Metadata in iPhoto

There are far more metadata attached to each image in the camera than get downloaded to iPhoto with the image. Can I save the rest to iPhoto or can I only see them on the camera (Nikon D40)? They must be on the card with the image, so why don't they download?

Thanks Larry
There's no grey triangle to the left on my metadata that show when the info button at the bottom of the screen is clicked. Are you using iPhoto 11?
I guess it just takes what it regards as essential metadata from the card - camera, lens, white balance, meterinig mode, file size, file format, focal length, EV, apertuer and shutter speed. It would be nice to have shooting mode too - ie auto, aperture priority, shutter priority, etc.
Ian

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Removing EXIF and other Metadata from iPhoto 5 Library

This post is intended for users who have upgraded to iPhoto5 and have suffered extensive slowdowns because of metadata that has accumulated in their iPhoto library, specifically in the Library.iPhoto file.
This occurs if certain Pentax, Canon, and other digital cameras are used for pictures. Search this forum for "metadata" or "EXIF" or "makernote" (no quotes) for additional information about this issue.
If you are affected by this issue and want to rid your iPhoto 5 library of this extra garbage, follow the steps below.
1. Make two copies of your complete iPhoto Library folder and put them someplace else other than in the normal location. If something goes wrong, you'll have the backups. In any event, understand that if you follow these instructions, you are responsible for any problems, errors, or loss of photos. If you aren't prepared to take that responsibility, then do not read any further.
2. Go to http://www.versiontracker.com and search for and download the free SmallImage application. Install it in your Applications folder.
3. In your original iPhoto library, trash the Library.iPhoto file.
4. Launch SmallImage by dragging your entire (ORIGINAL) iPhoto Library folder on top of SmallImage.
5. There are 5 categories (checkboxes) of metadata (called profiles) that you can eliminate. I selected them all. Uncheck the "Recompress at quality:" checkbox. You don't want your photos altered. Uncheck the "Add Suffix" checkbox so that SmallImage will overwrite your photos with ones without the metadata. Select whether you want keep any custom file icons or not. Then, hold your breath and push the "Process Files" button in the SmallImage toolbar. If you have thousands of photos and/or a slow computer, it might take many hours.
6. When SmallImage is finished, lauch iPhoto5, holding down the command/apple, option and shift keys. Before iPhoto fully loads, you'll be presented with the library rebuilding dialog box. Check ALL 4 options (especially the last one) and then allow iPhoto to rebuild the library. This also can take a very long time, depending on computer speed and the number of photos you have. When iPhoto is finished rebuilding the libary and reloading your photos, you'll have an iPhoto library without any the metadata that seems to be slowing it down. If you hold down the wrong keys and don't get the library rebuilding dialog box, don't panic. Quit iPhoto, and try it again. Your photos are still there.
7. If you stay with your current camera (that is generating the metadata), manually transfer your picture files to your computer (but not directly into iPhoto) and use SmallImage to remove the metadata BEFORE you manually import them into iPhoto5.
Hopefully, future versions of iPhoto5 will include an import option to strip metadata from photo files. If SmallImage can do it, why can't our favorite fruit company?
Best of luck.
12 inch 1.5Ghz Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.3)
12 1.5Ghz Powerbook Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Link the two Macs together and use iPhoto Library Manager
Regards
TD

How do you import (or convert) XMP metadata into iPhoto '08?

Having recently made OS X my primary operating system, I switched from using Picasa/Windows Photo Gallery on Vista to catalogue my photos to iPhoto '08. However, the 7,000+ pictures I have all have XMP metadata tags. None of them show up in iPhoto '08 after import. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to having to retag 7,000+ pictures in iPhoto.
I know people in various forums, here and elsewhere, have said that iPhoto '08 does not do XMP at all. Is this true? Is there a workaround or plugin? I find it weird that XMP has been an open standard since May, and 6 months later, there isn't a plugin or solution, especially from Apple. Unless I am just daft and missing something obvious, which is entirely possible.
At any rate, I would really appreciate any help in me not having to retag over 7,000 pictures...thanks in advance!

mrbofus:
Do you still have the PC and the photos on it? If so you might look into the demo version of iView MediaPro and see it if can read those Picasa files and embed the metadata into the files like it can when reading an iPhoto library on the Mac platform. If it can, you'll be able to write the metadata to the files and bring them over again to the Mac and import into a new library. This is only speculation as I'm not conversant in Windows at all.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Are there any Photoshop plugins that bring in metadata from iPhoto?

I just got CS4, and know I can tell iPhoto to edit photos directly in Photoshop. However, the Photoshop Bridge may have features in organizing my photos that may allow me to enhance what I already have done to organize them in iPhoto. Are there plugins that basically allow one to manage an iPhoto library from within Photoshop CS4? I'm looking for Keyword, Library, Comments support within Photoshop Bridge.

a
In a word, No.
If you have a Managed Library there is simply no way for Bridge to access the pics, nor will it make sense of the various versions inside the Library.
The iPhoto metadata - Keyword, Library, Comments - are not stored in the photos, but only in the iPhoto db file. Bridge has no ability to read this.
The only way to write to the photos themselves is to export from iPhoto.
If you're using a Referenced Library then the file management abilities of Bridge make it very, very easy to corrupt the iPhoto Library.
Simply, the best advice I can give is that you need to choose between iPhoto and Bridge. I don't think there's anything that Bridge does that iPhoto doesn't, and many that iPhoto does and Bridge doesn't.
Regards
TD

Can I view full metadata in iPhoto?

In iPhoto, when I display metadata (using "Show Photo Info"), the info displayed is only a small portion of complete metadata embedded in photos. I know the full metadata is being imported with the photos into iPhoto because I am able to view full metadata from photos exported from iPhoto and uploaded to FLICKR, or opened in Nikon ViewNX, etc.
I am using iPhoto '08. Do later versions of iPhoto display full metadata?
Thank you in advance for any help on this.

Try using EXIF Viewer. You can drag the photo from the iPhoto open window onto the EXIF Viewer icon in the Dock and you'll get this window:
The screenshot is for a simple Canon so the flash info is basic. If you camera offers more flash info it might be readable. Give it a try. You can download it from Toad's Cellar.
OT

Can I view date and time (metadata) of iphoto pics after sync?

Successfully synced thousands of iphoto pics to the ipad 2. Is it possible to see the metadata - actually, just the date and time of the pic - on the ipad 2 photos? Is there another photo app that lets me see the date and time?

Check out my PhotoMeta app. It's free.

Missing Camera and Lens Metadata after iPhoto Import

I've noticed that the Photos for Mac app seems to have "lost" all of the Camera and Lens Metadata associated with each of my photos. Has this happened to anyone else?
No matter which photo I choose, the Info inspector window shows "No Camera Information" and "No Lens Information". I've confirmed that the Camera and Lens metadata is still present in the original iPhoto Library.
If I create a new iPhoto Library with just a dozen or so pictures and then choose that Library when launching Photos for Mac, by pressing the Option key while clicking the Icon, the photos are imported with the Metadata intact. Clearly something went wrong with the import of my much larger main iPhoto library. (The main library has over 100,000 photos in it.)
I'm wondering if there is some way to force Photos for Mac to re-index the Metadata. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Michael

I have the same problem.. no lens metadata
will rebuild library with alt-cmd-start-Photos help?
first pic imported in photoshop from Photos app
second pic from iPhoto

EXIF, metadata and iPhoto 6

Hello,
I am trying to understand how iPhoto 6 deals with EXIF and metadata: namely, what is preserved during import and what is lost (if anything) during export.
I read many posts on similar topics, but I am not totally clear.
I use iPhoto 6 as my photo library and Photoshop Elements for advanced editing. Up until now I have imported the pictures straight from my camera into iPhoto.
1. Do I loose any EXIF data when importing into iPhoto?
2. Are all EXIF data retained when I export from iPhoto?
3. As for metadata (keywords, comments), I believe they are lost if I export photos. Is that correct?
Thanks in advance for your help!
iMac G5 20" 2GHz; 1.5GB RAM; 250 GB HDD Mac OS X (10.4.6) iPod 5G 30GB; 250GB FW HDD; Powershot S3IS; PIXMA iP6000D

Trick question... Here's a link to EXIF Properties for your reading pleasure...
I rarely use iPhoto to download images, I will usually use Image Capture. Family type images downloaded using iPhoto and then exported into an Image Editing software will usually give me this window 'The Exif of the file is corrupted (it contains 2 orientation tags). So only one tag will be used (depending on the prefs).' I have't tried to analyze what that means but I am only working on family stuff...
Downloaded images through Image Capture will contain more info as well as the same info load up ok in my Image Editing software. (Graphic Converter)
Images used between Macs and PC's will not display the same Exif info, at least not using my current Image Editing software (2 apps) on my PC.
I think there's a ton of variables to be considered, my only advise would be to download via Image Capture, this seems to retain more file info and then import into iPhoto after doing any digital optimizing, which is what I do. So essentially, I use iPhoto to store and index finished images but I still retain the orginal in a separate folder. It's a cumbersome method but my only guarantee of retaining as much info as possible as well as the orginal image.
Rick
iMac G5 iSight 20" - 30G iPOD in Slimming Black - Mac OS X (10.4.7) - HP Pav 15" WS and Toshiba Sat 17" WS LP's - Canon 20D & A620

How to import tags and metadata from iphoto 11 to Organizer

I have been using iPhoto 11 and I have around 26000 photos in my library. I am considering to buy the Photoshop Elements 10 and I downloaded the trial. I would like to import my photos from the iPhoto Libray to the organizer with all the metadata that they have, faces, places .... I have not been able to import that, only the photos and the tags but not the faces or places. Does anyone know how to get my photos and the organizer to recognize the place and faces that I already have marked in the iPhoto?
Thanks in advance for any response.

Hi Victoria,
Though I'm not very sure but perhaps the way face information is created and stored by iPhoto is different from that in Organizer. SO that might be the reason why people tags in iPhoto and Organizer behave differently. Organizer associates a face rectangle (portion of the image with a face) with people tags. That might not be the case with iPhoto perhaps.
Since tags are written in image metadata, they can directly be retrieved. Infact Places information if embedded as GPS data (demographic latitude/longitude format) should be read by Organizer.
Someone else might give a better advice on this one. I just told what I think the reason could be
Thanks
andaleeb

Transfer Captions, other metadata to iPhoto from Microsoft Digital Imaging

My dad has all of his photos in Microsoft Digital Imaging Suite and he is trying to get all of the captions (metadata?) transferred over to iPhoto. Is there some way of doing this???

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
Does this suite write this data to the IPTC tags on the pics? If so, then get it to do that and that should work.
Regards
TD

Spotlight not finding metadata of iPhoto '08

I used to be able to type a word in spotlight to find a photo which had that word in the Description of the photo (i.e. metadata). Or I could use the Title of a photo. But recently spotlight has changed and doesn't locate Titles or other metadata. It can find the photo files if I know the filename (eg P1053728.jpg) but that's not particularly useful.
Things I've changed recently: I've updated with every system update very promptly (within a day or so of release); I've also started using Filevault. I can't think of any other significant changes.
I've tried rebuilding the Spotlight index, but no change.
Any ideas?

There is a way to do a one time (or multiple over a 20 day period) writing of keywords, comments and titles to the original files. Follow the first 9 steps of Tutorial #1 and that will get you those items written to the actual original files.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

Finding metadata in iphoto

Hi,
I'm trying to see the picture metadata (shutter speed, aperture, lens zoom) in iphoto. I have no problems getting to them in aperture 2 but all the information I can get from iphoto '09 is the type of file and the size. I'm trying to make a book in iphoto and would like to have that information printed by its photo. I've been trying to find some documentation that would give me some ideas of how I can do this, without having to switch back and forth between aperture and iphoto, but have not been successful. Any information you can give me will be greatly appreciated. thank you for your time.
Eli

Thanks, that was easy enough... I feel a little stupid for not being able to figure that on my own. Is there a way to have it shown automatically when a photo is selected?

Using Automator to change metadata in iphoto

Hi,
I've read about difficulties with Automator and iPhoto, however I was hoping there is some way to automate these things.
Noticing this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=700185&#700185
I do hope there is some way to change the metadata of photos stored in iPhoto - specifically I want to change the name of photos (sequentially) and want to add comments in a workflow.
I'd greatly appreciate any help!
Thanx in advance

oh, i can do all those things with the batch mode in iPhoto but I would like to integrate these steps in a longer Automator workflow - i.e. not having to open iPhoto and do it manually...

Exporting photos and metadat from iPhoto '09 to Lightroom 3

After several years managing 110K+ photos and movies in iPhoto, I am reluctantly considering moving to Adobe Lightroom. I paid $200 for Aperture, but the most recent releases of both Aperture and iPhoto are so buggy that I'm not upgrading. I was very sad to reach this conclusion.
I am seriously considering moving to Adobe Lightroom for its power, stability, and availability on much cheaper PC hardware. Does anyone know of a way to export everything I've done in iPhoto (including hundreds of hours of tagging and photo editing) to Lightroom? I've spent a couple of hours reading forums and haven't seen anything (instructions or app) that will do the job.
I really wish Apple had nailed Aperture since I'm now needing it's photo editing power together with iPhoto's excellent organization capabilities. This was the promise of Aperture 3. Now I just feel dumb for spending the $200 (since the app is both buggy and available for $80 in the app store).
I would deeply appreciate any advice on the transition to Lightroom 3 from iPhoto '09... and I will always be an Apple fan.

Terence,
You rock for posting such a quick reply so late at night. Thank you!
I forgot about those checkboxes. Excellent point. Thanks for the description heads up. I'm fine losing the faces info (esp. since LR3 doesn't offer it as you said). It's the keywords and titles that I've spent 100's of hours on
Have you tried importing to LR with exported metadata? Did it work end to end for you? I'll check out iPhoto to Disk in depth.
I would like to keep my originals and the modified versions. Do you know of any way to avoid doubling the item count in my library to nearly a quarter of a million? I am hoping to avoid having an original and modified version of each file. I actually suffered that once through an iPhoto issue a couple of years ago and hope not to repeat.
To add more context to my Aperture and iPhoto '11 comments, the iPhoto '11 comments are purely a reflection of what I've read in hours of forum reading and not my direct experience. On Aperture, my experiences are actually limited -- focusing solely on importing a huge iPhoto library to Aperture. I spent tens of hours over several weeks trying to migrate and simply failed. The memory leaks got me time and again, no matter how I reconfigured the import (for example by splitting 110K photos into approx 50 individual imports). I should've called out that once (partially) imported, everything seemed to be faster and smoother in Aperture than in iPhoto. Thanks for the call out.
Guy

Transfer movie metadata from iphoto to itunes?

Short version:
Does anyone know a good way to transfer the iPhoto metadata associated with a movie in the iPhoto Library to iTunes? IE: I want to import a movie stored in my iphoto library to itunes so I can watch it on my apple tv. But I want the description, title, and keywords that I associated with that movie when I organized it in iphoto to come over to the itunes entry for that movie as well. Any way to do that?
Long version:
So I have a bunch of movies that are organized in the iphoto library. These are movies that come in from my point-and-shoot camera, my iphone 4, and my digital SLR. I want to watch these movies on my apple TV (2nd Generation).
I know that I can option+drag these movies into itunes, and that will make them viewable on the ATV2. However, when I drag them over to itunes, none of the metadata that I added to the movies in iPhoto transfers. I'm talking about the "description", title, keyword information that I can add/edit in iPhoto. Apparently iTunes just grabs the actual filename from the movie file, but otherwise doesn't take in any metadata, and definitely doesn't take the info from the iPhoto library.
That means I have to fill in this information twice: once to organize the movies in my iPhoto Library (where the actual movie files are stored), and once to organize the movies in my iTunes library (where the movies are viewed from when using Home Sharing on ATV2. I find myself copy-pasting the description from the iPhoto interface into the description field in iTunes for each movie file, one by one. Got to be a way to automate this.
I understand that the metadata is stored in an iPhoto database somehow, and not actually written to the movie files themselves, but you would think that iTunes would be able to access the iPhoto database somehow. . .

But the description and title that you enter for a movie in iPhoto are clearly stored in some sort of iPhoto-only database, even if that metadata is not actually inserted into the movie file itself (.mov, .avi, whatever). Why can't iTunes access that database?
I would love for iTunes to be able to access iPhoto's database so that when I drag a movie from iPhoto to iTunes, the description and "title" are still applied. Instead, when I drag it over, iTunes just uses the movies file name as the title (often just some meaningless letter/number combination), and doesn't have anything in the description field. So I have to take the extra step of copy-pasting the description and title over from iphoto to itunes. Annoying.

Metadata in iPhoto

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