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I'm trying to adjust the portrait depth (f-stop) on Photos.app on my Mac.

For example, here is a photo where this option is available:

enter image description here

Generally, this works great. However, I recently took several photos on my son's phone, and after I sent them to my account (choosing the "All Photos Data" option, using AirDrop) - once the photo appeared in my Library - the option to adjust portrait depth is present on my iPhone's Photos.app, but it's missing on my Mac's Photos.app:

iPhone (Portrait adjustment is available):

enter image description here

Mac (before editing, showing that it recognizes the photo is portrait photo):

enter image description here

Mac (while editing, no Portrait adjustment available):

enter image description here

My Mac is running macOS Monterey v. 12.6 (recently updated).

Any suggestions or advice?

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    Are you working on a copy or the version shared? Is the shared one listed as being owned by your son?
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Dec 19, 2022 at 14:10
  • @SolarMike That's a good question. I should have said "Sent" - I sent the photo from my son's phone to me, using AirDrop. So, the version in my Photos.app is a copy. That's why, on my iPhone, I can edit the photo, and adjust the f-stop/portrait depth. It's only on my Mac's version of Photos that I don't have this option. Notably, I have all the other adjustments available.
    – mattstuehler
    Commented Dec 19, 2022 at 14:32

1 Answer 1

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The image has the metadata indicating that it was taken in Portrait mode, hence the icon in the corner of the photo when not in edit mode, but the actual depth data was not sent, so the portrait effect cannot be edited.

You say that

I shared [the photos] to myself (choosing the "All data" option)

Under the All Photos Data toggle in the share sheet options is additional guidance which begins

When sharing with AirDrop, …

If you don't use AirDrop, All Photos Data has no effect. Alternatively, you can choose to Send As: iCloud Link, which will also enable All Photos Data to take effect (removing the prefix on the guidance).

When sharing photos, use AirDrop or iCloud Link with the All Photos Data toggle enabled to send all accompanying data and allow the portrait effect to be edited later. If using AirDrop, the images must be imported to Photos directly, not saved to Downloads first.

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  • Thank you for this answer! However, I did use AirDrop in this case, and I did use the All Photos Data option. I think that's why I'm able to adjust the f-stop/portrait depth on my iPhone's version of the Photos.app. It's only on my Mac's version of Photos.app where this particular adjustment is not available.
    – mattstuehler
    Commented Dec 19, 2022 at 14:37
  • @mattstuehler Ah sorry I interpreted that as being you AirDropped it to your phone but sent it to your Mac another way, I hadn't considered iCloud Photo Library putting the same photo on both your iPhone and Mac!
    – grg ♦
    Commented Dec 19, 2022 at 14:54
  • No worries! You make a great point - my original post wasn't clear. I took the photo on my son's iPhone, and then AirDropped it to me. Once it appeared in my library - I could view/edit it on both my iPhone AND my Mac. Both of my devices recognized it as a Portrait photo, by only my iPhone shows me the Portrait Adjustment option.
    – mattstuehler
    Commented Dec 19, 2022 at 15:16

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