IMatch writes ASCII by default. Only when it detects that an existing IPTC record in the image is UTF-8 encoded, it keeps this encoding.

IMatch edits IPTC since 1998, and since then not much has change in the way IPTC data is read or written. The way IMatch writes IPTC data to files as been verified to be compatible with all major applications on the market, including the Adobe, Microsoft, Canto, FotoWare, IBM products.

If you can send me an image with an IPTC record written by IMatch which cannot be read by a standard application, I will analyze it and see what the problem is. But if the file can be read in the major applications, but one application fails to read the data, I would think that the problem is not in IMatch.

If the vendor of the other application tells me what they think is wrong, I will see what I can do to correct it. Unless Google does this, I stick to the trusted IPTC write code in place in IMatch for so many years.

For whatever reason, my latest implementation creates IPTC fields that Picasa can read.

Don't ask me why or how, because I have no idea why it works now and didn't before.

I'm certain that this issue will come back to haunt me when I am in a time crunch.

chris

Hi Chris,

I believe that is the essence of Murphy's rule. If something can go wrong, it will do so at the worst possible time.

Okay,

here are two files

http:\www.dubea.com\iMatch\20070911_001_IPTC_doesnt_work.jpg
http:\www.dubea.com\iMatch\20070911_001_IPTC_works.jpg

The interesting issue is if I use the Microsoft Photo Info tool (or IrfanView) to touch the IPTC keyword data, then henceforth Picasa can then read the IPTC data written by iMatch, even if it changes.

So Picasa seems to be looking for a toggle that iMatch doesn't set which IrfanView and Microsoft Info Tool do.

Thanks,

chris

Hi,

so IMatch, IrfanView and the Microsoft Tool can see the IPTC data, right?
Only Picasa fails to see it?

When you replace the IPTC data written by IMatch, Picasa will see it. But is all the original data still there, or has something been removed?

Anyway, if you send these two images to Google they should be able to figure out what their problem is and either fix it, or let you (or me) know what they expect and what causes the problem. If I can "fix" something in IMatch, I will do it.

Did you contact Google support?

I have informed Google of the issue.

My workaround is currently:

1) Select the files I want to modify in windows explorer.
2) Right click and run the Microsoft Photo Info Tool.
3) Tell it to edit files as a group.
4) Add a keyword via the second tab.
5) Open iMatch and allow it to update the files.
6) I have my setup configured where iMatch will create new categories from an IPTC import, so I go and delete the category created by the keyword I added in step 4
7) Use IPIW to create keywords per my category organization scheme.
8) Close iMatch and open Picasa. Picasa will rescan the images and the keywords will then be accessible.

Yes, IrfanView and Microsoft Photo Info Tool see the data. The two files I posted above have identical data, yet one can be read in Picasa and one can't.

Having not spelunked through the files bit by bit to see what was different, I cannot comment on why one works and one doesn't.

chris

I made some quick checks, but to me both files look valid. They run through the same code path in IMatch, use the same "Photoshop 3.0" tags and everything.

I tried different tools, from IrfanView to Photoshop CS/3, and all could read the IPTC data. And Photoshop is really picky!

As I said before, when the google programmers tell you what's causing this, I'll be happy to help. But since only Picasa has the problem, I will not even attempt to fix something that is not broken in IMatch

I could make a converse argument that since iMatch is the only app whose data that Picasa has problems with, then it must be broken.

cd

Sure. But the IPTC processor in IMatch is in place since 2001, and has since worked very well for all relevant applications.

Unless somebody tells me why Picasa fails to see IPTC data which can be seen by all other applications, I'm at a loss. How should I find out what I need to change in IMatch to make Picasa happy?
Should I play around with the IPTC processor, risking that it fails due to a side-effect for users of other applications? Better not.

I'll wait until you get notice from Google, and then I'll be happy to look into this. They have now an image which fails, and it should take one of their programmers only some minutes to see why their code fails.

Then they can tell me what they have found out, and I will see what I can do to make it work. Because I then know what the problem is, I can make the change in a safe way, without the risk to causing problems elsewhere due to side effects.

Have you got feedback from them already?

IPTC is not easy, there are many, many subtle variations around which have been created by applications over the last 10 years. The IPTC processor in IMatch knows many of them, which is very important in corporate environments where you have to deal with IPTC data created by a ton of applications over the years.

No, I have not received any feedback. Frankly I don't expect to.

To corroborate your comments about IPTC not being easy, the new Nikon ViewNX doesn't recognize any of the IPTC information written by iMatch in NEFs although CaptureNX does. Touching the files with my old friend, Microsoft Photo Info, fixes the problem.

I'm really not all that concerned about the Picasa issue. The IT dep't at work dictated it's usage for this particular project, but ordinarily I don't use it. Now that I have an effective workaround I'm okay.

Thanks for the feedback.

If by some chance they answer me I'll let you know, but I wouldn't sit waiting for it.

cd