Trying but not getting the output i expected

[kpimichael]

I am on windows 11 using exiftool 12.73  I have a folder of jpeg files that i want to write a standard set of tag values or overwrite tag values if something is in them.    I set the command up like this:

exiftool -overwrite_original -subject="People "  -artist="Mary " -title="Mary and Friends " -keywords="hospital joyful noisy " C:\Users\workm\Desktop\FRIENDS

What I get is inconsistent to me...some are tagged correctly, but most completely ignore the subject tag and keywords do not overwrite but add to keywords that are already in the file

I know I am doing something wrong... I have searched the forums, but I guess I am not using the right search terms or vocabulary.    Does anyone care to enlighten me?

[StarGeek]

What I get is inconsistent to me...some are tagged correctly, but most completely ignore the subject tag and keywords do not overwrite but add to keywords that are already in the file

What are you using to view the data?  If you look at the data with exiftool (use the command in FAQ #3), you should see that the data is exactly where you put it.  It sounds like you are making assumptions about what tags your program is reading.

For example, Subject and Keywords are the same tag, but in different groups.  Subject is in the XMP group, the more modern standard, and Keywords are in the older IPTC IIM group.  Most programs will combine these two tags when showing the data if they have different values.

[kpimichael]

Thanks,  I was using the windows properties-->details to view tags.   If i use exiftool to view them, they are all where they are supposed to be.   Did not know there would be a difference in viewers.

[Phil Harvey]

See this post for a list of tags displayed by Windows.

- Phil

[kpimichael]

Thanks for responses.  I appreciate all the time you dedicate to helping others.

[StarGeek]

Windows properties is especially bad in regard to the names it uses.  For example, the tags it reads for its "Title" property include three tags which are supposed to hold a description.  And the Title tag is supposed to be "a short verbal and human readable name for the image, this may be the file name", which isn't supposed to describe the image content.  That's what Headline (a short description) and Description (the full description) are for.

When dealing with data through Windows properties, you'll also have to keep track of the XP* tags (XPTitle, XPAuthor, XPComment, etc, which are different than XMP tags). These tags will pretty much only be read by Windows.