Simple question

Sam · September 17, 2008

My friend Dave works in construction and take photos showing job progress, and various issues pertaining to the job. He really can benefit by having the camera date, and time stamp the image.

He has a Canon 30D. Do you know if the 30D has this feature, and if so how to access it?

Thanks,

Sam

jfriend · September 17, 2008

Sam wrote:

My friend Dave works in construction and take photos showing job progress, and various issues pertaining to the job. He really can benefit by having the camera date, and time stamp the image.

He has a Canon 30D. Do you know if the 30D has this feature, and if so how to access it?

Thanks,

Sam

Pretty much all digital cameras record the date and time stamp with the digital image. Nearly every photo tool can access this date and time stamp. If he's using Windows, he can just go to Windows Explorer, select the desired image, right click on it and it will show him the time/date the photo was taken. On Vista, it's in the details tab - probably something similar for XP.

Scott_Quier · September 17, 2008

Sam wrote:

My friend Dave works in construction and take photos showing job progress, and various issues pertaining to the job. He really can benefit by having the camera date, and time stamp the image.

He has a Canon 30D. Do you know if the 30D has this feature, and if so how to access it?

Thanks,

Sam

As mentioned above, date/time is in the EXIF. But, I don't think that's what you are asking. I think you are asking if the 30D will imprint the date/time in the image. If so, I don't think this is possible.

I used to have a P&S that did this. I don't even know if current P&S cameras do this any more.

pathfinder · September 17, 2008

You know it is funny, Sam. I had an Olympus OM-1 with a data back that would time stamp each emulsion when shot 30 years ago.

Modern DSLRs all record this information in the EXIF data as Scott said, but I am not familiar with one that embeds the data visibly in the image. It seems like that would just be a software trick to do too, doesn't it?

One can transfer the data in an image editor, of course, but for a legal record, having the camera do it automagically, at the time of exposure, would be better wouldn't it?

Sam · September 17, 2008

Thanks for the responses. Yes I wanted to know if it's possible to have the camera automatically put the date, and time on the image. I had a 35mm point, ans shoot film camera that would do this.

Sure seems like it would be a piece of cake for a digital SLR camera to do this. I know many of the PS digital cameras will.

I know how to find the information in the EXIF data, but having it printed on the bottom say of every image would help when looking at a large number of images from one job site and comparing day to day progress.

Sam

jfriend · September 17, 2008

Sam wrote:

Thanks for the responses. Yes I wanted to know if it's possible to have the camera automatically put the date, and time on the image. I had a 35mm point, ans shoot film camera that would do this.

Sure seems like it would be a piece of cake for a digital SLR camera to do this. I know many of the PS digital cameras will.

I know how to find the information in the EXIF data, but having it printed on the bottom say of every image would help when looking at a large number of images from one job site and comparing day to day progress.

Sam

There is software that will do this after you get the images on your computer. It reads the data from the image, converts it to a font/bitmap and then merges that into the image to end up with the same result that film cameras used to be able to do. I know there are Photoshop actions that can do this and I suspect a Google search will find others.

ziggy53 · September 17, 2008

Sam,

If you want to use Freeware to add the Date and Time stamps here is a way to do it (on a Windows machine).

CutePDF is a virtual printer driver that adds PDF file printing to the host computer. The concept is to use the PDF files to hold the output images which contain a composite of the original image superimposed by the date and time. You could also use a virtual print driver that outputs JPG files, but I like the PDFs. (The freeware version works fine for this.)

http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

IrfanView can be used to do the actual overlay. You do need to install both the base product and the plugins.

http://www.irfanview.com/

To create the overlay as a header or footer you can load the original image, select the Print function from the File menu (or Ctrl-P), add the following text and switches:

Note the $F $T to insert the filename and time/date information.

Here's how it prints on the PDF (I cropped it to the relevent top of page):

Antonio Correia · September 18, 2008

Hello all

This is a real good example of the quality of this forum.

thumb

bow

digismile · September 18, 2008

Sam wrote:

My friend Dave works in construction and take photos showing job progress, and various issues pertaining to the job. He really can benefit by having the camera date, and time stamp the image.

He has a Canon 30D. Do you know if the 30D has this feature, and if so how to access it?

Thanks,

Sam

Sam,

I guess you could say that the answer is yes, sort of. If you print the photos directly from the camera using PictBridge, you have the option of imprinting the date and file number on the image during print. See page 137 of the 30D manual. (The manual is available on line from Canon)

Personally, I think I'd rather use one of the software solutions previously mentioned.

goldenstarphoto · July 8, 2010

Hi there, I found this thread for searching how to do the exact same thing. I have an EVOLT E-500. I have a client that wants the date and time stamped on the photos prior to me uploading them to their FTP address. Since this question was posted almost two years ago, I was wondering if anyone knows of any new methods to add the date and time to a photo. I have Elements 6......I was told Lightroom can do this, but I don't have that.......?

Scott_Quier · July 9, 2010

Another thought is to contact HarryB and ask how he created the frame for the images found in this post. I think that would be a good starting point for creating a PS action that would do the job .... automagically.

ziggy53 · July 9, 2010

goldenstarphoto wrote: »

Hi there, I found this thread for searching how to do the exact same thing. I have an EVOLT E-500. I have a client that wants the date and time stamped on the photos prior to me uploading them to their FTP address. Since this question was posted almost two years ago, I was wondering if anyone knows of any new methods to add the date and time to a photo. I have Elements 6......I was told Lightroom can do this, but I don't have that.......?

What computer operating system?

goldenstarphoto · July 9, 2010

ziggy53 wrote: »

What computer operating system?

Unfortunately I have Windows Vista...........

ziggy53 · July 9, 2010

For Windows systems, try FastStone (the freeware version will work, but if you like it you should purchase it).

Once installed and you have selected the desired directory and selected the images within the directory that you wish to apply the visible timestamp:

Choose "Tools"
Select "Batch Convert Selected Images"
Checkmark the "Use Advanced Options"
Click on the new "Advanced Options" button to open the options dialog window.
Select the "Text" tab and checkmark the "Add Text" box to open another dialog window.
Click on the "Insert a Variable" button.
Select "EXIF Date/Time" and choose "Date and Time".
Make your selections of shadow, background and font; position, X-Y offset and opacity.
(Note that you can save these options to reload later and you can save multiple versions of options.)
Click "OK" and you are back to the main conversion window.
Make any further selections (output folder, file type, compression settings, etc.) and choose "Convert" to start the process.

I do recommend working against copies of the original files, just in case. You can also rename at the same time. This is very powerful stuff.

basflt · July 9, 2010

ziggy53 wrote: »

For Windows systems, try FastStone (the freeware version will work, but if you like it you should purchase it).

what you mean ?
faststone is freeware , not shareware , why purchase ???

ziggy53 · July 9, 2010

basflt wrote: »

what you mean ?
faststone is freeware , not shareware , why purchase ???

Without donations the software author has little incentive for improvement. A simple $25 donation goes a long way towards telling the author that you appreciate their work.

It's the right thing to do.

jfriend · July 9, 2010

basflt wrote: »

what you mean ?
faststone is freeware , not shareware , why purchase ???

Purchases and donations are what support the continuing development of programs like
FastStone. If nobody contributes, then these excellent programs disappear and fail to get enhanced.

basflt · July 9, 2010

yeah , that i understand
offcourse you can donate , to everyone

but , freeware means free , no need to purchase

paying for freeware is weird , IMO
although i admit that Faststone is one of the best freeware app's i ever seen

jfriend · July 9, 2010

basflt wrote: »

yeah , that i understand
offcourse you can donate , to everyone

but , freeware means free , no need to purchase

paying for freeware is weird , IMO
although i admit that Faststone is one of the best freeware app's i ever seen

I can't believe you are saying that paying for freeware is weird. If everyone thought like you, there would be no freeware. Freeware is simply shareware where they haven't forced you to pay. The economic model is exactly the same.

They need you to try the software and then pay for it if you like it. If nobody pays, they go out of business - whether payment is required or not. People aren't doing this because they want to give you free software. They are doing it because freeware is a low overhead way of distributing software that gives you the ability to try full featured software before committing any of your money.

You can decide whether to pay or not (because the author of the freeware software has allowed you to have access to the full featured software without paying), but to everyone else reading this thread, if you use freeware and don't pay, you are telling the author that you want fewer upgrades, that you don't care if they go out of business and that you don't want to encourage more freeware in the world.

angevin1 · July 10, 2010

basflt wrote: »

yeah , that i understand
offcourse you can donate , to everyone

but , freeware means free , no need to purchase

paying for freeware is weird , IMO
although i admit that Faststone is one of the best freeware app's i ever seen

Art comes in many flavors too! The folks that create these types of programs are artists in their own right. They share their art with the world, that is part of their joy...to know you liked it, used it, etc. So asking for a donation is just another avenue for you to express your appreciation for their art.

Giving gifts is in no way weird. Taking gifts is.

goldenstarphoto · July 10, 2010

Thank you so much Scott and Ziggy. I went with the FastStone program and it did exactly what I needed. Ziggy, you are now my favorite person in Illinois! I will play around with faststone a little more and definitely donate to them because I believe that it's the right thing to do! THANKS AGAIN!!!

Art Scott · July 10, 2010

angevin1 wrote: »

Art comes in many flavors too!
Giving gifts is in no way weird. Taking gifts is.

Not sure there is more than one flavor of me..but............................. :-}

There is that weird old saying...............Giving is better than receiving ....................

ziggy53 · July 15, 2010

shivam wrote: »

hiiii,folks,
whats the latest update???????/

http://dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=1419534&postcount=21

jbakerphoto · July 16, 2010

just a little side note....
Infranview will do it all by itself.

goto file ->batch conversion/rename -> batch conversion settings box -> advanced - > add overlay text (bottom of middle column) -> settings -> append date -> append time

can do screen shots if you need it.

Infranview is only 12 it think.

Simple question

Comments