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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
What are the better ways to provide "captions"?
Michael Myers, Photographer
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Miami Beach | FL | USA | Posted: 3:22 PM on 09.21.04 |
->> If you're providing 'jpg' images to your editor, there are several ways to provide "caption" information. The one that sounded very straight forward was the method explained on the SI websitre here:
http://www.siphoto.com/?captions_photoshop.inc
However, what if you want to provide raw format images? I tried opening up an 'nef' image using Photoshop, then going to File > File Info and adding some text to the "description" box (which I guess replaces the "caption" box in Photoshop CS?). When done, I tried to save the image, but couldn't do so in 'nef' format.
If I don't want to convert the image to 'jpg', which I felt maybe I'd be better off not doing, and instead submit the 'nef' files, what is the best way to submit a caption along with the image?
(...and of course, if I've already saved the image in 'jpg' format, the SI website reminds us that it's not a good idea to use Photoshop to add captions, as it will then re-save the image as well, which degrades quality.)
Unless I've missed it, there doesn't seem to be anything about this in the past month or so worth of messages here. Maybe it's so obvious, that everyone but me just knows how to do it.... |
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Thomas E. Witte, Photographer
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Cincinnati | OH | USA | Posted: 3:31 PM on 09.21.04 |
| ->> use your image browser. I can't speak for all of them, but iView allows you to edit the captions and such on the RAW files without messing with the image. |
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Thad Parsons, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Oxford | UK | United Kingdom | Posted: 3:33 PM on 09.21.04 |
->> Michael,
I will give you the way that I had to provide captions back in the day ... (all of two years ago).
In a seperate text file that I emailed with the photos, I sent this information for each file:
File Name
Photo Credit as it was to appear in the paper
[Then your credit information]
Hope this helps! |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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New England | | USA | Posted: 5:43 PM on 09.21.04 |
| ->> Use PhotoMechanic and add your caption via the IPTC headers. By adding IPTC info via Photo Mechanic you do not alter the image or the file in way. |
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Mike Brice, Photographer
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Northwood | OH | USA | Posted: 5:50 PM on 09.21.04 |
->> Steve,
I just tested PhotoMechanic on raw flies from D2H and Mark II and it can't be used to caption raw files. I think they are looking to include that in a future release as Kirk (PM software engineer) has talked about it on RG's site, so PM wouldn't really help Michael. Although I agree its great for jpeg and other formats. |
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Hassel Weems, Photographer
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Locust Grove (Atlanta) | GA | USA | Posted: 5:58 PM on 09.21.04 |
| ->> Nikon View and Capture can edit IPTC information in .nef files. |
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Frank Casimiro, Photographer
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Sugar Land (Houston Area) | TX | USA | Posted: 6:06 PM on 09.21.04 |
->> This might not be a "better" way to caption photos but it is a tool that I have found to be very handy to have available for fast edits of IPTC data.
The program is called Pixvue and can be found at http://www.pixvue.com/index.html
The program has a XMP/IPTC editor that incorporates itself into the right click menu on the PC. That means just right click with the mouse button on the file you want to annotate and the editor pops up to let you edit the IPTC data. No program to load, just edit the data as you wish. You can even copy the current file's IPTC data into memory and apply it to other files.
The bad news is that the program is currently only written for PC users.
The program is absolutely free. I've had it in my arsenal of tools for years now. Try it!
Frank |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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New England | | USA | Posted: 9:09 PM on 09.21.04 |
->> Mike:
Thanks for the info.
I had used Photo Mechnic in the past with Raw files, but rarely if ever shoot the 1D in RAW , so I hadn't tested it's ability with the 1D (and obviously don't worry about D2H files)
Get an AP NC2000c/e, DCS520 or Nikon D1, it will be fine with Raw files :0) |
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Michael Myers, Photographer
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Miami Beach | FL | USA | Posted: 10:03 PM on 09.21.04 |
->> Frank, I tried installing Pixvue. Seemed like a nice solution. The first problem, is it doesn't seem to work wtih "nef" images. When I tried it with a "jpg" I got an error message "Cannot delete file: Cannot read from the source file or disk." I wasn't trying to delete anything...
I'll try Hassel's suggestion - maybe Nikon View or Capture can do it. |
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Jim Vavaroutsos, Photographer
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Charles Mann, Photographer
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Frank Casimiro, Photographer
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Sugar Land (Houston Area) | TX | USA | Posted: 10:16 AM on 09.22.04 |
->> Michael....
I guess I should have looked at the file formats supported on PIXVUE's web site before suggesting the program for your desired purpose of editing IPTC data on Nikon NEF files. I am a Canon 1D shooter. Since the raw file format my camera produces is TIF, Pixvue supports it.
Here are the formats supported by Pixvue:
Format File Extension Support
JPEG .jpg, .jpeg annotate, read, write
TIFF .tif, .tiff annotate, read, write
JPEG2000 .jp2, .jpc, .j2k read, write
PNG .png read, write
GIF .gif read, write
Photoshop .psd read, write
Windows Bitmap .bmp read, write
It's still a handy tool to have available for me. Another added plus once you have the program installed on your computer is when you move your mouse pointer over a files name up pops a window with the IPTC data that the file contains along with other information.
I too have had the program ask me about the "DELETE" thing that you mentioned. I just cancel the prompt and continue. It seems to only happen one time and then the error is cleared. Must be a bug in the program but for me the added benefits the program supplies are worth it. Especially since it's free.
I don't use it exclusively as my IPTC editor but it does come in very handy.
Frank |
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Michael Stevens, Photographer
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Phoenix | AZ | USA | Posted: 4:10 PM on 09.22.04 |
->> Since you want to send RAW files you aren't concerned about file size. So, why don't you open the RAW files in PS, make any color corrections necessary, then add your caption info and save as a LZW compressed TIFF?
Mike |
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Michael Myers, Photographer
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Miami Beach | FL | USA | Posted: 8:13 PM on 09.22.04 |
->> I don't know enough about all this to make a good choice, but editing the files in PS, then saving as TIFF seems to defeat the purpose of sending the actual RAW files off to my editor.
I've come up with what seems like a perfect answer. I think what I can do is have the camera take both the NEF image, and also a small JPG image. I can edit the JPG, crop it, bring out shadows, add captions to the EXIF information, and do what ever I want. If the editor likes my choice of image, he can then open up the corresponding NEF file and do whatever he needs to make it suitable for printing.
I'm beginning to think that this is the perfect answer, at least until when/if I can put captions directly into the NEF image.... and even then, it might be better, as it's a lot faster to go through a bunch of small-size JPG images. |
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Hassel Weems, Photographer
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Locust Grove (Atlanta) | GA | USA | Posted: 11:55 PM on 09.22.04 |
->> If you use Nikon transfer, you can embed IPTC info when transfering the images from camera or card to your computer.
I use Transfer to put basic IPTC info in all files and to change filename to date and time when shot. |
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