Copy all meta data to version stack

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paulrbarnard
Posts: 40
Joined: 14 Dec 18 14:55

Copy all meta data to version stack

Post by paulrbarnard »

I'm in the process of converting all my jpg files to heic. What I'm struggling with is how to copy all the tags I have created against the jpg files to the heic files. I've created new heic versions in the same directory. I then imported the heic in to Photo Supreme and they are version stacked with the jpg images. If I look at the tags for the heic images they show the same as the jpg. Unfortunately if I delete the jpg it deletes all the tags along with it.

What I'm looking for is a way to retain all the data I have against the jpg files with the heic when i delete the jog files.
fbungarz
Posts: 1826
Joined: 08 Dec 06 4:03
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Copy all meta data to version stack

Post by fbungarz »

Hi Paul,
unfortunately creating version sets (not stacks, both are different in PSu) does not automatically copy all metadata from one version to the next. You are missing an important step: cascading the metadata. You need to select the version that contains the metadata (your JPGs) and cascade the data to the derivative version (the HEIC files).

To facilitate this it helps to set the JPG as main, the HEIC as subversion.
Then, make sure you are in folder view so that the top version you see is the main version. Then, right-click on the little tab that denotes the main version and select "Cascade from this version to the version set". You can do this one-by-one or in batch by selecting all images first.
A dialogue will ask you which metadata should be cascaded.

Now, two things:
What I do not understand - if your JPG files contain metadata and the HEIC don't then, presumably the software used to convert the files strips the metadata from the files during file conversion? Else, the two versions should contain the same metadata. But if the conversion process removes the data, you will need to cascade them back.
If the HEIC files do contain the metadata from the JPGs, why going through the trouble of versioning before deleting the JPGs? You could just import the HEICs and PSu should be able to read and restore the data that way.
This brings me to a final question:
Do HEICs even support XMP embedded into the files? Apple is notorious for not following industry standards. They think they can do better. So, perhaps HEICs do not support having metadata written to them. In that case cascading won't help much either - although it should create XMP sidecar files, that, paired with your HEICs would at least be a way to preserve the information.

I won't ask why you prefer HEIC, but JPGs are small, and if you go through the trouble of versioning them all, why not simply keep them? Why delete your originals? PSu easily allows you to manage both jointly. That's the whole point of versioning.

Cheers,
Frank
fbungarz
Posts: 1826
Joined: 08 Dec 06 4:03
Location: Arizona, USA

Re: Copy all meta data to version stack

Post by fbungarz »

This might be of interest:
HEIC and XMP not working anymore
https://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?topic=14145.0

Personally, I would NEVER delete my original files.
paulrbarnard
Posts: 40
Joined: 14 Dec 18 14:55

Re: Copy all meta data to version stack

Post by paulrbarnard »

I'm having issue with old jpg degrading. I have family images from the early digital days which are low resolution to start with. I am concerned that file updates to the jpg will cause the files to keep compressing and lose data. HEIC with quality set to 100 are lossless.
I periodically synchronize my files and note that the file modified data changes to the current date.
paulrbarnard
Posts: 40
Joined: 14 Dec 18 14:55

Re: Copy all meta data to version stack

Post by paulrbarnard »

Frank, Thanks for the great information. I'm using the inbuilt sipp software on macOS to do the conversion and when i imported the images no meta data showed up. However if I version the files the heic then show the right meta data in the labels pane. At this point there is also a xmp file created. The problem is that when I delete the jpg by selecting delete in PSU the xmp file also gets deleted and the meta data on the heic disappears.
AlainB
Posts: 103
Joined: 13 May 20 10:33

Re: Copy all meta data to version stack

Post by AlainB »

paulrbarnard wrote: 30 Nov 23 13:43 I'm in the process of converting all my jpg files to heic. What I'm struggling with is how to copy all the tags I have created against the jpg files to the heic files. I've created new heic versions in the same directory. I then imported the heic in to Photo Supreme and they are version stacked with the jpg images. If I look at the tags for the heic images they show the same as the jpg. Unfortunately if I delete the jpg it deletes all the tags along with it.

What I'm looking for is a way to retain all the data I have against the jpg files with the heic when i delete the jog files.
With my system (Mac OSX Somona)

I start from a version set made of a jpg and a NEF file. (XXX.NEF and XXX.jpg)

I destroy the version set

I delete the jpg file

The xmp file is still there and the NEF file shows the same tags as the one of the (now deleted) jpg file
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