Resolved Embedding data from Finder's "Get Info" into EXIF

[jcsabolt2]

I have a few hundred JPGs from family ancestry research in which I have placed data in the "Get Info" field in Finder for each JPG. The information varies, but typically contains names, places, photographer, dates, events, etc. Information that I do not want to lose ever. When I copy the JPGs from a Mac to a Windows PC the data is lost. I would like to embed this information into the metadata of the JPG, but do not want to hand-jam this one image at a time. Is there some automated way I can do this?

FYI...these are scanned images of photos, not digital photographs.

 

[Cheese&Apple]

Well since someone smarter than me hasn't jumped on this I'll respond by saying I can't find any correlation between data in "Get Info" comments or tag fields and image metadata.

All I can suggest is copy and paste the data from each file from Get Info to a photo editor such as Lightroom that allows you to edit metadata. If the data you want to embed is the same for every file, it would then be easy to copy it to all images but it sounds like the date is different for each.

Not much help I know but it's all I've got.

~ Peter

 

[mollyc]

I don't think there is an automated way of doing this from Finder. You will have to use a different program that will store and save actual metadata to a file; the Finder Comments section is just sort of a catch-all with no way of being read by a photo program.

If you are willing to retype everything there are several options that can help you save the metadata. Lightroom and Photo Mechanic can certainly do this (you could download a free trial of LR just for this purpose), and I also found this on the Apple website.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/30449025#30449025

You might also find this to be of some interest.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54220628

 

[ShinyDren]

I have a few hundred JPGs from family ancestry research in which I have placed data in the "Get Info" field in Finder for each JPG. The information varies, but typically contains names, places, photographer, dates, events, etc. Information that I do not want to lose ever. When I copy the JPGs from a Mac to a Windows PC the data is lost. I would like to embed this information into the metadata of the JPG, but do not want to hand-jam this one image at a time. Is there some automated way I can do this?

FYI...these are scanned images of photos, not digital photographs.

Since there are no known programs to do this that I'm aware of, I put together this little automator/shell script. I made the assumption that you mean that you put the info into the "Comments" field that is part of the "Get Info" window. There are a few parts to get it to work:

1. Make a backup (or more than one) of your data!
2. Download the Exiftool utility from this website (https://sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/). You probably want to use the Mac OS X Package dmg file as it will be easier for general installation. Reference install instructions on that website if you need to.
3. Download the automator script file attached to this post. Unzip it and place it in the Applications folder or wherever is convenient (also adding it to the dock can be helpful). [For anyone that wants to check the contents of this file you can open Automator, then go to File > Open and select this file to see its contents.]
4. Make sure you have at least one backup of your files!

Now just drag any of the files onto it and it will copy the Finder Comments into the Exif/XMP Description fields. You can do any number of files, or even entire folders of images. A notification center notice should pop up after it is done with the files.

There is no special testing of file types to make sure they are images so be aware of that.

 

[robgendreau]

Nice work on the script.

Graphic Converter can also copy from comments to IPTC fields, like caption or keywords.

 

[jcsabolt2]

Thanks I’ll give it a try!

 

[jcsabolt2]

ShinyDren,

Your little app worked! It has taken me a while to get a chance to try it out, but I tested it on 14 photos and randomly checked a few and all had their data copied over. It took a minute or two to process, but it beats inputting in the data manually!

 

[jcsabolt2]

I got adventurous tonight and did just shy of 600 photos. I did them in 3-4 batches because I was afraid something would fail, but the largest and last batch was 245 and it took about as long as the batch of 100. When the Image Comments Convert app is finished, ExifTool must still be making edits because if I check the EXIF data on the last image nothing is there. However, if I start at the beginning of the batch and randomly check down the list by the time I get to the last image again to check everything is as it should be. GREAT app and thanks a ton!! This thing saved me countless hours and mistakes along the way. I highly recommend anyone to use this who is in a similar situaiton.

 

[ShinyDren]

I got adventurous tonight and did just shy of 600 photos. I did them in 3-4 batches because I was afraid something would fail, but the largest and last batch was 245 and it took about as long as the batch of 100. When the Image Comments Convert app is finished, ExifTool must still be making edits because if I check the EXIF data on the last image nothing is there. However, if I start at the beginning of the batch and randomly check down the list by the time I get to the last image again to check everything is as it should be. GREAT app and thanks a ton!! This thing saved me countless hours and mistakes along the way. I highly recommend anyone to use this who is in a similar situaiton.

Glad it works for you. I too would be for trying it in batches if doing it.

I'm not sure why it displays the notification before everything finishes. My original testing only used 5 images, so I duplicated them a bunch to have several hundred. It still didn't pop up the notification until all the comments were converted for me. It may be a difference in versions of Automator or ExifTool. I'm on OS 10.11.6, and ExifTool 10.25. Since it is does finish them for you its probably not something to really worry about, just be aware of a possible delay.

Also a thanks to @robgendreau for posting that Graphic Converter has that ability. It has been a long time since I've used it and didn't know it did that.

 

[jcsabolt2]

Is this the software https://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/ Graphics Converter program that was referenced? Does anyone have experience with using it vs. Adobe Elements? How does it compare? I honestly have not found Adobe's software to be very user friendly, especially to new users. It always seems like I am looking in the wrong place.