Tag Archives: Metadata

Labeling Digital Photos

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I started working on adding metadata to my photos today! I used Adobe Bridge which comes with any of the Creative Suite products. It was pretty slick. You have the ability to set up templates to fill in info that is the same over lots and lots of images. I put information in the template like contact info and copyright stuff. Next step was the keywords. Bridge has a hierarchical method of organizing keywords with keywords and sub-keywords. It already had keywords like people, places and events. I added dogs and things as additional keywords so far. Under dogs I put the names of all the puppies we have raised. Then I had some photos of other puppies in training, like Redding that we puppy sat a few weeks ago. I put him as a sub-keyword under Dune. I’m not sure if that is the right way to handle it but that what I’m doing for now. In Bridge you can select a whole bunch of photos that need the same keywords and add them all at the same time.

I found a really detailed article about labeling digital photos by Ken Watson. It talks all about the technical stuff and different software that helps with the metadata and metadata standards. It has very good reference information.

One thing I was disappointed about was that Windows xp doesn’t show all the metadata information that I added to my photos when you right-click on the image and pull up properties. You can add metadata in the fields that Windows provides under properties but it would be a very slow task and it doesn’t follow XMP standards (read Ken Watson’s article if you don’t know what that is). I’m pretty sure that newer operating systems do a better job on that score.

One disappointment is that Windows xp can’t see the all the metadata I added, like the keywords. But I’m happy to have gotten started on adding metadata to my photos. Tons more to do. A goal I’m making now is to add metadata as I save new photos to my machine. At least then I won’t be loosing more ground.DOABLE Sidebar O

Why Do I Need Data About My Data? – Metadata

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Here is James Tanner’s answer (from “What is Metadata?”) on FamilySearch to the why metadata question:

OK, so why add metadata? This is also an easy answer. You add metadata so you can find photos on your computer and remember the information about who, what, when and where. Once the metadata is added to your photos, you can use your computer’s search function to find the photos by searching on any of the words or names you have added to the photos and stored with them in their file. How will you know if your program is storing the information with the original file or in a separate file? You might need to search in your program’s preferences or options to find a reference to adding data to your photographs.

Adding metadata to your photograph not only helps you but it helps anyone you might share that photo with, if they know to look for it. The metadata stays with the photo so anyone who has the photo can get access to the information and know everything you know about that photo. Adding metadata takes time but when it comes to family photos and documents, it is the who, what, when, where etc. that makes the photo have value.

Metadata can also be added to other types of files other than photographs. Denis Barrett Olson wrote an article about using metadata to establish provenance. There are lots of ways to use metadata to organize files and make sure that important information about a file stays with that file.

Now we know why we want to use metadata, the challenging part is actually taking the time to add it to our files.DOABLE Sidebar O

Using Metadata to Organize Photos and Documents

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One of the classes I took at RootsTech 2013 in February was on metadata by Randy W. Whited. From what I’ve learned using metadata makes the most sense of all the ways to organize your photos and documents digitally. I’ve tried the long name files with date and name of the person but by using the metadata you can include so much more information and all of it is searchable. What I didn’t realize is how easily you can use the metadata. You don’t have to have a special app, your operating system is all you need. Just right-click on the file (in Windows) and open the properties panel. You can reach the metadata there and add to it.

There are photo organization programs that make it easier to get access to the metadata and edit it. I’m planning on using Adobe Bridge when I finally get around to using the power of metadata. At the moment it isn’t even on my to do list, but maybe I should go and change that. Then I could post with some real world experience instead of the few minutes I played around with metadata in the hands on RootsTech class.

OK, now it is actually on my to do list. I’m going to start with adding metadata to all the photos I have of our puppies in training. Back in May while I was working on Zodiac’s book I realized that it can be hard to tell him and Yakira apart once Zodiac grew up. Two black labs can look a lot alike depending on the angle of the shot. I’ll report back after I get started on it, maybe next week.

Here is the outline for the class I took.DOABLE Sidebar O

Here is a short video on what metadata is.

Have you every used metadata? Have you even heard of it before?

step two: organize with the DOABLE Approach to Telling Your Family’s Tales

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Step Two: Organize

Once you have taken on the challenge of doing a story project and having worked through the first step of deciding what you want to do, you have a pretty good idea of what you want your story project to be. Now it is time to gather and organize everything you have that might help you complete this project. Find any photos, documents, letters, etc. that you or your family already have. If you are already fairly organized this might be a simple step. But if you are like most of us, your family documents and photos are not very orderly and they are in many places.

Have a long-term strategy:

Take some time to think about a long-term organizing philosophy so that anything you do now will work towards that goal. I don’t recommend trying to put all of your family photos and documents in order before you tackle this story project. If you try to do that you might never get to the project. But if you have a plan in mind than with each story project your documents and photos will be come more and more organized and more easily accessible.

Digitize:

With this long-term plan in mind sort through you family memorabilia for those items that might be useful for this project. Those items like photos and documents will need to be scanned. Some other items may work in a scanner but others will need to be photographed. Make sure your scan resolution is at least 300 dpi depending on the size of the image and the project you have in mind. While usually jpeg is a good format, tiff files are better for long-term preservation and storage. It will be easiest in the long run if you come up with a good naming convention for your images that you can remember and give you the information you need. Metadata is a great place to store the little details about the images. If you are familiar with metadata you can add that later. Besides letters and journals it is good to transcribe them too.

Share your images:

While all this can be tedious remember that by scanning them you are helping to make sure that these priceless items are saved for the future even if something should happen to the original. Sharing your images with your family is a great way to help insure that no disaster will destroy all the existing copies.

Repeat with extended family:

Having digital files to share with your family could also help to smooth the road for you to get access to any items that they might have that would be helpful for your story project. There are good portable scanners that make it possible to visit a relative and scan their collection without those precious items ever having to leave their possession. Find any family histories that have previously been written. Also check for online sources of information from extended family.

So what shape is your family archive in? While I’ve made progress over the years I still have lots to do. I’ll keep working on it and slowly it will get there, one project at a time. Do you have a file naming convention that you like? I’d love to hear about it. I’m still not happy with what I’m currently doing.