Best way to update some files in a folder?

Started by skippix, March 11, 2019, 12:02:52 PM

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skippix

When a client licenses one or more images, I need to update those specific files with their custom licensing and keywords.

I've been going around in circles on this and haven't come up with anything that really works well, especially when it's something like 30 out of 300 files in a folder.

My current brute force method is to move the specific files into a temporary folder, update all the files in the folder, then move them back to the archives.
exiftool  -L -sep ", " -@ tagdef-190311111611752.txt -overwrite_original C:\Pictures\exif-temp\*.*

Is there any syntax I could use to operate on the specific files in their archive folder so that I can avoid having to move them?

Thanks!

StarGeek

You can list the individual files directly on the command line.  In CMD, you can drag each file onto the CMD window and hit a space in between each drag.  Unfortunately, you can't  drag groups.  And there is the additional problem that Windows CMD has a limit on the number of characters in a command.  Depending upon the file path length, 30-50 files are about the limit (at least for me, my picture directory structure gets pretty long).

If you have an easy way to put the file paths into a text file, you can use the -@ (Argfile) option.  You can either use the same one you're already using or use a second one as you can have multiple -@ FILE options in a command.

Myself, I do this fairly often and I have two ways I do it.  First, since I use iMatch5 as my DAM, I can just select the files I want to process, hit Control+C, and then paste the result into a text file.  My second option is a utility I have installed called Path Copy Copy, which creates a Windows right click menu to copy paths to the clipboard.  I just select the files in Windows, Right-click->copy path and then paste where I need.
"It didn't work" isn't helpful. What was the exact command used and the output.
Read FAQ #3 and use that cmd
Please use the Code button for exiftool output

Please include your OS/Exiftool version/filetype

skippix

HOLY COW! A 2-file solution will be easy enough to try and test. I'll let you know if I need any further guidance.

Thanks!