Preserving/overwriting EXIF data when copying attributes

[Joe Austin]

I want to use Ctl+C, Ctl+Shf+V to copy metatdata from a source file to a target file(s).

I find that the tag {XMP::dc\description\Description\0 is only copied into the target file if the field is blank.  If the field contains data it does not copy.   I assume this is because of the presence of that data in  the Exif::Main\270\ImageDescription\0 tag, and the MWG consistency requirements.

I can force the dc\description tag to change by selecting 'Exif data' in the copy attributes selection box, but that copies all the exif data (with the exception of 'orientation' if that box is selected).

I want to be able to copy subject related data i.e. dc/description, location, keywords, etc., from the source to the target, without changing capture time or any other exif data related to the image.   The others do not seem to be affected by the presence of exif data, but dc/description is, and that is the most important element I want to copy.

I am aware of the metadata panel copy method, but how can I do this using the  Ctl+Shf+V 'Copy Attributes' command?

[Mario]

If you copy the XMP description tag, the EXIF tag is updated from it during write-back automatically. ExifTool maps the XMP description tag to the corresponding EXIF and legacy IPTC tags automatically.

[Joe Austin]

The behavior that I am seeing is this:

Viewing XMP::dc\description\Description\0  and  Exif::Main\270\ImageDescription\0

If xmp data is entered into a field manually then exif data is automatically updated on write-back.

but...

if xmp/desc is 'Paste attribute'-copied ('xmp (without LR/CRS' selected) then:
       if the exif-description is blank, the xmp-description is copied, but exif/desc is not updated and no pending write-back is indicated.
       if the exidf-desc is not blank in the target image then the xmp/desc and exif/desc do not change and no pending write-back is indicated.

[Mario]

Any relation rules interfering perhaps?
You are using the most recent version of IMatch?
It works when you just select all files and apply the title you want in the Metadata Panel?

[Joe Austin]

I am testing on .cr2 files with no relation between them.

Was using 5.6.22, now upgraded to 5.7.2  and am seeing slightly different behavior.....


Viewing XMP::dc\description\Description\0  and  Exif::Main\270\ImageDescription\0

If xmp data is entered into a field manually then exif data is automatically updated on write-back.

but...

if xmp/desc is 'Paste attribute'-copied ('xmp (without LR/CRS' selected) then:
       if the exif-description is blank, the xmp-description is copied, but exif/desc is not updated and no pending write-back is indicated.
       if the exidf-desc is not blank, the xmp-description is copied, but exif/desc is not updated and no pending write-back is indicated.


This is the behavior I was looking for with regard to xmp/desc, but I am not sure why the exif/desc does not get updated on a Ctl+Shf+V attribute copy as it does with a manual change to xmp/desc.

With a metadata panel copy,   I just observed a strange behavior (see attached images).   
- the copy of the source to the target images triggered a change in the xmp/desc, but also triggered a change in the exif/desc to the value that should have occurred in the previous attribute copy, but did not.

[Mario]

I think (I have currently no time to check the details, feel free to open a bug report) that the Copy Metadata does not trigger an MWG migration. This would often counteract what the user intents when manually copying metadata that way. The copy attributes is a special tool for special things. For your case using the copy in the metadata panel would work much better.

1. Select the files you want to copy to.
2. Make sure the file you want to copy from is the focused file, then click the pen icon in front of each tag you want to copy from it to the other files.
3. Click the green arrow toolbar button.

[Joe Austin]

My usual method of using the metadata panel is:

- create a custom metadata view of tags that I want to copy.
- select the source image
- click the copy button on the metadata panel
- select the target images
- click the paste button
- do pending write-backs

Wouldn't this accomplish the same thing as the 3 step method you describe above?

I wanted to use the 'Paste Attributes' method because it didn't require me to switch metadata panel display presets.

[Mario]

The method I described should give the same results, just without the need to switch panel layouts. Give it a spin.

[Joe Austin]

That method does appear to work.   I never realized the pen icons could work in that way.

The things about that method that I don't like are: selecting the target images and then selecting/focusing on the source image seems counterintuitive to me, and worse, when you go to hit the pen icon and green check tool, you are seeing 'Multiple values' in the boxes you are about to copy instead of the value you are copying/pasting.  That makes the method unnerving.

[Mario]

I suggest you add a bug report about the behavior of the Paste Attributes command. I can then allocate a spot and check it out.

That the "focused" file controls what is written back when you use the pen icon to mark tags as updated is documented in the Metadata Panel help. That it has to show "multiple values" is also correct - unless you type a value into the tag that is then written to all selected files.