EXIFTool integration script available

[Lumigraphics]

Photoshop has some ability to view and edit EXIF/IPTC/XMP metadata inside image files. EXIFTool is a free command line app with numerous additional metadata features. My latest scripting project helps to integrate Photoshop and Bridge with EXIFTool.

I am releasing three scripts for Bridge and one for Photoshop; they are in the Developmental folder on my DropBox:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mg817g9a9ymbasi/AADTmXUVxmFfM58bcyYE7yiwa?dl=0

These scripts rely on EXIFTool so it must be installed. On Windows, exiftool.exe must be located in the Windows $PATH. On Mac, use the default install location. More information and installers are on the EXIFTool website:

https://exiftool.org/

These scripts are currently DEVELOPMENTAL and may (probably) contain bugs. They are Apache-licensed open source and may be used in accordance with that license.

[Lumigraphics]

Photoshop script:

PS-Run EXIFTool - full-featured window to run EXIFTool commands on open files

Bridge scripts:

EXIFInfo - opens a palette that displays metadata for selected files or folders.

Run EXIFTool - full-featured window to run EXIFTool commands on selected files

EXIFTool Window - stripped-down, minimalist window to run EXIFTool commands on selected files

Any or all can be loaded simultaneously.

[Stephen Marsh]

@Lumigraphics 

David, thank you for making the power of ExifTool more accessible to Photoshop users!

[Chuck Uebele]

Fantastic. Thanks for doing this.

[Stephen Marsh]

When using this script to call ExifTool to update metadata, one has to close the file (no save required), then re-open the file or use another app such as Bridge to review the metadata changes. This is natural and expected, so no surprises. Having the file open in Photoshop is just a means to an end.

The following script can speed up the process of closing and re-opening the last file, which could help speed up evaluation in Photoshop.

#target photoshop
app.activeDocument.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
app.open(app.recentFiles[0]);

[Lumigraphics]

I set the update from file preference so changes should be automatically seen by Photoshop. And I wouldn't want to close any files, especially not saving changes. 

[Stephen Marsh]

OK, in my test with a file with photoshop:DocumentAncestors metadata bloat, I removed the ancestors metadata, but going into file info directly afterwards showed no change. I closed the doc and it hadn't changed in Photoshop (no prompt to save changes). Opening the file again, the ancestor metadata is removed.

Do I need to download a new build?

[Lumigraphics]

What's there is the latest. I am constrained of course by the limitations of rhe scripting DOM and the responsiveness of Photoshop. I set the preference (to auto-update open documents if they change on disk) but I don't have a way to force an update. Both Bridge and Photoshop use caching which of course affects external edits.

Being fairly new to using exiftool, I think this script is a bit of a kludge. I'd love to see better and easier to use metadata editing support by Adobe. 

[Stephen Marsh]

Thanks, so I misunderstood your previous post then...

So there is no need to save the open Doc (if no other changes are made except running the script to call ExifTool) and one must re-open the image again to view any changes if it does not auto-update in Photoshop (or view in Bridge or another app). 

[Lumigraphics]

Anything open in Photoshop should auto-update after being changed on disk with exiftool. In my testing it's a bit slow, but for example I see it happen much faster on my M1 than my old Windows laptop. Try changing resolution and with Photoshop showing that in the status bar, it will change for open files but may take a minute. The changes ARE being made to the files on disk and Photoshop uses those as it's backing store, so whatever interval that Photoshop flushes any changes to disk, it will update. I'm going to see if there is a way to force an update.

[Stephen Marsh]

Thanks for the explanation.

I waited ~6 minutes and the test file finally auto-updated!

A smaller file took approx ~3 minutes (approx 1000 x 1800px, RGB, 8 bpc). This is on a 2019 MacBook Pro with an Intel chip, SSD, 16GB RAM.

Looks like closing/reopening is the fastest way to get feedback for now on this setup.

[Lumigraphics]

Yeah, I don't think Photoshop does a great job at updatng from disk. Not sure if that's a bug or normal.

[Lumigraphics]

I added one line of code, calling app.refresh() which will hopefully force an update. I see in the History palette an Update from File step so maybe theres AM code for that.