IPTC problem with CS2

Hi,

Have finally gotten around to attempting to add IPTC to all my pics and started this morning using CS2 and a mac.

I set up a template for common entries (name, copyright, keywords) but then ran into a little problem - the input boxes will not allow me to paste info into them, the program seems to want me to manually enter the text.

This will take eons with my 3 thumbs. Has anyone ran into this and have a solution or can recommend another program that will allow me to paste the description texts into the IPTC?

Paul

PS am using CS2, 2 button mouse (mac), Mac G5.

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PS. I can paste in Bridge but I find it very hard to do in Bridge due the small text sizes (old eyes) additionally I cannot add to the keywords in bridge (for some reason I have no access to write to that field)

Hmmm.. If you're using the File Info in Photoshop CS2 you can create the template by entering in the information in the input boxes, clicking on the small triangle button on the top right corner of the File Info window (below the close button on Windows.. dunno on the Mac), and choosing Save Metadata Template.... Whenever you are ready to add the template to your images, click the small triangle button and you should see the name you gave to your Metadata Template in the menu. Click it and the data will be automagically added to your image(s). This template is also accessible from Bridge, which I personally recommend you use for quicker IPTC implementation.

To add keywords in Bridge you need to add them via the Keywords Panel not the Metadata Panel (View[top menu] -> Keywords Panel). There you can create your set of keywords that can be reused. You can create a Keyword Set that contains a group of keywords (ie. the keyword set GREEN SEA TURTLE would contain sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, green turtle, Tortuga Verde, etc). Then to apply all these keywords to an image would simply require you to check the box beside GREEN SEA TURTLE after selecting your image(s).

Also, there is a small arrow button on the top right corner of the Metadata panel (see attached image) in Bridge that gives you not only access to your Metadata Templates but an option to increase/decrease the font size. Unfortunately, the Keyword panel doesn't have the same option (bummer).

I WILL WARN YOU, THOUGH - Be prepared to spend an exuberant amount of time adding IPTC data. 90% of my time is spent adding IPTC data (partially b/c the IPTC keywords integrate into the database on my website) and although I'm happy to say that I can find any image I've taken in just mere seconds it has been a lot of late nights.

VERY IMPORTANT - If you decide to use Bridge for your IPTC data input, which BTW in my opinion is the best app for doing this I've seen (mainly because of its Keyword Panel), MAKE SURE TO BACK UP THE 'ADOBE BRIDGE KEYWORDS.XML' file every time you add new keywords or at least every couple of days. I had Bridge crash on me last night for the first time and I lost all my keywords (many many months worth) but luckily I had backed them up. Shewww!!

May the force be with you!

Laz,

Thanks a million! Thats a great instruction. Have gotten started now. Have already discovered your warning is good advice. It took me an hour to do 8 and I had to go for a walk after it to relax!

Have now setup various templates (i.e. fish. shrimp, crab) with the common keywords and its speeding up a bit.

The font increase size tip was excellent (now only I could use that on critters underwater I might get afew more shots in focus!

cheers

paul

Hahaha! I'll lend you some of my plankton ID books when you figure out the font trick!

Glad to help. Eight in one hour is really good! When I created my web site I had in mind pulling the image's IPTC keywords for the web's search functionality and categorization. This I thought would ultimately help speed up my workflow (both image & web categorization all-in-one). Turns out it did... but now I find myself researching the heck out of every critter just to come up with some small blurb to write for the web under each image. Spending an hour on a handful of images is not very uncommon. Didn't they say in the 80's that computers were supposed to make our lives easier?!?!

If it's any consolation it will get easier as you build up your library of keywords. Then again, you'll sometimes refuse to photograph a new species of fish you haven't photographed before just so you won't have to add a whole new set of keywords for it.

On a side note, if you start adding the scientific names to your list you'll quickly learn enough latin names that you'll start getting invitations to the coolest ichthyologist parties. How awesome is that?!?! Now if I could only learn enough of them to get invited on a twilight zone dive with Richard Pyle.

Laz, I should have listened more to you at the outset.

Have now given up on IPTC - it was increasing my workflow by "weeks" even using the automation.

not surprised that Bridge is slow and buggy.

other options: go to versiontracker.com and do a search on IPTC, a lot comes up, something may be more usable. There are ways to do this. Pro photogs have to do it by deadlines every day.

More expensive options are photomechanic, aperture, extensis portfolio.

I think that gallery (the new one, version 2) also writes iptc now, or at least reads it.

google can find these things...

I have always wanted a browser that did this all .. and ACDSee seems to have a very good system for it all now ... but there ar eloads of good programs for it which have been discussed in these forums before.

here

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8524&hl=iptc

and here

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4262&hl=iptc (older thread and kinda missing stuff ... oh and a lot has changed since then .. but product names are in there too)

iView MediaPro 3.0

nuff said...

This is much (IMHO) easier to use for writing keywords, captions etc etc than Bridge. BUT, the annotations are kept in the iView database and are not actually written to the file's IPTC header until you tell iView to "Sync Annotations". That took me a while to workout.

I can keyword and caption about 60-100 images an hour with MediaPro, then when they are done, select them all and synchronize the annotations.

iView MediaPro 3.0

 

I can keyword and caption about 60-100 images an hour with MediaPro,

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Hell! The credit card may have to come out again!

21 day free trial - the credit card can breath easily until next month

Craig,

after about 10 minutes I must say it works "when you click" this is a vast improvement over bridge on my computer which seriously lags behind my "clicking" but I found the flat list for keywords unwieldy - will try some more. Its so much faster than bridge and also "imported" all my my XML metadata templates I created in bridge. Definite improvement, I will ahve to experiment more - cheers.

FYI, I also tried JS2 which was a nightmare and at 250 euros a shock (looks and feels like a 15$ prog)

Giles,

Cheers for the link, good info. Wanted to downlaod ACDsee to test that also but it seems to be PC only. (one of the downsides of the mac)

Paul

wow .. i never thought about that ... shame as it has been around for so long i would have thought it would be out for mac . oh well ... i tried iview ... didn't like it very much myself ... i prefer fotostation over iview ... but thats my opiion ... i don't use either but tried them both.

you might want to try the free beta of adobe lightroom, and look at the online movie tutorials of apple's aperture, there is some stuff there on captioning. You can easily put the same IPTC info on many pictures, making it easy to at least get started with your captions. i think in the next 6 months, lightroom or aperture might be what you want, they will compete with each other and make each other better. But they'll do more than just IPTC, which might be overkill.

I spent a year working with extensis portfolio. It was good with IPTC and cataloging, but no good at selects. I used iPhoto's stars for that.

I should clarify my comment on bridge: I can't stand it, but for one very specific reason. I like to use an ap like bridge or iPhoto for selects, I do a full screen slideshow and then use the stars to work through my keepers. Bridge is much slower than iPhoto and even after every cache trick in the book, it present pictures with a lot of artifacts that it created, huge 50x50 pixels and bad jpeg-like banding in my backgrounds. it won't let me see focus, color, or reall, composition. Seen it on more than one machine and both platforms, not just mine, it drives me nuts that a pro tool can't put up full screen image quickly and correctly.

<snip> I found the flat list for keywords unwieldy - will try some more. </snip>

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Initially I found the keyword list a bit of a pain as well, but after a while I found that I was entering many of the same keywords over and over again, just the pattern varied. So I have now started working in a different manner, viz: I select a group of images from the browser and then drop them on the relevant keywords in the keyword list, rather than adding keywords one at a time to the individual images.

I should also point out that I'm a lightning fast typist. Otherwise the captioning would be a bit slower