Batch Edit Exif in Scanned Photos - Mac Catalina 10.15.4

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Batch Edit Exif in Scanned Photos - Mac Catalina 10.15.4

I have about 10,000 family photos to scan, which span over 90-years. I need a batch Exif editor for my Mac (Catalina 10.15.4). I've tried using the terminal window, but it's VERY time consuming and doesn't change the date created - - only changes the date modified.

I don't want to use the Photos app - - I don't want to individually "get info" because - - well - - I hate the Photos app. I like having all my photos in Finder ~ Pictures ~ folders by year and sort by date. Very logical and clear, especially when I'm working on such a mammoth project. However, I need the batch Exif editor.

I've found many questions about this across the web, so I'm surprised that Apple hasn't come up with an easy program to batch edit.

Would REALLY love it if our photos weren't held hostage in the Photos Library. Just Saying!

Help Anyone?

Know of any good batch exif editors for the date CREATED?

Terminal Window command for those who have a couple dates "Modified" they would like to change.

SetFile

Press space

Type: -d

Press space

Type the apostrophe and the date all together: '01/01/2017

Press space

Type the time and the apostrophe at the end all together: 14:30:59'

Press space

Drag the file to the terminal

Press Enter

Posted on Mar 29, 2020 12:57 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

111,353 points

Mar 29, 2020 1:07 PM in response to mgabormomof5

Look at the batch capabilities of Graphic Converter 11 by LemkeSoft. Been around since early 90s, and has EXIF access. Free to trial, but a paid application.

There is also Phil Harvey's ExifTool which you could integrate into a shell script to read/write specific EXIF data.

Apple has no standalone EXIF editing tools.

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Answer 2

mgabormomof5 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 30, 2020 9:19 AM in response to Yer_Man

Exactly, because the photos are scanned, there is no exif information and I need it for my purposes. Terminal command has worked, just too time consuming. I sent an email to customer support at A Better Finder Attributes and the response is below.

He responded so swiftly, that I was impressed and I will keep an eye out for the next version update.

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Mar 29, 2020 3:41 PM in response to mgabormomof5

Also, you need to consider that scanned photos, except in very rare cases, have no exif or IPTC metadata. In other words, nowhere to write this information to. Without the exif space within the file, all you're doing is editing the file information.

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Answer 4

mgabormomof5 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 29, 2020 4:24 PM in response to Yer_Man

Yes, I should have been more precise.

I am scanning years worth of photos and adding those to photos that were previously scanned.

So, I need to be able to do the following:

1) Add the true "date created" to new scans ....

2) Correct the dates on photos that were scanned years ago to the true "date created."

Thank you.

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Mar 29, 2020 4:32 PM in response to mgabormomof5

Where by 'date created' you mean the date the photograph was taken? If so, and given the files have no exif space, you need something to manipulate file metadata. Something like this:

https://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderAttributes/

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Answer 6

mgabormomof5 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 30, 2020 9:22 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you so much for your information! I looked at both of these options yesterday and the Graphic Converter 11 seems to be the easier solution. I've sent an email to their customer support to ensure that I can add exif data to the scanned photos. As soon as I hear back from them - - I'll make the decision to purchase and if I do - - I will update this thread so others can find their solution, too.

Thank you for your help.

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Answer 7

mgabormomof5 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 29, 2020 3:20 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you for your help! I will check these out.

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Batch Edit Exif in Scanned Photos - Mac Catalina 10.15.4

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