Windows Vista destroys photo metadata

From Microsoft's Knowledge Base

Article ID : 927527

Last Review : January 10, 2007

Revision : 1.1

When you edit the properties of a photo to add metadata to that photo in Windows Vista, the software for the digital camera may no longer recognize the metadata that is automatically added to the photo by the digital camera. This metadata is specific to the manufacturer of the camera.

This issue occurs when makernote data in the Exchangeable Image File format (EXIF) metadata area of the image is moved to a different location within the metadata region of the image. This change in the location of the makernote data may make the information unreadable.

To work around this issue, do not use the Photo Acquisition Wizard to download the photos to the hard disk.

Do not use Windows Photo Gallery or Windows Explorer to edit the properties of the image. For more information about the software for a digital camera, Microsoft recommend that you contact the manufacturer of the digital camera.

From gizmodo. com

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/software/window...data-235461.php

Windows Vista Destroys Photo Metadata

A bit of bad news about Vista if you're a photographer. Apparently if you tag a photo's metadata in Vista, it destroys other important metadata used by image editing apps such as Photoshop. Microsoft's gotten reports of RAW files generated by Nikon cameras being unreadable after being tagged with Vista or Microsoft's Photo Info tool.

What can you do? Well, Microsoft's asking camera vendors to make processing plugins for Vista that don't make images unreadable, but for the mean time we'd just recommend not updating to Vista until everything's fixed. Or just not tagging your stuff in Vista. – Jason Chen

Metadata mangling in Windows Vista [News.com via Lifehacker]

From c|net.com

http://news.com.com/2061-10805_3-6157801.h...5&subj=news

Metadata mangling in Windows Vista

February 8, 2007 7:04 PM PST

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Microsoft wants to make it easy to label photos with metadata--information such as where the picture was taken and who's in it--but you should be careful before you use the company's software for doing so.

Windows Vista and the Microsoft Photo Info tool can cause problems with metadata or the image itself.

According to one Microsoft Knowledge Base article, "When you edit the properties of a photo to add metadata to that photo in Windows Vista, the software for the digital camera may no longer recognize the metadata that is automatically added to the photo by the digital camera."

Another alert regards using Photo Info to change metadata on NEF images--the "raw" photos directly from the cameras' image sensors. "Microsoft has received reports of compatibility issues with Nikon NEF files after installing version 1.0 of Nikon's raw codec posted in January. Tagging the raw files through Windows Vista or the Microsoft Photo Info tool after the codec is installed appears to cause these files to become unreadable in other applications, such as Adobe Photoshop," Microsoft said in a a frequently asked-questions list for the Photo Info software.

Microsoft is letting camera manufacturers supply processing software that Vista can employ when users want to open or print raw files. Nikon released its raw-image support in January, and Sony and Olympus followed suit on Wednesday.

Vista users can find the raw image software through the operating systems "check for updates" feature built into the Photo Gallery software.

Posted by Stephen Shankland

So if I'm right in understanding this, MSoft introduces an operating system that buggers up my images then tells the camera companies they have to fix it.

So if I'm right in understanding this, MSoft introduces an operating system that buggers up my images then tells the camera companies they have to fix it.

Yup -

Dear Bill.......

To work around this issue, do not use the Photo Acquisition Wizard to download the photos to the hard disk.

Do not use Windows Photo Gallery or Windows Explorer to edit the properties of the image. For more information about the software for a digital camera, Microsoft recommend that you contact the manufacturer of the digital camera.

Who in their right mind uses either of these anyhow?

Buy Adobe and Vote Quimby!

Who in their right mind uses either of these anyhow?

 

Buy Adobe and Vote Quimby!

Knowing Micro$oft, it's no doubt rigged up to launch these when you plug in something with photos on it.

The real question is, who in their right mind would use a new OS from them before service pack 2.

Better yet; buy Mac

Vista isn't alone. I'm unsure of the mechanism, but carrying out procedures such as rotating images in Adobe Bridge can also have metadata implications. Opening and resaving seems to deal with the problems but clearly something in the image file is adjusted, as we have found customised metadata to be unreadable until an image has been open and resaved after rotation in Bridge. Windows does not have a monopoly (honest) on such problems (yet)?!

But with regard to the comments:

"Who in their right mind uses either of these anyhow?"

and:

"Better yet; buy Mac"

I'd be hard pushed to disagree!!!

More MACs maybe?

Tim

B)

Canon EOS1D/DS (like myself) users BEWARE VISTA!!!

See:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_p...cid=7-8736-8856

Just go mac!