Sorting Photos

[rudolf02]

I have approximately 20,000 photographs which I have imported into Elements 2018 and earlier versions over the years but it is apparent that they have become out of "date taken" order when I select "newest" or "oldest" in the Organiser.  I cannot see how to sort them into that order and also make sure that future imports always retain and display the date taken date. I would therefore be most grateful for a step by step guide how to do this within Elements. Many thanks.

[Greg_S.]

In the Edit>Preferences>General tab (Ctrl+K), there are two options - either display oldest or newest (within each day).  Is this what you mean?  If not, please explain what your statement that it has become apparent that your photos are no longer in date taken order.

[gordon.baker3001]

When I say "out of date order" I do mean by the actual day, month and year (and time) the photograph was taken and not just by time within a day. It seems to me that the order of the photographs in the organiser is not always by the date the photograph was taken but a later date when, for example, the photograph may have been edited or modified or perhaps transferred from one folder to another. In all cases I need the photos to retain their "date taken" order this being the only really relevant date for me.

The exif data that is shown for each photograph in the Elements Organiser Metadata Information Panel seems to contain the exif data Date Time Original needed. 

Thank you indeed.

[MichelBParis]

Also,

 I cannot see how to sort them into that order and also make sure that future imports always retain and display the date taken date.

You don't "sort" photos actually on your drive. The files are stored by the Operating System (Win or Mac) randomly in the free spaces of your disk. What is done is to "index" the files according to various creteria. In Windows, you can index (=display) with many criterias (about 15 different kinds of dates for instance). When you select a different sort order, nothing file is moved on your drive. In the same way, the organizer indexes according to many criteria from the data in the exif section storing the info from your camera. The only relevant date type indexed in the catalog is the date_taken. If this info is missing (scans for instance), the 'creation_date' is used instead for indexing. When you import files in the catalog, the date_taken indexes in the Explorer and in the catalog are the same. Note that if you change the date_taken in the catalog, it's not automatically updated on the file on the drive. You can update that file (with other catalog data) by using the command File >> Write metadata to files (Ctrl W).

[gordon.baker3001]

Thank you for your response. I do understand the point you ake about scans etc and my enquiry relates only to photographs which I have taken by camera and have a genuine date taken record. I think I understand too about the options available in Explorer to sort by various criteria and that this does not disturb or cahneg the file attributes in any way.

I have the feeling from what you say that the photographs should be displayed in Elements Organiser in date taken order regardless of any editing, for example, that may have taken place subsequent to the date the photograph was taken.

I am certain that a relatively small but nevertheless serious number of my 20,000 photographs display in Organiser first to last or last to first are in what I would call out of order sequence. A photograph of a long ago deceased person would appear amongst the newest photographs. Unfortunately I cannot give a real example now as I have upfronted the date taken of each photograph into its file name in order to force the correct "date taken" order.

The exif data that I would like to be consistently used for each photograph is presumably in the Organiser Information Panel under Camera Data (Exif) - Date Time Original. 

Thank you again. 

[Greg_S.]

gordon.baker said:

I am certain that a relatively small but nevertheless serious number of my 20,000 photographs display in Organiser first to last or last to first are in what I would call out of order sequence. A photograph of a long ago deceased person would appear amongst the newest photographs. Unfortunately I cannot give a real example now as I have upfronted the date taken of each photograph into its file name in order to force the correct "date taken" order.

So are you now sorting the files displayed in the media grid by name?  That is certainly an extreme way of displaying the true date.  Since you are unable to give us a real example, there's not much we can do to further help you.  I suspect that those instances where files became "out of order" is where you edited the file but either failed to save it as a version set with the original.  Or else, you somehow created a new file in the Editor which would take on the date of the edit, not the original file's date taken.  For example, if you created a collage of two or more files, the date of the collage creation would be the date associated with the file and would not follow the dates of the original files.  Any file management that you conducted in Windows Explorer rather than the Organizer could also cause anomoloies.

Rather than renaming the files to add a date and time prefix, it would have been easier to adjust the date and time of the photo's display, using the context menu or the date displayed in the Details view of the grid.

[On a separate note, are you now using two screen names - your latest post and the OP by Rudolf02?  I am going to ask an administrator to change your screen name to delete your private email address.  It is best not to show that on a forum such as this.]

[gordon.baker3001]

Thank you Greg for dealing with my two (unimtantional) screen names. I understand I am now Rudolf02. Do I have to do anything special this end to activate this arrangement?

Thanks also for your helpful observations on how misdating may have arisen. I think you are right and in the heat of battle I may have made bulk changes in Explorer when, am I correct, it would have been perfectly possible to make them in Elements? Changes like transferring, for example, 500 photos from an existing folder to a new folder can and should be done within Elements? 

I agree with you that front ending 20,000 photos with the date was extreme but I had so many photos out of kilter date wise that it seemed much quicker to embed the date taken in the file name using an app than identifying the incorrect ones, looking up the correct date and then adjusting them individually. Also, as Adobe Photo Downloader offers this format I thought I would continue it for future photos.

Just one other question please to help me going forward. When I transferred an existing photograph from folder to folder, albeit incorrectly using Explorer, was not the exif data retained including the date and time the photograph was taken. If so, could I have accessed this data within Elements in order to get this photo (and the other 499) back into its correct position date and time wise.

Regards