Getting rid of of History tag

[Hans-Martin]

Hello!

The Fotostation DAM logs every user action into the history tag. I want to delete this information.

To remove I tried this: -xmp:documenthistory= "FILE"

and got this: Warning: Sorry, xmp:DocumentHistory doesn't exist or isn't writable. Nothing to do.

So is Document History  indeed a not writeable tag? Or is my approach wrong?

To see what I mean you can check out a test file here:  https://www.picdrop.com/isslerimages/WE9745Jjrk?file=275c89aa438eac4d4abfd6cd2c511816

Thanks a ton for your input.

[StarGeek]

This is FAQ #3.  Using that command, you would see that DocumentHistory is an IPTC tag, not an XMP tag.

You can also clear the tag without specifiying the group
exiftool -DocumentHistory= /path/to/files/

There are also a lot of other history type tags in that file, XMP-fwr:History, XMP-xmpMM:HistoryParameters, XMP-xmpMM:HistoryWhen, etc.  You can use a wildcard to remove them all
exiftool -*History*= /path/to/files/

If you're on Linux/Mac, I think you would have to put quotes around the part with the asterisks to avoid file globbing.

[herb]

Hello,

as a curious developer I downloaded the example-file. A very interesting file, because it contains rarly used and also unknown tags
It contains tags of groups:
- xmp-fwc, xmp-fwl, xmp-fwr and xmp-fwu
  This are all fotoware tags defined in fotoware_config file
- xmp-onone
  I have never heard about it. Can someone give more information
- IPTC: here it contains undocumented tags: IPTC_ApplicationRecord_183 / 204 / 207 /209 / 240
  This could be interesting for Phil also.
  Does someone have information about this tags.

Best regards
herb

[StarGeek]

I noticed the XMP tags, but didn't check for unknown IPTC.  Interesting.

XMP-onone was mentioned in this thread.  It's not explicitly stated what program it's from but the config file leads to On1.com.

IPTC_ApplicationRecord_183 looks like it might just be a duplicate of CodedCharacterSet, CP_UTF8 (code page?) vs UTF8. Why duplicate already existing tags. The other unknown IPTC tags duplicate the XMP-fwc:CustomField tags.

[Hans-Martin]

This is FAQ #3.  Using that command, you would see that DocumentHistory is an IPTC tag, not an XMP tag.

You can also clear the tag without specifiying the group
exiftool -DocumentHistory= /path/to/files/

There are also a lot of other history type tags in that file, XMP-fwr:History, XMP-xmpMM:HistoryParameters, XMP-xmpMM:HistoryWhen, etc.  You can use a wildcard to remove them all
exiftool -*History*= /path/to/files/

If you're on Linux/Mac, I think you would have to put quotes around the part with the asterisks to avoid file globbing.

Did you try this with my file yourself?
If I use -documenthistory or -*History* the file stays unchanged.

[Hans-Martin]

- xmp-onone
  I have never heard about it. Can someone give more information

Best regards
herb

This might be written by the picture editing software OnOne Photo Raw which I sometimes use.

[StarGeek]

Did you try this with my file yourself?
If I use -documenthistory or -*History* the file stays unchanged.

It works here

Code Select Expand

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -DocumentHistory Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
[IPTC]          DocumentHistory                 : E=ACT D=2022-05-31 T=20:45:55 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=In%20Hauptarchiv.E=ACT D=2022-06-22 T=17:13:54 U=v.mund%20(v.mund%40WS30) V=Bild%20exportieren.E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:47:26 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Verwendet%20in%20nach%20Verwendet%20in%20XY.E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:50:07 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Bildstrecken-ID.E=TXT D=2022-10-10 T=17:15:46 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS30).E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:11:10 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67).E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:12:43 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67).E=ACT D=2022-12-20 T=11:46:39 U=v.schadde%20(v.schadde%40WS56) V=Bild%20exportieren.E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:42:42 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70)

C:\>exiftool -P -overwrite_original -DocumentHistory= Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
    1 image files updated

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -DocumentHistory Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
Warning: IPTCDigest is not current. XMP may be out of sync - Y:/!temp/dd/EXIF_TEST.jpg

C:\>
Using -*history*= (put single quotes around that if Mac/Linux) will remove that and all of the other *History* tags except the XMP-fwr:History tag.  That appears to be more of a problem.  Exiftool cannot remove only that tag by default because it doesn't have a definition on how to write it.  There is a definition in the fotoware.config file, but it doesn't work with this file's XMP-fwr:History.  I don't know if the format has changed or if the fotoware.config definition was wrong in the first place

Code Select Expand

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -*history* Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
[IPTC]          DocumentHistory                 : E=ACT D=2022-05-31 T=20:45:55 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=In%20Hauptarchiv.E=ACT D=2022-06-22 T=17:13:54 U=v.mund%20(v.mund%40WS30) V=Bild%20exportieren.E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:47:26 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Verwendet%20in%20nach%20Verwendet%20in%20XY.E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:50:07 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Bildstrecken-ID.E=TXT D=2022-10-10 T=17:15:46 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS30).E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:11:10 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67).E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:12:43 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67).E=ACT D=2022-12-20 T=11:46:39 U=v.schadde%20(v.schadde%40WS56) V=Bild%20exportieren.E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:42:42 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70)
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryAction                   : saved, converted, derived, saved, saved, converted, derived, saved, derived, saved, saved, derived, saved, saved, converted, derived, saved
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryInstanceID               : xmp.iid:1B1AF7BB00F3EC11BA7AE5DCE7E6FF2F, xmp.iid:1C1AF7BB00F3EC11BA7AE5DCE7E6FF2F, xmp.iid:B2D08BA16A28ED11BC3CF4FDD2458953, xmp.iid:B3D08BA16A28ED11BC3CF4FDD2458953, xmp.iid:82A24293A65EED118BB1AFB056A5251B, xmp.iid:3EC48CACA65EED11858BC752155ED332, xmp.iid:7E94A3E36897ED119A5C8D618C581662, xmp.iid:DF6154FC6897ED1180BF8347EAC6CF9B, xmp.iid:E06154FC6897ED1180BF8347EAC6CF9B
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryWhen                     : 2022:06:23 16:35:17+02:00, 2022:06:23 16:35:17+02:00, 2022:08:30 18:57:50+02:00, 2022:08:30 18:57:50+02:00, 2022:11:07 15:15:04+01:00, 2022:11:07 15:15:47+01:00, 2023:01:18 20:47:07+01:00, 2023:01:18 20:47:48+01:00, 2023:01:18 20:47:48+01:00
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistorySoftwareAgent            : Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 6.7 (Windows), Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 6.7 (Windows), Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryChanged                  : /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryParameters               : from image/jpeg to application/vnd.adobe.photoshop, converted from image/jpeg to application/vnd.adobe.photoshop, from application/vnd.adobe.photoshop to image/jpeg, converted from application/vnd.adobe.photoshop to image/jpeg, converted from image/jpeg to image/tiff, converted from image/jpeg to image/tiff, from image/tiff to image/jpeg, converted from image/tiff to image/jpeg
[XMP-fwr]       History                         : E=ACT D=2022-05-31 T=20:45:55 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=In%20Hauptarchiv, E=ACT D=2022-06-22 T=17:13:54 U=v.mund%20(v.mund%40WS30) V=Bild%20exportieren, E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:47:26 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Verwendet%20in%20nach%20Verwendet%20in%20XY, E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:50:07 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Bildstrecken-ID, E=TXT D=2022-10-10 T=17:15:46 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS30), E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:11:10 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67), E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:12:43 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67), E=ACT D=2022-12-20 T=11:46:39 U=v.schadde%20(v.schadde%40WS56) V=Bild%20exportieren, E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:42:42 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70), E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:49:31 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70)

C:\>exiftool -config fotoware.config -P -overwrite_original -*history*= Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
Warning: [minor] Ignored empty rdf:Alt list for dc:title - Y:/!temp/dd/EXIF_TEST.jpg
    1 image files updated

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -*history* Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
[XMP-fwr]       History                         : E=ACT D=2022-05-31 T=20:45:55 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=In%20Hauptarchiv, E=ACT D=2022-06-22 T=17:13:54 U=v.mund%20(v.mund%40WS30) V=Bild%20exportieren, E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:47:26 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Verwendet%20in%20nach%20Verwendet%20in%20XY, E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:50:07 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Bildstrecken-ID, E=TXT D=2022-10-10 T=17:15:46 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS30), E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:11:10 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67), E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:12:43 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67), E=ACT D=2022-12-20 T=11:46:39 U=v.schadde%20(v.schadde%40WS56) V=Bild%20exportieren, E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:42:42 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70), E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:49:31 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70)

C:\>exiftool -config fotoware.config -P -overwrite_original -XMP-fwr:History= Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
Warning: Incorrect list type for existing XMP-fwr:History (not changed) - Y:/!temp/dd/EXIF_TEST.jpg
    0 image files updated
    1 image files unchanged
The config file lists the History tag as a string but this file appears to have it as a list type tag.

In the case of this file, it is the only tag in the XMP-fwr group, so it can be removed by removing the group

Code Select Expand

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -XMP-fwr:all Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
[XMP-fwr]       History                         : E=ACT D=2022-05-31 T=20:45:55 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=In%20Hauptarchiv, E=ACT D=2022-06-22 T=17:13:54 U=v.mund%20(v.mund%40WS30) V=Bild%20exportieren, E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:47:26 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Verwendet%20in%20nach%20Verwendet%20in%20XY, E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:50:07 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Bildstrecken-ID, E=TXT D=2022-10-10 T=17:15:46 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS30), E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:11:10 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67), E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:12:43 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67), E=ACT D=2022-12-20 T=11:46:39 U=v.schadde%20(v.schadde%40WS56) V=Bild%20exportieren, E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:42:42 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70), E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:49:31 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70)

C:\>exiftool -P -overwrite_original -XMP-fwr:all= Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
Warning: [minor] Ignored empty rdf:Alt list for dc:title - Y:/!temp/dd/EXIF_TEST.jpg
    1 image files updated

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -XMP-fwr:all Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg

C:\>
The config file lists 10 other tags in that group.  If the file has those, then removing the group would remove all those as well.

After doing some testing, if you edit the fotoware.config file by changing

Code Select Expand

    History          => { PrintConvInv => 'substr($val,0,256)' },into

Code Select Expand

    History          => { List => 'Bag' },
Then the XMP-fwr:History tag can be removed individually.

Code Select Expand

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -*history* Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
[IPTC]          DocumentHistory                 : E=ACT D=2022-05-31 T=20:45:55 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=In%20Hauptarchiv.E=ACT D=2022-06-22 T=17:13:54 U=v.mund%20(v.mund%40WS30) V=Bild%20exportieren.E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:47:26 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Verwendet%20in%20nach%20Verwendet%20in%20XY.E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:50:07 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Bildstrecken-ID.E=TXT D=2022-10-10 T=17:15:46 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS30).E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:11:10 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67).E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:12:43 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67).E=ACT D=2022-12-20 T=11:46:39 U=v.schadde%20(v.schadde%40WS56) V=Bild%20exportieren.E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:42:42 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70)
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryAction                   : saved, converted, derived, saved, saved, converted, derived, saved, derived, saved, saved, derived, saved, saved, converted, derived, saved
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryInstanceID               : xmp.iid:1B1AF7BB00F3EC11BA7AE5DCE7E6FF2F, xmp.iid:1C1AF7BB00F3EC11BA7AE5DCE7E6FF2F, xmp.iid:B2D08BA16A28ED11BC3CF4FDD2458953, xmp.iid:B3D08BA16A28ED11BC3CF4FDD2458953, xmp.iid:82A24293A65EED118BB1AFB056A5251B, xmp.iid:3EC48CACA65EED11858BC752155ED332, xmp.iid:7E94A3E36897ED119A5C8D618C581662, xmp.iid:DF6154FC6897ED1180BF8347EAC6CF9B, xmp.iid:E06154FC6897ED1180BF8347EAC6CF9B
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryWhen                     : 2022:06:23 16:35:17+02:00, 2022:06:23 16:35:17+02:00, 2022:08:30 18:57:50+02:00, 2022:08:30 18:57:50+02:00, 2022:11:07 15:15:04+01:00, 2022:11:07 15:15:47+01:00, 2023:01:18 20:47:07+01:00, 2023:01:18 20:47:48+01:00, 2023:01:18 20:47:48+01:00
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistorySoftwareAgent            : Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 6.7 (Windows), Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 6.7 (Windows), Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryChanged                  : /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /, /
[XMP-xmpMM]     HistoryParameters               : from image/jpeg to application/vnd.adobe.photoshop, converted from image/jpeg to application/vnd.adobe.photoshop, from application/vnd.adobe.photoshop to image/jpeg, converted from application/vnd.adobe.photoshop to image/jpeg, converted from image/jpeg to image/tiff, converted from image/jpeg to image/tiff, from image/tiff to image/jpeg, converted from image/tiff to image/jpeg
[XMP-fwr]       History                         : E=ACT D=2022-05-31 T=20:45:55 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=In%20Hauptarchiv, E=ACT D=2022-06-22 T=17:13:54 U=v.mund%20(v.mund%40WS30) V=Bild%20exportieren, E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:47:26 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Verwendet%20in%20nach%20Verwendet%20in%20XY, E=TXTM D=2022-09-01 T=15:50:07 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67) V=Kopiere%20Bildstrecken-ID, E=TXT D=2022-10-10 T=17:15:46 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS30), E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:11:10 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67), E=TXT D=2022-11-07 T=15:12:43 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS67), E=ACT D=2022-12-20 T=11:46:39 U=v.schadde%20(v.schadde%40WS56) V=Bild%20exportieren, E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:42:42 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70), E=TXT D=2023-01-18 T=20:49:31 U=hm.issler%20(hm.issler%40WS70)

C:\>exiftool -config fotoware.config -P -overwrite_original -*History*= Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
Warning: [minor] Ignored empty rdf:Alt list for dc:title - Y:/!temp/dd/EXIF_TEST.jpg
    1 image files updated

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -*history* Y:\!temp\dd\EXIF_TEST.jpg
Warning: IPTCDigest is not current. XMP may be out of sync - Y:/!temp/dd/EXIF_TEST.jpg

C:\>
None that none of this will remove the unknown IPTC tags that herb listed.  Those can be removed with
exiftool -iptc:all= -TagsFromFile @ -IPTC:All /path/to/files/

[Hans-Martin]

Thanks a ton StarGeek! -XMP-fwr:all will do the trick for me.