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FastPhotoTagger Changelog

What's new in FastPhotoTagger 4.1

Feb 24, 2024
  • Slideshw:
  • The space key may be used t tggle between play and pause.
  • After the last slide when aut advancing, the slideshw nw lps back t the beginning. A brief alert is displayed when this happens. When nt aut advancing, the last slide remains n-screen.
  • Audi and vide files may be played during slideshws by clicking the Play buttn n the slide r pressing the Enter key.
  • Pressing the CTRL-F key suspends the slideshw and allws yu t edit the metadata f the current slide with the Fast Tagger. Upn clsing the Fast Tagger, the slideshw will resume.
  • Keybard Shrtcuts:
  • When input fcus is n the image panel and images are selected:
  • The SPACE key starts a slideshw.
  • Tbe CTRL-SPACE key starts a slideshw and autmatically plays audi and vide files when the slideshw is aut advancing.
  • Search Database:
  • Search has been re-implemented in a fashin cmpatible with the search in Andrid FastPhtTagger. This search is much easier t use fr simple searches and als scales up fr mre cmplex searches.
  • The ld versin f search is still available thrugh "Prgram Settings / ther / Use legacy search." Previusly saved search files may nly be used with legacy search.
  • Search files saved with the new search may nly be used with the new search. Search files are cmpatible with Andrid FastPhtTagger v3.4.
  • A "Help" buttn has been added t the Search windw t shw simple examples. The Users Guide and tutrial vide have been updated t further explain the new search facility.
  • A "Recent Searches" buttn has been added t shw the histry f searches perfrmed. A recent search may be laded with a buttn click. The recent search list is cmpatible with Andrid FastPhtTagger v3.4.
  • When sharing search files and search histry with Andrid FastPhtTagger, use the same metadata fields in Settings. The Settings Exprt/Imprt peratins make it easy t mve settings between devices.
  • The pssible number f recent search files in the "Current Search File" drp dwn menu has increased t 100.
  • Sme things have nt changed.
  • Yu chse metadata, chse pht repsitries, and build the database as befre.
  • Existing FastPhtTagger databases are cmpatible with new search.
  • Yu add search terms as befre. But nw each search term accepts text fr all searchable metadata. Search terms are evaluated left t right, rw by rw. Yu link the search terms with AND/R. AND has a higher pririty s ANDs are always perfrmed befre Rs, like math where * is perfrmed befre +, e.g, 2+3*4 = 14.
  • Change Srting Methd:
  • Yu may nw perfrm a tw-level srt f the files in the pen flder. Fr example, srt by Cuntry then srt each cuntry by City.
  • Additinally, yu may frce sme files t the tp f the srt by entering a text string cntained in their metadata. Fr example, srt by Cuntry and set Prmte=Spain t mve the Spain files t the tp.
  • Keywrd Suggestins:
  • Lnger lists f suggested keywrds are nw shwn in a scrllable drp dwn list. Suggestins are nw triggered by all wrds in a multi-wrd keywrd.
  • Change Fnt:
  • Larger fnt sizes may nw be selected. The main windw and secndary windws make better use f the fnt selectin.
  • Tutrial Vides:
  • A new vide abut finding misspelled r bad keywrds has been added.
  • Fixes:
  • When searching a hierarchical structure using "is cntained in" r "is nt cntained in", the keywrd had t match the case f the keywrd in the keywrd file.
  • The vertical divider bar between the thumbnail panel and the metadata panel tended t drift t the left after several prgram invcatins.
  • Full screen was nt prperly restred after exiting and restarting the prgram.

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.9 (Feb 1, 2022)

  • Tutorial Videos:
  • Tutorial videos are now available on several "getting started" topics.
  • Program Look and Feel:
  • The "Fast Tagger" and "View Metadata" icons in the left button bar have been updated to match the newer Android icons. The meaning of the buttons has not changed.
  • The "Inspect Metadata" operation has moved from the overflow menu to the left button bar.
  • Keyword Suggestions:
  • Suggested keywords are now offered in a drop down menu in the Metadata Panel, the Fast Tagger, and Search Metadata. Whenever you navigate ta folder, the keywords of files in that folder are accumulated intthe suggested keyword list.
  • The suggested keyword list is maintained in "autokeywords.txt" in the database folder. (The default database folder is ".fastphototagger.") You may edit that file with a text editor.
  • Search Database:
  • An additional FastPhotoTagger field has been added tthe database. FPTVIEWS records the number of times each file in the database has been viewed as a result of a search operation. You may reset all counts tzerusing the Metadata Explorer; see below. Run "Update Database" tadd this field tthe database. Adding this field tthe database (a one-time operation) may take seconds or minutes depending on database size. A program restart may be necessary.
  • Twnew operations, "count <=" and "count >=', have been added tthe search term drop down menu. Use these operations tsearch for files with the specified number of keywords, e.g., "keywords count <= 3" will find image files containing 0, 1, 2, or 3 keywords. Use these operations tfind files that may need additional documentation. You may alsuse these operations on non-keyword metadata fields tcount spaces, approximating the number of words.
  • Metadata Explorer:
  • The Metadata Explorer (bottom of Search window) now displays its results in a small, separate window. (The View button previously did this.) Window contents can be copied/pasted inta text file and imported by a spreadsheet program for analysis.
  • The explorer now distinguishes between upper and lower case words and keywords and sorts them in locale-dependent order. (Searching the database is still case-independent.)
  • When the selected metadata is not a keyword type, the full field value is displayed. Previously individual words were displayed.
  • The explorer now appends a use count teach value/keyword, e.g., "Paris#0251" means the Paris keyword appears 251 times in the database.
  • Filter is now triggered by the Enter key. Previously, every typed character triggered a filter.
  • Filter is now iterative, it acts on the results of the previous filter operation, if there was one, or on the entire database if there wasn't. Re-select the metadata field from the drop down menu tcancel filters.
  • A search button has been added. After a filter operation, you may search the database for the values contained in the results window.
  • An "FPTVIEWS=0" button has been added. Use this treset view counts for all files back tzero.
  • A "CSV" button has been added. This will export the entire metadata database ta comma separated value file with character format UTF8 and tab delimiters. The file is named "export.csv" and is located in the folder containing the metadata database. (The default location is the .fastphototagger folder.) This operation may be quite lengthy and cannot be interrupted.
  • More information about the Metadata Explorer is in the search section of the user guide.
  • Fixes:
  • Images from some Canon PowerShot cameras could not be rotated.
  • When appending tmultiple files' date or time tags in the Metadata Panel, a space is nlonger automatically inserted between the old and appended values.
  • On Windows, the ExifTool Command Builder failed when using hundreds of images and very long filenames.
  • The change sorting and change labels dialogs could extend off-screen for very long lists of metadata.
  • An ExifTool v12.27+ warning about "IPTCDigest not current" is now suppressed from the screen though still written tthe log file.

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.8 (Jul 22, 2021)

  • Search Database:
  • A new operation, "is contained in", has been added to the search term dropdown menu. Use this operation to search for a keyword in a hierarchical keyword structure. The structure is defined in a keyword list file. This operation provides some of the benefits of hierarchical keywords without actually using them. See the documentation.
  • Image Viewing:
  • avif files are now recognized as image files. These files are viewable if you have ImageMagick installed.
  • webm files are now recognized as video files. Thumbnails are shown if FFMPEG is installed. The video may be played if VLC is installed. These files are not writable by ExifTool.
  • psd files are now viewable if you have ImageMagick installed. Multiple layers in one file may be viewed as a slideshow.
  • Settings:
  • In "Program Settings / Metadata", the "Metadata Tags" column now provides a drop down list of frequently used tags from which you may select instead of type.
  • Keywords dialog:
  • The dialog now starts up with focus on the Search field.
  • ExifTool Command Builder:
  • The ExifTool Command Builder text input dialogs now provide a drop down list of frequently used tags from which you may select instead of type.
  • A Formatting & Control option, "-IPTC:CodedCharacterSet=UTF8" has been added.
  • Fixes:
  • On Windows, building the database failed when using a folder with thousands of images and very long filenames.
  • On some Mac systems, the hyperlinks in "About FastPhotoTagger" did not work. Contact the author if you still have this problem.

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.7 (Jun 1, 2020)

  • Keywrds dialg:
  • An "extra" ("+") keywrd field has been added t the Keywrds dialg. During a keywrd tagging sessin, yu may type keywrds int this field that are nt included in yur keywrd files. These typed keywrds will be appended t the list f checked keywrds. Be sure t end each keywrd with the semi-cln delimiter.
  • The full hierarchy f the search result is shwn as a tltip n the search field.
  • Fast Tagger:
  • The Fast Tagger windw nw has a split pane t allw cmplete views f lnger metadata values.
  • verflw Menu, all cmmands:
  • The verflw menu will be inactive if yu have unsaved changes n the Metadata Panel.
  • verflw Menu, Rtate:
  • "Rtate Left" and "Rtate Right" cmmands have been added t the verflw menu. These cmmands nly apply t JPEG files and can be executed nly when there are n pending changes.
  • verflw Menu, File Management:
  • "Rename", "Cpy t", "Mve t", and "Delete" cmmands have been added t the verflw menu. These cmmands can be executed nly when there are n pending changes.
  • ExifTl Cmmand Builder:
  • The ExifTl Cmmand Builder nw puts up file and flder chsers and text input dialgs instead f requiring thse items t be typed r pasted int the table.
  • Remvable drive:
  • Yu may chse t install FastPhtTagger n a remvable disk r flash drive. Fr details, please read this.
  • Thumbnails:
  • Lng filenames are displayed when yu hver ver a thumbnail.
  • Fixes:
  • The Fast Tagger did nt always remve duplicate keywrds.
  • Selectin change r flder navigatin wuld lse unsaved changes n the Metadata Panel.
  • n the "Select multiple image flders" dialg, flder children f rts were listed twice.
  • In "Inspect Metadata", when abbreviatins were disabled, text changes might be lst after a srt.
  • In "Inspect Metadata", blank values did nt always srt t the tp.
  • n Windws nly, pressing the play buttn fr audi r vide files while in a full-screen slideshw caused the audi r vide t play invisibly behind the full screen slide. The Play buttn is nw disabled in full-screen slideshws.

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.6 (Dec 2, 2019)

  • Keywords dialog:
  • A "Search" button has been added to the Keywords dialog. You may search for categories, keywords, and synonyms. Matches are highlighted and the tree containing the latest match is expanded. The search starts at the latest match and wraps around the tree. Search is case insensitive.
  • A keyword files pane has been added to the Keywords dialog. This is initialized to the active/inactive states shown in "Program Settings / Keywords" but during a keyword session you may check / uncheck files to change the set of keywords in use in that session.
  • The keywords dialog is now titled with the Screen Label of the metadata being set.
  • Metadata panel:
  • The keywords dialog now opens with just a right click.
  • When using the keywords dialog, the "Change" button records the change and closes as it always did. Subsequently, when entering a keyword field, the checkbox panel will automatically reopen. This behavior will continue until the checkbox panel is cancelled.
  • Fast Tagger:
  • The keywords dialog now opens with just a right click.
  • When using the keywords dialog, the "Change" button now records the change and advances to the next image. The checkbox panel remains open until canceled.
  • Settings:
  • In "Program Settings / Metadata", a new column, "DB", has been added. If checked, the metadata in this row will be included in the metadata database. This allows you to display many fields on your screen but create a smaller database for searching.
  • Program Look and Feel:
  • The disk icon, used in "Write Changed Metadata..." and other places, has changed slightly: redder when enabled.
  • Fixes:
  • Very recent versions of ExifTool, around 11.77, caused FastPhotoTagger to report errors when writing to keywords. The keywords were written correctly.
  • UTF-8 characters in keyword files were incorrectly displayed on Windows.
  • A warning is issued when UTF-8 characters are detected in paths and the workaround is not in effect. Read this.
  • When setting hierarchical keywords, the Fast Tagger did not recognize multiple tag names in the "Program Settings / Metadata" flattened tag field.
  • When printing multiple reports to file from the Metadata Viewer, only the first report went to a file while the remainder went to a real printer. Now subsequent reports go the first file name with a suffix, e.g., first_name.00001.pdf, etc. Be sure to check the "Print To File" checkbox on the Print dialog. You may have to specify "Microsoft Print to PDF" as your default printer.
  • Fixed: Rapid pressing of the navigation buttons at the top of the application window could result in incorrect folder display.
  • Fixed: The keyword dialog could be shown when no files were selected.
  • Minor French text correction.

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.5 (Sep 28, 2019)

  • Overflow Menu:
  • These settings commands have been added to the overflow menu as a convenience: "Change Sorting Method" and "Change Thumbnail Label".
  • Image Viewing:
  • Images can now be zoomed to approximately 3x actual size.
  • webp files are now recognized as image files. ImageMagick must be installed to view these files. These files are not writable by ExifTool.
  • EXE file:
  • FastPhotoTagger.exe is now included in the Windows distribution. FastPhotoTagger.exe and FastPhotoTagger.jar must always be kept in the same folder.
  • Program Look and Feel:
  • The disk icon, used in "Write Changed Metadata..." and other places, has changed slightly.
  • Fixes:
  • Non-existent folders are removed from the "Current Folder" pulldown menu at program start up.
  • Some windows were off-screen and not visible when the secondary display configuration changed.

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.3 (Dec 3, 2018)

  • Overflow Menu:
  • A menu button has been added in the top-left corner of the main application window next to the Current Folder. This button will be used to invoke commands that don't fit on or are not appropriate for the the left button bar. The initial contents of the overflow menu are "Change Thumbnail Size", "ExifTool Command Builder", and "Inspect Metadata".
  • Compare metadata:
  • A "Search" button has been added to the "Compare Metadata" screen. You may search for tag names or tag values. The search starts at the selected cell and wraps around the table. Search is case insensitive.
  • "Replace" and "Replace All" buttons have been added to Compare Metadata. You may replace one or all of the metadata values found by search. Replace and Replace All are case sensitive.
  • A "Filter" button has been added to the Compare Metadata screen. Use filter options to view all metadata tags or only tags related to your settings. View all metadata values or only values that differ in the selected files.
  • The thumbnails are now scaled when the horizontal divider bar is moved.
  • Inspect metadata:
  • An "Inspect Metadata" command has been added to the Overflow Menu. Inspect Metadata allows you to examine one tag's values in all selected files, e.g., look at just the keywords. You may edit, search, and replace metadata values. See the User Guide for more information. This is an ideal way to replace one keyword with another.
  • Image folder handling:
  • A Down folder navigation button has been added to the top of the FastPhotoTagger window. If the current folder has child folders you may navigate to them using this button.
  • Slideshow:
  • In "Program Settings / Slideshow" you may now choose to show multiple metadata values in a slideshow caption.
  • List tags:
  • List-type tags such as Keywords, Subject, and others are now always shown with a trailing semicolon even if there is only a single item. This makes typing easier to add a new item and prevents comparisons from failing when otherwise identical values differ only by the trailing semicolon.
  • Search Database:
  • The Metadata Explorer pane, at the bottom of the Search window, now displays keyword/list fields as semicolon-delimited and not as a simple word list.
  • Video and Audio Files:
  • Video and audio files may now be tagged. Please note that tagging large media files may take considerably longer than image files. Also note that relatively few metadata tags are supported. See ExifTool documentation.
  • Thumbnails are shown for video and audio files if FFMPEG is installed. Video and audio files may be played if VLC is installed. See Installation notes.
  • Program Look and Feel:
  • Many of the icons in the left button bar and on other screens have been revised. The order and meaning of the buttons has not changed.
  • The style of some of the windows, forms, and buttons has changed to be Java-default rather than system-default.
  • Windows users of High-Contrast Themes: Screens will look better if you execute FastPhotoTagger from the command line as follows:
  • java -jar FastPhotoTagger.jar -look com.sun.java.swing.plaf.windows.WindowsLookAndFeel
  • Fixes:
  • Fixed: When running some newer versions of Java, the "Search Metadata" button was unresponsive.
  • Fixed: Large thumbnails in the Compare Metadata table were cropped.
  • Fixed: Sorting the Compare Metadata table seemed to undo metadata changes. (It didn't.)
  • Fixed: The navigation buttons at the top of the window now are inactive (dim) when they can't be used.
  • Fixed: The Pending Changes window was sometimes slow to update after writing changes to disk.
  • Fixed: Opening the Fast Tagger window activated the Save button even if no changes were made.
  • Fixed: The metadata choices in "Program Settings / Slideshow" were not updated when "Program Settings / Metadata" changed.
  • Fixed: Slide shows were never shown on a secondary display. They will now show on the display running FastPhotoTagger.

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.2 (Jun 5, 2018)

  • Thumbnails:
  • Portrait mode thumbnails on the main window (image panel) are slightly smaller. This allows more thumbnails to be visible at one time. See next item.
  • On the "Program Settings / Other" panel, "Change Thumbnail Size" has been added. You may choose to view thumbnails smaller or larger than the default size. Read about trade-offs in the user guide.
  • Keywords dialog:
  • When the keywords dialog starts up, nodes are expanded to show any checked keywords.
  • The "OK" button on the Keywords dialog has been renamed to "Change". When the keywords dialog is invoked from the Metadata panel, pressing "Change" immediately causes all Change buttons on the Metadata Panel to be pressed.
  • Image folder handling:
  • On the "Program Settings / Other" panel, "Select multiple image folders" has been added. By choosing this, you may simultaneously open and view more than one image folder at a time. See this for details.
  • If you have opened multiple image folders, there is a popup menu on the image panel (right click) that will allow you to choose a display mode. You may view images "Merged" (all images sorted together) or "Grouped" (images organized by their folder).
  • Search results may also be viewed using the "Grouped/Merged" popup menu.
  • Folder navigation buttons have been added to the top of the FastPhotoTagger window next to the Current Folder. If only one folder is open you may use the buttons to navigate to the next or previous (alphabetical) folder, or one level up in the folder hierarchy.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts:
  • When input focus is on the image panel and images are selected:
  • Left and right arrow keys (unshifted or shifted) now wrap around rows on the image panel and between first and last images.
  • CTRL-O opens or closes a larger view of the last selected image.
  • CTRL-S presses all "Change" buttons.
  • TAB transfers focus to the first text input field on the Metadata Panel.
  • When input focus is on the Metadata Panel:
  • TABs and Shift-TABs move to adjacent input fields.
  • ESC transfers input focus to the image panel.
  • CTRL-O opens or closes a larger view of the last selected image.
  • CTRL-S presses all "Change" buttons.
  • After "Change" button is pressed, focus moves back to the image panel.
  • Command line options:
  • You may force FastPhotoTagger to start in a certain folder by executing from the command line in the FastPhotoTagger folder: java -jar FastPhotoTagger.jar -path fullpathtoimagefolder
  • You may force FastPhotoTagger to re-search for ExifTool by executing from the command line in the FastPhotoTagger folder: java -jar FastPhotoTagger.jar -exiftool
  • Sidecar files:
  • Limited support for metadata sidecar files has been added. Contact the author for information.
  • ExifTool command line:
  • For advanced users, there is now an interface to the ExifTool command line from within FastPhotoTagger. Virtually any ExifTool command line can be built and executed. Access the Command Builder by typing CTRL-E while focus is on the image panel.
  • Fixes:
  • Fixed: Duplicate keywords were not always removed when using abbreviations with hierarchical keywords.
  • Fixed: The startup test for ExifTool has been changed to require that the file be named "exiftool" or "exiftool.exe".

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.1 (Dec 27, 2017)

  • On the Metadata Panel, pressing one Change button now causes all Change buttons to be pressed.
  • On the "Program Settings / Other" panel, "Change Sorting Method" has been added.You may choose to sort thumbnails in the application window by the value of one of your metadata tags and may sort ascending or descending. (Note that some Exiftool pseudo-tags, e.g., File:System:FileModifyDate, are refreshed only when the folder is re-opened.)
  • Thumbnail labels are now updated immediately when a metadata change is initiated, rather than after the change is written to the image file. (Note that some Exiftool pseudo-tags, e.g., File:System:FileModifyDate, are refreshed only when the folder is re-opened.)
  • In "Program Settings / Slideshow" you may now choose to overlay the caption on top of the image rather than next to it.
  • When viewing images or slideshows, you may now zoom images up to their actual size using "+" and "-" keys, mouse wheel, and double click. Click and drag to pan the image.
  • "Program Settings / Other / Change Background Color" now changes the metadata panel and view/compare metadata screens, as well as the application window.
  • "Program Settings / Other / Change Background Color" now works better when used in conjunction with Windows high contrast themes. If you also need to change the blue panel background, please contact the author.
  • The number of images that can be displayed in a folder or a search is now limited in order to prevent "out of memory" conditions that can slow or hang FastPhotoTagger. More memory can be requested on the command line. See Limitations:Memory management.
  • The High Efficiency Image Format file extensions heif and heic are now recognized as image types. These images and their thumbnails are not viewable. Not all metadata tags are writable. See Exiftool's documentation.
  • The Sony arw RAW image type is now recognized.
  • Fixed: Automatically writing to a second flattened keyword field did not work. Check in your hierarchical keyword settings that only one tag shows in each column.
  • Fixed: Thumbnail labels were alphabetized on program start up. They now are always in the same order as in "Program Settings / Metadata" and "Program Settings / Other / Change Thumbnail Label.".
  • Fixed: When slide show captions were on top, fragments of the previous slide sometimes were visible.
  • Fixed: Hierarchical keywords in metadata but not in keyword lists were not always transferred to the keywords dialog.
  • Fixed: On Ubuntu Unity, the search window was incorrectly displayed.

New in FastPhotoTagger 3.0 (Aug 3, 2017)

  • Added: You may now make lists of your keywords in text files and use those files tset metadata. Use keyword lists as an alternative ttyping or when you want tlimit keyword values ta controlled set. The lists are managed in "Program Settings/Keywords".
  • Added: Keyword synonyms are supported in keyword list files. When a keyword is assigned its synonyms may alsbe assigned
  • Added:You may now assign a hierarchical keyword structure as a metadata value. You may alsspecify a backup metadata field that will automatically receive the flattened version of hierarchical keywords. Hierarchical keywords are managed using a popup menu in "Program Settings/Metadata".
  • Added: A checkbox entry mode is now supported for entering keywords, either hierarchical or not, that are defined in keyword list files. Checkbox entry mode is invoked by a popup menu on metadata input fields.
  • Added: In the "Search Metadata" window, a button has been added for updating the database.
  • Added: In the Metadata Explorer at the bottom of the "Search Metadata" window, a button has been added that will copy filtered metadata values ta new window. This allows much easier examination of the values in a metadata database field. Also, you may copy (^C) the values tan editor for printing or preparing keyword list files.
  • See the user guide for details on all the above features.
  • Fixed: The sequence "Export Settings", "Import Settings" nlonger changes the order of metadata in "Program Settings"
  • Fixed: Long pathnames (>70 characters) of photrepositories could not be saved in Program Settings.
  • Fixed: Thumbnails for some Canon camera images were blank.

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.8 (Nov 8, 2016)

  • A Print capability has been added to the "View all Metadata" screen. See user guide
  • Much larger images may be viewed without having to change memory usage on the Java command line
  • A Dutch translation of the user interface is now available

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.7 (Sep 16, 2016)

  • Added: A "Compare Metadata" command button has been added to the application window. Select 2 to 8 files and then press the button. Differences are presented in red. The displayed table is editable. You may edit metadata values cell by cell, like a spreadsheet. See user guide
  • o Added: On the "Other" Settings panel, a "Descriptive metadata values" checkbox has been added. By checking this box, you may view certain metadata values as words rather than numbers. For example: ColorSpace=sRGB rather than ColorSpace=1. The current folder will reload when the box is checked or unchecked. (Caution: The metadata database ignores this setting and always writes numeric values to the database.)
  • o Changed: On the Metadata Settings panel, you may now reorder rows by dragging. Click a cell, click again and hold, drag to a new position, release. The row will move in front of the row where you released. You may delete rows by dragging out of the table
  • o Changed: the order of metadata presented on the "Metadata for Selected" panel is now exactly the same as the order of metadata in "Metadata" Settings. Alphabetical order and separation of small and large fields is no longer enforced
  • o Changed: Metadata Search Selectors and the Metadata Explorer now contain Screen Labels from the Metadata Settings table, if they exist, rather than the metadata tag names
  • o The program icon has been updated

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.6 (Nov 25, 2015)

  • You may now specify metadata tags using Exiftool group 0 and/or 1 group names. Examples: EXIF:IFD0:ModifyDate, EXIF:ModifyDate, IFD0:ModifyDate.
  • The "View all Metadata" command now displays Exiftool group 0 and 1 names
  • Many TIFF files are now displayed by FastPhotoTagger if the ImageMagick executable is installed. See Installation notes and user guide. Multiple Tiff images in one file may be viewed as a slideshow
  • When writing metadata, the status line is updated occasionally with the flename being processed
  • Fixed:On the "View All Metadata" screen, if a group contained multiple tags with the same name, only one tag was displayed

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.5 (May 20, 2015)

  • DNG and many RAW image types are now displayed by FastPhotoTagger if the dcraw executable is installed. See Installation notes
  • Added more information to log file when a metadata change encounters an error
  • Fixed: Minor corrections were made to translations

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.4 (May 20, 2015)

  • Changed: "View Slideshow" now presents selected photos only, not all photos. To present all photos click "Select All Photos" then "View Slideshow"
  • You may now open an image folder by dragging it onto the thumbnail area of the main application window
  • Program icons for Windows, Linux, and Macintosh are now included in the distribution file
  • On the "Other" Settings panel, "Change Background Color" has been added. You may now change the background color of the main window thumbnail area
  • On the "Other" Settings panel, "Change Thumbnail Label" has been added. You may now display (partial) metadata values under thumbnails on the main window. Export/Import Settings saves and restores label selections
  • On the "Other" Settings panel, "Export Slideshow" has been added. Using Slideshow settings, you may now create a set of image files that contain embedded metadata captions
  • Additional information has been added to error messages
  • Fixed: Filenames under thumbnails were not horizontally aligned if a horizontal thumbnail was next to a vertical thumbnail
  • Fixed: Black bars were shown around some thumbnail images when the bars were not actually part of the JPEG embedded thumbnail
  • Fixed: Black bars were shown around some Canon-generated thumbnail images
  • Fixed: Some thumbnails and/or images were incorrectly oriented. All eight metadata orientation constants are now supported
  • Fixed: Export/Import Settings failed when the metadata size field was blank
  • Fixed: Minor corrections were made to the Polish translation

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.3 (May 20, 2015)

  • A Polish translation of the user interface is now available
  • On the "Search Metadata" window, you may now save search definitions to and load them from files in XML format. "Open" and "Save" buttons have been added. The most recent ten search files are shown in a pulldown at the top of the window
  • Improved: Cells may be copied using ^C from the Metadata Viewer table
  • Improved: Import and Export Settings now start in the most recent folder used to import or export
  • Fixed: FastPhotoTagger failed if the path to exiftool contained a space
  • Fixed: Paste into a FastPhotoTagger table might sometimes fail if a destination cell was not selected
  • Fixed: An image folder sometimes appeared twice in the "Current Folder" pulldown menu
  • Fixed: The slide show setting for "Caption location" was ignored for non-English user interfaces

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.2 (May 20, 2015)

  • French and German translations of the user interface are now available
  • Non-English character set support is much improved: all metadata values are interpreted as UTF-8 characters and IPTC metadata values are explictly written as UTF-8 characters. However, see known problems for issues with file and pathnames
  • A new Settings panel, "Other" has been added
  • On the "Other" Settings panel, "Change Language" has been added. You may change the user interface language to any available translation
  • On the "Other" Settings panel, "Change Font" has been added. This is most useful when dealing with international character sets
  • On the "Other" Settings panel, "Export Settings" and "Import Settings" have been added. You may save your settings to a text file (in XML format) for use on other computers or to maintain multiple versions of settings for different purposes
  • On the main application window, the sizes of the thumbnail area and the metadata area are now adjustable
  • Improved: On the "Metadata for Selected" panel, the metadata name and the "Change" button now share the same line. The Change button is invisible until the metadata field changes. This permits more metadata fields to be viewed without scrolling
  • Improved: Paste into the Settings/Abbreviations and Settings/Metadata tables is now supported
  • Improved: Sorting of the images in the main window and the columns in the Settings tables is more sensitive to non-English character sets
  • Improved: Expansion of abbreviations is more efficient when there are thousands of abbreviations
  • Improved: The "Current Folder" pulldown now remembers up to 10 recently used folders between invocations of FastPhotoTagger
  • Fixed: metadata tags containing a dash, e.g., Caption-Abstract, were not being written to the metadata database
  • Fixed: Pressing one Change button sometimes disabled other Change buttons

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.1 (May 20, 2015)

  • Added an "explorer" pane to the Search Metadata window. The explorer pane is used to view (and optionally filter) the values in the metadata database
  • Added the "excludes" operation to metadata search terms. It is the opposite of the "contains" operation
  • Added support for metadata group names in the metadata settings list. You may prefix a tag with an Exiftool level 0 group name (IPTC, XMP, EXIF, others), e.g., XMP:Title
  • Added the ability to specify that a metadata change should be written to more than one tag
  • Selecting the current folder from the "Current Folder" pulldown now causes a refresh of the images and their metadata values
  • Added French usage notes
  • Improved: Image folders open more quickly in many cases
  • Improved: The Metadata Viewer now displays metadata group names
  • Improved: The Metadata Viewer now initially displays the tag list in alphabetical order
  • Improved: FastPhotoTagger is more efficient when dealing with folders containing thousands of images
  • Renamed the tag columns in Settings/Metadata and Settings/Pending Changes to "Metadata tag(s)"
  • Fixed: List-type tags such as Keywords, Subject, and others, were written to files as one long item rather than individual list items. As a result, some other software products showed slightly different values for these tags. Starting with this revision, you must use semi-colon as the list delimiter
  • Fixed: Tag names in Settings/Metadata are no longer case sensitive
  • Fixed: Closing the Fast Tagger window with the window close button did not update the "Metadata for Selected" panel
  • Fixed: Resizing the Metadata Viewer window down to zero size caused an internal program error
  • Fixed: Resizing the Metadata Viewer window was sluggish
  • Fixed: The program was temporarily unresponsive when the "next" key was held down or the "next" button was clicked rapidly in the slide show, fast tagger, and view metadata windows
  • Prerequisite: Exiftool version 8.69 or higher

New in FastPhotoTagger 2.0 (May 20, 2015)

  • Added a metadata database and search facility. It consists of:
  • a new button, "Search metadata" on the application window,
  • a new settings window, "Repositories",
  • a new settings popup menu item, "Update database",
  • a new Settings/Metadata size option, "none", and
  • a "Search metadata" panel with visual search operations.
  • Added a new button, "View all metadata for selected photos", to the application window. It will display in table format all available metadata in the image's file.
  • Added a new button, "Stop" to the application window. It may be used to stop long operations.
  • Added ability to copy images out of the application window using the copy key sequence or file dragging.
  • Improved: Writing changed metadata to photos is about 25% faster than in previous versions.
  • Fixed: including a newline character in a tag resulted in a write error. In this version, newlines are replaced with spaces when the Change button is pressed.
  • Fixed: After tagging a large number of photos with the Fast Tagger, there was a long delay before the program resumed.
  • Fixed: The slideshow settings panel was vertically centered and stretched across the screen.