Master and version with different date

[frlindla]

Hello!
I have discovered a problem with different date on the master and the version. See the attatched file. When I click on the version-tab, I see a master photo different from the version. The version has the right date and time but it seems like wrong photos have been stacked.

How can I solve this so the right photos are stacked and let the master and version get the same date and time?

[JohnZeman]

It appears to me you have a file naming problem since you have 2 completely different images that have nearly identical file names.

[frlindla]

Yes, I see. Could this be solved if I go through my photos and give them better filenames?

[Mario]

Start with a close look at your file relations.
It seems that your configuration picks up the wrong files as versions (as far as I can tell from the screen shot).

Make sure your file name pattern picks the right files as versions.
Make sure your relation rules search in the correct folders for versions.

Tips:

1.  Sometimes users make file name patterns which 'grab' arbitrary files. Or they make the rule search a vast number of folders or even the entire database (because they thing this is simpler).
This then results in the wrong files considered as versions or a sluggish performance.

2.  The File Relations dialog has a test button which allows you to enter a master file name and version file names for testing, to see if they match. This is usually helpful.

3.  As John pointed out, a concise naming schema is very helpful when you want to use file versioning. Concise names are easier to grab with the regular expression and there is less chance of the wrong files being picked accidentally.

4. The same is true for the general file organization. If you keep versions in the same folder as the master, or a sub-folder of the master folder, things are much easier to handle in a file relation.

[frlindla]

Ok. I will take a look.

But see also the attached file. Here you can see that this is not a stacked file. The filename tells the right capture date. But as you can see, Imatch set up a capture date totally different. How is that possible?

I have set Imatch to sort by capture date.

[JohnZeman]

I cannot see where the filename in your image shows what the capture date/time was.

Which metadata tag are you using to display the capture date/time in your thumbnails?

Have you looked at all of the other metadata tags using the IMatch Browser metadata panel layout?
That will show you all of the metadata in your image including all of the timestamps.
It's possible that you have been using the wrong metadata tag (or variable).

[thrinn]

One possible reason is that the image does not contain a valid EXIF record. How IMatch uses Date and Time Information describes in detail how IMatch handles date and time - which sometimes means to find the "best possible" date.
You can check in the Metadata panel if and which of the multiple EXIF and XMP timestampe fields are available for this image. Pictures taken with digital cameras or smartphones normally contain this kind of information, but if the image is, for example, exported from a RAW converter, it is necessary to set the right options so that EXIF information is propagated.

[frlindla]

Thank you all for your answers!

As far as I can see, my relation rules works as they should. I have used the test button and there is match.
I think my main problem with the version stacks is my file names. I think that maybe if I do some work to make the file names better, this will also work better?

When it comes to wrong dates on my photos, I really don`t understand how this can happen. See one more example attached. This photo is taken 25.05.2017 (see the filename). But as you can see on top of the photo it says 21.02.2020. I can`t understand why. The metadata tag I use is "Created date/Date subject created". Is this wrong? When I open my metadata panel for these files, some of them don`t contain any data. Others have information on created date, but this date is wrong.

[Mario]

IMatch does not use date and time information which might be included in file names.

It uses the EXIF data embedded in the image.
What dates are show in the Metadata Panel, in the Default Layout?
This is the date and time IMatch uses for your file.

thrinn has given you the link to the information how IMatch uses date and time data in your files. Did you read that info?

[frlindla]

For this file there is no date in the metadata in the standard metadata layout. Is that the reason why the date 21.02.2020 comes up?

Yes I have read this article, but just thought it was strange that a photo tanken in 2017 comes up with a date in 2020.

This is also the case for several other files. Other files have dates in the created date and date subject created, but the date is wrong.

[Mario]

As explained in the help topc, if a file has no usable date and time at all, IMatch uses the "last modified" timestamp as reported by Windows.
Use the Metadata Panel to set a proper date and time for your files.