Copying GPS Data from JPG to DNG or XMP

[EnTraCo]

Hello,

I believe I am going bonkers. I have searched and tried so much but couldn't find any good solution for my problem. I came close and found some workarounds, but somehow I can't get the ExifTool working.

System Setup

• Windows 10 x64
• Adobe Lightroom CC

Task
I use Lightroom CC to work on my pictures. I have set it up to store all changes in XMP sidecars. I usually take my pictures on my cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge) in Pro-format (= RAW). Therefore I have the pictures in JPG an DNG format. The pictures are imported into Lightroom which is set up to only show the RAW-version. All changes in Lightroom are stored in an XMP sidecar. Unfortunately the DNG files do not include the GPS location and Lightroom does not read the data from the JPG. Therefore I need some way to get the GPS data from the JPG to DNG. The JPG does not store the data in XMP Tag format but in EXIF tag format.

My thoughts on this issue
There are several options I tried:

• Lightroom itself does not have a build in solution
• Looking for a third party program either as plugin or as separate software. Unfortunately I was not really successful.
• Copy the data from the JPG to the DNG file and refresh Lightroom
• Copy the data from the JPG to a XMP sidecar and refresh Lightroom

I tried all of the above mentioned solutions and came up with some workarounds, but nothing I am happy with.

2a. Third party program for Lightroom: Geosetter for one file at a time
I found Geosetter, but I can only copy one file at a time. As I have a lot of pictures this is a last resort if nothing else works. Furthermore the problem is that the data is copied directly into the DNG file. I know there is an option to write a XMP sidecar but this does somehow not work. And not every copy task is successfull.

Result: Method of last resort

2b. Third party program for Lightroom: pyExifToolGui for several files at time
I found pyExifToolGui that can work on several files. With a little workaround I can get some result. First step: Copying all metadata within the JPG to XMP. Export the XMP tags to XMP files. Refresh Metadata in Lightroom

Result: It works, but I have to copy all metadata from the JPG to the XMP file, I only want the GPS data. The rotation information in DNG is lost and I have to do this first thing in my workflow as the existing XMP files are being overwritten. The solution is therefore not perfect, but a good workaround.

3. & 4. Using Exiftool command prompt
Well, somehow my skills seem not to be sufficient. I tried several commands and checked this forum for solutions. Closest solution was this thread: https://exiftool.org/forum/index.php/topic,8030.0/all.html. I found some interesting commands, like:

exiftool -tagsfromfile %-:1d%f.jpg -srcfile %d%f.xmp -xmp:all -ext raf "E:\New England 2\2016-10-24\RAF Files"

I tried modifying it to my solution:

exiftool -tagsfromfile %d%f.jpg -srcfile %d%f.xmp -xmp:all -ext dng "C:\temp"

... and received the error message: "Warning: No writable tags". I guess I have to copy the GPS data from EXIF first, but I cannot find how to do this.

I tried copying the JPG data to a XMP sidecar using the following code:

exiftool -tagsfromfile %d%f.jpg -srcfile %d%f.xmp -gps:all -ext dng "C:\temp"

... and received the error message: "Warning: Invalid EXIF text encoding for UserComment"

Another try of the following supplied code:

exiftool -tagsfromfile %d%f.JPG -gps:all -ext raf DIR

Changed it to:

exiftool -tagsfromfile %d%f.JPG -gps:all -ext dng "C:\Temp"

Success! It copied the data to the DNG file but I would rather have the data in a XMP sidecar.

Result: I can copy GPS data with ExifTool from JPG to DNG but I would prefer copying the data from the JPG to a XMP sidecar.

Question
Could you please help me on how I can copy the GPS data from the JPEG to a XMP sidecar? Of possible I would like to amend / modify the a possivly existing XMP file and not overwrite the existing one.

Thank you very much!

[StarGeek]

First, grab the gps2xmp.args file from the exiftool repository on Sourceforge (or check to see if you already have it).

Test this first, but I think this will do what you want. 
exiftool -ext jpg -tagsfromfile @ -srcfile %d%f.xmp -@ Full\Path\To\gps2xmp.args C:\Temp

I don't use sidecar file myself, but this is based upon example 13.  It is supposed to copy the gps tags to existing xmp sidecar files and create new ones if they don't exist.  Take a look at example 12 if you don't want to create new sidecars when they don't exist.

[EnTraCo]

Hey,

thank you very much for your quick reply! I got the file and copied it into the same test directory (C:\temp). Then I ran the following command:

exiftool -ext jpg -tagsfromfile @ -srcfile %d%f.xmp -@ "C:\Temp\gps2xmp.args" "C:\Temp"

Unfortunately it did not work and I received an error message. I tried with and without the ". I attached the full error message as it is very long (447 lines). The gist of it was:

• Wildcards don't work in the directory specification
• File not found: Something that looks like web code

It ended with:

Warning: Invalid EXIF text encoding for UserComment - C:/Temp/20170908_131246.jpg
Warning: No writable tags set from C:/Temp/20170908_131246.jpg
Error: Nothing to write - C:/Temp/20170908_131246.xmp
Warning: No writable tags set from C:/Temp/20170908_132044.jpg
Error: Nothing to write - C:/Temp/20170908_132044.xmp
Warning: No writable tags set from C:/Temp/20170908_144551.jpg
Error: Nothing to write - C:/Temp/20170908_144551.xmp
Warning: No writable tags set from C:/Temp/20170908_144554.jpg
Error: Nothing to write - C:/Temp/20170908_144554.xmp
    5 directories scanned
    0 image files updated
    4 files weren't updated due to errors

I also attached the tag information from the following command in case this helps:

exiftool -a -G1 -s 20170908_131246.jpg

The GPS data have the ID "[Composite]". Is it possible that I need a different file?

Any further help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[StarGeek]

You didn't download gps2xmp.args, you downloaded the webpage it appears on.  Click the link for gps2xmp.args, then click "Download this file".

Or you can just copy/paste this into the file, as it's very short:

Code Select Expand

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# File:         gps2xmp.args
#
# Description:  Argument file for copying GPS information from EXIF to XMP
#
# Usage:        exiftool -tagsFromFile SRCFILE -@ gps2xmp.args DSTFILE
#
# Requires:     ExifTool version 6.75 or later
#
# Revisions:    2009/01/09 - P. Harvey Created
#
# Notes:     1) Most of the GPS tags are copied by the first argument, but
#               the XMP GPS coordinate and date/time tags are composites of
#               more than one EXIF GPS tag, so they are handled separately.
#
#            2) These arguments will not delete existing XMP tags which are
#               missing from the GPS.  The XMP GPS tags should be deleted
#               first with "-xmp:gps*=" if required.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-XMP:all < GPS:all
-XMP:GPSLatitude < Composite:GPSLatitude
-XMP:GPSLongitude < Composite:GPSLongitude
-XMP:GPSDateTime < Composite:GPSDateTime
# end

[EnTraCo]

You were right! My bad. So sorry.  It's late here. 

It worked like a charm, four new XMP files were created and I was able to import them into Lightroom.

I received one error though:

Warning: Invalid EXIF text encoding for UserComment - C:/Temp/20170908_131246.jpg
    1 directories scanned
    4 image files created

Any idea what this could mean?

[StarGeek]

It's a minor error.  For technical details, see the EXIF section of FAQ 10

For the most part, you can safely ignore it.  It's a rarely used tag and some cameras give you the option to set it.  You can see what is stored in the UserComment with
exiftool -UserComment C:/Temp/20170908_131246.jpg

If the data is useless or uninteresting, you can clear it with
exiftool -UserComment= C:/Temp/20170908_131246.jpg

[EnTraCo]

Hey, thank you very much! I am so happy! Is there any way I can make a small donation to this Forum so I can show my aprreciation?

One more question: Is it possible to avoid the last part regarding the directory Exiftool is supposed to work in and just tell it to work in the current directory?

Code: exiftool -ext jpg -tagsfromfile @ -srcfile %d%f.xmp -@ "C:\Temp\gps2xmp.args" "C:\Temp"

To be more specific: Can I avoid the "C:\Temp" at the end? My paths are quite long and it would reduce the time required for the task if I didn't have to enter the path. I know it can be done via copy & paste, but this takes time as well, especially copying the current path and I try to be as efficient as possible. Thanks! :-)

[luusac]

Hey, thank you very much! I am so happy! Is there any way I can make a small donation to this Forum so I can show my aprreciation?

One more question: Is it possible to avoid the last part regarding the directory Exiftool is supposed to work in and just tell it to work in the current directory

Usually you can do that by using a . period as the directory.  So

Code Select Expand

exiftool -ext jpg -tagsfromfile @ -srcfile %d%f.xmp -@ "C:\Temp\gps2xmp.args" .

As to donation - I don't know about the forum, but to donate to the Author of exiftool see here https://exiftool.org/index.html#donate

[EnTraCo]

Great! It worked!

And btw: The XMP data was amended to the existing XMP file, so that worked as well. A backup of the existing file is created.

I checked the error from userComment. It is just the information on which Codec was used to create the JPG.

Thanks for the information regarding the Forum. I checked and couldn'T find a way to make a donation here so I will head over to the program's author.

Great support here! I am very happy I found this Forum. Thank you very much! :-)

[StarGeek]

A backup of the existing file is created.

When you're comfortable enough that the process is working correctly, you can add -overwrite_original to your command to prevent the creation of backup files.

Thanks for the information regarding the Forum. I checked and couldn'T find a way to make a donation here so I will head over to the program's author.

Yep, that's where you want to donate.  This forum is run by Phil but he's currently on vacation.

[EnTraCo]

Thanks again. Donation has been made.

BTW: Amending seems to work sometimes and sometimes not. I will just have to make sure to update the GPS data first. Shouldn't be a problem in the future. Just wanted to set this straight in case somebody else is basing his solution on this thread.

All the best!

EnTraCo