I recently noticed ART wasn’t writing GPS EXIF to output files, which was because they weren’t selected on the Metadata tab. Once selected, it works great. But I’ve seen mixed results when opening unedited (or “cleared”) files for the first time. After selecting all tags, usually they’re all selected by default when I open a new raw file. But not with every file.
I found this topic in which @agriggio suggested using a partial profile to apply GPS tags (he also made a similar suggestion to a tag-related post I made earlier this year). However, the OP also asked about simply enabling all checkboxes by default and I’m not sure if that answer applied to both questions.
So that brings up two questions:
Does the selected / not-selected state of all the tag checkboxes “stick” as a default from one new image to another, across program restarts? Note in this instance I’m referring only to “write to output” or “don’t write to output” decision ART makes, not to the actual tag data itself.
If I copy / paste metadata from one file to another (whether manually or via a partial profile), will ART update ALL destination metadata or only my edits? For example, if I edit the User Comment, Artist and / or Image Description tags then copy and paste that metadata to another image file, will only those fields be updated? I obviously don’t want to replace any metadata that truly “belongs” specifically to the destination file with info from another file (e.g., aperture, ISO, shutter speed, etc.).
Regarding question 1, I have the metadata copy mode set to “Apply modifications”. I want all populated tags in the raw file as well as any edits I make to be written to the output file. I’d like this to be the default for newly-loaded raw files. So if I just select all checkboxes, will that become the default going forward? Or will a partial profile set the checkboxes’ state (but not the actual data itself)?
Ok, let’s see…
First, a disclaimer: metadata handling is certainly not a strong selling point for ART. That said:
Does the selected / not-selected state of all the tag checkboxes “stick” as a default from one new image to another, across program restarts?
No, the state of the checkboxes is saved in the .arp sidecar, so it “sticks” with the same image when you edit it again
If I copy / paste metadata from one file to another (whether manually or via a partial profile), will ART update ALL destination metadata or only my edits?
Two things get copied:
The selection of which tags to export
the values of tags that you modified
If a tag is not modified, it won’t be overwritten.
So if I just select all checkboxes, will that become the default going forward? Or will a partial profile set the checkboxes’ state (but not the actual data itself)?
You need a partial profile. Depending on its contents, it might just set the checkboxes, or also the values of some tags. If you save a partial profile from the GUI, both the checkboxes and the values will be stored. But then you can edit the generated .arp with a text editor, and remove what you do not want to preserve. The profile will contain something like this:
If you only want the checkboxes, delete the [Exif] section (and all the entries within it). If you only want the values but not the checkboxes, delete the ExifKeys entry in the [Metadata] section.
So far it’s been strong enough for me, once I sufficiently understand the details of how it works. Now that I finally have the Canon Camera Connect app working between my phone and camera, I can have my images geotagged. Since GPS tags aren’t selected by default in ART, that’s what has prompted my questions.
Hmmm… I could’ve sworn there were at least some images that, after having cleared all processing (actually deleting its .arp sidecar in some cases), loaded up subsequently with all boxes checked. Maybe I’m mistaken but I was 99% sure that happened more than once. I may not have restarted ART in between, if that makes any difference (and I’m certainly not beyond being confused, if there’s any doubt!! ).
At any rate, if that’s the behavior, that’s the behavior.
This is perfect, exactly what I need for bulk-updating metadata itself: apply only the changes.* That’s usually a manual process and only as-needed, other than maybe some default boilerplate I might (?) want. So far, I think the defaults are mostly covered by what I’ve specified in my camera. But if I want to include other default bits, I can do it with judicious editing of a partial profile invoked by a dynamic rule.
* Related question: If a tag is populated in the source file but unedited (by me) and empty in the destination file, will the source tag data still be copied?
So I can select all the checkboxes I want in the GUI, save / edit the profile and remove everything from the [Exif] section (or at least what I don’t want updated by default). Then put that profile into a rule that’s invoked for every raw file.
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