Modify EXIF date?

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Level 1

10 points

Modify EXIF date?

iPhoto '11 (9.2.2) lets me set a date for photos, but apparently this new date is known only to iPhoto. Even if I check the "Modify original files" box when I set the date, the original date of the photo in its EXIF data is unchanged. This can be a problem, as when exporting photos or uploading photos to Flickr, which either can't see or ignores the date set by iPhoto and uses the date in the EXIF data instead. Is there a way to change the date in the EXIF data?

I saw one post (from 2007) that said checking the "Modify original files" option WOULD change the EXIF date and another post that described changing individual photo dates through the Info mode. Neither works for me. Is that a bug? I have to use Batch Change to modify the date for even a single photo, and even if I do that with "Modify original files" checked, the EXIF data is not changed.

Posted on Mar 21, 2012 2:30 PM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

163,872 points

Mar 21, 2012 2:38 PM in response to badfan

Where are you looking for the new date? When I run a test the Exif on the Original file is indeed altered.

Regards

TD

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Answer 2

badfan Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 21, 2012 2:44 PM in response to Yer_Man

If I drag the photo to the desktop and Get Info, the "Created" date is the original one. Also, when I use the Flickr uploader tool within iPhoto, my photos rever to their original date in Flickr.

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

163,872 points

Mar 21, 2012 2:46 PM in response to badfan

The Finder doesn't report the Exif date.

Open it in Preview and use the Tools menu.

Regards

TD

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Answer 4

badfan Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 21, 2012 2:58 PM in response to Yer_Man

The Finder and Tools Inspector in Preview give me the same date, but I have to correct myself: The date they give me is not the original EXIF date after all. I just realized that it's the date when I modified the data. In any case, it is not the date I set in iPhoto.

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Answer 5

badfan Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 21, 2012 3:34 PM in response to Yer_Man

Sorry if I'm not being clear. Here's a summary:

1. A photo is taken in August of 1966 and developed as a slide.

2. Last summer the slide is digitized: EXIF date is 6/7/11.

3. A month or so later I add the photo to iPhoto, which still reports the date as 6/7/11.

4. On 3/7/12, I edit the photo in iPhoto and use the Batch Change feature to set the date to when the photo was actually taken: 8/1/66. As expected, iPhoto Info now shows the date as 8/1/66.

5. On 3/12/12 I use the Flickr uploader in iPhoto to upload the photo to my Flickr set. Flickr reports the date of the photo as 6/7/11.

6. Today, 3/21/12, I look at the file information for the photo in two places: Finder and Tools Inspector in Preview. Both of these places report the same Created and Modified date: 3/7/12 (the date I edited the photo in iPhoto).

So, what is unexplained is:

1. When I change the date in iPhoto, why does the file creation date and modification date change to the present day instead of the date I set?

2. When I upload the photo to Flickr, why does the creation date revert to the date when the image was first digitized from the slide?

And, of course, my only goal is that the date I set in iPhoto show up in Flickr when I upload it there.

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Answer 6

Yer_Man

Level 10

163,872 points

Mar 21, 2012 3:37 PM in response to badfan

This is a scan? Scans have no Exif.

Regards

TD

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Answer 7

badfan Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 21, 2012 3:45 PM in response to Yer_Man

Hmm. OK. But even if there is no EXIF data, the slide still has a creation date assigned to it (the date it was scanned). iPhoto reads that date from the scan and allows me to change it in iPhoto, so it must be "finding" that date in the same place it normally looks for EXIF dates in real photos. And Flickr reads that date but ignores the date change in iPhoto. How do I get the date I set in iPhoto to persist through the upload process to Flickr?

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