Photomator loses ratings in the .photo file format after restarting the mac

Question

Photomator loses ratings in the .photo file format after restarting the mac

I have been working a lot in Photomator (Version 3.4.15 (20260717.1342) ) last week.

From a customers, I have received about 300 images in a shared Apple Fotos Album.

I opened this album in Photomator (in working in the Fotos library tab).

I then exported these images with the .photo format to an external SSD Disk.

I synced the folder with the images in Photomator in the "Files" grid.

In the next step I rated the images to pick the best ones.

A day later and after a restart of my Macbook Pro M2 (MacOS 27.0) I realized, that the ratings have been lost.

The sidecar .xmp file contains the correct rating, but Photomator does not read this info correctly.

Then I started to test other image formats.

With .jpg, .heic or Sony .arw files it works without any errors. Ratings and marks survive every retstart of the Mac.

When I only restart Photomator, then the programm correctly reads the ratings in .photo files. But a restart of the Mac definitely kills the info.

content of .xmp file

Gepostet am 21. Sept. 2026 14:22

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Answer 1

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PreCognition

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21. Sept. 2026 14:33 als Antwort auf Imager

I think your screenshot shows an important clue. The `.arw` and `.photo` files appear to have the same base filename, and after the restart the 4-star rating ends up on the `.arw` while disappearing from the `.photo`. Your XMP file still contains `<xmp:Rating>4</xmp:Rating>`.

That makes me wonder whether Photomator is associating the sidecar with the RAW file after a reboot because both files share the same name, rather than actually losing the rating.

I’d test this with copies only: put one RAW and one `.photo` file in a separate test folder, give the `.photo` a clearly different filename, rate both differently, then restart the Mac. Don’t rename or change your 300 originals yet.

If the ratings then survive correctly, you’ve probably found a filename/XMP sidecar conflict. If the `.photo` rating still disappears, your testing already makes a pretty strong case for a Photomator bug, since JPEG, HEIC, and ARW behave normally.

Either way, I’d report it through Photomator’s Help > Report an Issue and include this screenshot and the matching .photo/.xmp test files. The fact that the rating is still present in the XMP but Photomator displays it on the wrong file after a reboot is especially useful information for them.

A friendly note: This is the German-language Apple Support Community. Posting your question in German will make it easier for more members to understand it and offer assistance.

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Answer 2

21. Sept. 2026 15:13 als Antwort auf Imager

Hallo

War mir gerade nicht bewusst, dass ich mich in der deutschen Community befand.

Vielen Dank für dein Feedback.

Habe nun nochmals einen Test mit verschiedenen Bildnamen in verschiedenen Ordnern gemacht.

Gleiches Resultat. Nach Neustart von Photomator ist das Rating in beiden Bildformaten drin. Wechsle ich in den anderen Ordner mit dem Raw File und gehe zurück zum .photo Bild, dann ist das Rating schon wieder verschwunden. (siehe Screenshot).

Im .xmp file ist das Rating immer noch korrekt drin. Auch wenn ich es z.B. wieder neu auf 4 setze, dann ist es im .xmp drin.

Sehr schräg ist, dass die Markierung immer drin bleibt und auch einen Neustart vom Mac überlebt.

lg Paul

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Answer 3

21. Sept. 2026 15:29 als Antwort auf PreCognition

Hier ein Video mit dem Verhalten (dauert diesmal über 1.5 Min, bis die Library geöffnet ist - also nach hinten scrollen)

https://cleanshot.com/share/gQBc0D7H

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