Love exiftool. Saved me hundreds of hours of editing photos for dates (several thousand images and mp4). Many thanks.
Photos and mp4 all have correct dates in google Photos and Synology Moments apps.
Now I am trying to add descriptions to some images (all jpg).
I have discovered that Synology Moments reads the imagedescription tag (for Description). All good :)
But what does Google Photos read for their Description field. tried loads but none seem to work.
Many thanks.
Here (https://github.com/StarGeekSpaceNerd/Metadata_Reference/blob/master/Photos.google.com.md) is where I've documented some of what tags Google Photos reads. I have to make a few edits regarding time zones but otherwise accurate as of my last test earlier this year.
I'd suggest using IPTC:Caption-Abstract or XMP:Description, as the other two are less commonly supported among most software. Seriously, I can't think of another tool that even is aware of Ducky:Comment.
Thanks. I tried:
XMP:Description
IPTC:Caption-Abstract
XMP-dc:Description
XMP-tiff:ImageDescription
Ducky:Comment
But none of them are showing up in the description in Google images :(
In Irfanview the IPTC Caption and exif imagedescription show the correct data.
This is what I am entering (there are no errors, files are reported as being updated):
exiftool -ImageDescription="test" -XMP-dc:Description="test" "-FileCreateDate<CreateDate" "-FileModifyDate<CreateDate" "D:\pics"
Not sure what I am doing wrong.
I have it working now.
It seems that Google Photos ignores the IPTC:Caption-Abstract tag (well all tags are ignored) if modifying after it has already been uploaded.
Only option is to delete from Google Photos, make the edits and upload again.
Absolute pain to do this so I will take my time over the process.
At least going forward I am now confident that any new photos will have the correct description in both sources (Synology Moments and Google Photos).
Thanks again.
Yeah, all my testing was done by uploading, making changes, deleting, uploading again...
I think at some point I figured out that uploading the same image, even with a different name, wouldn't get you a new entry.
Thanks for putting me on the right track. Hopefully the post will help others in the future :)
And the description for videos on Google Photos, have anyone find the tag for that?
Ive tried a lot of alternativs and also asked at Google Photos forum, but no answer.
I made a quick test using the Quicktime ItemList and Keys tags that exiftool can write and it doesn't look like Google Photos doesn't read any of that data except for Keys:GPSCoordinates.
I didn't try any XMP tags in this test.
Is this still true for Google Photos? That to correct metadata:
"Only option is to delete from Google Photos, make the edits and upload again."
I thought that I had uploaded test photos with added exif data and got duplicates. So, I placed all of my existing photos in albums, so that when the revised photos are successfully uploaded into new albums I can delete everything in the old albums. (Only one week left before the new high quality photos cost storage, so I am organizing and exif tagging (ex. place offline folder names into the xmp:description so that I can search those names in GooglePhotos) all my offline photos to upload. I'm running out of time.... so many more old photos to sort.
I don't know. You'll have to test it to see.
Reviving an old thread as this is exactly what I'm trying to achieve and this thread comes up in Google search results. So I've tried to upload my photos to Google Photos with descriptive metadata. This shows up in web browser Google Photos as Other instead of Description. The problem is that the Other field isn't shown in iOS Google Photos app. So does anyone know how to populate the editable Description field in Google Photos with existing metadata. I've tried both IPTC:Caption-Abstract and XMP-dc:Description but they show up as Other. Below is a screenshot of what I'm seeing with a file that has both of the aforementioned data points populated with their corresponding names.
(https://i.imgur.com/CcUWrxE.png)
I just went back and checked. Uploaded my image from the desktop with Chrome, checked and the four tags that I detail in the link in the second post all work correctly
XMP-dc:Description
IPTC:Caption-Abstract
XMP-tiff:ImageDescription
Ducky:Comment
Example of what I see after uploading the image
(https://i.imgur.com/QamaJvs.png)
I don't get an "Other" category. What browser are you using to view Google Photos? What type of device and OS? Also, where are you uploading from e.g. U.S., European Union country?
Quote from: Sodapop73 on January 08, 2022, 04:17:28 PM
Google Photos with descriptive metadata
In Google Photos .jpg I have used (as an old habit -- I have not tested
which one it uses) both IPTC:Caption-Abstract
and XMP-dc:Description for Captions/Descriptions and IPTC:Keywords
and XMP-dc:Subject for Keywords/Subject as well as regular GPS and dates for 1902 or later (...although EXIF would support dates older than that).
All work OK ...although Google Photos does not show imported Keywords. ...and because imported Captions lose line breaks and long Captions are truncated, I must paste those in the Google Photos web browser (...I have list of images that need that). ...and sometimes metadata must be rebuilt until the correct date is imported although it sits there at ExifIFD:DateTimeOriginal. ...and I occasionally delete and upload images with updated metadata so other users don't have to use the clumsy Google Takeout to attach updated metadata to the .jpg they might download.
...and (the last time I tried it) it is not possible to search shared Captions or Keywords! Can you believe there is a Google product that can't search!! Search is only possible at the Google Photos main window,
not inside albums. To do a Caption or Keyword search (I don't know if it searches both) users have to add the album to their own photos and do the search there, or download and open the album in other apps (...and at the moment my 1300 image album can only be downloaded in small chunks for some reason). This is a great pity because I have an album with dozens of carefully picked Keywords per image. Currently other users don't have an easy access to filter those >1000 images via Keyword searches.
In Google Photos .mp4, .m4v and .mov I have used QuickTime:CreateDate for 1970 or later and Keys:CreationDate for 1902-1969 and Keys:GPSCoordinates for locations.
.m4v and .mov display correct time combined with the timezone ...but in .mp4 the timezone must be subtracted from the inserted time for some reason.
...before year 1902 Keys:CreationDate
might work even to year 0001 but then Google Photos might randomly display a wrong date and even if it displays the correct date, it might sort that movie incorrectly.
...so all image and movie dates are forced to 1902 or later (...the correct date is in the filename, though).
...movie Captions must be pasted in the Google Photos web browser.
...but anyways Google Photos was the best free or even commercial photos sharing alternative when I tested it and Dropbox, Apple and Microsoft cloud, Picasa, Flickr and SmugMug a few years ago.
...so there is a 3rd party opportunity to make a great photos and movies sharing app.
p.s. for some reason today the iOS 15.2 Google Photos app very randomly does not show the Caption while in iOS 10.3.4 Google Photos app and macOS 11.6.2 Safari it is always shown.
Here is an example of such Google Photos album with images and some movies dating back to year -7050:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/B8FoHCDkTyfZ8j4p8
Thanks to both for your replies!
Quote from: StarGeek on January 08, 2022, 05:21:15 PM
I don't get an "Other" category. What browser are you using to view Google Photos? What type of device and OS? Also, where are you uploading from e.g. U.S., European Union country?
I'm using the latest version of Chrome on Windows 11. Also tried on macOS 12 Monterey with newest Safari, same thing. Uploading from Finland so EU. Do you think it makes a difference on how the metadata is parsed?
Quote from: wywh on January 09, 2022, 10:54:36 AM
In Google Photos .jpg I have used (as an old habit -- I have not tested which one it uses) both IPTC:Caption-Abstract and XMP-dc:Description for Captions/Descriptions and IPTC:Keywords and XMP-dc:Subject for Keywords/Subject as well as regular GPS and dates for 1902 or later (...although EXIF would support dates older than that).
This is great information, thanks. The images you linked were interesting, always nice to see old photos of Finland. On some of your photos, both Description and Other fields are shown. Have you always pasted the description afterwards inside Google Photos or have you managed to fill the Description field with metadata automatically somehow?
Quote from: Sodapop73 on January 11, 2022, 10:42:47 AMDo you think it makes a difference on how the metadata is parsed?
It's about the only thing I can think of. It's not something I can figure out because I don't even see the "Other" listing.
Quote from: Sodapop73 on January 11, 2022, 10:42:47 AM
Have you always pasted the description afterwards inside Google Photos or have you managed to fill the Description field with metadata automatically somehow?
I insert all metadata with GraphicConverter or exiftool (GC uses exiftool) before uploading to Google Photos which then automatically imports and displays
almost all relevant image (dates, GPS descriptions) and movie (dates, GPS) metadata.
I only have to paste the descriptions from GC to the selected few uploaded images where Google Photos as a "feature" a) strips all line breaks or b) truncates longish descriptions. I have not found any movie description tag that Google Photos could automatically import so I paste also them in the web browser.
I use Big Sur or Monterey Safari, Windows 10 Chrome and Google Photos iOS app and there all that info is shown.
Quote from: wywh on January 11, 2022, 02:50:46 PM
(GC uses exiftool)
Only for the reading the metadata that appears in the ExifTool panel. It doesn't use it for writing anything.
- Phil
I tried inserting the metadata with GraphicConverter 11 but Google Photos just refuses to show anything in the Description field. Seems like I'm cursed. Well, I'll just have to find something else to distribute photos.
Quote from: Sodapop73 on January 15, 2022, 04:20:48 AM
Google Photos just refuses to show anything in the Description field.
Weird. So you set in GC (*) > File > Browse... > [select folder, select .jpg] > Edit File Info (IPTC/XMP) > One selected image at a time... [cmd-I] > write Caption/Description > OK.
(*) or the same in exiftool (sometimes metadata must be rebuilt before Google Photos sees the correct date so I did it here as a 2nd step, just in case):
exiftool -m -P -overwrite_original_in_place -IPTC:Caption-Abstract='Caption. Apollo 10 command module at London Natural History Museum.' -XMP-dc:Description='Description. Apollo 10 command module at London Natural History Museum.' 2013-1015-1452-17.jpg
1 image files updated
exiftool -m -P -overwrite_original_in_place -all= -tagsfromfile @ -all:all -unsafe -icc_profile 2013-1015-1452-17.jpg
Warning: ICC_Profile deleted. Image colors may be affected - 2013-1015-1452-17.jpg
1 image files updated
exiftool -a -G1 -s -IPTC:Caption-Abstract -XMP:Description 2013-1015-1452-17.jpg
[IPTC] Caption-Abstract : Caption. Apollo 10 command module at London Natural History Museum.
[XMP-dc] Description : Description. Apollo 10 command module at London Natural History Museum.Then uploaded the image with Safari/Chrome etc to Google Photos (no similar image there yet?) and check the Info box (Big Sur Safari screenshot attached). Google Photos seems to prefer XMP-dc:Description.
- Matti
Quote from: wywh on January 15, 2022, 05:46:14 AM
Weird. So you set in GC (*) > File > Browse... > [select folder, select .jpg] > Edit File Info (IPTC/XMP) > One selected image at a time... [cmd-I] > write Caption/Description > OK.
Then uploaded the image with Safari/Chrome etc to Google Photos (no similar image there yet?) and check the Info box (Big Sur Safari screenshot attached). Google Photos seems to prefer XMP-dc:Description.
- Matti
Yes, this is exactly how I did it. The same image has never been uploaded. Below is a screen recording of what I did exactly.
https://imgur.com/qGsKojw
Quote from: Sodapop73 on January 16, 2022, 05:25:42 AM
Yes, this is exactly how I did it. The same image has never been uploaded. Below is a screen recording of what I did exactly.
Did you verify that the Caption/Description was indeed saved to the .jpg by re-opening the IPTC dialog (attached screenshot -- GC seems to prefer IPTC but it sets XMP the same by default) in GC or checking the info in exiftool:
exiftool -a -G1 -s -IPTC:Caption-Abstract -XMP-dc:Description image.jpg
[IPTC] Caption-Abstract : Caption-Abstract
[XMP-dc] Description : DescriptionI have not used any drag-and-drop in the workflow although that should not matter.
Quote from: wywh on January 16, 2022, 06:00:07 AM
Did you verify that the Caption/Description was indeed saved to the .jpg by re-opening the IPTC dialog
Since the screen shot in this post (https://exiftool.org/forum/index.php?topic=10161.msg71217#msg71217) shows
XMP-dc:Description in Other, I'd guess that they're using the test file (https://exiftool.org/forum/index.php?topic=9212.0) that I created that has over 1,400 preset tags. That's the format I used in that file.
Quote from: wywh on January 16, 2022, 06:00:07 AM
Did you verify that the Caption/Description was indeed saved to the .jpg by re-opening the IPTC dialog (attached screenshot -- GC seems to prefer IPTC but it sets XMP the same by default) in GC or checking the info in exiftool:
I have not used any drag-and-drop in the workflow although that should not matter.
Yes, screenshot attached below of the file that's shown in the screen recording.
Quote from: StarGeek on January 08, 2022, 05:21:15 PM
I don't get an "Other" category.
I did not get the "Other" category a few days ago but now I do for my old and new Google Photos albums when viewed from macOS 11.6.2 Big Sur Safari 15.2 and Firefox 96.0.2.
Previously imported IPTC/XMP Captions/Descriptions were displayed at the top (see my previous attachment in this thread) but not they are less visible at the "Other/(i.e. Muu)" section somewhat lower (XMP-tiff:ImageDescription at screenshot from Stargeek's "MetadataTestFile.jpg" attached).
https://exiftool.org/forum/index.php?topic=9212.0
Maybe Google Photos has some update that has caused this unwanted behavior?
And now I have an "Other" category as well.
So it looks like there isn't a way to pre-fill the "Description" anymore.
Quote from: StarGeek on January 22, 2022, 02:48:59 PM
And now I have an "Other" category as well.
So it looks like there isn't a way to pre-fill the "Description" anymore.
I just came across this thread. As I've been scanning old negatives, and adding digital images from various sources to include them in my Google Photos stream, I've been frustrated by how complicated it seems to be to find out what properties GP uses, and particularly which image property(s) should be mapped into the uploaded image to appear as the GP description.
A few months ago, I noticed that the "Other" category started appearing in some (but not all) of the images uploaded to GP. The attached screenshot shows how the "Title" property for an image from my DJI drone maps to the "Other" category when uploaded to GP. Neither of the "Comments" or "Subject" properties appear in the GP Info panel.
The GPS coordinates (lat/long/altitude) recorded by the drone are used in GP for my screenshot. However, when I use tools like GeoSetter or XnViewMP to add geotags, the coordinates are recognized correctly by GP in the uploaded images.
I'm using 64-bit Windows 10. I see the same GP results in either of a Chrome or Edge browser (both up-to-date).
Quote from: EricWQ on February 18, 2022, 01:44:52 PM
A few months ago, I noticed that the "Other" category started appearing
Yes. For some strange reason Google Photos now shows imported IPTC:Caption-Abstract and XMP-dc:Description in its "Other" field at the bottom and the by default now empty upper field for it must be manually typed. It is not possible to update both fields for other users which is very confusing. Sigh.
https://support.google.com/photos/thread/143046752?hl=en&msgid=145433598
Yes, Google Photos in macOS 11.6.4 Safari now displays IPTC:Caption-Abstract or XMP-dc:Description in imported .jpg in its new "Other" field in the lower right and now leaves the upper right field empty.
Google Photos 5.77.427228537 in iOS 15.3 does not display IPTC:Caption-Abstract or XMP-dc:Description in imported .jpg anywhere.
Older Google Photos 4.35.288221417 in iOS 10.3.4 still displays IPTC:Caption-Abstract or XMP-dc:Description in imported .jpg.
Old Google Photos behaved much better although it skipped linebreaks and truncated longish Descriptions.
- Matti
Quote from: wywh on January 09, 2022, 10:54:36 AM
...and (the last time I tried it) it is not possible to search shared Captions or Keywords! Can you believe there is a Google product that can't search!! Search is only possible at the Google Photos main window, not inside albums. To do a Caption or Keyword search (I don't know if it searches both) users have to add the album to their own photos and do the search there, or download and open the album in other apps (...and at the moment my 1300 image album can only be downloaded in small chunks for some reason). This is a great pity because I have an album with dozens of carefully picked Keywords per image. Currently other users don't have an easy access to filter those >1000 images via Keyword searches.
FYI, I am able to find the metadata GP displays under 'Other' from the main GP window. Not ideal when viewing individual photos, but at least useful for *finding* photos. This is on top of their AI-powered search algorithms...
Hello, I am an ExifTool novice, but hoping someone can help!
I've inherited this batch file script, to covert a full folder of picture captions and dates, so that they will all import into Google Photos in filename sequence, and Google Photos will prominently display each picture's caption as "Description:"
exiftool.exe -overwrite_original -all= -tagsFromFile @ -Description .
exiftool.exe -overwrite_original "-file:fileCreateDate+<0:0:$filesequence" .
exiftool.exe -overwrite_original "-CreateDate<file:fileCreateDate" "-ModifyDate<file:fileCreateDate" "-file:fileModifyDate<file:fileCreateDate" "-DateTimeOriginal<file:fileCreateDate" "-MetadataDate<file:fileCreateDate" -P .
This worked great for years, at least 2018-2021. Now I try it again for the first time in 2022, and the pictures upload to Google in the correct (filename) sequence, but Google Photos NO LONGER SHOWS ANY DESCRIPTION TEXT. My photo caption is only displayed under the "Other" heading.
** Has Google Photos changed sometime this year as to from where they draw the Description? From this thread, it appears they *should* draw it from XMP-dc:Description, but it looks like my picture caption *is* under that tag, but nonetheless Google Photos is no longer picking it up.
** Any suggestions how I might change my above batch file script to ensure that the picture captions *are* picked up by Google Photos as a Description?
If it helps, I attached the JPG before and after running the batch script. The caption should be: "Welcome to Rotterdam (Netherlands, 1-4Sept22 w/ NK)"
Thank you!
Quote from: ckpager on September 08, 2022, 09:55:52 AMHas Google Photos changed sometime this year as to from where they draw the Description?
At around January 2022 for some strange reason Google Photos moved its old Description info-field lower and labeled it "Other". It seems it is not possible to edit that "Other" field unless the edited .jpg is re-imported.
But as before, Google Photos grabs that text from either 'XMP-dc:Description' or 'IPTC:Caption-Abstract' when importing .jpg. It seems to prefer 'XMP-dc:Description' if they differ but I always make them same anyway.
The old Description info-field is still available in the upper panel but it seems to accept only direct manual input from the keyboard. I have not tested whether that field is exported as .json sidecar via Google Takeout.
There is a long thread people complaining about this in Google Photos support page:
https://support.google.com/photos/thread/143046752?hl=en&msgid=145433598
I think that if you want to add a Description on upload, you will need to use the Google Photos API rather than the UI. Read the desired caption with Exiftool, then feed it into the API POST request (Step 2 of https://developers.google.com/photos/library/guides/upload-media).
I note that a manually-added Google Photos Description does not appear to be preserved after download in any field readable by Exiftool, and re-uploading the downloaded photo creates a new object without Description. Doubtless the description is recorded separately as metadata in the object store rather than in the object itself.