Issues setting FileCreateDate based on DateTimeOriginal

Started by dhersh, April 21, 2020, 09:26:58 AM

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dhersh

I'm using exiftool v11.93 on a Mac running Catalina. I've got a bunch of old scanned jpg photos and I'm trying to set a capture date for them, auto-increment the capture time between each photo, set the FileCreateDate based on capture date, and lastly, rename the file based on capture date. See below for the commands I'm using for these steps.

I tried these on a couple of folders with a hundred or so photos in each. All worked great. The next folders I tried though, when I'd do a "Get Info" on one of the photos the reported "Created" date was something crazy, like Nov 21, 2105. The "Modified" date is getting set correctly though.

Not necessarily the end of the world, since apps like Mac Photos will sort based on capture date or filename, but it would be nice though just in case I need to sort the photos in Finder or some other app down the road.

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Set exif capture date for all images in a folder

exiftool -datetimeoriginal="1985:07:13 12:00:00" myfolder -overwrite_original

Auto increment minute for each image

exiftool '-datetimeoriginal+<0:$filesequence' -fileOrder FileName myfolder -overwrite_original

Set file creation and modified dates based on capture date

exiftool '-FileCreateDate<DateTimeOriginal' '-FileModifyDate<DateTimeOriginal' myfolder

Rename files based on DateTimeOriginal

exiftool -d '%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S.%%le' '-filename<DateTimeOriginal' myfolder

Phil Harvey

What does ExifTool show for FileCreateDate when the finder shows the year 2105?  Also, what is the FileModifyDate for that file?

Your last 2 commands can be easily combined:

exiftool '-FileCreateDate#<DateTimeOriginal#' '-FileModifyDate#<DateTimeOriginal#' -d '%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S.%%le' '-filename<DateTimeOriginal' myfolder

The other commands my be combined too, but it would be somewhat trickier.

- Phil
...where DIR is the name of a directory/folder containing the images.  On Mac/Linux/PowerShell, use single quotes (') instead of double quotes (") around arguments containing a dollar sign ($).

dhersh

I see the following for modified, but I don't see any reference to either a FileCreateDate or a CreateDate in the output. I attached a screenshot of the complete output for your reference. Thanks!

File Modification Date/Time     : 1969:10:15 12:13:14-04:00

Phil Harvey

FileCreateDate is returned only if specifically requested.

But the problem is that years before 1970 are generally not supported since this is time zero for the system time functions.

- Phil
...where DIR is the name of a directory/folder containing the images.  On Mac/Linux/PowerShell, use single quotes (') instead of double quotes (") around arguments containing a dollar sign ($).

dhersh

Gotcha. I went ahead and requested it and see that it returns "File Creation Date/Time         : 2105:11:21 17:41:30-05:00"

So what you're really saying then is that I was born a few years too early? ;-)

Since we're only talking about 80 or so photos pre-1970 I think I can just live with it. Thanks for your help!

StarGeek

Remember, there's no possible way that the file was created at that time.  And there was a time when doing this would brick your iphone
Why 1/1/1970 Bricks Your iPhone
"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