Help with starting

[charleshh]

Hi. I am not a programmer or developer and need some help. I am prepared to pay modestly for a solution.
I am a Mac user with Photoshop/Lightroom/Bridge.
I have a folder of jpg files.
I need to regularly update/modify/add these folders with the following EXIF data.
Creator
Copyright Notice
Headline
Description
Keywords
in the IPTC Core area
I have a csv file with columns for the above data
Advice or help welcomed.
Thanks in advance

[StarGeek]

Set up your CSV like this

SourceFile,XMP:Creator,XMP:Rights,XMP:Headline,XMP:Description,XMP:Subject
/path/to/file.jpg,Creator,Copyright Notice,Headline,Description,Keywords

The SourceFile column must be either the full path to the file or a relative path from the current directory.  This is usually the hardest part to get right.

You would then run this to embed the data
exiftool -sep ', ' -CSV=/path/to/file.csv /path/to/files/

Any file that exiftool finds in /path/to/files/ will be checked against the SourceFile column. Any file not found in the SourceFile will be ignored.  Any listing in the SourceFile that isn't found under the /path/to/files/ directory is also ignored. 

This command creates backup files.  Add -Overwrite_Original to suppress the creation of backup files.  Add -r to recurse into subdirectories.

For further details, see the -csv option and FAQ #26.

[charleshh]

Thank you.
You are at the limit of my programming skills.
Setting up csv file, I understand but two questions.
1. The XMP columns - do I just copy the text XMP:Creator down to the bottom of the list in Column B, for example.
and column F would always be XMP:Subject /path/to/file.jpg
2. I am using Mac so I don't have a C: drive so am I right in thinking my Sourcefile path might be
/Users/myname/Desktop/EXIFVideo/ImagesEXIF Test2/FIX1exiftest.jpg

Many thanks
Charles

[StarGeek]

1. The XMP columns - do I just copy the text XMP:Creator down to the bottom of the list in Column B, for example.
and column F would always be XMP:Subject /path/to/file.jpg

No, the first row is the header.  You put the data you want in the columns below.  Here's a more complete example

Code Select Expand

SourceFile,XMP:Creator,XMP:Rights,XMP:Headline,XMP:Description,XMP:Subject
y:/!temp/Test4.jpg,John Smith,© 2020 John Smith,Grand Canyon Vacation,The family vacationing at the Grand Canyon,"Grand Canyon, Jane Smith, John Smith"

Or as it would look like in a spreadsheet

2. I am using Mac so I don't have a C: drive so am I right in thinking my Sourcefile path might be
/Users/myname/Desktop/EXIFVideo/ImagesEXIF Test2/FIX1exiftest.jpg

I don't use a mac but I believe that would be about right.

I did just notice that I made a mistake in the above command.  Because you are using keywords (which are in the XMP:Subject column), then the -sep option needs to be added so the keywords get separated properly.  I've corrected my first post.

Also, oops, the columns in the image example are sorted differently, but the concept is the same.

[Hubert]

2. I am using Mac so I don't have a C: drive so am I right in thinking my Sourcefile path might be
/Users/myname/Desktop/EXIFVideo/ImagesEXIF Test2/FIX1exiftest.jpg

One gotcha - you will need to 'escape' any spaces in the Sourcefile path with a backslash, or wrap the path in quotes:

/Users/myname/Desktop/EXIFVideo/ImagesEXIF \Test2/FIX1exiftest.jpg

(backslash before "Test 2")

or

'/Users/myname/Desktop/EXIFVideo/ImagesEXIF Test2/FIX1exiftest.jpg'

Single straight quotes, not the typographical curly variety.

For bonus points (and reduced typing), you can do this:

~/Desktop/EXIFVideo/ImagesEXIF Test2/FIX1exiftest.jpg

(tilde instead of /Users/myname).

[StarGeek]

One gotcha - you will need to 'escape' any spaces in the Sourcefile path with a backslash, or wrap the path in quotes:

This isn't necessary in a CSV file, but it would be in the path listed in terminal.