Detailed photo information does not appear

thenickdude

Hey everyone,

I just signed up for the Smugmug trial and uploaded a bunch of photos I took today with the Java uploader. All of the pictures show "no detailed information available" when I try to view the detailed information tab. The photos definitely have XMP camera shooting information embedded which is viewable with the Properties windows in Vista, in exiftool, or in Photoshop (CS4). How come Smugmug can't read it?

Here's an original size image which definitely has XMP shooting information embedded:

http://n-sherlock.smugmug.com/gallery/7233902_a4SW6#464774163_vqnJ5-O-LB

jfriend

It has XMP data, but no EXIF data. I could be wrong, but I think Smugmug reads EXIF. Most image manipulation programs keep the EXIF up to date. What workflow produced an image with only XMP data and no EXIF?

thenickdude

I shot the photos in Canon RAW format, opened in Photoshop CS4 using Adobe Camera RAW, used Save For Web and chose to include all metadata.

It looks like it does not save data in EXIF format (that information gets wrapped up in an XMP format block). My Firefox plugin which is only capable of reading EXIF (not XMP) can't read any shooting information. But Photoshop, exiftool and Windows Vista can.

jfriend

Lamah wrote:

I shot the photos in Canon RAW format, opened in Photoshop using Adobe Camera RAW, used Save For Web and chose to include all metadata.

I'm not sure if the EXIF data was retained or not. My Firefox plugin which is only capable of reading EXIF (not XMP) can't read any shooting information. But Photoshop, exiftool and Windows Vista can.

Some other people with the same problem in CS4 (XMP included, but not EXIF):

http://dpnow.com/forum2/showthread.php?p=36221&mode=linear#post36221

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b774b7

http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=146622

The result of this reading is that CS4 Save for Web does not write EXIF data, only XMP data. So only programs that understand XMP will see the metadata (which apparently does not include Smugmug). File/Save As will retain all original EXIF data.

thenickdude

jfriend wrote:

The result of this reading is that CS4 Save for Web does not write EXIF data, only XMP data. So only programs that understand XMP will see the metadata (which apparently does not include Smugmug). File/Save As will retain all original EXIF data.

Thanks. I'll put this in as a feature request for Smugmug if it hasn't been done already. And I'm investigating using Exiftool to write some real EXIF data from the XMP data.

EDIT: If you have exiftool.exe and "xmp2exif.args" (from the full exiftool distribution) in the same folder as your images, you can convert XMP tags to EXIF tags with this command line:

exiftool -@ xmp2exif.args -xmp:all= *.jpg

The detailed photo information then shows up fine on Smugmug.

Andy

Lamah wrote:

Hey everyone,

I just signed up for the Smugmug trial and uploaded a bunch of photos I took today with the Java uploader. All of the pictures show "no detailed information available" when I try to view the detailed information tab. The photos definitely have XMP camera shooting information embedded which is viewable with the Properties windows in Vista, in exiftool, or in Photoshop (CS4). How come Smugmug can't read it?

Here's an original size image which definitely has XMP shooting information embedded:

http://n-sherlock.smugmug.com/gallery/7233902_a4SW6#464774163_vqnJ5-O-LB

The exif is right here:
http://n-sherlock.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=464837778&ImageKey=FR7LQ

More: http://wiki.smugmug.net/display/SmugMug/How+To+See+Exif

welcome!

Andy

Lamah wrote:

Here's an original size image which definitely has XMP shooting information embedded:

Hi Just to be clear, xmp is sidecar files, exif is embedded.

ashishpandey

Andy wrote:

Hi Just to be clear, xmp is sidecar files, exif is embedded.

xmp is just a data specification, trying to standardize the handling of custom metadata. It can exist in a sidecar as well as embedded. Usually sidecar is the only reliable option with closed specification proprietary formats like canon / nikon RAW. With an open format like pdf, dng, jpg etc, most image management programs let you embed all xmp information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Metadata_Platform

I choose to work with embedded xmp as that keeps the data tied down with my dng and jpg files, without worrying about sidecar files while moving things around

For the image linked by Lamah, if you open the original in photoshop, and take a look at advanced panel in File Info, you can see the xmp data

jfriend

Andy wrote:

Hi Just to be clear, xmp is sidecar files, exif is embedded.

This is not correct. When Adobe puts extended information into a JPEG, they add it in the XMP format. No sidecar files. Smugmug really outght to be able to read XMP information.

Andy

jfriend wrote:

This is not correct. When Adobe puts extended information into a JPEG, they add it in the XMP format. No sidecar files. Smugmug really outght to be able to read XMP information.

Oh My apologies - I'm referring to the xmp sidecars.

We want to read and deal with more exif - it's a big deal, and it's on Don's list.

EdBeck

Andy wrote:

Oh My apologies - I'm referring to the xmp sidecars.

We want to read and deal with more exif - it's a big deal, and it's on Don's list.

You can get the detailed information to display by converting to 8-bits/channel before saving as a JPEG.

Application: Photoshop CS4
Starting with a PSD file.

1. Open the PSD in CS4.
2. Select Image... Mode... 8 Bits/Channel
3. Click "File... Save As..." Format:"JPG"
4. Upload JPEG to SmugMug using favorite upload tool.
5. Confirm presence of deatailed information in fly out.

Probably work with other formats as well.

This method will not work if you are using CS4's "Save For Web" command.