Organizer bulk write metadata changes DateTimeOriginal time (not date)

[dsm1212]

For some time I've been trying to figure out what is corrupting the times my photos were taken as shown in Plex. So I methodically went through my steps and found the bug.

If I add tags to one photo in organizer and then select it an choose File->Save Metadata to File, the file is saved, the keywords are added and a modify time stamp updates in the metadata. BUT, if I tag multiple files and then choose "File->Save Metadata to Files" the time on the DateTimeOriginal field also changes (but not the date). It's not my current time either. So if the photo has datetimeoriginal of "2022:04:18 14:11:24.160-05:00" and I set some keywords and write metadata to that one file datetimeoriginal does not change, but if I do multiple files at once I see it change to "2022:04:18 22:03:58-05:00".

I'm subscribed and up to date so is current version, shows 20.0.0.0 in help->system info.

This is a serious bug as there really is no recovery because those times are lost now. Ugh.

[dsm1212]

Is there a more official place to submit a bug? This forum is all I could find.

[dsm1212]

Doesn't a subscription include some level of support???

[Greg_S.]

This is a user-to-user forum.  You can report a bug here.  But before you do so, I suggest you read this article which explains how Elements uses date/time fields.  And, there is no consistency between various programs as to how they use metadata fields.  So, because you think you are seeing a different date/time in a field in Plex (which I assume is a program that can read a file's metadata), doesn't mean that Elements is seeing it the same way.  Have you confirmed your findings in the Camera Data fields shown in the Organizer Information panel.  I am reasonably confident that the date and time when your photos were originally taken has not been lost.

[dsm1212]

Yes, I'm using exiftool on linux and see the time on those exact fields change only when I do a mass metadata update. I only mentioned plex because that's where I initially noticed the dates could not be correct. Thanks for the pointer to the bug reporting!!!

[dsm1212]

Wait, when I click on that bug reporting link and choose photoshop elements it brings me to this community. That's how I got here in the first place :-(.

[Greg_S.]

Wait, when I click on that bug reporting link and choose photoshop elements it brings me to this community. That's how I got here in the first place :-(.

By @dsm1212

Sorry about that.  A few months ago, bug reporting became available on the forums for various Adobe products.  That system has not yet been adopted for Elements.  I was unaware that the form I linked was useless. 

I will report your post to the powers-that-be on the Elements development team.  I'm not sure whether they will consider it a bug, and I can virtually guarantee that nothing will be "fixed" in Elements 2022.

I will also report the bug form problem to the forum admins. if they are not already aware of it.

[dsm1212]

Thanks, I took a trial of Photography/Lightroom and it does NOT have this bug. Even though it's more pricey maybe it's time I made the switch.