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ShamusJN
Participant
May 14, 2019
Answered

Restoring Keywords

  • May 14, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 914 views

Does anyone know of a way to create a new Keyword list using previously tagged photos??

I am just recovering from a catastrophic full system failure.  All my photo files where on another Cloud HDD.

Is there a way to recover all the keywords off those files and bring them into Bridge 2019.

I utilize Windows 10 OS.

I have reinstalled all my CC programs.  Bridge can see all the previously applied keywords.  However I don't have a text file to import from and Adobe clearly does not have an option for creating a new list by importing the info already added to the individual files.

I'm not all that computer savvy about outside programs that may be able to strip that info and then create a text file to be able to import it.

Anyone that can lend some great step by step procedures on how to, or even if it is possible would be greatly appreciated.

ShamusJN

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Stephen Marsh

    Yes you can recover most/all keywords from the files, I have a blogpost about this, however an overly aggressive blogger robot has taken down my site and I am impatiently waiting for access to hopefully be restored. I'll see if I can dig up any posts that I made about it on these forums. This can be done, but you may not find it "easy".

    EDIT: The basic process is to use ExifTool or a Bridge Script to export all of the image file's keywords to text file, then format the text file for importing back into Bridge.

    How much work this will take to clean up and prepare the exported keyword data will depend on whether you were using simple flat keywords, parent/sub-keywords and or hierarchical keywords. The process is relatively easy using a spreadsheet and or regular expression text editors. I am happy to help where possible.

    Exporting Bridge metadata to Excel or CSV

    Re: Can you import metadata from an excel database to images (JPG, PSD, TIF) in bulk?

    Re: changing UPPER to lowercase keywords in Bridge or Lightroom

    3 replies

    L
    Lumigraphics
    Legend
    May 15, 2019

    I'm thinking about adding some backup and restore operations to my Utility Script Pack (version 2 is still in development.) I have a Folder List Export script which can read a folder and export a file listing including keywords. I could probably modify that to read keywords from files and add them to Bridge.

    My time for software development is VERY limited right now but its on the table at least.

      S
      ShamusJNAuthor
      Participant
      May 15, 2019

      Thank You for the reply and info.

      Way too in depth for me to try.

      You'd think that Adobe would be able to build in this capability to always be able to see and use keywords without it having to be some stand alone file in a hidden directory and not having it as an auto import feature for every new version.

      Bridge, Lightroom, Photoshop should all just automatically read and use previously entered Keywords without the users having to go though this.

      Again, thanks for the reply and info.

        Kelli Jae Baeli
        Kelli Jae Baeli
        Inspiring
        December 11, 2020

        I agree. Same here. Considering abandoning Bridge for another program for THIS reason.

        L
        Lumigraphics
        Legend
        December 12, 2020

        There are two easy ways, actually.

        One is simply select all of the keyworded files in Bridge, then make all of the listed Keywords persistent.

        The other is to use my Keyword Capture script, part of my Utility Script Pack. The latest developmental version is on Dropbox.

        Utility Script Pack for Bridge

        Stephen Marsh
        Community Expert
        Stephen MarshCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        May 15, 2019

        Yes you can recover most/all keywords from the files, I have a blogpost about this, however an overly aggressive blogger robot has taken down my site and I am impatiently waiting for access to hopefully be restored. I'll see if I can dig up any posts that I made about it on these forums. This can be done, but you may not find it "easy".

        EDIT: The basic process is to use ExifTool or a Bridge Script to export all of the image file's keywords to text file, then format the text file for importing back into Bridge.

        How much work this will take to clean up and prepare the exported keyword data will depend on whether you were using simple flat keywords, parent/sub-keywords and or hierarchical keywords. The process is relatively easy using a spreadsheet and or regular expression text editors. I am happy to help where possible.

        Exporting Bridge metadata to Excel or CSV

        Re: Can you import metadata from an excel database to images (JPG, PSD, TIF) in bulk?

        Re: changing UPPER to lowercase keywords in Bridge or Lightroom

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