Chosen2k7

Q: exif dates are wrong...

I am combining multiple photo libraries from a variety of sources into Aperture 3.5.1 on OS X Mavericks. All of the files are located on an external hard drive.

 

(1) I just moved over a 1,000 files into one folder so I can just import from one location into Aperture.

 

(2) My import settings are Import Folders and Projects | Store files (in a different folder) | Move files | Do not import duplicates | Subfolders (Image Year / Month / Day) | Version name (Image Date / Time) | Both (Jpeg as Original).

 

Here's the problem... Apparently, when I moved the files in Step (1) to one location, the exif date changed to today's date. So, when I imported the files using Aperture, it sorted the pictures according to today's date.

 

When I select the image files and Get Info in Finder the "Created:" date shows the correct date, the "Modified:" date shows today. But, Aperture shows the images as being taken today.

 

How do I change the "exif" date back to match the "created" date? This is a huge problem because I'm working with over 100,000 images... Please help!!!

Aperture 3, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Feb 1, 2014 8:27 AM

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Q: exif dates are wrong...

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 2, 2014 1:53 AM in response to Chosen2k7
    Level 10 (105,761 points)
    iLife
    Feb 2, 2014 1:53 AM in response to Chosen2k7
    (1) I just moved over a 1,000 files into one folder so I can just import from one location into Aperture.

     

    Did you really move? Even dragging to an external drive will not move the exising file but create a new copy on the drive. This new copy will have a different "Date Created" and "Date Modified" for the copied image file in the Finder, but the "Exif" tags "Date Time Digitized" and "Date Time Original" are not modified by Aperture. And Aperture will use the "Exif" date when sorting by date.

    Here's the problem... Apparently, when I moved the files in Step (1) to one location, the exif date changed to today's date. So, when I imported the files using Aperture, it sorted the pictures according to today's date.

    Aperture never changes the "Exif" date, unless you force it to by using "Adjust Date and Time".

     

    Only there is one slight complication" If will depend on the time zone where the image has been taken, how the Exif will be interpreted. Aperture's default is to use the current system time zone when importing, if you do not specify  the camera time zone. If your image has been taken in a timezone GMT-10 and you import it with Aperture's defaults in Germany, GMT+1, Aperture will interpret the Exif date in the timezone GMT+1, 11 hours off, unless you set the time zone parameters "Camera Time" and "Actual Time".

     

    How are you displaying the Date and Time in Aperture in the Metadata view?

    I am seeing the following dates and times in my custom "Times" metadata preset.

    • The "Import Session" - the date I imported the image.
    • The "Exif > Date" tag, set to the "Actual Timezone" of the location
    • The "IPTC > Image Date Created"
    • The "Legacy > Digital Creation Date"

     

    Screen Shot 2014-02-02 at 10.31.34GMT+1.PNG

     

    IPTC and Exif are displayed correctly, even after moving the images around. If your images have the Exif tag set, moving and copying should not change this. The "Legacy > Digital Creation Date" is currently a mess in my main Aperture library and will always show today, for all images  I ever imported. But that may be a bug on my system.  What are the metadata tags that you are looking at, when you are checking the dates of the imported images?

     

    I am combining multiple photo libraries from a variety of sources into Aperture 3.5.1 on OS X Mavericks. All of the files are located on an external hard drive.

    The safest way to get the dates correct when importing from older photo libraries would be to merge them into your current library as a library, and not as exported files (see:  Aperture 3.3: How to use Aperture to merge iPhoto libraries. ). That would save all previous edits and metadata tacking, and would avoid complications with wrong dates.

    You might want first to combine the libraries to be imported, weed out duplicates, and then to merge the combined library  into your current library.

     

     


  • by Chosen2k7,

    Chosen2k7 Chosen2k7 Feb 2, 2014 5:34 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2014 5:34 AM in response to léonie

    Thanks Leonie for your response...

     

    Yes. The image files were all located on the same external drive in different places. I dragged them to the new location and performed the import from there.

     

    I apologize but I'm not sure how to pull that screenshot that you showed. I do admit that I may not be calling the exif/iptc/created/etc. by the right terms but, here's the breakdown. The following image was taken 12/28/2005. After moving the image in Finder and importing it in Aperture... Aperture recognizes it as being taken yesterday and sorted it accordingly.

     

     

    Screen Shot 2014-02-02 at 8.15.24 AM.png
    My goal is to correct ALL of the dates to match "Created" that is shown in Finder. Hopefully, there is an easy way to fix this because I have thousands of images that need corrected...
  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 2, 2014 6:40 AM in response to Chosen2k7
    Level 10 (105,761 points)
    iLife
    Feb 2, 2014 6:40 AM in response to Chosen2k7

    It looks like Aperture were using the "last modified date" of your file and not the Exif date set by the camera. Please check, if your images do have an Exif date tag.

     

    You can see the Exif, when you open your jpegs in Preview.

    In Preview, use the "Tools" menu to reveal the Inpector.

    Screen Shot 2014-02-02 at 15.32.37GMT+1.png

    The Inspector has tabs to show the IPTC ond Exif tags of the image.

    And look at all date tags that you can find:

    Screen Shot 2014-02-02 at 15.37.59GMT+1.png

    Do the original images you imported have those tags?

  • by Chosen2k7,

    Chosen2k7 Chosen2k7 Feb 2, 2014 7:16 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2014 7:16 AM in response to léonie

    In reviewing several images, there is no exif.

     

    I guess, the question now is... How do I set it to be the Create date?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 2, 2014 8:19 AM in response to Chosen2k7
    Level 10 (105,761 points)
    iLife
    Feb 2, 2014 8:19 AM in response to Chosen2k7

    How did you create the images? Are those scans? Your screenshot does not show any camera generated data at all.

    It is difficult to make the "Date created" the "Date tag". You would have to manually batch change the images or write an Apple script.

    If the dates are o.k. in the original libraries, where you exported the images from, export them again and be careful to include the exif information, or better, import the original libraries as library, and not the single files.

  • by Chosen2k7,

    Chosen2k7 Chosen2k7 Feb 2, 2014 8:26 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2014 8:26 AM in response to léonie

    There are no scans. The images came from a variety of sources... Sony digital camera, Blackberry, HTC Evo, iPhone...

     

    I understand that apple script can be very powerful. Is there a script that would search for the "missing exif" and apply "created date"? I have reviewed a lot more images and those that are "wrong" do not have the exif data.

     

    The original images are no longer available because I moved them from their original locations and what I have now is what I showed in the screenshot.

  • by William Koplitz,

    William Koplitz William Koplitz Aug 7, 2014 4:05 AM in response to Chosen2k7
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 7, 2014 4:05 AM in response to Chosen2k7

    Many of my dates in Aperture are totally wrong and show a 1974 date that won't change.  It's kind of funny to see a D3 with a 1974 date but as far as I can tell Aperture totally messed up my dates from several shoots.  I don't know what happened, been on the phone with the Aperture folks who tell me I can change that date, but I've tried and it won't change.  They talk about capture date vs. digitized date which I can't figure why that would have that option on a digital file that didn't come from a scanner.  So about 10% of my dates show the 1974 date and I can't fix them.  I've even gone back to  the original raw files and reloaded them, but that didn't work either.  I can't be the only one with this problem.

  • by AdrianF1,

    AdrianF1 AdrianF1 Aug 18, 2014 11:01 AM in response to William Koplitz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2014 11:01 AM in response to William Koplitz

    Hi William,

     

    I am having the same issue, but since this thread is about another problem, maybe start a new thread?

     

    I'd be very interested to hear if you found any resolution to your issue.  I'm getting 'date created' and 'reference dates' set as 1974, when importing from an iPhone 5 in Aperture, which is a relatively new device.  Digital creation is correct, so I just unselect DC and RD when importing. 

     

    A.