default setting for entering metadata

[md789]

Is it possible to set the default to add metadata rather than overwrite?  I think I saw a setting somewhere but have searched through every setting i can find and now it seems to be not present in PMplus 6
One of the use cases is to add parts of the IPTC location where other parts have already been added, for example the places in london already added but the city is not present and want to put in London for all of the places. If I just did this by making a blank metadata dummy file with London as the city then pasted that in for all the other files then it would erase the other details of the individual places that are already present.  If it were set to add then it would add London as the city to all of them which is what I want.

A separate queston, is it possible to select images from individual months over multiple years? I can do this by writing a long set of 'or' statements with the individual years e.g. 2004-2 or 2005-2 but this is very cumbersome if you have images over very many years as I have and just want to look at individual months (or set dates such as July 4) over say 30 years.

[Kirk Baker]

Is it possible to set the default to add metadata rather than overwrite?  I think I saw a setting somewhere but have searched through every setting i can find and now it seems to be not present in PMplus 6
One of the use cases is to add parts of the IPTC location where other parts have already been added, for example the places in london already added but the city is not present and want to put in London for all of the places. If I just did this by making a blank metadata dummy file with London as the city then pasted that in for all the other files then it would erase the other details of the individual places that are already present.  If it were set to add then it would add London as the city to all of them which is what I want.

Uncheck the 'Apply' check boxes that are to the left of any fields that you don't want applied.  Only the fields with their Apply check boxes will be applied.  Additionally, some fields have an 'Append' checkbox (+) that when applied will append the new data to any existing data in that field. 

A separate question, is it possible to select images from individual months over multiple years? I can do this by writing a long set of 'or' statements with the individual years e.g. 2004-2 or 2005-2 but this is very cumbersome if you have images over very many years as I have and just want to look at individual months (or set dates such as July 4) over say 30 years.

You can do queries like "capturetime between 2004-2 and 2005-2"

https://docs.camerabits.com/support/solutions/articles/48001252531-photo-mechanic-plus-search

This may work for your example query: ((capturetime.year between 2004 and 2024) and (capturetime.month = 7) and (capturetime.day = 4))

-Kirk

[md789]

The second part of the reply about capturetime.month etc is excellent and just what I need, thanks. Suggest there are more examples added to that examples page so it is clearer that items such as capturetime can be modified with month etc.

However I don't understand the response about metadata pasting as there are no 'Apply' checkboxes (no checkboxes at all) so I must be using a different menu item and don't understand where to get to these boxes.  what I am doing is putting in metadata on one image then going to the edit menu, doing a take metadata snapshot, then pasting that into a set of other images.  From what you say this is the wrong thing to do. So what is the better way to do this? 
I want to add metadata to images that already have some metadata without overwriting anything, in a few instances I may also want to append.

[Kirk Baker]

The second part of the reply about capturetime.month etc is excellent and just what I need, thanks. Suggest there are more examples added to that examples page so it is clearer that items such as capturetime can be modified with month etc.

You're welcome.

However I don't understand the response about metadata pasting as there are no 'Apply' checkboxes (no checkboxes at all) so I must be using a different menu item and don't understand where to get to these boxes.  what I am doing is putting in metadata on one image then going to the edit menu, doing a take metadata snapshot, then pasting that into a set of other images.  From what you say this is the wrong thing to do. So what is the better way to do this? 
I want to add metadata to images that already have some metadata without overwriting anything, in a few instances I may also want to append.

Use the Metadata (IPTC) Template instead.  https://docs.camerabits.com/support/solutions/articles/48000207623-using-the-metadata-iptc-template

Snapshots will always make all fields the same when pasting.  To add data, use the Metadata Template.

-Kirk