| Simple computer technology for genealogists |  |
| JGEN | AoM | JLog | Links | JLiki |
|
JL, 27 January 2008 Yay, Microsoft!
I've
never thought of a single reason to applaud Microsoft. They
design junk. IMHO. They've got more money than God
and you'd think they
could do better. I use the XP operating system out of sheer
laziness. No other reason. As all my regular
readers know,
my hate of Internet Explorer is a raging inferno. Hate is an
understatement. I pride myself on my self-control in this
matter.
But they've finally come up with something that I would have chewed my toenails off for. It's been around for a year and I never knew. It's called Photo Info. My thanks to Jean-Marie over at the Legacy User Group for this tip. After going through Microsoft's tedious and confusing Genuine Windows Operating System Validation process, you get to download and install this little file. It adds "Photo Info" to your right-click menu. i.e. If you right-click on a photo and click on Photo Info, it brings up this box where you can add standard IPTC information. Such convenience! Such bliss!  For
anyone who's been living under a rock, IPTC (or XMP as it's
sometimes called) is a standard for embedding information in
photographs, that can be read (and sometimes edited) by other graphics
software. This is other than the usual EXIF that is already
included and will not be affected by adding to the IPTC fields.
At present, it supports the following file-formats: JPEG, TIFF, WDP, HDP (HD Photo), NEF, CR2, and CRW1. It's not a filing system. For that I favor Adobe Photoshop Elements, MediaDex or ACDSee Pro 2 Photo Manager I still don't forgive
them for all
the other crap.
02
February 2008
I just wanted you to know that I have learned so much from you. Your tips on free software are great. I'm using Copernic and PDF Creator all the time now, thanks to you. I've enjoyed going back through your archives. Legacy should hire you to help with tutorials and support! I am new to Legacy, having converted from Family Tree Maker when they gigged us once again with an upgrade that wasn't worth it. I missed the survey you were conducting, so I'm not real sure what you were asking, but I hope you'll keep on writing. You do a great job. Keep up the good work. DH 02 February 2008 I'm glad to hear that I'm useful. And of course, a paying job would be good, too. The survey was a way to try to become better acquainted with my readers. Skill level and any specific interests or problems. Anyone can still give feedback on that at any time and I'll try to incorporate it into future articles. JL 14 February 2008 I tried using Microsoft Photo Info but Legacy 6 does not pick up data in any field. I imported different JPEG photos directly in the Photo Gallery and also the Picture Center, no IPTC data was transfered. I entered text into every field in Photo Info just to see what fields would transfer, but with no success. What am I doing wrong? Which fields transfered to Legacy 6 when you tried the program? Photo Info looks like a great little program if I could get it to work with Legacy. I have been successful with Adobe Photoshop Elements when transfered into the Photo Gallery only. Keep up the good work, Love your Blog. JG 14 February 2008 This is very curious. All information added to Photo Info shows up in my other IPTC-software, and vice-versa, so I assume it's standard, as Microsoft says it is. The only field that imports information in Legacy is Description (sometimes called Caption in other programs.) IPTC-import has never worked in the Picture Center, only the individual galleries. I'm hoping this will change in a future version. I've done some new experiments and have the same problem that you do, but inconsistently. I started with a batch of unprocessed jpg's and added a description to each using Photo Info. Legacy imported some but not others. So far I can't tell what the difference is. I wonder if Legacy made some changes in its last update that is causing this. I also tried batch-editing a group of 3 pictures with the same description. Legacy imported the old description on only one of the photos. Even after shutting down the program and restarting. You could try submitting a bug report. JL |
