ExifTool Forum

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-29 03:15:48-07]

REALLY REALLY new to this . Need to have filenames in big batches written over to IPTC field. I rename all my photos before uploading to a photosharing site : SmugMug. It needs filenames to be in some IPTC field in order for it to make searchable captions for the photos.
  I was using something called BreezeBrowser before my trial time ran out. You drag/drop your folder of photos onto it , select all, put this thing they called a "token" ( @file@ ) into the correct iptc field ( had to figure out which one, and remember to switch something in preferences, but then... ) presto change-o : all was well.
  Seems like Image-Exif Tool can do this to ?
   Bit over my head. Have downloaded and unzipped  exiftool 7 23. What would I need to add , write where in order to get something out of it ?
  Would like to drag folder of photos onto something , have each individual filename written/converted to IPTC field .. so that I could upload to my photo site where the IPTC would get displayed as the captions. I got the impression that there's 2 or three different IPTC fields ( desciption, caption, comment - I think? ) that could get filled in. SmugMug ( staff, forum ) is hopeless in figuring out which is which. Wonder which ? I'm on a PC running vista, pics are jpegs.

Any help would be great.

Marty (voicelit)

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-29 13:54:52-07]

First, you need to figure out what tags to write.  Take one of
the images you wrote using BreezeBrowser and run
"exiftool  -a -G1 -s FILE".  Take note of the tags
you want to write.

Then you need to figure out what command you want to use
to write this.  Something like this maybe:


Note that FILE may be a directory or file name.  Also, you
may want to add the -overwrite_original  option to prevent
the original images from being backed up.

Finally, you should set up a shortcut in windows which will run
exiftool.exe with all your command-line options except the FILE names.
Then you can drag and drop files and folders onto this shortcut to
do the processing for you.

- Phil

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-29 15:50:26-07]

Gee Phil, Thanks. But I'm way on the evolutionary line from how you stated all that.

run "exiftool -a -G1 -s FILE"  
* understand nothing after " run exiftool"

exiftool "-iptc:caption-abstract filename" "-comment filename" FILE
* do I put ALL of that somewhere  or just : "-iptc:caption-abstract filename" "-comment filename"

Also, you may want to add the -overwrite_original option to prevent the original images from being backed up.
 * do want to add that, don't want originals backed up . But ADD that where?

"Finally, you should set up a shortcut in windows which will run exiftool.exe with all your command-line options except the FILE names. Then you can drag and drop files and folders onto this shortcut to do the processing for you."
* no concept whatsoever -on a scale of 1 to 10 : minus dumbfounded ? Know I have to prime the baseboards today before the final gloss white; may or may not use tape for a straight line or paint them freehand.

Any ideas?

Marty

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-29 17:02:15-07]

Hi Marty, I suggest doing it freehand if you have a steady
hand.  You geat better results that way.

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-29 18:15:13-07]

AHHH... I already taped. I'm getting too old ( back, eyes) to get down there and concemtrate like I use to. I'll wind up putting some quarter round molding there anyway, this is a really old fixer up , just 2" X 5" plank for the baseboard. What a talk on a site like this

Marty

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-30 03:12:48-07]

Got this in response to "how write filename to iptc in batch etc. But I just don't have a clue. Is the idea that - that's it. This for more advanced people. Someone just say so I can get on with something else.

First, you need to figure out what tags to write. Take one of the images you wrote using BreezeBrowser and run "exiftool -a -G1 -s FILE". Take note of the tags you want to write.

Then you need to figure out what command you want to use to write this. Something like this maybe:

exiftool "-iptc:caption-abstractfilename" "-commentfilename" FILE

Note that FILE may be a directory or file name. Also, you may want to add the -overwrite_original option to prevent the original images from being backed up.

Finally, you should set up a shortcut in windows which will run exiftool.exe with all your command-line options except the FILE names. Then you can drag and drop files and folders onto this shortcut to do the processing for you.

- Phil

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-30 11:38:28-07]

I was just hoping that after you were done painting you would get
a chance to read some of the exiftool documentation and try a few
commands yourself on the command line.  Once you get a feel for
it, it really isn't all that difficult.  I can help you with exiftool specifics,
but I really can't teach you how to use the command line.

The example exiftool command I gave ("exiftool -a -G1 -s FILE") is
typed verbatim at the command line, except that you substitute
"FILE" for the name of your image file.  To start, it is easiest if the
file and exiftool.exe are both in the same directory, and make this
is your working directory (type "cd DIR", where DIR is the directory
name, before typing the exiftool command).

The other exiftool options I suggested (things beginning with dashes.
ie. "-overwrite_original") may be added to the exiftool command.

Try looking at some example commands from the exiftool documentation
to get an idea of how this works.

Once you figure out the command syntax, it should be fairly easy to
get going.

- Phil

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-30 17:01:19-07]

How many lines of code would equal what I need : closer to 3 or more like 50 ?

seems I need to write 2 things : "Finally, you should set up a shortcut in windows which will run exiftool.exe with all your command-line options except the FILE names. Then you can drag and drop files and folders onto this shortcut to do the processing for you."

Stand alone executable doesn't help me at all : it just displays info in the file/phot/jpeg?

 Seems I need a PERL library if I'm gonna use command line stuff ?

Reading documentation doesn't help me if I need to read documentation on what the documentation terms refer to...
  * want what I'm calling : " filename" to get written to some what I'm calling  "iptc"  field.  What is the term for the name I give my photos . Like "dog jumping?" What are the names for "iptc" type things? Is that what's being called a " tag?" But isn't there "iptc", "xmp", exif" ?
 are they all caled "tags?"
  Once I figure out where my photo sharing site ( SmugMug) needs the  "iptc" info ( "caption"? "description?" "comment?' seems to cahange from app to app) , I can probably adjust the script/code/command .
    What term is being used for writing the 'filename" to an "iptc" field: "rename ?"  "replace?"  " move? "
      Don't understand " better if they are in the same directory."  Say I have a folder of photos on my desktop, and I want them all ipcted up: Do I have to then relocate that whole folder to some other location on my computer so that it's housed right there with exiftool in order for anything to happen?
  I don't care about backing up the file or whatever; just keep jpegs as they are , just embed in there somewhere the filename as an "iptc" type thing. Forget date and all that. SmugMug seems to to be reading that just fine, as is my photo viewer.

Any thoughts,

Marty (voicelit)

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-30 19:44:21-07]

We're talking about one single command line to do what you
want.  I think the problem is that you don't know what a command
line is.  The ggod news is that we can do this without a command
line if necessary.  First, try renaming "exiftool(-k).exe" to
"exiftool(-k -s -g1).exe".  Then drop one of your breezebrowser
images onto the newly renamed exiftool.  Now scroll up if
necessary in the window that appears to see the -- IPTC --
section, and take note of the label (tag name) beside the
filename information.  Then, say, assuming the tag name
was "caption-abstract", right-click on exiftool and change
the properties to add "-caption-abstract<filename" to
the command (separated by a space after the .exe).  Now when
you drop a file on exiftool, it will write the filename into the
caption instead of dumping all the imformation.

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 02:14:16-07]

You are a credit to the IT/Perl/scripting world. Okay, renamed. Drag & drop photo/image/file that had BREEZEBROWSER write to the IPTC caption field,  quickly the black box flashes up and is gone. Tried keeping photo in the same folder as exiftool ( the stand alone one:  "exiftool(-k).exe" ) (exiftool(-k -s -g1).exe). will keep trying stuff... but am stumped at the moment.
  Just fired this off to see if any help was available.

Marty

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 03:04:58-07]

 Okay, got it to stay open. Trashed everything , and then rextracted :"exiftool(-k)" opened as "exiftool(-k)" . no renaming to any ".exe" Dropped image that has breezebrowser iptc written caption. Black box window is staying open. Scrolling : see nothing marked as IPTC , see description : atlas, bailey 4.jpg ; application record version : 2 ; caption-abstract :   atlas, bailey 4.jpg ; urgency : 5 ....... way up top, 2nd down on list is : filename : atlas, bailey 4.jpg

   ".... IPTC --
section, and take note of the label (tag name) beside the
filename information.  " none of the above seems to apply to real world experience : don't know what "label" refers to . I'm just going on assumptions, Nor does the term "tag name " appear in the black box window. Like I said " about halfway down the list the term "caption-abstract" does appear (caption-abstract :   atlas, bailey 4.jpg )
   ".....assuming the tag name
was "caption-abstract", right-click on exiftool and change
the properties to add "-caption-abstract<filename" to
the command (separated by a space after the .exe).  "
  Totally lost : "right - click on exiftool " what tool : the black box window that's open ? The exiftool(-k) icon? Which, where, what "properties ?" Right clicking on blue bar  top of black box window brings up a properties option ( probably not that one ), Right click on exiftool(-k)icon brings up a properties option where there seems only one field to add "-caption-abstract<filename" . Do you mean to what I would call the name ? "exiftool(-k -s -g1).exe" then "-caption-abstract<filename" ? Remember, at the moment , I don't even have the thing renamed to "exiftool(-k -s -g1).exe" 'cause I couldn't get the black box window to stay open with it renamed that way. It's still named : exiftool(-k) , 'least that's what's under the icon. YEP, just tried it again , after renaming it ( under the icon, right-click "rename" ) still just flashes up there and is gone.
   If we got this working, would it work for BATCH ? Drop a lot of photos on the exiftool and all have file name written to IPTC field ? Would that mean they ( tool & photos) have to be in "same directory" , same folder, whatever any of that means?

Marty

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 03:14:29-07]

OKAY, Renaming exiftool(-k) to exiftool(-k -s -g1) gets a lot of stuff done. It's the addition of ".exe " that makes the black box flash up and gone thing happen.  Dropping the breezebrowser iptc written file/jpeg onto the exiftool(-k -s -g1)ICON brings up an IPTC category ( like you said) in the black box window. Any ideas?

Marty

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 03:22:56-07]

Just dropped tried renaming to "exiftool(-k -s -g1).exe caption-abstract<filename" in what I would call the file name field of properties, right click on exiftool(-k -s -g1).exe icon OR just right-click : rename. Then dropped file/jpeg onto it : black box window flashed up then gone. Checked using Irfan image viewer if there was anything in the iptc fields. Nothing.

Marty

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-31 11:03:52-07]

Hi Marty,

I had access to a PC this morning.  (Yesterday I was typing on my iPod and going
by memory .)  It turns out that you need to make a Windows Shortcut to be able
to add arguments as I suggested.  Sorry.

So rename exiftool back to "exiftool(-k).exe".  (BTW, the -k in brackets is supposed
to keep the window from closing immediately, so if it doesn't stay open it is because
exiftool isn't seeing the -k for some reason.)

Now follow these steps:

1) Right click on "exiftool(-k).exe" and select "Create Shortcut" from the menu.

2) Find the shortcut that was created (it should be named "Shortcut to exiftool(-k)"
or something like that).  Right click on the shortcut and edit the "Target" entry to add
the options.  Before you begin editing, the "Target" should look like something like this
(including the quotes):

"c:\Some directory name\exiftool(-k).exe"


then after you edit, it should look like this:

"c:\Some directory name\exiftool(-k).exe" -k "-caption-abstract<filename"


Here I have added an extra -k just in case, although I don't think it should be necessary.
Now if you drag and drop a file or folder onto the shortcut, it should add the filename
to the IPTC caption-abstract of all images.  A black box should appear to tell you how
many images were modified, and with any luck it won't disappear immediately.  Note
that if successful, you will now see a file ending with the name "_original" for each image
that was edited.  After confirming that the new file is OK, you can drag the "_original"
files into the trash.   If you already have backups of your images and don't want the
"_original" files to be created, you can change the shortcut Target to this:

"c:\Some directory name\exiftool(-k).exe" -k "-caption-abstract<filename" -overwrite_original


You can write my than one tag by adding them to the target too.  For example, if you
want to also write the filename to the JPEG comment, you could change the Target
to this:

"c:\Some directory name\exiftool(-k).exe" -k "-caption-abstract<filename" "-comment<filename"


You can also read the exiftool application documentation to see what other options are
possible.  There are many of them.

I hope this gets you going.  Sorry about the false start.

- Phil

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 17:56:15-07]

Thanks phil,

Stil not working. I'll write TWO responses so you can focus on the problems/confusions separately:
  FIRST )... still doesn't stay open if exiftool is named with .exe ? " exiftool(-k) " stays open? " exiftool(-k).exe " does not ?  I've tried every variation of leaving spaces I can think of, even dropping the (-k) etc... nothing.
   Is there something -maybe- about which version I've downloaded ? I know there are two: executable type of standalone which is what I have; and some other more original commandline type .
    Whatever.

Marty (voicelit)

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-31 18:06:52-07]

The Standalone windows executable is downloaded as
"exiftool-7.23.zip" and should un-zip to a file called
"exiftool(-k).exe".  Are you telling me that when you drop
an image on this file, the window doesn't stay open?

- Phil

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 18:18:25-07]

Thanks Phil, Stil not working. I'll write TWO responses so you can focus on the problems/confusions separately:

SECOND )  Cannot get the SHORTCUT to work. shortcut gets me this in " target " field THE " f2k " after desktop is name of the folder.  Seems strange to me that it keeps coming up with the " .exe" at the end when I've rewritten the name to be without " .exe" ? See my first question today : won't stay open with .exe.  YOU WROTE

then after you edit, it should look like this:

I've tried what seems like an infinite set of variations on:
with qoutes, without: whole string in one big qoute, getting rid of " .exe " : going through all the with qoute, without qoutess variations. More variations .
  Keeping getting variations on it not being a Valid " name or tag or something. Sometimes a " Warning " about the " tag".

  I'll keep working on it , have some more variations I've just thought of: taking it out of that folder nmaed " f2k ", can't remember if I kept the word " filename " at the end of the " command " or changed it to the actual name of the file with all the variations.

Marty

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-31 18:30:04-07]

Marty,  does your Target look like this:


or like this?:


I want to be sure you use the "less than" symbol, and not the
escaped HTML lt character.

Also, I don't like the "exiftool-7.23(2)" directory name.  It is possible
(although unlikely) that the brackets in the directory name are causing
problems.  Perhaps you could drag this to another directory then try
making a new Shortcut there.

- Phil

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-31 18:30:59-07]

Oops.  Forgot the leading double quotes in my Target above, but you get the idea.

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 18:50:19-07]

Yep, just drop a file on exiftool(-k).exe , jpeg won't stay open. Get rid of ".exe " in name under the icon, right-click , select " rename ", it stays open, displays the info.

Marty

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-31 19:00:36-07]

I'm no Windows expert, but it sounds like Windows is hiding the file
extension on you (Mac OS can do this too, depending on your settings).
In any case, if it works for you without the .exe then use it that way.

- Phil

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 19:00:38-07]

MINE LOOKS LIKE THIS :C:\Users\cathymarty\Desktop\f2k\exiftool-7.23(2)\exiftool(-k).exe" -k "-caption-abstract<filename"

Marty,  does your Target look like this:

or like this?:

NO , MINE DOESN'T HAVE THE greater than, less than stuff.

   Dragging the exiftool to other directory , fifferent folder on desktop.... gets rid of brackets but adds an extre " .exe" to the end like this:

C:\Users\cathymarty\Desktop\exiftool(-k).exe.exe

Marty

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-03-31 19:04:01-07]

It is the less than symbol that you want after "-caption-abstract",
not ampersand-l-t-semicolon.

The double .exe indicates that one of them was indeed being hidden.
This explains these problems.

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-03-31 20:25:49-07]

 double .exe  ... Anything I should do to find the hidden exiftool(-k).exe ?  Doesn't matter if the .exe.exe doubles like that ? SO, it should be this

 
except now -since I moved it - it's :


THEN MAKE IT  IT DOESN'T COME UP IN SHORTCUT TARGET WINDOW WITH QOUTES: BEFORE ADDING THE REST OF IT ? THE WORD "filename" at the end of THAT MEANS KEEP THE WORD "filename" THERE, NOT  place the name there of some file ?
THE QOUTES GO AROUND THE TARGET NAME UP TO -k ? THEN AROUND WHAT FOLLOWS ? OR AROUND ALL OF IT ? WHAT HAPPENS : I GET RID OF EXTRA -k IN THE MIDDLE THERE ?

GOTTA GO ... YOU are like unto a saintly person,  one of the white hats,

Marty

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-04-01 00:33:38-07]

Hi Marty, The word "filename" is literal, not the name of the file.
If it didn't add quotes when you made the shortcut, then
don't worry about them.  Just type everything from the -k
onwards exactly as shown, and make sure to put a
space before the -k.  - Phil

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-04-01 16:21:18-07]

Phil, wish the world had more like you in it. All working smoothly here. I purged my system of any and all instances of exiftool , re-downloaded and installed the executable version. exiftool(-k) , kept the ",exe " OFF the name 'cause for some reason, my system does all it stuff without hta, created my shortcut, wrote in target thus :. Batch works perfect, no originals created, upload to SmugMug ( pic sharing site ) and all went into proper caption fields. And I'm just old regular painting my house type guy. You'd be amazed how many PHOTO IT SUPPORT TYPES say this can't be done.
  2 QUESTIONS : ONE. ) Why does someone need original backups of the images. Am I missing something dire ? TWO. ) How get rid of .JPG created in iptc version of the file name ? I tried looking around the documentation on the site, couldn't find.

World is just one phil harvey less depressing in its' inanity,

Marty (voicelit)

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-04-01 18:32:15-07]

Great, I'm glad it finally worked out for you.  This morning I fired up
my Windows XP system again and tried to make it hide the file
extension (the ".exe"), but I couldn't figure out how to do this.
Perhaps I missed something, or perhaps this is new in Windows
Vista (if you are using this version), but it certainly added to the
confusion because when I intentionally change the name to
"exiftool(-k).exe.exe", then the -k option no longer
works, and the window closes immediately.

But to answer your questions:

1) Hardware and software is not infallible, and there is always a chance
that an image becomes corrupted when it is rewritten.  This chance is
very small, and exiftool has proven to be very reliable, but if your
images are important to you then it is always a good idea to keep
backups just in case.

2) To remove the ".jpg" from the filename requires the definition
of a user-defined tag.  But luckily, this is one of the example tags
defined in the
sample
config file which is included in the Perl distribution.  So all you
have to do is download the full Perl distribution, and copy the
included "ExifTool_config" file to a file called ".ExifTool_config"
(ie. add a leading "."), and move it to your home directory, or the
directory containing exiftool.  Once this is installed, you use the
"basename" tag instead of the "filename" tag to copy the filename
without the extension (ie. "-caption-abstract<basename").

I fear though, that it may be a challenge for you to get this working
because you may not be able to easily rename the configuration file to
".ExifTool_config" using the standard technique.  I know that Windows
XP didn't like me to do this because it doesn't seem to like file names
which begin with a ".".  So I had to do this at the command line using
the rename command.   I would have to fire up the XP box again to
give you step-by-step instructions on how to do this, but I can't do
that until at least tomorrow night, so let me know if you need me
to do this for you.

- Phil

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-04-01 19:03:05-07]

I'm running VISTA. Seems the ".exe" is just going without saying, like "of course, it's .exe". And, when I add a ".exe " that's just doubling the "exe". I dunno.... Works, though.
   .JPG at end of iptc info not that time dire. You know what I mean ? I just don't want it added to the iptc info. When it goes up to my pic sharing site, the iptc words become captions. JPG doesn't need to be there. AND may ( repeat "may" ) be adding to some wrinkle on the SmugMug ( pic sharing site) end . The IPTC becomes the captions but is not findable by their search until I go in and do nothing but click "save." This wasn't true when I was using BreezeBrowser to write the filenames to iptc etc and uploading to SmugMug. SmugMug is just hopeless on these matters; their support forum is emotecon intensive, lots of happy waving icons and very fragile egos.
   HEY... I see : the greater than less than becomes the other way of putting it when placed in an eMail. In my eMail, that reads
Marty

[Originally posted by darryl on 2008-04-02 19:20:14-07]

Phil, Marty:

I wanted to commend Marty for sticking through things this long.  I don't work for SmugMug, I'm just one of their users that hangs out on the forums, and likes to geek out with stuff like this.  I wanted to say that while their support forums may be a little too smiley, they ultimately do care about their customers and want stuff to work for them.  However a lot of times we're stuck waiting for them to fix things according to their schedule.  Trust me, I have *tons* of open issues with them.

I *really* wanted to commend Phil for his persistence in helping Marty.  And also for an amazing tool.  One gripe though is that from reading the docs I could not find (or figure out) how to accomplish what you did with the Windows Shortcut.  I believe I tried doing -caption-abstract="%f", but now I realize that the *FMT* strings can only be used when specifying DATFILES?

I guess what wasn't clear is that FileName (and BaseName) tags could be used as input variables to tags, instead of just tags themselves, which you do detail.

Finally, I did try and write this as a standalone (compiled with pp) Perl script, but failed miserably.  Because ExifTool autoloads so much of itself when running, pp did not include all of the required files, so my executable ultimately failed because things like Writer.pl could not be found.  My next workaround was to simply write a wrapper script (another pp-compiled exe) that called exiftool.exe to do the right thing.  It worked, but I got bogged down in trying to make sure exiftool.exe was somewhere in the $ENV{'PATH'}.

I'm much happier with your solution of a Shortcut with an appropriately modified Target.  Way more elegant, and clearly has a lot of potential power.

Here's a link to what the Shortcut looked like for me:  http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=794782#post794782

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-04-03 01:05:59-07]

Hi Marty and Darryl,

First Marty:  I'm on the PC now, and the easiest thing
for me to do was to rename the config file myself and upload
it for you.
click
here to download the zipped (and properly named) config file.
Just open the zip file and drag the ".ExifTool_config" file to the
same location as your exiftool application.  Once this is done
you should be able to use the new "basename" tag.

If these files behave differently on smugmug, there must be
some other tag that we should be setting.  Early in this thread
I got the impression there would be more than one we needed to set.
If you make another shortcut and add " -a -s -g1" to the Target,
you should be able to drop one of your BreezeBrowser files onto
it to see everything it contains.  Perhaps the filename is stored
in multiple locations.

Darryl: If you read through the application documentation (especially
take a look at the examples section, expecially the COPYING EXAMPLES
for this type of thing), then you will get an idea of what
you can do.  The %Y,%m,%d,etc date codes can only be used in date
format strings, and the %f,%d,%e filename codes can only be used
where a filename is expected.  This should be clear if you read the
documentation, but I must admit there are so many options now that
almost nobody has the time to read all this.

I use pp to build the windows executable.  All you have to do is
specify all of the exiftool .pm and .pl files in the pp command
(with the -M option) to force them to all be included in the build.
After you do this it works pretty easily.  But you are right, you
can do a lot with the windows shortcuts.  This idea is mentioned
in the "Running in Windows" section of the exiftool home page,
but admittedly the shortcut is only mentioned as a hint.  But
this is definitely the way to go, especially since you can customize
things like the window characteristics (size,etc) and the number
of scrollback lines in some of the more advanced shortcut settings.

- Phil

[Originally posted by voicelit on 2008-04-04 19:37:24-07]

It's not just how nice and smooth the tool and code works, but that it exists and how patient and quick your responses were. Just makes you a little happier about the world. Everything is not a dimwitted scam.
  I searched for so long -maybe a month and a half - for something to do what your tool does for me now. Not only did it seem unfindable, but some responses to my questions would smugly imply that this was silly request. Sure, eventually I found BREEZEBROWSER, which at least confirmed my belief that this must be a useful and desired tool. But BreezeBrowser was just a trial, and then they wanted _ I can't remember: a lot of money: $200 or $300.00. I got the impression there were a couple other apps that could also do this but they were systemicly incapable of making that clear or even didn't know they could.
  These companies, groups whatever seem way more concerned with emoticons and happy talk. Depressing.
       Well, I've got to figure some way to "donate. " I'll check your site.
Have any magazines or anything done a profile on you. I'm tellin' everybody about my experience with EXIFTOOL. Not computer people, just talkin' about things that are, say... like different than Home Depot " Hey Bob, we sell something called a 'hammer here ?"
    Great stuff , Phil... what a strange guy you must be.

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-04-04 21:53:30-07]

Hi Marty,

Thanks for your kind words.

The difference is that most other people do this for money,
but I do it for fun.  So I don't expect any donation, but I must
admit that I do sort of enjoy it when I receive one...  

- Phil

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-04-05 11:18:05-07]

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question about the magazine
profile.  Buried deep in the
Links
section of the exiftool home page you will find a link
to an article called
"An
interview with Phil Harvey".

- Phil

[Originally posted by arthurb on 2008-04-08 18:50:12-07]

Hello,
      writing the filename into an IPTC tag was exactly what I wanted to do, but I found this thread very confusing.  In particular I found the discussion about shortcuts quite difficult to follow, but then again others may well find the use of the Command Line interface difficult.  Because of all this, and because now that I can do what I want quite easily (I did pick some things up from this thread), I will put in here a description of what I do, in the hope that someone else might find it helps them.   Certainly, setting the filename into the IPTC ObjectName is very, very useful in my opinion, and was, I am sure, the original purpose for that field.  I am very unsure about Adobe's current usage however, but that is another topic.

Here is the little mini-tutorial...
ExifTool must be used from within a Windows XP Command Window (aka as a 'Command Prompt').  To open one: Click on 'Start', click on 'All Programs', click on 'Accessories' and then click on 'Command Prompt'.

 

This will open with the 'current directory (folder)' active, which can be changed using the 'cd' command, but that is not necessary if you fully specify the folders as shown in the examples below (ie the directories to be used for the program and the target image file are explicitly defined).  

Note that the first string in each command (in double quotes), which specifies the program to be used (ie ExifTool), will be dependent upon the folder structure on the PC being used, and thus where 'ExifTool' is stored on the disk.

PLEASE NOTE: In the Commands below the 'less than' character (ie Shift + ,) has been replaced by "+" (a plus sign) to try and get the forum software to accept my post.

 
=============================================================================================

                 

1. This will update the IPTC tag 'ObjectName' with the filename, including its extension, of the image file specified at the end of the command (ie in this case #_1.jpg):

"C:\Program Files\ExifTool_GUI\ExifTool" "-IPTC:ObjectName+filename" C:\Photos\testa\#_1.jpg"

 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 2. This will update the same tag as above in the same way, but will do it for all .jpg files in the target directory given as the last string (in double quotes) in the command (ie "C:\Photos\testa").

 

"C:\Program Files\ExifTool_GUI\ExifTool" "-IPTC:ObjectName+filename" -ext .jpg "C:\Photos\testa"

=================================================================================

PLEASE NOTE AGAIN: Replace + in commands above with 'less than' (Shift + ,) END OF NOTE.

 
When ExifTool finishes, it will tell you if it has updated the file, or, if you have specified a complete directory, it will say it has scanned it and how many files it has updated.  I believe you can tell ExifTool to scan sub-directories (which would involve a recursive execution of its code) by specifying the -r tag, but I have not used this and I do not therefore know how to use it.  It is documented though.

I have to say that ExifTool, especially when used with ExifTool_GUI, is an incredibly useful, and for me essential, tool when dealing with image metadata.  Thank you Phil, excellent work.

I thought I would do something helpful, and simple of course, here, but the forum software is so awful that I wish I hadn't bothered! Why is there no formatting, and why can't you use all of the keyboard characters (this is a real pain when describing ExifTool Commands) - I have no problems with any other forums, and I use lots of them - only this one is bad - why?

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-04-09 12:25:11-07]

Thanks for the tutorial.  I admit this forum sucks, but it saves
me having to host a forum myself.  To insert special
symbols like < and > you need to escape them in html
(ie. "<" and "&gt"), or place them within a
block.

Here are your instructions reformatted a bit:

------------------------------------------------

ExifTool must be used from within a Windows XP Command
Window (aka as a 'Command Prompt'). To open one: Click on
'Start', click on 'All Programs', click on 'Accessories' and then
click on 'Command Prompt'.

This will open with the 'current directory (folder)' active, which
can be changed using the 'cd' command, but that is not necessary
if you fully specify the folders as shown in the examples below (ie
the directories to be used for the program and the target image file
are explicitly defined).

Note that the first string in each command (in double quotes), which
specifies the program to be used (ie ExifTool), will be dependent
upon the folder structure on the PC being used, and thus where
'ExifTool' is stored on the disk.

1. This will update the IPTC tag 'ObjectName' with the filename,
including its extension, of the image file specified at the end of
the command (ie in this case #_1.jpg):

"C:\Program Files\ExifTool_GUI\ExifTool" "-IPTC:ObjectName<filename"
C:\Photos\testa\#_1.jpg"

------------------------------------------------

2. This will update the same tag as above in the same way, but will do it for all .jpg files in the target directory given as the last string (in double quotes) in the command (ie "C:\Photos\testa").

"C:\Program Files\ExifTool_GUI\ExifTool" "-IPTC:ObjectName<filename"
-ext .jpg "C:\Photos\testa"

When ExifTool finishes, it will tell you if it has updated the file, or, if
you have specified a complete directory, it will say it has scanned it
and how many files it has updated. I believe you can tell ExifTool to
scan sub-directories (which would involve a recursive execution of
its code) by specifying the -r tag, but I have not used this and I do
not therefore know how to use it. It is documented though.

[Originally posted by arthurb on 2008-04-09 13:16:35-07]

Thanks for that Phil (I take it ExifTool is you?), and I'm sorry I was a bit grumpy when I made my post yesterday; hadn't eaten all day, wife had just come home and I was cooking the evening meal (or should have been), and I thought the posting would take 5 minutes... 25 mins later I was getting annoyed.  Could the 'Posting Rules' be expanded somewhat; perhaps as a Help panel?

There is a typo in my post: in example 1. there should be a double quote at the start of the last string containing the target filename and path (ie "C:\Photo...).  I have not tried to edit it as I assume I cannot, although I am unsure of what I may be able to do here.

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2008-04-09 14:23:39-07]

Yes it's me, Phil.

Don't worry about getting grumpy, this forum really does suck.
It is just a general CPAN forum, and isn't specific to exiftool,
so I don't have control over things like the posting rules.
And there is no editing feature.