Save for Web while preserving EXIF data

This came from a discussion about automatically stripping the EXIF data from an image when posting.

There is a way to save for web and preserve the EXIF data, but only CS3 as far as I know, without the bother of having to re-load it into the JPG file.

In the Save For Web window right under the "Save" "Cancel' and 'Done" buttons there is a little arrow (same place you find "optimize to file size") that has an option "Include XMP."

Click to turn on that option and, like magic, the EXIF data is saved into the JPG.

I did a test of the image here:

http://www.pbase.com/jimpoor/image/91565163

and as you can see if you have an EXIF reader, the info is there.


It seems though, that PBASE can't read the EXIF data from files saved in this way yet though. That doesn't mean that some other script or program can't. I'm not sure on that note, that would be for the computer Gurus to solve.

An XMP is an external file that is written and would need to be included in the submission process and also able to be read by anything including the file. So simply saving for web and including this option doesn't alleviate the issue because the EXIF is actually in a separate file.

I believe that the method I described actually embeds the EXIF data into the JPG file from the XMP, but I'm willing to be wrong.

If you snatch the file linked above, or just drag it if you have a MAC and then look at it in Bridge or LR or with EXIF reader, you will not that there is no longer an XMP file attached, but the EXIF data remains.

Well, look at that.....

It actually did work. Just as a test, Jim, I also uploaded your file that seemed to have it, to my test server that I have an exif parsing script, and it couldn't read the data, so chances are it will restore the data back into the jpg, so only photoshop can read it. A test you can do on your own end, is bring that JPG back into Nikon Capture and see if Capture sees the EXIF.

Part of the problem with EXIF is there is no standard to how it gets written and then embedded inside files, so chances are Adobe is doing something only they can then decipher.

Would love to know what you see in Capture.

Something to compare would be opening up each file in a text editor and then doing a line by line comparison of the code to see if photoshop is writing it differently.

Jim, Ed,

Could the XMP be a hidden file and can't be read by pBase? When you bring it up in CS3 check to see if there is a hidden file.

Jim

Jim P, I had actually downloaded his jpg, and was able to read it with CS3.

As far as I've known, if the data is being placed in the XMP, you need to have the XMP, so I am guessing Adobe is still storing back data in the JPG, just not in a format accessible by other apps or readers.

I was just browsing the Adobe Forums and came across this thread. Seems to be a brand new function in the latest update.

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c05ae83

I'll have to find my disk and install capture to try it there. I've never used it, but I've been thinking about trying it out.

Well Hello Jim Prudente! We seem to end up in a lot of the same places :D

Excellent thread Jim.

One thing missing from the thread is the main reason the PS adds the XMP sidecar file and tends to delete the embedded EXIF data, or at least ignores it and will not write there, is that XMP or Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) was created by Adobe Systems Inc.

Also EXIF is really limited, one problem is that the EXIF standard can allows the data to be stored anywhere in the image. This can cause problems with image editors and is one reason Photoshop and others strip it off.

This causes tons of grief to people that submit to agencies. Most agencies only accept XMP sidecar data.

Robert