{date} versus {iptcdate}

[Goos van der Veen]

Can someone tell me where {iptcdate}, {iptcday}, etc, get their data from? I found some folders on my computer where filenames that at ingest were created using {year2}{month0}{day0} were changed after renaming with {iptcyear2}{iptcmonth0}{iptcday0}. The 'new' date was in these cases more than a year earlier. I cannot reproduce this behaviour; all the renaming with IPTC dates hat I tried today came out identical with renaming with capture time dates.

[Kirk Baker]

Goos,

From the IPTC Date field in the IPTC/XMP metadata.  You can view it in the IPTC Info for any image.  (Click on the 'i' button that appears when you hover your mouse over an image.)

-Kirk

[Goos van der Veen]

Hi Kirk, yes, sorry,  I know, what I actually meant is, where does the IPTC Date field gets its data from. What has happened is this: I have a folder with several hundreds of NEF files. At ingest the filenames were set using this string: GVC{year2}{month0}{day0}x{seqn}. The same string was used to add the filename to the Caption field, and the {year2}{month0}{day0} part was used to add the creation date in the Keywords field. This has been my ingest routine for over 10 years.

A few months ago (Oct 31) I had a job where I used two cameras. I ingested both cards into the same folder using the said naming string. Then, for easier editing, I sorted the images chronologically and then renamed the images to make the sort permanent. I do these things routinely; and (apparently) didn't check the result of the renaming. Yesterday, however, I discovered that all the names of the files in this folder now begin with GVC160908x, instead of GVC171031x, which would reflect the correct creation date.

I discovered that the renaming snapshot used the string GVC{iptcyear2}{iptcmonth0}{iptcday0}x{seqn}. However, when I tried what renaming would do on other folders, it always used the same date as the creation date. So I am very curious how a date from more than a year ago could creep into my renaming routine....

PS The two cameras are identical and their clocks and calendars are synchronized.
PPS There are a few other occurrences of the very same, incorrect date 160908 in filenames on my computer. I think they are X-files...

[Kirk Baker]

Goos,

Like I said, IPTC Date is its own entity and is separate from the Capture Time.  If it has not been set then PM uses the Capture Time as the IPTC Date.  If it has been set to a value (via the IPTC Stationery Pad in bulk or individually using the IPTC Info) then it can differ from the Capture Time.

I suspect that at some point you had set the IPTC Date in the IPTC Stationery Pad and modified the IPTC Date on some of your images.  You can use the IPTC Stationery Pad to return the IPTC Date to Capture Time if you like.

Something (PM or any other IPTC/XMP metadata-savvy application) must have set an IPTC Date in your images.

-Kirk

[Goos van der Veen]

Thanks again, that explains a lot. IPTC Stationery 'snapshots' have dates in them, even if you didn't deliberately put those dates in there. In the 13 snapshots I have, I found 3 different dates (5-6-2009, 14-7-2011, 17-8-2015). Possibly, once upon a time, I entered those dates in the IPTC Stationery Pad, and apparently they carry over when you make a new snapshot.
The 160908 date is no longer there; I changed a few snapshots recently. On that date I had bought a second-hand camera and took photos with it to see if everything worked. When I came home I saw that the camera date was off, and used the IPTC date setting to name the files correctly, and that's how I got the 160908 bug. On October 31 I must have inadvertently switched the date from 'Capture Time' to 'Date'.

By the way, on the IPTC Info screen, if you switch to 'Date', by default the capture time is entered, even if you switch snapshots. So Info behaviour is different than Stationery Pad.

I'm a bit puzzled. Why do those dates stay there forever until they are changed, and why can't the IPTC Date field not be left empty?