title, Location, Category, Description, Sort Order, Country, CreatedAt, UpdatedAt, Photos (UID + date the photo was added to the album)

Folder Backups

For each folder the following metadata is stored in the YAML file:

  • UID, Slug, Type, Title, Location, Category, Description, Filter, Sort order, Country, Year, Month, Day, CreatedAt, UpdatedAt

Month Backups

For each month the following metadata is stored in the YAML file:

  • UID, Slug, Type, Title, Location, Category, Description, Filter, Sort Order, Country, Year, Month, CreatedAt, UpdatedAt

State Backups

For each state the following metadata is stored in the YAML file:

  • UID, Slug, Type, Title, Location, Category, Description, Filter, Sort Order, Country, CreatedAt, UpdatedAt

Moment Backups

For each moment the following metadata is stored in the YAML file:

  • UID, Slug, Type, Title, Location, Category, Description, Filter, Sort Order, Country, Year, CreatedAt, UpdatedAt

Photo Backups

PhotoPrism creates YAML backup files for each photo in your sidecar path.

The following metadata is stored:

  • TakenAt + Source, UID, Type, Title + Source, Caption + Source, OriginalName, TimeZone, PlaceSrc, Altitude, Lat, Lng, Year, Month, Day, Iso, Exposure, FNumber, FocalLength, Quality, Favorite, Private, Keywords + Source, Notes + Source, Subject + Source, Artist + Source, Copyright + Source, License + Source, CreatedAt, UpdatedAt, EditedAt, DeletedAt (Archived)

Helpful information can be found on GitHub as well.