PhotoInfo and keywords

[Guest]

I have a question about PhotoInfo and keywords.

I have selected several images and added keywords to them using PhotoInfo
(on the Keywords tab). I then opened a Windows Explorer window and added
Keyword to the columns in the details view and the keywords I entered in
PhotoInfo are not listed there. If I right click on one of the files in
Windows Explorer and select Properties->Summary and look under Keywords,
nothing is there. I'm guessing that PhotoInfo is writing to a different
field in the file's metadata. As another test, I entered a keyword on the
Properties->Summary screen then pulled up the image in PhotoInfo. Under the
Keywords tab in PhotoInfo, it displays the keywords I entered in PhotoInfo
and the new keyword I added in Windows Explorer.

The main reason I want to add keywords to the images is so that I can do a
search in Windows Explorer for the keywords. If I do a search on all jpgs
searching for the keywords I entered in PhotoInfo, no images are found. If I
do a search using the keyword I entered in Windows Explorer, it finds those
files.

I've wanted an app like this for some time and even considered writing my
own. This app is close to what I want, but the keyword feature must work the
way I described.

Any help or ideas?

 

[John Inzer]

I have a question about PhotoInfo and keywords.

I have selected several images and added keywords to them using
PhotoInfo (on the Keywords tab). I then opened a Windows Explorer
window and added Keyword to the columns in the details view and the
keywords I entered in PhotoInfo are not listed there. If I right
click on one of the files in Windows Explorer and select
Properties->Summary and look under Keywords, nothing is there. I'm
guessing that PhotoInfo is writing to a different field in the file's
metadata. As another test, I entered a keyword on the
Properties->Summary screen then pulled up the image in PhotoInfo.
Under the Keywords tab in PhotoInfo, it displays the keywords I
entered in PhotoInfo and the new keyword I added in Windows Explorer.

The main reason I want to add keywords to the images is so that I can
do a search in Windows Explorer for the keywords. If I do a search
on all jpgs searching for the keywords I entered in PhotoInfo, no
images are found. If I do a search using the keyword I entered in
Windows Explorer, it finds those files.

I've wanted an app like this for some time and even considered
writing my own. This app is close to what I want, but the keyword
feature must work the way I described.

Any help or ideas?

==============================
I noticed the same behavior.

If all you need to do is add keywords to
a batch why not use Windows Explorer?
Just right click the selected batch...
choose Properties / Summary tab /
Advanced button...

Select the Keywords field and start typing...

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Guest]

If I just needed to add keywords to a single batch of files one time it
wouldn't be a big deal, but it's several button clicks and I'm hoping to make
the process simple enough that my wife could do it often. The Photo Info
interface is good and more "visual" and I would like to use it for this task.

Thanks though for the response.

Rich

 

[Steve Hawkins]

You might like to have a look at this article recommended in an earlier
thread about using locational data from gps to file and present your
pictures. The writer gives a very good account of the possibilities for
finding and displaying files by the metadata that can or could be added
automatically, and save you a whole bundle of work in the future. (And
things have come on a bit since the piece was written.)

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/gps.mspx

S

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the response Steve. The problem is that the kind of information I
want to embed in the images is information that can't come from the camera or
GPS or be generated automatically. For example, I may want to add "Birthday"
and the names of the people in the picture, like "Steve, Rich Rob" etc. I
want to be able to do a quick search based on keywords and get a list of the
items I'm looking for.

The thing that is frustrating is that it appears that the Photo Info program
should behave the way I described. Why would they add a Keyword field if it
wasn't available for the OS to use in a file search?

Rich

 

[Steve Hawkins]

There's some interesting background on Exif at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exif.
It goes into problems such as different programmes being able to access only
parts of the data as you describe, and you may find that some of the links
help you find a more versatile tool for
sorting by Exif data. It does seem pretty silly for MS properties to
tempt you with key words if there is no way to search by them!

Mind you, I find it very time consuming cutting and pasting names, and there
is never enough room in the description box to describe what one is looking
at either! I now tend to just leave my pics sorted by date and use that to
prompt me to remember the rest - having the extra option coming on stream to
sort by exact location - and perhaps even to have access to pictures on line
taken at the same time by other people (such as all the other people at your
party) increases the possibilities quite remarkably. And, incidentally, if
you save your pictures as Google Earth placemarks you can then add as much
info as you like to the KML files and presumably, search them instead of the
metadata, but that's a whole new topic.

I'm sure you will find a way,

Regards,

Steve

 

[Guest]

Does anyone who worked on Photo Info read this forum? If so, can you clarify
how the Keywords feature of Photo Info should work? Shouldn't you be able to
view the Keywords for a file in the details view in Windows Exploror (after
adding it as a column)?

Rich

 

[Steve Hawkins]

Actually, just tried the 'offending' PhotoInfo gadget, and have to say it
looks scarce any better than what was already available in 'properties'.
And I don't see any search options at all.

Mind u I also now find that when I open pics that I had lovingly filled in
the details of, into Photoshop Elements... only the camera settings are
picked up in 'file info', where I am invited to fill in the details all over
again...

S

 

[Geoff Coupe]

Rich, I'm guessing that you use Windows XP. The "keywords" field that
Windows XP uses in the file system is not the same as the XMP-based keyword
field used by Photo Info. However, you can get Windows XP to search on this
field by using Windows Desktop Search
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...2F-7660-492F-B96C-E42B4F5AB4AA&displaylang=en
), and the free XMP plug-in for the search engine (the free XMP IFilter
Workstation Edition at this link
http://www.ifiltershop.com/xmpfilter.html ).

Note that Windows Vista does use XMP-based keywords as part of the operating
system support for image files. So Vista is a step forward in this respect.
However, please be aware that Photo Info is not without its problems
(http://gcoupe.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!6AA39937A982345B!3121.entry ) and
these might extend to Vista as well
(http://gcoupe.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!6AA39937A982345B!3230.entry )

Geoff Coupe