How to set same date multiple times, How to set same date multiple times

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Level 1

4 points

How to set same date multiple times, How to set same date multiple times

I have a lot of 36x24 mm scans of negatives which of course do not have the exposure dates encoded on them. Because I do know the exposure dates approximately, I want to give a batch of images pertaining to the same photo session the same date and time in the metadata; doing so with the Metadata menuitem for setting date and time. But the images then get different day and time, dependent on the moment I did scan the negative and thus saved the scanfile: Aperture obviously takes the difference in creation date as a sign to shift date and time relative to the first image in the series.

This is a bit of a nuisance because it jumbles the pictures when looking at them by date if they were scanned out of chronological order. Is it possible to assign the exact given date to a selection of images, regardless of the difference in creation date? The sheet appearing with the menu does not have a checkbox for doing so. Of cource one can set the date on image at a time, but with several hundred images this is not something taken lightly.

I would appreciate some help. Thanks in advance.

Posted on Apr 20, 2014 10:25 AM

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Answer 1

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léonie

Level 10

195,113 points

Apr 20, 2014 11:06 AM in response to hansm

if you have a compatible iPhoto version, you can open your Aperture library in iPhoto batch change the date and times of your images in iPhoto.

The "photos > Batch Change" lets you step the time for a set of selected omages in fixed increament, e.g., an increment of one second between each photo.

What are your Aperture and iPhoto versions? You would need at least Aperture 3.3:

Aperture 3.3: Using a unified photo library with iPhoto and Aperture

if you do not have a compatible iPhoto version, you could try to use an Apple Script. I posted an Automator workflow here some time ago:

Re: How can I change the dates on many photos with a fix time of say 20s?

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Answer 2

hansm Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 11:24 AM in response to léonie

The script described looks nice. Since I have the latest version of Aperture I guess it should work from there. However when I tried to find and download the workflow installing the script, I could not find it.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

195,113 points

Apr 20, 2014 11:41 AM in response to hansm

So you don't have iPhoto 9.5.1? That's a pity, for opening the Aperture library in iPhoto would make things really easy.

I cannot reach my FTP server right now to check my website; so I put another copy of the automator workflow in my Dropbox: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/45503699/AdjustTimeInIncrements.workflow.zip

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Answer 4

hansm Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 11:50 AM in response to léonie

Thanks. Allthough I have iPhoto in the right version, I think I will prefer running things from Aperture instead of switching between to applications. By the way, the script page appeared blank on my screen when looking at it. It turned out that copying that 'blank page' and putting it in Pages made everything (automagically) visible.

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

195,113 points

Apr 20, 2014 11:56 AM in response to hansm

By the way, the script page appeared blank on my screen when looking at it. It turned out that copying that 'blank page' and putting it in Pages made everything (automagically) visible.

Interesting.Thanks. I think there is a problem with my webhosting service right now. The pages take an eternally to load, and I cannot access the FTP site to upload files.

I think I will prefer running things from Aperture instead of switching between to applications

I see your point, but switching is really easy. Just use "File > Open library in iPhoto" in Aperture, and "File > Open Library in Aperture" to switch back.

It is fully compatible.

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