Can I copy all metadata including EXIF-Data into another Foto?

[pmbvw]

My hobby ist to take fotos of Streetart/Graffity.
Often I need to stitch a few single fotos together as a panorama.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pharoahsax/albums/72157667363154696

My used Stitch-programs are ,,Auto Stitch" or ,,Image Composite Editor from Microsoft"
My  problem is, that both products  produce  output-Panos, which have no Exif-Data.

My two questions:
1)   Can I copy all Metadata-Fields including all EXIF-Data  from one detail-pic  to the resulting pano picture in IMATCH?

2)   Can anyone tell me a good stitching software which transfers the exif data to the result-pano?

Thanks in advance.

[Mario]

1) EXIF data is written by your camera and contains mostly technical information about the shot and the digital image created. And, probably, vendor-specific and image-specific maker notes.
Copying EXIF data to a processed and modified image is really not what EXIF is for. Image dimensions, image data and lots more will no longer match. Why do you want to copy EXIF data between images?

[mastodon]

It is logical to copy camera specific infos to the generated image. Other apps do it.

[loweskid]

I use Photoshop and it does copy exif data to the stitched image.  Presumably it uses the info from just one of the images - I've just checked and it appears to be the same in the panorama as in one of the originals, though I've only skimmed through it (four images used for the pano).  The finished image dimensions are correct (12000x3302) but the 'Field of View' is obviously wrong - 53 degrees, which is the same as each of the individual images.

No doubt there are programs out there which would copy exif data but I certainly wouldn't like to try it - sounds like a recipe for disaster..!

[Mario]

Yes, IMatch can copy EXIF-Data easily. It does so in the "Copy Attributes" command (see Copying Attributes and Metadata Between Files) and it does it when you enable EXIF for propagation in Versioning.

ExifTool takes care to copy only safe EXIF tags and to relocate known maker notes.
Which makes it unique.

Because, copying an entire EXIF record 'as-is' including the undocumented maker notes may render an image unreadable in some applications.
Maker notes often contain pointers (byte addresses), pointing at bits of information in the original image.
And these become invalid when being copied to another image.

What Photoshop does when you create a new image is different - it creates a new EXIF record with updated information (I guess) and writes that in the output file.
It should correct things like dimensions and delete data no longer valid for the target image.
If you use a dedicated software to create panos or for stitching images together, it should take care for that, too.

When you produce a composite images from several or even dozens of photos, none of the EXIF records of these source photos really matters anymore, and the output file should get its own EXIF record. Or, better, an XMP record.

I find it much safer to just use XMP metadata. It contains the same info as EXIF (sans the proprietary maker notes) (aperture, shutter speed, lens data, GPS data etc.) and is safe to copy between files.

[pmbvw]

Normally I stitch the fotos to a new panorama, keep the panorama  and then I delete the single fotos. In the panorama then I miss the  following fields:
Date time created, Camera name, Lens information, Exposure time, F number, ISO, Shutter speed, GPS data,  Field of view etc
In the Metadata-Panel I copied the GPS- and Core-Data from one of the detail-images to the Pano-pic but (it was not possible?) not the fields from the EXIF-data.

Mario, after reading and testing your last post, for me the problem is solved !!!
I have forgotten your  "Copy Attributes" command   
Here I get my missed fields from above !!!
Thanks for the advice and solution  .

PS: For me it would be better, if the checkbox "ALL Metadata...." stands on top of the dialog box and not at the last position after scrolling   

[Mario]

Copying all metadata willy-nilly can have bad consequences, depending on the file format you use, the applications you use etc.
I recommend copying only XMP data (sans the XMP EXIF), because copying EXIF data, legacy IPTC metadata, maker notes etc. can unwanted consequences and side-effects, as I've tried to explain above.
ExifTool does generally a good job at not copying unsafe tags etc., but you'll never know.

Just remember the popular RAW processor which refused to load files after extraneous blanks were removed from the make tag - because they had hard-coded the maker name with the blanks!
Software which processes maker notes may choke on maker notes copied from another image - because they don't match what's in the file.
Important technical data like image width and height or field of view etc. will no longer be correct after copying.

This is why "ALL" is at the end of the list.

As a side note: your Pano software should actually create a new EXIF record for the pano, with data that matches what the file contains.
Or, since EXIF was only meant to be written by cameras, scanners etc, it should write an XMP record and include EXIF fields which are safe and match the actual pano image.