How to save EXIF data from camera

[Cliabis]

I thought this might be the best place to ask. I am looking for a way to save the Exif info from my camera, but nothing I have tried so far has worked. I am using a Canon A95 with a usb cable to transfer my pictures to Photoshop CS2. I believe I had read that you are supposed to save them as jpeg's, but I get almost no information there. I have also tried ifranviewer...nothing . Could someone help me here? Thx in advance.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi there and welcome to the CiC forums,

Generally you don't have to try to save it, but you may need to try really hard to preserve it!

It usually comes out of the camera embedded inside each image file without you having to do anything, but with the wrong options set, or Saving using the 'wrong' method, can easily strip it off when you PP the image.

Are there any of your pictures available online? I wanted to have a look with my favourite viewer.

Is there any way you can just get a picture off the camera by file transfer with Windows? (assumes a PC)

Regards,

[Geoff F]

Exif information does appear to be quite variable in it's persistence after editing. This question has been asked before and there is always a wide variation in answers, which does appear to depend on the software and shooting mode.

With my equipment/software, if I shoot Jpeg then save the edited file, also as Jpeg, most of the Exif usually survives.

But I rarely do shoot Jpeg. When I shoot Raw then convert (with Raw Therapee) into 16 bit Tiff the Exif is lost.

The alternative which I sometimes use is either incorporate a bit of basic information into the exported image title or use the old fashioned method of keeping a record using pen and paper (which too often gets lost).

[Clactonian]

I have just checked some jpeg files in Picasa 3 (free download from Google) and the basic exif data is displayed by default. That may be worth a try.

[PopsPhotos]

The primary argument I have with PICASA is that it wants to catalog every darn picture on my computer, my external hard drives and even tries to reach across the network, at times. GRRRRRR

Pops

[Clactonian]

The primary argument I have with PICASA is that it wants to catalog every darn picture on my computer, my external hard drives and even tries to reach across the network, at times. GRRRRRR

Pops

I have to agree. I can't stand it, but my wife finds that it suits her purposes a treat. I borrowed her laptop to check the exif data!

[Cliabis]

So I tried Picasa on the web and it seems to work. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to view that info on my computer without going to the web. Here is the link to the photo I took which I saved to Picasa "http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/n2mQ0J4ORDRuoPzjvjOZvFo1I15LZmNeI8zF1JL5rnk?feat=d irectlink". I just realized something as I was doing this . When I saved the photo using a direct upload into "My Pictures" or Windows on my computer it seemed to work (which is the picture in the link). The other saved through Photoshop seems to strip it clean (which is the one I've attached). So to retract my beginning statement, I can actually view the exif info when I do upload directly to Windows by viewing the advanced properties of the file. Although I would like to know why saving it in Photoshop CS2 doesn't work for me.

[Jim B.]

If you are doing "save for web" it will strip the exif data.

[David deSousa]

Generally you don't have to try to save it, but you may need to try really hard to preserve it!

In all cases that I have tested, Exif data is preserved in the original camera file, even some very old jpg files from my first digital camera has it. But then I am using Photoshop with Bridge and ACDSee Pro 3. I never have used Picasa to edit anything.

The question I would ask is why do you care about Exif data? Just curious.

Actually, I recommend that you never edit the original camera file anyway be it jpg or RAW. Make copies and then edit those, and be wary of editing and resaving jpg files. If you do that, edit a copy only, then your Exif data will always be there in the original for you to do ~ what with? (Sorry, I'm an old guy who was taught to use a photography field notebook, and I do.)

D.

[Impagliazzo]

I use a little software called Exifer, it re-inserts Exif info into files. Quite handy.

[Sonic4Spuds]

As I don't use Photoshop I can't answer the question about why Photoshop doesn't save EXIF. I use GIMP and it preserves all EXIF possible (some formats don't support all tags). I use Phatch (Photo Batch) processor to edit EXIF, resize photos, convert between formats, and rename large numbers of photos. Instructions on running on Windows can be found at --https://answers.launchpad.net/phatch/+question/20725--.
Phatch also has an image viewer which displays the EXIF data.