[Feature] when downloading, option to retain original dates

[beneix]

I have searched the existing feature requests, both open and closed, to make sure this is not a duplicate request.

• Yes

The feature

When downloading files from Immich, it would be great to have the option to retain the original files' creation and modification dates.

Platform

• Server
• Web
• Mobile

[bo0tzz]

#10592

[beneix]

#10592 is not quite the same, though. That would provide all metadata in a separate file, which indeed could be useful. I feel that the very basic file properties of file creation and modification dates, which already reside in the file itself, should be possible to retain at download if desired, without necessarily getting all the metadata in a separate file.

[bo0tzz]

file creation and modification dates, which already reside in the file itself

They don't, though, they're filesystem metadata.

[beneix]

OK, so the file creation and modification dates neither exist in the files' file system timestamps, nor in the EXIF – they only exist in sidecar files that Immich reads and displays for each file when you choose the "info" option for the file?

[bo0tzz]

I think you're confusing the filesystem metadata with the EXIF metadata that holds the actual capture time of the asset.

[beneix]

Sorry if I am not communicating clearly. My request was that the media creation date, which I thought existed in the media file itself – either in the file's own timestamp or in the EXIF metadata – could be applied to the file that is then downloaded when the user requests a download.

If the media creation date only resides in a separate file, not the media file itself, then I understand that the coding to provide my required functionality is more involved. Nevertheless, even if #10592 were delivered, the user would have to manually update the metadata in each media file from each sidecar file, which seems less than ideal.