IPTC editor, description field not read ?

voicelit · March 11, 2008

So, I get this IPTC Editor so before uploading I can put my photo names into IPTC language so SmugMug can read it and place what I name my photos ( here on my PC ) intpo captions or keywords or something... ( ahem) anything that SmugMug can find using my search box.
Want to bulk IPTC them. Don't want to go in and re - name each photo in the IPTC fields of the editor.
I get this thing called : BREEZE BROWSER. First I get it to take all my individual photo names and make them something called TITLES in IPTC in bulk. Nice, upload, no results from SEARCH BOX . Turns out " TITLE's " got nuthin' to do wth anything as far as SMUGMUG's concerned. OKAY, no problem.
Figure out a way that BREEZE BROWSER can automate the process of putting in each name I give a photo into the " DESCRIPTION " field. Best I can tell , the description field is also what we is called the caption. ....or it isn't , sly devils: like the French , they've got another word for everything. But like I said - it really does seem from all the web pages that they're the same thing. Presto, change-o , I check all my pics, and sure enough they all now have their names I gave 'em in now also in the " DESCRIPTION " field.
Upload to SmugMug. You see it coming... wait for it ... still nothing found in the search results.
BREEZE BROWSER did leave the .jpg extension on each description. So, I go back and take them out. Still no finding of the pic after uploading.
One begins to suspect " carny folk. "
I don't even care anymore about having the search stuff functioning in someway. I just want to know what the big weirdness is with getting filnames to become keywords or captions; or have the search capacity able to search filenames. Does it have to do with all the security problems of private galleries or whatever ? Is it part of some secret society knowledge. Is everyone in a situation where it's no trouble to go in and caption - keyword each file individualy using the SmugMug bulk thing? Does everyone have just one photo with one name, or does everyone name all the photos the same thing with all the same keywords so that... voila! all my photos keyworded and captioned with just the press of a button. Just let me in on the secret. I mean, I take a wee bit of pride in being the only person with this problem . But, oh well ......

Gotta go back to work.....

PHOTO I was trying to get to be findable is at

http://photofur.smugmug.com/photos/264652338_7qTwK-Th.jpg
or
http://photofur.smugmug.com/gallery/3174090_gbqwE/1/264652338_7qTwK/Medium

Marty ( http://photofur.smugmug.com/ )

pilotdave · March 11, 2008

Hi, me again.

I don't know breezebrowser, but check and see if you need to export the images or something after you add the captions. It's possible that breezebrowser acts like lightroom or picasa and doesn't "touch" the actual image files. If that's the case, you might need to export or something to create copies of the images with the caption information attached. Lemme see what I can find on it real quick...

Dave

Richard · March 11, 2008

FWIW: I use Bridge to apply IPTC keywords and descriptions. Smugmug picks up the keywords fine and the descriptions become the photo caption on Smugmug. I believe there is an option in the Smugmug gallery control panel that lets you display the filename if there is no other caption associated with the pic. I don't know whether Smugmug indexes this or not.

Regards,

voicelit · March 11, 2008

Thanks, pilot dave . It's too weird
I think you're right in some way. I tried opening it in IRFAN - another IPTC type viewer editor - and sure enough it found no iptc info . If I open it in BREEZE BROWSER , it shows the iptc description. A quick searh on BREEZE BROWSER help was just cruel.
Don't get why this would all be so cryptic. Impression I got was that you want to embed the iptc stuff 'cause then that goes everywhere with the photo - nothing about strange export formats , stipifying extensions. Why would someone want a photo with IPTC if you can't send it, take it anywhere. How to " HAVE IT", USE IT outside the BREEZE BROWSER enviroment would seem to be a primary instruction. .

Gotta go

Marty

pilotdave wrote:

Hi, me again.

I don't know breezebrowser, but check and see if you need to export the images or something after you add the captions. It's possible that breezebrowser acts like lightroom or picasa and doesn't "touch" the actual image files. If that's the case, you might need to export or something to create copies of the images with the caption information attached. Lemme see what I can find on it real quick...

Dave

voicelit · March 11, 2008

THANKS but, but...
BRIDGE ? Do you have to have ADBE or something. Real pricey ? Might buy it if it could make clear that it can make photo names into iptc captions or keywords in bulk. I don't mean the same caption/description, keyword across the whole bunch of photos. I mean each individual name of each photo convert made by magic into an IPTC caption/description or keywords. Smug is fine for what is sometimes does; a zippy clownshow when it comes to anything slightly outside some vague undefined box. I'm thinking carny folk have gotten involved there, or maybe even mime victims. You gotta tease every itsy bitsy detail out of them, but there's always something they're not telling you. Make a great sitcom. Next SmugMug upgrade -I heard - is coming with a laughtrack. They're mentioned a lot when you google smurf.
Ha Ha Ha Ha .. they've driven me insane.

But thanks for trying to help,

Marty

rsinmadrid wrote:

FWIW: I use Bridge to apply IPTC keywords and descriptions. Smugmug picks up the keywords fine and the descriptions become the photo caption on Smugmug. I believe there is an option in the Smugmug gallery control panel that lets you display the filename if there is no other caption associated with the pic. I don't know whether Smugmug indexes this or not.

Regards,

Richard · March 11, 2008

voicelit wrote:

BRIDGE ? Do you have to have ADBE or something. Real pricey ? Might buy it if it could make clear that it can make photo names into iptc captions or keywords in bulk. I don't mean the same caption/description, keyword across the whole bunch of photos. I mean each individual name of each photo convert made by magic into an IPTC caption/description or keywords. Smug is fine for what is sometimes does; a zippy clownshow when it comes to anything slightly outside some vague undefined box. I'm thinking carny folk have gotten involved there, or maybe even mime victims. You gotta tease every itsy bitsy detail out of them, but there's always something they're not telling you. Make a great sitcom. Next SmugMug upgrade -I heard - is coming with a laughtrack. They're mentioned a lot when you google smurf.
Ha Ha Ha Ha .. they've driven me insane.

But thanks for trying to help,

Marty

It sounds like you want a program that can read your mind and interpret your photos without your intervention. While that sure would be nice, I'm afraid you are going to have to work a bit harder than that.

pilotdave · March 11, 2008

Ok, I think I've solved it. I downloaded breezebrowser and played around with it. Looks like the "Document Title" field corresponds to SmugMug's caption.

Try editing a couple titles and then upload the images (the originals) to smugmug and see if the captions show up.

To get all the filenames in the captions, just enter @file@ as the title. You can do em all at once. Pretty cool.

EDIT: ok, never mind. Doesn't work quite right. Picasa can see the title field as a caption, but smugmug can't. By editing the caption in picasa, it fixes the problem. But that doesn't help you much... hang on.

Dave

voicelit · March 11, 2008

Oh God You'Re Right . Sorry
Yes, I'm sorry. Whew. Lost it there. Things are much better now. You are a good person. I admit it : better than me. I'll try to do better from now on.

rsinmadrid wrote:

It sounds like you want a program that can read your mind and interpret your photos without your intervention. While that sure would be nice, I'm afraid you are going to have to work a bit harder than that.

voicelit · March 11, 2008

Thanks, Dave . SEE THE FUN OF IT
Wow, that was great : you actually went and worked with the BREEZE BROWSER thing. You see what I mean : you get this sense that IPTC editors do this sort of thing but which ones. I discovered that BREEZE BROWSER did that @file@ thing from another site not the Breeze Browser site. They call them tokens - the @something@ things that automate certain actions.
I got the BREEZE BROWSER to auto add the file name to the "description" field - which people seem to think or imply is the same as " caption". which SmugMug says it DOES read and make into search findable captions but then the whole "EXPORT" thing unfolded.
When I fill in the IPTC description field of file in breezebrowser then open that file in another IPTC reading app ( irfan) , the iptc description field is empty - like the data didn't travel with the photo file.
Groan .... am I gonna spend more time trying to drag out some wee bit of help on this whole export issue. A quick look at breeze browser's help file on the EXPORT concept looked sad. Will have to scour the net for some clear insight into the concept.
Strange, huh? How they all come so close. Problem was finally & totally solved till it turned out Smug Mug doesn't read the Title field like Picasa does. Every combination just misses by one other and different element each time.
There's a whole lot of other IPTC type editors out there but you can never tell clearly from their descriptions that they do this automated bulk add filename to some iptc field.
The other variable is all the SmugMug uploaders - who knows if one of them does something helpful to this kind of thing. They're not telling.

GOOD STUFF,

Marty ( http://photofur.smugmug.com/ )
(
PHOTO I was trying to get to be findable is at

http://photofur.smugmug.com/photos/2...8_7qTwK-Th.jpg
or
http://photofur.smugmug.com/gallery/...8_7qTwK/Medium

You sure are great, though. Thanks PILOT DAVE .

pilotdave · March 12, 2008

Ok, I got it! For real this time!

In breezebrowser, you need to change a setting. Go to File -> Preferences.

Then in the General tab, check "Also store IPTC data in legacy IPTC IIM format."

Not sure if any of the other IPTC options matter, but I don't have any of them checked.

Then put your @file@ in the Description field. Upload to smugmug. Enjoy filenames as captions.

Dave

voicelit · March 13, 2008

YES !!!! The Streamers & Balloons
Yay... big foam glove : number one! number one! number one !
I was getting near it last nite. With the preferences thing & select legacy iptc whatever , but there was some glitch when I uploaded that gave me the impression that it wasn't working. Today , I had success putting the @file@ token in the comments field or headline field ( under origens) so I thought I had it - but it seems it's really just the preferences thing. @file@ in description field is enough.
Amazing how you have to tease this out of everyone. One of the things is that "caption", " description" get used different ways in different apps or help files, Then there's XML and/or IPTC.
I even tried joining their HELP FORUM ( breeze) last nite - but even there, you gotta wait for some approval. I still haven't been approved.
I would never have even known at all about BREEZE BROWSER's ability to do this if I hadn't stumbled on just some photogs online musings. MIght be some other apps out there that do this but they don't seem to know how to let anyone know.
Now I gotta see what the restrictions are on the TRIAL VERSION, decide if I want to ( or have to ) buy it. All this because I have no idea what's going on with SMUGMUGS' filename, keyword, caption searchability stuff.
Funny how no one comes in to help with this one. There oughta be a FORUM section for just beginners where there's less psychology .
Maybe I can figure out a way to download my galleries ( catgories would be even better ) and have this BREEZEBROWSER automate the converting of file names to captions in one fell swope. If not, I have to in and continue manually captioning, keywording every photograph. I did get the sense through all this hunt that scripts can be written to automate these procedures ( some seem like maybe thy're already out there ) and that it's not a huge undertaking if you know PERL or something. But know one's saying...

Thanks Again ... oh great one.... PilotDave,

Marty ( now officially : dotfur.com domain auto sends you to my smugmug site.)

IPTC editor, description field not read ?

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