Tips for Using Tag That Photo
SEARCHING PHOTOS FROM WINDOWS EXPLORER USING TTP PEOPLE TAGS?
If you share photos with friends and family, they don't necessarily need Tag That Photo to search their folders for People. By flipping the check mark on Explorer search options for "File Contents", you can search for People names very easily. Click on "All subfolders" if you want a recursive search down a folder tree.
See example images below:
SHARING SPECIFIC PHOTOS WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY
If you run a specific search with TTP - any search - and then export the results to a temp folder - you can run a quick slideshow via Windows Explorer. See screenshot below. Or to get fancier, you can use a package like Jalbum to generate a very nice web-based slideshow for sharing that set of images with friends and family.
There are also some free options for creating a movie from a set of photos. One example is Movie Maker available in the MS app store.
WANT TO MOVE IMAGES OF A CERTAIN TYPE TO ANOTHER FOLDER?
The following PowerShell script will move images of a specified type recursively from your photos folder tree to another folder. Let's say for example that you want to move all BMP or TIFF images from your main photo folder to another folder where you may want to convert them OR simply delete them. Save the script below to a filename such as "move-originals.ps1". Edit the filetype where you see the "extension" comment. Then call the command as follows:
.\move-originals.ps1 C:\temp\source C:\temp\target
where C:\temp\source is your root photos folder, and C:\temp\target is the destination folder.
# Execute it via PowerShell with this command line:
# .\move-originals.ps1 C:\temp\source C:\temp\target
# (update the extension in the code below to move different types of images recursively
# from source to target folder)
# Set the source and destination folder paths
$sourceFolder = "C:\Path\To\Source\Folder"
$destinationFolder = "C:\Path\To\Destination\Folder"
# Ensure the source folder exists
if (-not (Test-Path -Path $sourceFolder -PathType Container)) {
Write-Host "Source folder does not exist: $sourceFolder"
exit
}
# Ensure the destination folder exists, create it if not
if (-not (Test-Path -Path $destinationFolder -PathType Container)) {
New-Item -Path $destinationFolder -ItemType Directory -Force
}
# Recursively search for files with the extension "JPG_Original"
$files = Get-ChildItem -Path $sourceFolder -Recurse -Filter "*.JPG_Original"
# Loop through each file and move it to the destination folder
foreach ($file in $files) {
$destinationPath = Join-Path -Path $destinationFolder -ChildPath $file.Name
Move-Item -Path $file.FullName -Destination $destinationPath -Force
Write-Host "Moved: $($file.FullName) to $($destinationPath)"
}
Write-Host "Script completed."
HOW DOES TTP MODIFY MY IMAGE FILE DATES?
We update the modify date on an image when metadata is written to the image. This is done so that incremental or differential backup routines will work properly - otherwise the changes wouldn't be picked up by your backup software.
The original create date isn't modified. Also, to manage the Photo Taken dates, we strongly suggest you use the Exif tags in the image for that purpose.
Exiftool can be used to sync up the Exif date from the image create dates - if that isn't the case already. Or, another free utility for doing this that provides some other options is Exif Date Changer. Here is a screenshot below showing the options available - in this case we are setting the Windows File system create date to equal the Date Taken metadata in the image.
CONVERSION FROM HEIC PRESERVING METADATA
Some of you have asked whether there is a way to convert HEIC images to JPGs, but preserve the metadata tagsyou have created in TTP. That metadata is written into sidecar XMP files. There is one relatively simple methodwe have found and that uses a free for personal use software package called XnViewMP. If you select one ormore HEIC images, then click on their Tools / Batch Convert option.
EXTRACTING METADATA FROM PHOTOS
Some TTP users have requested a way to export their tag info to CSV. While TTP does not support that natively, there is a method to do that using the free utility from Exiftool (Phil Harvey created and supports this utility).
The way this is done is using the tag info embedded in the image itself, and not the TTP database info. Click here for more details.
Another option for viewing tag info along with the photos, is using a free product called FastPhotoTagger. It requires a free Java runtime but allows you to print output - called Contact Sheets in the photo and news industry - in various formats. Example below.
IS THE XMP METADATA WRITTEN INTO THE IMAGE?
Writing the XMP metadata into the image is an optional feature of Tag That Photo and will not conflict with the IPTC or Exif data. Regardless of whether you check the box for XMP writing, the metadata is also written into a separate local database on your computer. That is stored in the AppData folder under your User account.
Using cloud storage folders - incl Dropbox, GoogleDrive, OneDrive
Storing your images on a personal Cloud storage account is a great way to backup your photos. There are some specific settings when using cloud storage providers that are necessary for proper operation with TTP - all images must be stored locally on your hard drive.
Using the "smart sync" options for Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. does NOT work for Tag That Photo. So search our the options for your cloud provider, and make sure the images are "always stored locally".
One other suggestion. When making major changes to your images - for example, tagging 500 new photos - you should turn off the cloud sync function temporarily, make all your changes and then turn sync back on. This will reduce the amount of CPU and network overhead while writing metadata to a lot of images.
How often are folders rescanned for changes?
Every 7 days the folders are rescanned. So if you start TTP on a Monday then 7 days of run-time later it will do a rescan.
The only way a rescan would extend longer than 7 days is if TTP was shutdown for X days; but as soon as you start it up again it would check whether 7 days have elapsed and then run a rescan for changes.
Remember you can use the Win Explorer right-click menu option to "scan for changes" at any time.
And, "live monitoring" of folders does not affect the rescan for changes every 7 days.
Importing images from Mylio
If you are a Mylio user and want to migrate images to Tag That Photo - review the following article from theMylio support site on how to turn on XMP embedding from your computer (doesn't work from mobile devices).
Click here for more details from the Mylio User Guide:
Understanding XMP Files - Mylio Photos - Version 22.2
Keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts:
- CTRL A or CTRL-click to select multiple thumbnails to "act" on them.
- DELETE - on any app screens to delete the currently selected faces.
- CTRL-Z - to undo
- ESC - reset any selections.
- CTRL+DEL- with Unidentified Faces will mark all for deletion; on Photo Viewer will delete all unknown faces in current image.
- CTRL-N - name all selected.
- CTRL-<, CTRL-> for page nav left and right.
- Arrows for moving current selected faces in all directions.
- CTRL-D or CTRL-DEL for delete all selected.
- CTRL-S to save
- CTRL-Z to undo (same as before)
- CTRL-R to reset
Over the right-hand pane photo thumbnail:
- Hover over ANY face shows any suggestions.
- CTRL-click on any face confirms suggestion.
- CTRL-click on any face without suggestion brings up manual face tag dialog in photo viewer.
- continue with double-click to bring up photo viewer.
In Photo Viewer;
- Arrows select faces in all directions.
- CTRL-D or CTRL-DEL for delete all unnamed.
- CTRL-Z to undo (same as before)
- Hover over ANY face in image itself shows any suggestions.
- CTRL-click on any face brings up name dialog.
- CTRL-N bring up name dialog with any selected face.
- Top left face thumbnail is automatically selected when entering the Photo Viewer.
Mapping a Windows drive to a Synology folder
To view any network attached storage (NAS) drives in Tag That Photo you need to attach those drives with a Windows drive letter.
Refer to this link for instructions on how to map a Windows driver to a Synology folder:
How to map a Synology NAS network drive on Windows 10 | Windows Central
Multiple "sets" of images
Some folks have multiple sets of images that are completely different. Family photos and work photos for example. But there could be many other situations.
Tag That Photo only has one database per Windows user. So you could set up different Windows users for each set of photos.
Another approach is that you could do a backup of one set of photos, using the database backup option from the Settings screen. Let's say the first group are personal photos. Then do a database reset, and start tagging an entirely new set of photos with different folders. Then make sure you take a backup of that set to a new backup name.
When you want to work on the first set, you can restore that backup and carry on.
Make sure you name the backups according to the "set" of photos; and do a backup before switching to another set.
This approach allows you to split up your images into more manageable chunks - let's say 25,000-50,000 each - for faster performance on each set.
Playing nicely with Photo Mechanic
One of our users observed an undesirable interaction with Photo Mechanic. While making mass / bulk changes to images - it looks like Photo Mechanic creates a temporary copy of the image while it is making the changes. That new image (JPEG) is detected by Tag That Photo and scanned. Then Photo Mechanic goes ahead and deletes that temp image - sometimes before TTP has had a chance to scan and sometimes after. The temp file does NOT appear to have the tag info - so that "empty" tag info is picked up as an update to the image.
There are two suggestions to avoid this situation:
1) turn off folder monitoring - so you would have to run a "Scan for Changes" on your folders from Windows Explorer after doing this to pick up any image changes.
OR
2) exclude the temp files on all folders where you may be using Photo Mechanic via the Library Rules (choose a folder and then click the option to modify Rules).
Add a rule with following format:
tmp.*
For any of those folders where you are using Photo Mechanic, and this should avoid the issue.
Sharing and/or Synchronizing images with other TTP users
This is a very powerful feature of TTP that allows you to share tagging efforts on a subset of your photo library (or even all of your photos if you choose).
By updating the metadata on shared images, all people with shared access receive the XMP tag information (embedded or side-car). If multiple copies of TTP are reading from the same folder or sharing (be it a network share or cloud-synchronized folder including Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive), then changes to metadata made by one TTP user can be picked up by any other TTP user connected to that folder.
When changes are detected, the steps outlined in the User Guide for handling of Modified Images are executed. On the "other TTP systems", you may need to run a scan on the folders from Windows Explorer to detect image changes.
We recommend that for each folder monitored by TTP, you have one primary editor person/system to avoid confusion and conflict between metadata changes.
And definitely don't have multiple people working on the same folder at the same time.
TASK PRIORITY IN TTP
For reference - for job priority, there are 4 categories:
1. Very High
2. High
3. Normal
4. Low
And the tasks that fall into the categories are:
1. Library folder scan, Raw files clean-up, Rebuild Faces, and the ones fired by the user (Force Rescan images in folder, Force Rescan image, Scan folder for image change and Force Write Metadata)
2. Scheduled jobs (File scan)
3. Library clean-up, License expiry, Scheduled jobs (Library/Folder scan, System maintenance, Update check, etc) and FotobounceImport
4. Regenerate thumbnails, File clean-up and Write image metadata (Very high if inside tag tab adding/changing metadata)
If a specific job is being executed and a new one is added that is higher priority, then the previous one is paused, this new one is executed and the paused one will resume when the higher priority job is finished.
Click here for a table shows more specific detail on the tasks
Viewing TTP tags in Apple Photos
Apple Photos will import the tags created by TTP. Note that Faces are not imported as "faces, but the names of people come in as part of the keywords field. So be sure to turn on the "Append People Names to Keywords" option on the Settings page. Note that this option also allows you to share people names with other applications that do not natively support XMP face tags.
Getting blocked by Virus Scanners
Virus scanners sometimes don't like the background services that touch multiple images. Tag That Photo uses background programs (modules) to scan photos for faces, update metadata, and to perform recognition tasks.
In applications like Trend Micro, Zone Alarm, and others, you can whitelist specific known programs or folders to avoid problems. If you encounter this issue we suggest that you do a search for how you whitelist specific programs. There are four executables that should be whitelisted - from the C:\Program Files folder, the main program (Ttp.Windows.Tray.exe) & exiftool.exe, then from the SDK sub-folder, there are two more files, FacelocateRecognitionService.exe and FacelocateDetectionService.exe.
Removing keyword tags
-
even though there's a space in "George Smith", you do not use quotes around it. The quotes are needed on the command line, but not used in a ARGFILE.
-
the text has to be an exact match - upper and lower case
-
the above removes IPTC keywords, if you want to remove XMP keywords then use the additional line shown below in your Argfile
- there is an option to run above command recursively through your entire set of photo folders
- always do a test with a few images in a folder first!