Advice re migrating metadata for scans?

[jch2103]

I have a quite number of images scanned from slides, negatives and old prints. Several years ago, I decided to include information about film type/iso and film camera models. At the time, using otherwise unused IPTC fields for this information (OriginatingProgram for film camera, FixtureIdentifier for film type) seemed like a reasonable idea. Subsequently, MWG has recommended avoiding IPTC fields, and it's become clear that I should avoid using any IPTC fields in IMatch 5.

So, the issue is where best to record (move) this information. I thought about using Attributes, but I'd prefer this information to be stored in the image file. I'm thinking I should use hierarchical keywords (e.g., Film|Kodachrome 64; FilmCamera|Minolta|SRT-101). I also want to record the original photo format for old scanned family photo (e.g., tintype, Carte-de-visite/CDV, Cabinet Card, etc.) but haven't quite decided on how/where to handle this; again, hierarchical keywords may be a good choice.

In theory, I could use the EXIF ISO and Make and Model fields for some of this information, but a) some of my scanned images already have the scanner Make and Model encoded and b) it's probably best to avoid potential complications from using these fields.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or suggestions others may have about the best way to handle this kind of information. Thanks!

John

[mastodon]

Hello jch2103!
I have the same problem, and I saw that you have some thought about this problem it other topics. Have you found a solution in what xmp record to store some analoge film specific data: the film manufacturer name, film modell name, film ISO, roll id, exposure (frame) Number. And how to set up this in IMatch?

[Mario]

Some basic info is here (search for scan)

http://www.photometadata.org/meta-resources-field-guide-to-metadata

[jch2103]

Mario - Thanks. I believe I'd seen that reference some time in the past, but it was useful to review for a refresher. The 'digitalsourcetype' field seems to be the closest to what I was originally looking for, but the controlled vocabulary values don't go into the detail I was looking for. It appears that there are no existing XMP tags to use for things like film type and film camera, so I've decided to use hierarchical keywords for these.

Mastodon - A timely question! I recently began converting my scanned film types from the 'FixtureIdentifier' tag to hierarchical keywords and will be shortly doing the same for film camera types (currently 'OriginatingProgram' tag, to hierarchical keywords). Note that I've incorporated ISO in the film name where I know it. I already use hierarchical keywords for original photo type for old scanned photos. (See attached screen shots.) As I implied in my original post, my VueScan scanner software currently records the scanner make and model, which is convenient, but older scanner software didn't...

For negative and slide scans, I put the scanned originals in PrintFile archival storage envelopes, labeled with the year/month photos were taken (when known) and the scans are named with year/month and negative/slide number. (I haven't been totally consistent about this, unfortunately, especially for negatives/slides where I don't know the exact dates of the original media.) Where possible, I go back to the scanned image to record the original date/time (XMP::Photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0). Where only the year is known, I'll assign a date of January 1 for that year; where approximate month is known, I'll add that also. There's a potentially useful discussion about approximate dates at https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=517.msg4895

Because scanned images sometimes won't have a known original date/time, I've created a data-driven category called 'No date assigned' where I color-code as red the 'Other' grouping (i.e., missing date). I also have a data-driven category for missing location (purple). These help me identify files with missing information for further research/action. (See screen shot "No Date.jpg".)

Where possible, I add location information (Country, State, City, Location) and sometimes geographic coordinates if available. And I add the film camera and film type (or original photo type) if available.

I've made some limited use of face recognition software (primarily the desktop-only version of Picasa) but need to do more in this area.

I use a custom metadata layout to display all this information in IMatch. By moving from IPTC tags to hierarchical keywords, I'll be able to simplify my template a bit.

I hope this somewhat rambling response is helpful. Let me know if you have questions.


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[Mario]

Thanks for sharing your findings and workflow 

[mastodon]

Thank you, jch2103! That's exactly what I want. I have read a lot of arcticles and did not find any other solution for store the type of the film in XMP. (AnalogeExif and ExIf 35 are nice solutions with new XMP fields, but too specific. Other software won't interpret these XMP fields.) So, your workflow will just fine.
Do you have a method to store the roll id and the exposure (frame) number? It will be nice for sorting in IMatch and to find the pictures on the negative easily.

[sinus]

The 'digitalsourcetype' field seems to be the closest to what I was originally looking for, but the controlled vocabulary values don't go into the detail I was looking for. It appears that there are no existing XMP tags to use for things like film type and film camera, so I've decided to use hierarchical keywords for these.

Hi John
Thanks a lot, great sharing!
From my point of view it is not that important, what field we use. More important is, that we use it always in the same way. Like your iptc-fields, what we should not more use (a lot of people does them still use anyway), because you used them always in the same way, you will have not problems to move the values to other fields.

Using the hierarchical keywords is a good choice.

And mastodon, I mean, you can use this informations (roll id and frame number) in several ways, depends on you.
You could store them into the filename, for example at the end of the name (like -r812-f24) or also use some xmp fields for this.

BTW: I used for example the custom field from IMatch since years, they are not more really supported, but IM5 does it still read, so I do not more use them for writing. If I have time and fun (does not hurry, because I can search also for them), I will simply move the values into another field, no problem.

[jch2103]

Do you have a method to store the roll id and the exposure (frame) number? It will be nice for sorting in IMatch and to find the pictures on the negative easily.

Thanks, Mastodon. The original organization of most of my negatives/slides wasn't very formal (think shoe boxes of various inherited family photos), so there wasn't much in the way of roll id information. In addition, I have a number of 620/120 negatives that don't include frame numbers, unlike 35 mm negatives. That's why I've mostly relied on using date-based file names (year/month) with the addition of negative/slide numbers as part of the file name. If you've had the advantage of more formal organization with roll numbers, etc., you might want to put them in a separate tag or hierarchical category or keyword to make it easier to search and sort.

Marcus - Thanks. As you say, what's important is being consistent. My problem is that I've changed techniques some over time, which creates the need to go back and make things more uniform...! It's great to be able to use IMatch for this because it makes this process so much easier (and in some cases, possible). Thanks, Mario, for creating and improving this tool.

[Mario]

Thanks, Mario, for creating and improving this tool.

I do my best    Tell others about IMatch.

[BanjoTom]

What a helpful discussion!  Workflow and organization can be . . . EVERYTHING!