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ExifTool user for hire?

Started by Adobelettingmedown, May 04, 2016, 01:15:51 AM

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Adobelettingmedown

I am 10 degrees below a computer dummy and was wondering if I could hire someone to do some EXIF work for me.  I downloaded ExifTool and have zero idea what to do next. 

Details--I am an avid amateur photographer and bought most versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements (PSE) 1 thru 14.  They essentially stopped supporting it, forcing users to move to Adobe Lightroom.  A category of imbedded photo metadata called TEXT can't be read by Lightroom.  Adobe's PSE to Lightroom converter won't migrate TEXT metadata to a field in metadata that Lightroom can read.  (Why?  Great question.)  I have 97,000 photos in PSE, and over 2000 with TEXT metadata.  From my reading, the solution is to use ExifTool to move TEXT metadata into the CAPTION metadata field, which Lightroom can read.

I am thrilled that this software exists and will mitigate Adobe's flaws, but I would like to have either someone do this for me, or write a several page instruction manual for this and only this function at a 5th grade level.  I am a senior and I really don't need to learn what shell quoting rules, GUI, WYSIWYG, command lines, etc. are since I only have this one project to do.  Even the Newbies posts are well beyond me!   

Any suggestions where to go for help?  Or are there similar but simpler programs that you can buy with instructions? 

Thanks!

Hayo Baan

I don't think you need to hire anyone to do this; it sounds like a simple thing. Can you post a (small) sample image so it is clear what you need done? (I'm especially curious what the text field is you are referring to)
Hayo Baan – Photography
Web: www.hayobaan.nl

StarGeek

From what it looks like on this page, PSE keeps the data in a catalog file rather than as metadata in the image itself.  And that tool I linked broke back with PSE 9.  Of course, it's also outdated info.

If I'm wrong and the data is in the file itself, my guess would be it's in the JPG Comment field, as I think LR ignores it.

* Did you read FAQ #3 and use the command listed there?
* Please use the Code button for exiftool code/output.
 
* Please include your OS, Exiftool version, and type of file you're processing (MP4, JPG, etc).

Adobelettingmedown

Yes, initially the "Notes" text is written only into Photoshop Elements catalog, but you have the option to write it to metadata.

A more intelligent discussion of my problem and the solution I believe is here:
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/465446

And this response from Photoshop forum...  "Regarding the PSE Notes field, PSE stores it in the metadata field XMP:Notes. I think PSE is the only program that uses that metadata field. When I converted from PSE, I first made sure that all the PSE catalog data was stored in the photos by doing File > Write Keyword Tag. Then I converted to LR. Next, I used Exiftool to append the XMP:Notes field onto the end of the metadata fields used to store captions (XMP:Description, EXIF:ImageDescription, IPTC:Caption-Abstract). Finally, I told LR to reread the catalog metadata from the photos with the Read Metadata From File command."

The screenshot of my PSE showing the fields I want to exchange...

I appreciate your patience!





Phil Harvey

I think the command you want may be something like this:

exiftool "-mwg:description<notes" DIR

where DIR is the name of a directory containing the images.

This will copy the Notes to XMP-dc:Description, EXIF:ImageDescription and IPTC:Caption-Abstract (if IPTC already exists), replacing any descriptions that already exist (see the MWG tags documentation for details).

To run this command (assuming you are on Windows):

1. Install exiftool for command-line use following these instructions.

2. Launch "cmd.exe" (see instructions here).

3. Type this in the cmd.exe window: exiftool "-mwg:description<notes"

    (Add -r to the command if you want to recursively process images in sub-folders of this folder.)

4. Press SPACE

5. Drag and drop the folder containing your images onto the cmd.exe window.

6. Click on the cmd.exe window to bring it to the front again (if it isn't already there), and press RETURN.

After this, it sounds like you should tell LR to reread the catalog metadata.  Then you are done.

- 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 ($).

Adobelettingmedown

Thanks Phil.  I've search high and low and everyone says Exiftool is my only hope other than cutting and pasting the data 2000 times. 

Again, I am sorry for my ignorance.  I almost made it to step 3.  Suggestions?

Phil Harvey

You're getting there, but you still have two problems:

i. exiftool isn't installed for command-line use.  Carefully follow the instructions I linked above.

ii. You pressed RETURN before dropping the folder onto the cmd window.  Wait until after you drop the folder to press RETURN.

- 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 ($).