Current State of Play With HEIC in File Explorer

[robertoleonardo]

This has been discussed but i don't see anything recently -- does it remain impossible to get heic keywords to show up in the tags field in file explorer? reason i'm asking now is because i noticed today that i can now write video keywords using exiftool such that they show up in the tags column in file explorer, so i'm hoping there've been some changes made with the ms folks such that the same can be done for heics now. i suspect not, because the tags field isn't even writable from the file explorer details pane for heics like it is for jpgs and videos. but fingers crossed i'm wrong -- my ocd would be delighted if it's not possible to transfer my xmp:subject tags to some microsoft specific tag such that the "tags" field populates for heics in explorer....

thanks!

[StarGeek]

What version of Windows are you using (assuming you're using Windows)?  Because when I check the properties of an HEIC file, tags doesn't even show up.

If a property doesn't show up under properties, then Windows cannot read it.

I think that there are ways to add new properties to the Properties Window, but that requires some programming knowledge.  I know that there was iFilters which would add options to Windows search ability, but those seem to be obsolete now.

i can now write video keywords using exiftool such that they show up in the tags column in file explorer,

What tag are  you writing to do this?  Is this Windows 10 or 11?  Because the only tag my Windows 10 will read under the "Tags" property is Microsoft:Keywords, which exiftool can't write.

[robertoleonardo]

windows 11 - tags is in the details tags of the property panel for heics, but it's not writeable.

re: videos -- yea i was so stoked to realize it could now be done. i actually was reading a forum thread you were in several years ago. the takeaway, then, was that exiftool was capable of reading the tag but not yet writing it. but now it can write it, apparently, as i just successfully duplicated all my subject tags on movs/mp4 into this tag and now they show up in file explorer as a "tag"

exiftool -s "-microsoft:category<$subject" ....

is what worked for me. i think it's a recent development. not sure if it's on windows end or exiftool (prob both), but it can now be done for videos. i think until recently videos had the same thing i'm seeing with HEICs - the tag field existed in the details pane but it didn't let you click and fill. Once i realized i could now click and fill, i just worked backward and figured out the right tag to write directly to.

edit: below is the thread i was referring to stargeek -- helped me piece it all together because just writing to category without the microsoft: in front doesn't work. everything you say in that thread remains accurate except for the fact that you can now write to that field.
https://exiftool.org/forum/index.php?topic=8591.0

edit 2: re editing properties panel, yea - above my pay grade but you are right. i use pdf shell tools and it does just that and it's amazing. i have a bunch of custom work related tags for pdfs (bates number, depoent, ex number) and such and pdf shell tools make them as options as columns to select in file explorer. then my exiftool config file has the same tags so i can write to them directly with exiftool. but they write to pdfx so i don't think it'd let me for other file types (though it's an interesting idea - i should try), but i wouldn't no where to begin to actually add it as a fillable and viewable  option in file explorer like pdf shell tools does for me.

come to think of it, pdf shell tools has a great preview handler that you can set for many file types. i wonder if i have it set for heics and if that is the reason why i am seeing a locked tags field and you aren't. could be. 

[StarGeek]

Ah, now I realize mistake.  Yea, exiftool can write to Microsoft:Category.  But I had forgotten that Windows gets really weird when there is already a lot of data in the file, and my test video has over 150 tags filled out.  When that happens, Windows stops writing to Microsoft:Category and instead writes to Microsoft:Keywords, which exiftool can't write.  So the test I just did failed because of that.

Edit: fixed typo

[robertoleonardo]

just to clarify though, i'm looking at the script i ran -- it is microsoft:category** not microsoft:categories** that worked for me. but who knows maybe categories works too.

[StarGeek]

Oops, yeah, typo on my part.  Fixed the post.