*Quick* way to apply copyright to images?

photobug

I searched this forum and couldn't find an answer to these Q's....

What is a quick/easy way (low overhead per photo / automated method) of applying:

1. digital copyright notice inside each photo file?
2. small photographer's logo on each photo?

For #1, I do not want to have to fire up Photoshop and manually apply the digital copyright to each photo. It's too much work to even click on a batch action in PS, because that means I'll have to open every single image in PS. Plus it's too error-prone; I might miss some photos if it has to be done manually. So I'd really like to be able to run a script that will apply the copyright notice to the EXIF header of an individual JPG file or all JPGs in a directory ("folder" in WindowSpeak). (one solution I've heard of is EXIFUTILS, but after spending 15 minutes with the demo download I couldn't get it to work)

There has got to be an easy way...

Suggestions?
= Dave

botanist

photobug wrote:

I searched this forum and couldn't find an answer to these Q's....

What is a quick/easy way (low overhead per photo / automated method) of applying:

1. digital copyright notice inside each photo file?
2. small photographer's logo on each photo?

For #1, I do not want to have to fire up Photoshop and manually apply the digital copyright to each photo. It's too much work to even click on a batch action in PS, because that means I'll have to open every single image in PS. Plus it's too error-prone; I might miss some photos if it has to be done manually. So I'd really like to be able to run a script that will apply the copyright notice to the EXIF header of an individual JPG file or all JPGs in a directory ("folder" in WindowSpeak). (one solution I've heard of is EXIFUTILS, but after spending 15 minutes with the demo download I couldn't get it to work)

There has got to be an easy way...

Suggestions?
= Dave

Create a pshop action you can use with batch processing for #1, and use the built in watermarking feature of SmugMug for #2?

If you do batch processing w/ an action there wont be missed files. If you need help writing an action in pshop just ask :

claudermilk

First of all, the copyright info you want is more likely to be located in the IPTC block, not EXIF.

With that, there's any number of utilites that can do what you want. For my images, I use Downloader Pro (Windows only) to transfer off my cards & it's set to embed the copyright info as it's copying. I also add some additional info in a batch process in my DAM app later. Very little time taken.

photobug

botanist wrote:

Create a pshop action you can use with batch processing for #1 ... If you do batch processing w/ an action there wont be missed files.

The downside there is that it won't hit the files that never even pass through Photoshop (I don't have time to hand-tweak every shot).

I'd really like a way to embed copyrights that can be performed from a command line (so I can call it from the script I use when downloading, which is guaranteed to hit every photo).

... use the built in watermarking feature of SmugMug for #2?

That would be a start ... although it only hits the photos that I post on SmugMug, not lots of other photos on my hard drive that I don't happen to upload to SmugMug. But maybe I don't need a logo/watermark on them.

If you need help writing an action in pshop just ask :

Thanks! I just happened to pick up a new book from Amazon that covers Actions (The Photoshop CS2 Speed Clinic: Automating Photoshop to Get Twice the Work Done in Half the Time ), so hopefully I'll come up to speed (pun unintentional) on them pretty soon .

photobug

claudermilk wrote:

First of all, the copyright info you want is more likely to be located in the IPTC block, not EXIF.

OK, that shows how much I know about the details .

In case the name "EXIFutils" (http://www.hugsan.com/EXIFutils/html/features.html) is misleading, it can write IPTC data, not just EXIF data. It can also copy EXIF/IPTC data from one file to others, reset date fields, etc, etc. I just didn't manage to get the demo version working, the first time I tried it (probably a cockpit error...).

there's any number of utilites that can do what you want. For my images, I use Downloader Pro (Windows only) to transfer off my cards & it's set to embed the copyright info as it's copying. I also add some additional info in a batch process in my DAM app later. Very little time taken.

I haven't yet found a downloader that will name my files the way I want or puts them/categorizes them where I want (so I had to write my own KSH script for downloading). Marking copyright info when downloading would certainly help me with future pics. But I still need to embed a copyright notice in the thousands of photo files that I've previously downloaded...