diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4d3001c1..27630cbe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ Options:
                                   Search by end item date, e.g.
                                   2000-01-12T12:00:00 or 2000-12-31 (ISO 8601
                                   w/o TZ).
+  --export-as-hardlink            Hardlink files instead of copying them.
   --overwrite                     Overwrite existing files. Default behavior
                                   is to add (1), (2), etc to filename if file
                                   already exists. Use this with caution as it
@@ -984,12 +985,13 @@ Returns True if photo is a panorama, otherwise False.
 Returns a JSON representation of all photo info 
 
 #### `export()`
-`export(dest, *filename, edited=False, live_photo=False, overwrite=False, increment=True, sidecar_json=False, sidecar_xmp=False, use_photos_export=False, timeout=120, exiftool=False, no_xattr=False, use_albums_as_keywords=False, use_persons_as_keywords=False)`
+`export(dest, *filename, edited=False, live_photo=False, export_as_hardlink=False, overwrite=False, increment=True, sidecar_json=False, sidecar_xmp=False, use_photos_export=False, timeout=120, exiftool=False, no_xattr=False, use_albums_as_keywords=False, use_persons_as_keywords=False)`
 
 Export photo from the Photos library to another destination on disk.  
 - dest: must be valid destination path as str (or exception raised).
 - *filename (optional): name of picture as str; if not provided, will use current filename.  **NOTE**: if provided, user must ensure file extension (suffix) is correct. For example, if photo is .CR2 file, edited image may be .jpeg.  If you provide an extension different than what the actual file is, export will print a warning but will happily export the photo using the incorrect file extension.  e.g. to get the extension of the edited photo, look at [PhotoInfo.path_edited](#path_edited).
 - edited: boolean; if True (default=False), will export the edited version of the photo (or raise exception if no edited version)
+- export_as_hardlink: boolean; if True (default=False), will hardlink files instead of copying them
 - overwrite: boolean; if True (default=False), will overwrite files if they alreay exist
 - live_photo: boolean; if True (default=False), will also export the associted .mov for live photos; exported live photo will be named filename.mov
 - increment: boolean; if True (default=True), will increment file name until a non-existent name is found
diff --git a/osxphotos/__main__.py b/osxphotos/__main__.py
index d8c0cdae..a16c94dc 100644
--- a/osxphotos/__main__.py
+++ b/osxphotos/__main__.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ class ExportCommand(click.Command):
         )
         formatter.write("\n")
         formatter.write_text(
-            "The templating system may also be used with the --keyword-template option "
+                        "The templating system may also be used with the --keyword-template option "
             + "to set keywords on export (with --exiftool or --sidecar), "
             + "for example, to set a new keyword in format 'folder/subfolder/album' to "
             + 'preserve the folder/album structure, you can use --keyword-template "{folder_album}"'
@@ -860,6 +860,11 @@ def query(
 @DB_OPTION
 @click.option("--verbose", "-V", is_flag=True, help="Print verbose output.")
 @query_options
+@click.option(
+    "--export-as-hardlink",
+    is_flag=True,
+    help="Hardlink files instead of copying them. ",
+)
 @click.option(
     "--overwrite",
     is_flag=True,
@@ -1004,6 +1009,7 @@ def export(
     from_date,
     to_date,
     verbose,
+    export_as_hardlink,
     overwrite,
     export_by_date,
     skip_edited,
@@ -1195,6 +1201,7 @@ def export(
                         verbose,
                         export_by_date,
                         sidecar,
+                        export_as_hardlink,
                         overwrite,
                         export_edited,
                         original_name,
@@ -1216,6 +1223,7 @@ def export(
                     verbose,
                     export_by_date,
                     sidecar,
+                    export_as_hardlink,
                     overwrite,
                     export_edited,
                     original_name,
@@ -1605,6 +1613,7 @@ def export_photo(
     verbose,
     export_by_date,
     sidecar,
+    export_as_hardlink,
     overwrite,
     export_edited,
     original_name,
@@ -1624,6 +1633,7 @@ def export_photo(
         verbose: boolean; print verbose output
         export_by_date: boolean; create export folder in form dest/YYYY/MM/DD
         sidecar: list zero, 1 or 2 of ["json","xmp"] of sidecar variety to export
+        export_as_hardlink: boolean; hardlink files instead of copying them
         overwrite: boolean; overwrite dest file if it already exists
         original_name: boolean; use original filename instead of current filename
         export_live: boolean; also export live video component if photo is a live photo
@@ -1715,6 +1725,7 @@ def export_photo(
             sidecar_xmp=sidecar_xmp,
             live_photo=export_live,
             raw_photo=export_raw,
+            export_as_hardlink=export_as_hardlink,
             overwrite=overwrite,
             use_photos_export=use_photos_export,
             exiftool=exiftool,
@@ -1752,6 +1763,7 @@ def export_photo(
                     edited_name,
                     sidecar_json=sidecar_json,
                     sidecar_xmp=sidecar_xmp,
+                    export_as_hardlink=export_as_hardlink,
                     overwrite=overwrite,
                     edited=True,
                     use_photos_export=use_photos_export,
diff --git a/osxphotos/_version.py b/osxphotos/_version.py
index 9815fa64..2a780cb0 100644
--- a/osxphotos/_version.py
+++ b/osxphotos/_version.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 """ version info """
 
-__version__ = "0.28.13"
+__version__ = "0.28.14"
diff --git a/osxphotos/photoinfo.py b/osxphotos/photoinfo.py
index 1df32457..dac2874f 100644
--- a/osxphotos/photoinfo.py
+++ b/osxphotos/photoinfo.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ from .template import (
     TEMPLATE_SUBSTITUTIONS_MULTI_VALUED,
 )
 from .utils import (
+    _hardlink_file,
     _copy_file,
     _export_photo_uuid_applescript,
     _get_resource_loc,
@@ -635,6 +636,7 @@ class PhotoInfo:
         edited=False,
         live_photo=False,
         raw_photo=False,
+        export_as_hardlink=False,
         overwrite=False,
         increment=True,
         sidecar_json=False,
@@ -660,6 +662,7 @@ class PhotoInfo:
                     (or raise exception if no edited version) 
             live_photo: (boolean, default=False); if True, will also export the associted .mov for live photos
             raw_photo: (boolean, default=False); if True, will also export the associted RAW photo
+            export_as_hardlink: (boolean, default=False); if True, will hardlink files instead of copying them
             overwrite: (boolean, default=False); if True will overwrite files if they alreay exist 
             increment: (boolean, default=True); if True, will increment file name until a non-existant name is found 
                        if overwrite=False and increment=False, export will fail if destination file already exists 
@@ -802,7 +805,10 @@ class PhotoInfo:
             )
 
             # copy the file, _copy_file uses ditto to preserve Mac extended attributes
-            _copy_file(src, dest, norsrc=no_xattr)
+            if export_as_hardlink:
+                _hardlink_file(src, dest)
+            else:
+                _copy_file(src, dest, norsrc=no_xattr)          
             exported_files.append(str(dest))
 
             # copy live photo associated .mov if requested
@@ -814,7 +820,10 @@ class PhotoInfo:
                     logging.debug(
                         f"Exporting live photo video of {filename} as {live_name.name}"
                     )
-                    _copy_file(src_live, str(live_name), norsrc=no_xattr)
+                    if export_as_hardlink:
+                        _hardlink_file(src_live, str(live_name))
+                    else:
+                        _copy_file(src_live, str(live_name), norsrc=no_xattr)
                     exported_files.append(str(live_name))
                 else:
                     logging.warning(f"Skipping missing live movie for {filename}")
@@ -828,7 +837,10 @@ class PhotoInfo:
                     logging.debug(
                         f"Exporting RAW photo of {filename} as {raw_name.name}"
                     )
-                    _copy_file(str(raw_path), str(raw_name), norsrc=no_xattr)
+                    if export_as_hardlink:
+                        _hardlink_file(str(raw_path), str(raw_name))
+                    else:
+                        _copy_file(str(raw_path), str(raw_name), norsrc=no_xattr)
                     exported_files.append(str(raw_name))
                 else:
                     logging.warning(f"Skipping missing RAW photo for {filename}")
diff --git a/osxphotos/utils.py b/osxphotos/utils.py
index ef1aede5..37c30c43 100644
--- a/osxphotos/utils.py
+++ b/osxphotos/utils.py
@@ -118,6 +118,30 @@ def _dd_to_dms(dd):
     return int(deg_), int(min_), sec_
 
 
+def _hardlink_file(src, dest):
+    """ Hardlinks a file from src path to dest path 
+        src: source path as string 
+        dest: destination path as string
+        Raises exception if linking fails or either path is None """
+
+    if src is None or dest is None:
+        raise ValueError("src and dest must not be None", src, dest)
+
+    if not os.path.isfile(src):
+        raise FileNotFoundError("src file does not appear to exist", src)
+
+
+    # if error on copy, subprocess will raise CalledProcessError
+    try:
+        os.link(src, dest)
+    except Exception as e:
+        logging.critical(
+            f"ln returned error: {e.returncode} {e.stderr.decode(sys.getfilesystemencoding()).rstrip()}"
+        )
+        raise e
+
+    
+
 def _copy_file(src, dest, norsrc=False):
     """ Copies a file from src path to dest path 
         src: source path as string 
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index b106855a..da3b592a 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -241,6 +241,23 @@ def test_export():
         assert sorted(files) == sorted(CLI_EXPORT_FILENAMES)
 
 
+def test_export_using_hardlinks():
+    import glob
+    import os
+    import os.path
+    import osxphotos
+    from osxphotos.__main__ import export
+
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    cwd = os.getcwd()
+    # pylint: disable=not-context-manager
+    with runner.isolated_filesystem():
+        result = runner.invoke(export, [os.path.join(cwd, CLI_PHOTOS_DB), ".", "--export-as-hardlink","-V"])
+        assert result.exit_code == 0
+        files = glob.glob("*")
+        assert sorted(files) == sorted(CLI_EXPORT_FILENAMES)
+
+
 def test_export_current_name():
     import glob
     import os
@@ -473,11 +490,14 @@ def test_export_raw_edited_original():
 def test_export_directory_template_1():
     # test export using directory template
     import glob
+    import locale
     import os
     import os.path
     import osxphotos
     from osxphotos.__main__ import export
 
+    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, "en_US")
+
     runner = CliRunner()
     cwd = os.getcwd()
     # pylint: disable=not-context-manager