I'm clearly doing something wrong - Want to sort by date created

[deaded]

I wish to have the date the photo was created be the basis in which the timeline is created/sorted, not the date last modified.  However I don't seem to have a choice.  What am I missing?  I can see the creation date in photoshop but I can't only get today's date (modified) to display in iMatch.

Thanks for any help!

[Mario]

You want to sort files where? In the File Window? You want to display a date where in IMatch?

Which Sort Profile have you selected for the File Window?



See File Window: Sorting Files for more information.

The Metadata Panel shows the date and time IMatch has imported from your images and mapped to the XMP date created and date subject created metadata tags.

[deaded]

Thanks for your reply.  OK, that's the problem Mario.  I want to sort in the file window.  I want to display the date on the thumbnail.  For example, I choose the "Default" sort profile.  As you can see, iMatch thinks these photos were taken yesterday.  Same thing happens if I use the "Capture Time" profile:

http://www.estimated.com/1.jpg  (sorry, I'm not tagging correctly to embed apparently)

If you look at the metadata on the right, the creation date was yesterday. 

If I pull the same photo into Photoshop and look at the EXIF data it gives me the correct date where it was created:

http://estimated.com/3.jpg

I had tagged these photos earlier with the Location, state, "Alaska."  When I did that, did I somehow re-set the creation date?  I know I didn't touch it but it happened on hundreds of files.  Somewhere in there the correct creation date exists, but for some reason iMatch sees only the date where I modified the EXIF data.

[Mario]

1. The Default sort profile sorts by file name, not a date. Use one of the "Created" sort profiles to sort by date.

2. The dashboard in the Metadata Panel does not show any EXIF data for this file. And the "modified" date is the same as the date shown as the create date.
This indicates that the file has no EXIF data or XMP data at all. IMatch then falls back to using the "last modified on disk" date. See How IMatch uses Date and Time Information
VERY unusual for a PSD file. ExifTool has no problems extracting EXIF or XMP metadata from PSD files.

3. Run the Metadata Analyst App (in the App Manager Panel) for one of your files to check it for existing metadata or problems.

Or upload the PSD file somewhere so we can have a look.

I assume you use the default metadata options in IMatch (no custom changes)?

NOTE: Please attach screen shots to your posts (via the Attachments options in the post editor). I don't like links to external web sites because they always cause privacy issues.

[deaded]

Thank you for trying to help with this.  I must be doing something wrong but I don't see it yet.

1) Yes, I'm sorting by date.  I tried "Capture Time" but no change.  I made a sort profile to sort by date:

But it does the same thing will all the other sort profiles.  I still thinks the main date it today, when it was modified.  Here is the capture from the file viewer:

You can see that it has the date at yesterday.  But if I open the file properties in windows it shows the correct creation date:


2) Yeah, that's odd.  Here is a PSD file to look at...  http://www.estimated.com/ben-hat-03.PSD

3) i ran the metadata analyst.  It says no problems were detected, but it does say here that the XMP Created date is yesterday.  How do we reconcile that with the fact that both photophop and windows says that the creation date was in 2007?

Yes, default options in metadata.  I have not fiddled with that yet. 

[deaded]

... same file with the Photoshop properties showing the correct date:

[jch2103]

Re your #3 above: I downloaded your PSD file and ran the Metadata Analyst on it. The report is attached. It says the original and digitized date/time was 2021:02:12 19:38:22. See also the attached screenshot of the image in IMatch on my computer. Those date/times would explain why the image isn't sorting as you expect. The second copy of the MA report is after I entered your 2007 date/time and also United States and Alaska.

Is it possible you have an XMP sidecar for the file on your computer with the 2007 date? If so, that might possibly account for the discrepancy. PSD files by convention don't use XMP sidecar files, but if your settings call for that you could have conflicting dates. Also, I didn't see 'Alaska' in the metadata of your image, which also suggests some kind of data conflict/glitch.

You may want to re-enter the date/time, in your metadata template, to see if that fixes the issue.

[Mario]

This is what I see in the file:

[System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2021:02:14 08:54:11+01:00
[System]        File Access Date/Time           : 2021:02:14 08:57:01+01:00
[System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2021:02:14 08:54:11+01:00
[XMP-xmp]       Metadata Date                   : 2021:02:12 18:38:22-08:00
[XMP-xmp]       Modify Date                     : 2021:02:12 18:38:22-08:00

The file has no EXIF record and no date created or date subject created XMP record.
The XMP data was written (!) by IMatch, based on what it could produce from the exiting data in the file.

Since the PSD file has no EXIF data and (from what I can tell) no existing XMP data, IMatch could not set any date and time and falls falls back to using the "last modified on disk" file system timestamp. See How IMatch uses Date and Time Information for details.

Did you create the original PSD as a new file, or by importing an existing RAW file or JPEG from your camera?
Because, in the second case, Photoshop usually copies the EXIF data from the original file and also produces a much richer XMP record - which would then also be used by IMatch.

[deaded]

Thanks for your suggestions John.   Unfortunately, no XMP sidecar.  The file is alone.  Also, it's not one of the ones I tagged for Alaska (those were a subset of the pics whos date reverted to 'today').  I'm able to fix it in iMatch by putting the correct date in, it's just a pain in the butt for so many files.  I'm sure I must have done something to cause this.  It's also very weird to me that both photoshop and Windows 10 see the correct date.

[deaded]

OK, I figured out what's happening.  I just looked and found 700 photos for today (I took no photos today).  What happened was every single photo I tagged with a face, or rotated, or added a description to, had it's date changed to the moment I selected  "Metadata Writeback".

Why would this re-time each file?  I have selected some option by mistake?  I have to figure this out or I can't keep using this program.  I've dug myself into a big hole.

[Mario]

Why would this re-time each file?

I have explained that several times above. And linked twice to the help topic explaining how IMatch extracts date and time information from your files. Did you read the info?

When IMatch has to fall back to the last modified date and time on disk because your file has no usable EXIF or XMP data (as we verified above), every time you change the file on disk this timestamp will of course change.
Because writing a file changes the last modified timestamp.

You need to set a date and time for your files in the IMatch Metadata Panel once (Default layout, the "date created" and "date subject created" tag values).
This gives your file a proper date and time, IMatch will use that everywhere and also update the XMP record in the PSD file when you write back.
Until you set a date and time, IMatch cannot behave differently.

If you want IMatch to persist the "last modified on disk" timestamp when it imports a file for the first time (filling the date created and date subject created tags from it and marking them as modified), you can enable the corresponding option under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2: XMP Import > Mark File as  pending write-back.
But, usually, when a file has no date at all, you might want to manually place it by setting the two tags in the Metadata Panel (You can do that for all selected files in one go, even for hundreds of files).

But I wonder why Photoshop does not produce a filled XMP record for your files.
When I create a new PSD file and store it, Photoshop writes the create date into XMP (and IMatch picks that up and uses it, instead of falling back to modified on disk).

[jch2103]

Did you create the original PSD as a new file, or by importing an existing RAW file or JPEG from your camera?
Because, in the second case, Photoshop usually copies the EXIF data from the original file and also produces a much richer XMP record - which would then also be used by IMatch.

To follow up on what Mario said, I think you need to look back at how you created the PSD image. Something in your workflow left out the metadata that would normally have been included in the PSD.

[Tveloso]

This is what I see in the file:

[System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2021:02:14 08:54:11+01:00
[System]        File Access Date/Time           : 2021:02:14 08:57:01+01:00
[System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2021:02:14 08:54:11+01:00
[XMP-xmp]       Metadata Date                   : 2021:02:12 18:38:22-08:00
[XMP-xmp]       Modify Date                     : 2021:02:12 18:38:22-08:00

The file has no EXIF record and no date created or date subject created XMP record.

I have many files like this as well, that I must still assign proper dates to.  But this post from Mario:

  https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=8742.msg61554#msg61554

...was immensely helpful in identifying them. 

The Other Category, within the Category Tree that is automatically created by the Data Driven Category discussed in the above post, can even be assigned a color (I assigned bright red to mine), so the files that lack dates are immediately identifiable in other Views...(these are the files that will be assigned the current date, if you should make changes to them, without also setting an explicit Date - as in the 700 files you mentioned).

In my case, there was a large block of those files that (despite not containing any usable Dates), had the correct Date/Time in their filenames (these were mobile phone photos from the old flip-phone days), and by filtering within the Other Category (using a Regular Expression in the FileWindow SearchBar), I was able to isolate all files there, whose names conformed to a specific format, and then set their Date Subject Created  (Date Created in MD Panel) and Create Date (Date Digitized in MD Panel) tags, from the FileName, using a MetaData Template...and all in one go, these were now fixed.

In your case, if you're sure that the File Creation Date/Time from the FileSystem is the correct value for the Date Subject Created tag, then you can copy that value into the Date Subject Created  (Date Created in MD Panel) and Create Date (Date Digitized in MD Panel) tags as well.  In your case the Source Varaible would be:

    {File.Created|format:YYYY:MM:DD hh:mm:ss}

That variable returns the Creation Date from the File System - that's the value that Mario showed above as containing this for the sample (when the fie was created on his PC):

    [System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2021:02:14 08:54:11+01:00

...which I suspect on your PC, contains this:

    [System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2007:07:03 11:41:34-08:00

...and the above variable can be used to load that value into the appropriate Date Tags.

You should read over the Help for Metadata Templates, and test this with just a few files, before applying the Template to a large number of files.

[Tveloso]

Did you create the original PSD as a new file, or by importing an existing RAW file or JPEG from your camera?
Because, in the second case, Photoshop usually copies the EXIF data from the original file and also produces a much richer XMP record - which would then also be used by IMatch.

To follow up on what Mario said, I think you need to look back at how you created the PSD image. Something in your workflow left out the metadata that would normally have been included in the PSD.

As John suggests, might there be some other application in your tool chain that's responsible for stripping the Metadata from your files?

Some of the other problem files I have (that I still need to determine correct dates for), were originally taken with a Digital Camera, and I know that they once contained proper dates.  I recognize some of them as files I edited quite some time ago - and whatever I used to do that (I no longer remember what that was), stripped all the metadata.  The Dates, Camera info, everything...is gone from these files.  Perhaps something like that has happened to you?...

[Mario]

When a new file is created in a "current" version of Photoshop, Ps writes an XMP record with at least the "created" date. And IMatch imports this and uses it to fill date created / date subject created.
This date did not exist in the sample file provided.

"Retaining metadata" or "copying metadata into the output image without making a complete mess" was a totally optional feature for many software products in the past.
And it still is for many! This is why I always caution to to check what the software you let modify your images is actually doing.

Oh the mess some of the "consumer" products made/do. Or Windows Explorer. Or Microsoft Photo. Various Apple products/devices. Even Lr, in some buggy versions... 

[deaded]

Why would this re-time each file?

I have explained that several times above. And linked twice to the help topic explaining how IMatch extracts date and time information from your files. Did you read the info?

I'm sorry to frustrate you Mario.  I really did read everything you said.  I have spent over 50 hours on this thing and it's not making a lot of sense to me and I'm about to pull my hair out.  I guess 18 years of school and 30 years of practicing medicine has dulled my brain.  All I want to do is sort my files.

I do understand that iMatch wants to find the EXIF or XMP info and I read the page entitled How iMatch Uses Date and Time Information.  So I obviously also read the section about the Last Modified Fallback.  What I really want to do is sort the files by the date they were created.  Apparently windows retains this information.  Here, another file, this time a JPG.  It has no EXIF data.  XMP data was all created by iMatch.

This is the file I zipped so you can see the retained data:
http://estimated.com/BEnStellaHug_01c.zip

Here you can see there is no EXIF data:



Here you can see that in the XMP data, it's stuff that was filled in by iMatch



But here, if I choose to display all data, you can see that the creation date of the file is clearly retained.



So I guess what I'm saying is that I'd like to access THAT date.  Windows can see it.  Photoshop can see it. iMatch can see it before it writes it's own data.

I DO understand that it falls back to the Last Modified date, but why can't it fall back to the file creation date?  Wouldn't this make sense?  The date the file was actually made?

So can I get that date back?  Can I somehow set the metafile create date, the same as what Windows sees as the create date?  Yes, I know I can do it by hand individually, but I have 100,000 files going back over 30 years.  It's too much to do by hand, especially when the information is already in the file.  Is there some way to tell each file to copy the file create date to the EXIF or XMP create date automatically?

I love the program in general and otherwise it does everything I want.  The price was extremely reasonable for how much work has gone into this and all it does.  But if I have to go and hand change every single of the 100,000 files it's just not workable for me.  That would be a bummer.  But I still think that I'm missing something and hope I can get it to work for me.

[Mario]

The file you have attached contains this date and time information:

[System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2021:02:14 22:04:15+01:00
[System]        File Access Date/Time           : 2021:02:14 22:04:37+01:00
[System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2021:02:13 17:09:12+01:00
[XMP-xmp]       Metadata Date                   : 2021:02:13 17:09:11-08:00
[XMP-xmp]       Modify Date                     : 2021:02:13 17:09:11-08:00

There is no "created date" and hence IMatch uses the "last modified on disk".
On my system, this is today 2/14 (because the file was downloaded and created just now).

Your screen shots indicate that you did not set a date and time in IMatch. So, the situation remains unchanged.
IMatch cannot find a usable date in the metadata of the file. It falls back to the last modified date and time - which of course changes every time you modify the file.

Did you set a date created / date subject created in the Metadata Panel?
This would set a proper timestamp and anchor the file on a specific date. Usually your camera does this, or Photoshop. Why this does not happen in your workflow, I don't know.

For example, i set a date and time for the file (2020-01-01) in the Metadata Panel. This places the file on a specific date and time in your timeline and IMatch will also save these timestamps to your file, making it also visible in Windows Explorer and all other software:

[deaded]

The file you have attached contains this date and time information:

[System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2021:02:14 22:04:15+01:00
[System]        File Access Date/Time           : 2021:02:14 22:04:37+01:00
[System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2021:02:13 17:09:12+01:00
[XMP-xmp]       Metadata Date                   : 2021:02:13 17:09:11-08:00
[XMP-xmp]       Modify Date                     : 2021:02:13 17:09:11-08:00

There is no "created date" and hence IMatch uses the "last modified on disk".

But that's what I'm not understanding.  You keep saying that there is no created date.  But there is.  Like I said, I can see it in photoshop, I can see it in windows, I can see it in exiftoo right here (third image above)...

Your screen shots indicate that you did not set a date and time in IMatch. So, the situation remains unchanged.
IMatch cannot find a usable date in the metadata of the file. It falls back to the last modified date and time - which of course changes every time you modify the file.

Did you set a date created / date subject created in the Metadata Panel?
This would set a proper timestamp and anchor the file on a specific date. Usually your camera does this, or Photoshop. Why this does not happen in your workflow, I don't know.

For example, i set a date and time for the file (2020-01-01) in the Metadata Panel. This places the file on a specific date and time in your timeline and IMatch will also save these timestamps to your file, making it also visible in Windows Explorer and all other software:

Again, maybe I'm missing something but I don't see how this helps me.  YES, I could set a fallback date for every one of those 100,000 files by hand, but that's not realistic.  I could set a fallback date for all 100K files but I don't see how that helps either as eventually everything gets set back to that date.  I want the fallback date to be the date when the file was created, and that information seems to still be available in the file.

[Mario]

I show you the metadata that is in your file. I don't know what you see in Photoshop.
The screen shots you show above also show no proper created date. This is the entire data that is in the file:

[ExifTool]      ExifTool Version Number         : 12.12
[System]        File Name                       : BEnStellaHug_01c.jpg
[System]        Directory                       : E:/data/download/community/11030
[System]        File Size                       : 43 KiB
[System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2021:02:14 22:04:15+01:00
[System]        File Access Date/Time           : 2021:02:14 22:09:13+01:00
[System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2021:02:13 17:09:12+01:00
[System]        File Permissions                : rw-rw-rw-
[File]          File Type                       : JPEG
[File]          File Type Extension             : jpg
[File]          MIME Type                       : image/jpeg
[JFIF]          JFIF Version                    : 1.01
[JFIF]          Resolution Unit                 : inches
[JFIF]          X Resolution                    : 96
[JFIF]          Y Resolution                    : 96
[XMP-x]         XMP Toolkit                     : Image::ExifTool 12.12
[XMP-iptcExt]   Person In Image                 : Stella Blue Leiken
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Applied To Dimensions H  : 600.000000
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Applied To Dimensions Unit: pixel
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Applied To Dimensions W  : 480.000000
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Area H                   : 0.185500, 0.223000
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Area Unit                : normalized, normalized
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Area W                   : 0.232500, 0.278125
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Area X                   : 0.600625, 0.504063
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Area Y                   : 0.459750, 0.205000
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Name                     : Stella Blue Leiken
[XMP-mwg-rs]    Region Type                     : Face, Face
[XMP-xmp]       Creator Tool                    : photools.com IMatch 20.14.0.2 (Windows)
[XMP-xmp]       Metadata Date                   : 2021:02:13 17:09:11-08:00
[XMP-xmp]       Modify Date                     : 2021:02:13 17:09:11-08:00
[XMP-xmpMM]     Document ID                     : xmp.did:60eb6260-2d69-4987-8f30-c6f719c3e50b
[XMP-xmpMM]     Instance ID                     : xmp.iid:40544a31-0499-4179-a1c9-0f70b8054346
[XMP-xmpMM]     Original Document ID            : xmp.did:60eb6260-2d69-4987-8f30-c6f719c3e50b
[File]          Image Width                     : 480
[File]          Image Height                    : 600
[File]          Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
[File]          Bits Per Sample                 : 8
[File]          Color Components                : 3
[File]          Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:2:2 (2 1)
[Composite]     Image Size                      : 480x600
[Composite]     Megapixels                      : 0.288


But that is metadata written by IMatch! This is not the original file from Photoshop.
IMatch can only write the data is has in the database (imported from the image and modified by you).

Since IMatch did not write date created / date subject created, you did not set it in IMatch!
The modify date and metadata data are set, but not relevant for your problem.

Show us the file from Photoshop, before you imported it into IMatch and written it back.
I'm quite sure that there is no EXIF data and no usable timestamp in the file.

[jch2103]

In your case, if you're sure that the File Creation Date/Time from the FileSystem is the correct value for the Date Subject Created tag, then you can copy that value into the Date Subject Created  (Date Created in MD Panel) and Create Date (Date Digitized in MD Panel) tags as well.  In your case the Source Varaible would be:

    {File.Created|format:YYYY:MM:DD hh:mm:ss}

That variable returns the Creation Date from the File System - that's the value that Mario showed above as containing this for the sample (when the fie was created on his PC):

    [System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2021:02:14 08:54:11+01:00

...which I suspect on your PC, contains this:

    [System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2007:07:03 11:41:34-08:00

...and the above variable can be used to load that value into the appropriate Date Tags.

You should read over the Help for Metadata Templates, and test this with just a few files, before applying the Template to a large number of files.

As Mario says, your image doesn't contain any EXIF data; I suspect some errant application was responsible. possibly years ago. If you're seeing a create date, it's in your computer's file system, not in the image itself. Tveloso has suggested this possible way of working around your problem. As he says, you should read over the Help and test with just a few files first.

[deaded]

If you're seeing a create date, it's in your computer's file system, not in the image itself.

In the file system?  That's not reasonable.  If I copy this photo to my laptop, it still shows the correct create date.  When I right-click on the file and select, "Properties" the correct file creation date comes up.

When I examine the file with EXIFtool it shows the create date (yes, I know it's not actually EXIF data, but my point is that the program can see when the file was created).  I posted it above twice.  It does NOT show in iMatch.  Mario, I know you say that the screen shot above does not show the creation date, but it DOES.  Look.  I put a red box around it...

So let me ask the question again.  So can I get that date back?  Can I somehow set the metafile create date, the same as what Windows sees as the create date?  Yes, I know I can do it by hand individually, but I have 100,000 files going back over 30 years.  It's too much to do by hand, especially when the information is already in the file.  Is there some way to tell each file to copy the file create date to the EXIF or XMP create date automatically?

[Mario]

You show us file system properties in Windows Explorer. This is not metadata IMatch cares for.
IMatch falls back to the "Last MODIFIED" (not created or whatever) date and time as reported by Windows when it cannot find any other usable metadata.
Usually, Photoshop gets this right. Not sure why it does not in your case or workflow.

To keep this short:

1. Set a date and time in IMatch as explained above. Give your files proper metadata timestamps in the Metadata Panel.
2. If you must, even copy a file system timestamp into your metadata tags (via a Metadata Template or TimeWiz or the Metadata Wizard - all parts of IMatch)
3. Done. Problem solved.

Unless you do that, the problem will not go away. IMatch does not care much for file system timestamps Windows records. It's only the last measure it falls back to if there is really nothing else to use.

[deaded]

You show us file system properties in Windows Explorer. This is not metadata IMatch cares for.
IMatch falls back to the "Last MODIFIED" date and time as reported by Windows when it cannot find any other usable metadata.

To keep this short:

1. Set a date and time in IMatch as explained above.
2. Done. Problem solved.

I KNOW. It's not metadata. But the date is still available.  Why can't it fall back to the create date as reported by windows?

Do you really expect me to go through 100,000 files and set a date and time for each one?

[Mario]

Why can't it fall back to the create date as reported by windows?

Because IMatch falls back to the "last modified" date and time. This is how it always has worked.

You can copy the "created" date reported by the Window file system to the proper metadata tags using the IMatch Time Wiz app.
Easy to do and works for any number of files.
Let us know if you need help with this.

I'm curious: How did you end up with 100,000 files without any usable metadata?
All digital cameras add proper EXIF data to images.
All relevant image editors and RAW processors do so, too.
Most scan applications (in case you've produced these images via scanning) also add metadata to images, including time stamps.

[deaded]

Why can't it fall back to the create date as reported by windows?

Because IMatch falls back to the "last modified" date and time. This is how it always has worked.

You can copy the "created" date reported by the Window file system to the proper metadata tags using the IMatch Time Wiz app.
Easy to do and works for any number of files.
Let us know if you need help with this.

Yes, that's EXACTLY what I want to do.  I'm going to have to read up on that and will let you know if I need help.  Thanks so much.

I'm curious: How did you end up with 100,000 files without any usable metadata?
All digital cameras add proper EXIF data to images.
All relevant image editors and RAW processors do so, too.
Most scan applications (in case you've produced these images via scanning) also add metadata to images, including time stamps.

That's a very good question and I don't know the answer.  Before about 2001 all my photos were slides or negatives.  All that stuff was scanned with a flatbed or slide scanner.  I used the Nikon software in the slide scanner, and VueScan with the flatbed.  I've been using photoshop since 1994 (updated frequently) as my main photo editor so you'd think that the metadata would be there.  When Google had the Picassa program I used it as a photo manager for years, but that's gone.  Still, I doubt it ripped out the EXIF info.  In the early 2000s I had a Casio digital camera, then I got a Canon Powershot 20.  I eventually bought a Canon 10D which did put my name in the metadata, but I don't know why it didn't keep other stuff.   About 6 or 7 years ago I upgraded to a Canon 7D and I'm pretty sure that it does EXIF right.  Now I have a Canon R5 which definitely labels things correctly. 

I do really want to try and figure out how to get Time Wiz to copy the created date reported by windows to the appropriate metadata tag.  I think that will solve everything which will be great because I really like using this program otherwise.

[deaded]

This is great!

Thanks so MUCH Mario, jch2103, and Tveloso. I *think* I've got it working now, and i also know that when I tag older files I need to go back and use some timeWiz on it.  Mmmm.  Now it makes we want some Cheeze Wiz (good that I don't have any). 

I've still got experimenting to do but I'm pretty sure this is going to work now.

Thanks again people!

[Mario]

I do really want to try and figure out how to get Time Wiz to copy the created date reported by windows to the appropriate metadata tag.

This is one of the presets in the TimeWiz. Try these settings:



After this has been applied, the "date created" and "date subject created" in the Metadata Panel will show the "created" date of the file (from the file system).
They will also be marked as modified (pen icon). When you now write back the data, IMatch will add the proper timestamps to the file and thus persist the information. The timestamps shown in IMatch will then not change again when you modify the file, and the files will also sort correctly, show up in the proper spot in the timeline etc.

[deaded]

Works like a charm!  Thanks Mario, that solved all my problems!

[jch2103]

I'm glad to hear you were able to resolve the problem. People really have no idea how bad their metadata situation can be unless they have a tool like IMatch to assess it and clean it up!

[deaded]

People really have no idea how bad their metadata situation can be unless they have a tool like IMatch to assess it and clean it up!

You are absolutely right.  I've kept my music metadata UTD (I use tagscanner) but I completely failed with the images.  I thought that just having a clear file structure would be good enough.  I'm glad to find this great organizational tool.  Of course now we have to worry about Mario getting hit by a water buffalo or something.

A really nice side effect of getting a new DAM tool, and having to go through tagging and face recognition, is seeing all these face shots of my wife and kids.  Just watching the last 30 years of smiles reminds me that I married the most beautiful woman in the world. Thank God she has such poor taste in men, and that the kids got her looks!  ... sorry, being a silly old man.

[Mario]

Well, there is the What happens when Mario gets hit by a bus post. Several years old, but still valid.

One of the key aspects of IMatch is the "It does not lock you in." aspect.
IMatch produces high-quality metadata and allows you to store it in your files. This makes you independent from IMatch.
For data that has no direct expression in other software, like IMatch categories or properties or the thesaurus, IMatch provides export features which outputs the data in standard formats like XML or text.
This makes it possible to reuse the information in other software, if needed.

[deaded]

That's really cool.  But I still hope you don't get hit by a bus or a water buffalo.

[sinus]

That's really cool.  But I still hope you don't get hit by a bus or a water buffalo.

+1
Hopefully Mario lives as long as his days has hours ... double or so (I guess, his day has 40 hours and more ...)