date on photo: while going back and scanning old slides, many ,over the years, have the date on the photo. I found this to be a godsend in identifying the photo today. While with the...

k2edm Loc: FN32AD

while going back and scanning old slides, many ,over the years, have the date on the photo. I found this to be a godsend in identifying the photo today. While with the digital photos, all kinds of data rides along with it, accessable with a mouse click, ...I wonder of any digital camera will ad a date to the body of the photo. (?)

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

ek2lckd wrote:

while going back and scanning old slides, many ,over the years, have the date on the photo. I found this to be a godsend in identifying the photo today. While with the digital photos, all kinds of data rides along with it, accessable with a mouse click, ...I wonder of any digital camera will ad a date to the body of the photo. (?)

That is a feature that is, or at least was, common on bridge cameras and other non-DSLR cameras. Starting in 2001 and running to 2012 I had 3 different digital cameras. A rather basic one and then 2 bridge cameras. All had the option to put the date on the photo. Usually in the lower right corner in yellow numbers. I have not seen that feature on any of my multiple DSLRs since then. There are times when it would be a handy feature. I took and printed many photos for work and having the date on them would have been handy since, of course, printing a digital photo eliminates all data.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

ek2lckd wrote:

while going back and scanning old slides, many ,over the years, have the date on the photo. I found this to be a godsend in identifying the photo today. While with the digital photos, all kinds of data rides along with it, accessable with a mouse click, ...I wonder of any digital camera will ad a date to the body of the photo. (?)

A few do, usually the lower end cameras.
All cameras use the EXIF to record the 'creation date' or 'date digitized'. It is up to you to use an organizer capable of reading this EXIF data in order to sort it. From there, if the date is important, you can rename your images this way.

k2edm Loc: FN32AD

LFingar wrote:

I took and printed many photos for work and having the date on them would have been handy since, of course, printing a digital photo eliminates all data.

yeh, that is why I would like the date to be there.... of coarse I can always add it with any one the photo editing pgms..... but I would not have to if it already was there... I see no problem with having the date on any of the old photos, it does not seem to be objectionable at all.. I have tried changing the filename to include the date, and maybe adding that, but that does become kinda a distraction.. If Canon would add the date to the photo and remove the video capability on one of its cameras, that would be OK with me.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Rongnongno wrote:

A few do, usually the lower end cameras.
All cameras use the EXIF to record the 'creation date' or 'date digitized'. It is up to you to use an organizer capable of reading this EXIF data in order to sort it. From there, if the date is important, you can rename your images this way.

My largest problem comes in when I scan old prints.
I'm lucky if I find the date on the back of the print or can remember at least the year, maybe month, when a series of shots were taken. I have a ton of old prints that will never have dates.
For digital shots now, the date is in the image data. I refuse to put a date ON an image.

Hip Coyote

I created a thread a few months ago on this very topic. I came across BatchPhoto which does exactly what you are seeking. The program is something like 45 dollars. It allows the user to designate where to put the date, font, date format, and batch process. It has a tutorial, but it is so easy, the tutorial is not needed.

As for proper date, the metadata has to be right. In cases where I scanned in older photos, I put in the approximate date if I cannot find an actual date. The one thing that has been a true gift for me was a relative who wrote a small story on the various photos that he thought were "keepers." He has long since died, but his legacy lives on. There really is something to be said for curating photos.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

This is a problem with printed digital photographs. The digital file has all sorts of information in the EXIF file but it doesn't show on a print. It's particularly a problem with family photos that get passed around.

For family photos I really recommend adding documentation to the image so that it can be carried along with copies of the file.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-page?upnum=2991

If you're copying old family prints, you will either have to take the dates and names from the writing on the back of the print, or guess the appropriate dates and names.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

RWebb76 wrote:

I created a thread a few months ago on this very t... (show quote)

If you're on Windows, either IrfanView or FastStone will add text (such as a date or names). The programs are freeware, but Windows only. Windows Paint will also add text and has the capability of adding whitespace to a margin to hold more extensive text.

I'm a Windows guy so I don't know about Mac software but there is probably a way to add text to an image easily and cheaply.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

DirtFarmer wrote:

If you're on Windows, either IrfanView or FastStone will add text (such as a date or names). The programs are freeware, but Windows only. Windows Paint will also add text and has the capability of adding whitespace to a margin to hold more extensive text.

I'm a Windows guy so I don't know about Mac software but there is probably a way to add text to an image easily and cheaply.

Most editors can add text to an image.

Hip Coyote

Some seem to suggest using text editors to add dates which is too labor intensive. Batchphoto does automatically and in batches if that’s what you want. Takes seconds.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

RWebb76 wrote:

Some seem to suggest using text editors to add dates which is too labor intensive. Batchphoto does automatically and in batches if that’s what you want. Takes seconds.

Unless you are adding dates regularly I would think $45 is overkill for a one-off job. Quicker is only an advantage if it’s a frequent need.

Schoee Loc: Europe

ek2lckd wrote:

while going back and scanning old slides, many ,over the years, have the date on the photo. I found this to be a godsend in identifying the photo today. While with the digital photos, all kinds of data rides along with it, accessable with a mouse click, ...I wonder of any digital camera will ad a date to the body of the photo. (?)

Nikon D5600 can do it see page 243 of the manual. Will not do it if shooting RAW or RAW + JPEG

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

DirtFarmer wrote:

Unless you are adding dates regularly I would think $45 is overkill for a one-off job. Quicker is only an advantage if it’s a frequent need.

Definitely!
For scanned images, I put them in a dated directory (for the images, not when scanned).
Even simpler.

Hip Coyote

DirtFarmer wrote:

Unless you are adding dates regularly I would think $45 is overkill for a one-off job. Quicker is only an advantage if it’s a frequent need.

good point..but I do it frequently on all family pics..once I started archiving stuff that the kids may actually want I found the tool useful. Certainly a text option works, but takes time. The results are good, it does it all automatically and professionally. I think there may be a cheaper version as well..cant remember.

Happy shooting.

Rick

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

How many folks want the date on their photos? I find them highly objectionable. To me anyway, it would be like taking a photo of a beautiful model with a big pimple on her nose. My son-in-law took pics of my granddaughter's baptism with the dates on them. Once again, to me, they look terrible and are ruined. Fortunately I was able to remove most of the dates in post processing.