Adding text to photo: I would like to add as much as a paragraph of text possibly including file number to a .jpg. Not necessarily in the field of the photo. Any help? thanks Ed...

k2edm Loc: FN32AD

I would like to add as much as a paragraph of text possibly including file number to a .jpg. Not necessarily in the field of the photo. Any help? thanks Ed

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

All the text in photo features I know put it in the field of the image. There should be programs (apps) that edit the EXIF data, but I don't know them. I'm sure if you Google "EXIF editor", you'll find some

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Do you want the text to show up beside/below the photo when printed or viewed online, as opposed to having it hidden in the exif data? If yes, you increase the "canvas" size in order to have a place to add text outside the image itself. This can be any size, location or color.

If your editor doesn't have a resize canvas option, check for a collage option that might automatically give you some white space.

Example of increasing canvas size:

texasdigital Loc: Conroe, Texas

Many programs, such a Lightroom, have the ability to enter information about the photograph that is not visible to the viewer of the photograph. There are inexpensive or free alternatives to Lightroom that have the same feature. With many of these programs, you have a search function to easily sort through your catalog of photos.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Linda From Maine wrote:

Do you want the text to show up beside/below the photo when printed or viewed online, as opposed to having it hidden in the exif data? If yes, you increase the "canvas" size in order to have a place to add text outside the image itself. This can be any size, any location, any color.

Example:

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Architect1776 wrote:

Also a handy way to change aspect ratio to fit a frame or mat. The text area could be a title, location and date of photo, identification of people in the pic, etc.

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

k2edm wrote:

I would like to add as much as a paragraph of text possibly including file number to a .jpg. Not necessarily in the field of the photo. Any help? thanks Ed

Adding Documentation to Family Photos

This has a few different ways to add text. Probably for your purposes, add white space to the bottom of the image and add text there.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

k2edm wrote:

I would like to add as much as a paragraph of text possibly including file number to a .jpg. Not necessarily in the field of the photo. Any help? thanks Ed

What OS are you using?
Windows Explorer allows one to add "comments" in the file metadata (not seen in the image), among other things, like Tags, ....
Consider Linda's idea if you want the comments displayed with the photo, but not in the photo.

k2edm Loc: FN32AD

wow! thanks everybody... Ed

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Linda From Maine wrote:

Also a handy way to change aspect ratio to fit a frame or mat. The text area could be a title, location and date of photo, identification of people in the pic, etc.

I do this to my photos all the time as I scan the old ones with names, locations and dates so the information will always be there with the photo of grandparents/great grandparents on the ranch in Mexico in 1910 etc.

Hip Coyote

Take a look at batchphoto. I use it to put dates on some pictures. Not to be confused with changing exif info. I am away from computer and don’t have access to see if a full paragraph can be done. FWIIW, we do have some old photos where a relative hand wrote stories on the back of the photo. What a gift!

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Hip Coyote wrote:

Take a look at batchphoto. I use it to put dates on some pictures. Not to be confused with changing exif info. I am away from computer and don’t have access to see if a full paragraph can be done. FWIIW, we do have some old photos where a relative hand wrote stories on the back of the photo. What a gift!

That is why adding the entire story to the front of the photo under it so it can be read.
I scan both sides and add the hand written part below the photo so the original hand writing can be appreciated as well.

1grumpybear

k2edm wrote:

I would like to add as much as a paragraph of text possibly including file number to a .jpg. Not necessarily in the field of the photo. Any help? thanks Ed

If you use Adobe photoshop. Open the JPEG file. Click on IMAGE, Scroll down to CANVAS SIZE click on it.
It will open a window that you can change the size and how you want it position. I use it all the time.

Gourmand Loc: Dallas

When using Lightroom, I put text into the "Caption" section of the "Metadata" dropdown menu of the "Library" module. If you edit a copy of the image in Photoshop, the edited version will still have the caption, which you can then add text to. The new text will be added to the original text in the new version of the image, but it will not appear in the Caption section of the original image.

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

It is not difficult to put text into metadata, but as documentation it is almost useless. Few people know that metadata even exists, let alone how to read it. Documentation should never depend on software.

If you want to add documentation to an image so that it is not separable, it must be worked into the image itself, not hidden in the file. If the image is printed, all metadata are lost. Think about presenting a family photo to your aging aunt (or uncle) who never set finger on a computer keyboard. Admit it. You know people who are not computer literate, but who can look at a photo and read text (if the font is large enough).