Photo Information

[DueyDooDah]

All of this has been posted before in various threads but I thought it might be helpful if it were located in one place.

The best way to share information about the photos you post is to ensure that when you upload them, the digital image contains all the information the camera is capable of attaching. Nearly all digital cameras today include embedded text, along with each image, called metadata (Exif information). This information contains things like shutter speed, ISO settings, aperture settings, the camera name and model, etc. It's very helpful for you, and others, to help understand what went right/wrong in that shot.

If you are shooting .JPG images and just upload that image to this board, all that information is included in the upload, so everyone may have access to it. If you edit the image using your favorite image editing software and/or you shoot in RAW format, you need to discover how to keep that info from being eliminated when you save the edited image. Each software package has it's own way of doing things (of course - they can't make it simple, can they - dang programmers).

(Note: The following info is for Windows, not Mac users) For Photoshop and Elements, the best way to save a file once it's been edited is to use the File | Save As option, not the Save to Web option which strips the information. You can then save the file knowing you have also saved the Exif data with the added benefit that you have not over-written you original image file.

Now, how do others see it? It takes an added program to read the data, such as Opanda Image Viewer (www.opanda.com). Once this little package is installed, you can, while in Internet Exlorer (or Firefox) right-click on an image and select the IExif option that appears. It then displays all the information that is relevant to the image.

BTW: Not all of the Exif readers are alike. Some, such as Microsoft's Photo Image, do not work in Internet Explorer, They only work with Windows Explorer, so the image must first be downloaded to you computer before it can be viewed. To me, that is not helpful so I prefer Opanda's solution.

To give you an idea what you're missing by not having one of these tools, I've included the following screenshot of the information given by Opanda's viewer for a photo of mine on this site:

 

[jann1033]

good info a ? if you know...often when i click on someone else's photo for the info the info page comes up but no info...is that because they haven't embedded it or because my info reading software isn't working right...mine comes up fine but not other peoples. don't remember the photo program probably for windows or Mozilla but it's a blue page that comes up( downloaded a few and can't seem to get any to work every time) Thanks

this is what comes up when i click on your photo in the above post, no name such as mozilla or anything in the page that comes up just:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/DueyDooDah/Opanda.jpg

Skipping APPx (0xe0) block
Bad JPEG file head, APP1 (Exif) marker not found: 0xff 0xdb
Status = -1

Unable to extract all the Exif data.

i downloaded the opanda for foxfire...now a really dumb ?? do i have to have it open or will it automatically open when i click on a photo?

 

[DueyDooDah]

...often when i click on someone else's photo for the info the info page comes up but no info...is that because they haven't embedded it or because my info reading software isn't working right...mine comes up fine but not other peoples. don't remember the photo program probably for windows or Mozilla but it's a blue page that comes up( downloaded a few and can't seem to get any to work every time) Thanks

It may be a problem with the software you are using. There are different versions of Exif data and if you application does not read the latest, you may be seeing incorrect or missing values.

i downloaded the opanda for foxfire...now a really dumb ?? do i have to have it open or will it automatically open when i click on a photo?

Once it's installed, it does not need to be opened. Just right-click on the image and you should have something in the list that says something about Exif. Note, I do not use the Firefox version so I could be wrong here.

 

[jann1033]

It may be a problem with the software you are using. There are different versions of Exif data and if you application does not read the latest, you may be seeing incorrect or missing values.



Once it's installed, it does not need to be opened. Just right-click on the image and you should have something in the list that says something about Exif. Note, I do not use the Firefox version so I could be wrong here.

i downloaded the opanda with the firefox add on and it does the same thing, randomly clicking on various photos on the site here i could only get the info for one????your flower photo it said no info was available if that helps..guess i will just have to ask and annoy for all info

 

[DueyDooDah]

Hmmmm. Maybe Groucho can help. I think he uses Firefox.

 

[tinksdad]

I've had mixed results, but I don't think it's Opanda problem more likely a hosting problem. I know some picture hosting sites don't support remote metadata. I know the site I use, Phanfare doesn't. If you go to their site the EXIF data is there, but you can't view it on the DIS boards. Now if I posted a picture from my own url it does show up.

Picture posted on Phanfare;

No exif.......

Picture posted on my url;

exif - try it with right click.

 

[tinksdad]

i downloaded the opanda for foxfire...now a really dumb ?? do i have to have it open or will it automatically open when i click on a photo?

It works in the background. If you right click on the picture (hopefully) it will come up if you select the "View EXIF"

So, No, you don't have to have it up for it to work. It's a add-on or extension that loads into Firefox when it starts.

 

[jann1033]

I've had mixed results, but I don't think it's Opanda problem more likely a hosting problem. I know some picture hosting sites don't support remote metadata. I know the site I use, Phanfare doesn't. If you go to their site the EXIF data is there, but you can't view it on the DIS boards. Now if I posted a picture from my own url it does show up.

Picture posted on Phanfare;

No exif.......

Picture posted on my url;

exif - try it with right click.

yep you are right i got it with both viewers for second shot, neither for first shot..well at least i know i am more adept at clicking a mouse than i was beginning to believe

 

[DueyDooDah]

I've had mixed results, but I don't think it's Opanda problem more likely a hosting problem.

I'm not sure where the disconnect is. It's really funny that I get all info from photos on photobucket.com but jann cannot get the info from the same pictures. Maybe it has do do with the way you stand/sit, phase of moon, and/or how many trips to WDW you have under your belt. What I do know is that there is something funny going on here.

(How's that for technical investigation?)

 

[tinksdad]

I'm not sure where the disconnect is. It's really funny that I get all info from photos on photobucket.com but jann cannot get the info from the same pictures. Maybe it has do do with the way you stand/sit, phase of moon, and/or how many trips to WDW you have under your belt. What I do know is that there is something funny going on here.

(How's that for technical investigation?)

You forgot to hold your mouth "just" right!!

We need some IT help here!!

 

[jann1033]

I'm not sure where the disconnect is. It's really funny that I get all info from photos on photobucket.com but jann cannot get the info from the same pictures. Maybe it has do do with the way you stand/sit, phase of moon, and/or how many trips to WDW you have under your belt. What I do know is that there is something funny going on here.

(How's that for technical investigation?)

i must be being punished for using my $$$ buying camera stuff instead of going to wdw since it's been 3 yrs+ since our last trip there

 

[Groucho]

If you use Firefox (and I think you should ), forget Opanda and just get the tiny FxIF plug-in. Quick 'n' easy install, no need for a stand-alone program to be installed.

Right-clicking the second photo that Tinksdad posted and going into Properties shows the following:

If I need even more info, I save it to the hard drive, open in Irfanview, and hit "E" to see every shred of information that's there.

 

[jann1033]

thanks groucho..that does work better, tried one of gdad's and that was the only one i could get anything at all with although even then it was limited..maybe he is incognito and wants to be careful with who can read his info

 

[handicap18]

Being able or not being able to see a pictures EXIFdata has more to do with the host site than anything else. Generally speaking, pictures from photobucket will have the exifdata included (unless it has been edited). I've noticed that anyone using smugmug never have any Exifdata available to be seen. Same for a few other sites. Some sites may also have a button where you can allow exif data to be viewed or not, others make it a practice not to allow any exif data to be seen.

I use viewEXIF. Works great for me with the right click.

 

[Groucho]

thanks groucho..that does work better, tried one of gdad's and that was the only one i could get anything at all with although even then it was limited..maybe he is incognito and wants to be careful with who can read his info

Yeah, I've never been able to get any info off his pictures. Too bad, he's got some shots I'd be curious about. Darn his secrecy!