Work is progressing PhotoInfoEditor, and it is now called PhotoInfoEditor2….

In the last post I mentioned that work was progressing well on the new version of PhotoInfoEditor2. Things have slowed a bit due to some problems encountered with some web-services that are used.

New look data entry in PhotoInfoEditor

PhotoInfoEditor and PhotoInfoEditor2 both use Google Maps for geocoding / geotagging the photos, and there were some problems in getting Google Maps working in PhotoInfoEditor2 – so this has slowed development down.

PhotoInfoEditor used a web-service called http://terraservice-usa.com/ for finding location names based on latitude and longitude. However, for some reason, that service no longer seems to be working (or I couldn’t get it to work in PhotoInfoEditor2 even though it was using the same code as in PhotoInfoEditor), so in PhotoInfoEditor2 Google’s system is being used. Again, this has taken some time to get working.

So, watch this space… I hope to get a beta version out for testing later in the week.

Work is progressing well on the update of PhotoInfoEditor for Mac OS X 10.6 – Snow Leopard.

An update to PhotoInfoEditor, to version 2, was already in the works before 10.6 came out. Now that 10.6 is out, and the current version of PhotoInfoEditor doesn’t work, the question was to whether or not go back and fix PhotoInfoEditor, or push on with the new version of PhotoInfoEditor. It was decided to push on.

So, the new version of PhotoInfoEditor has a whole new interface (see below), and an increased level of functionality.

New look data entry in PhotoInfoEditor

In addition, the program now also handles images from a bigger range of cameras than before, including (and these have been tested): Canon EOS 20D, Canon EOS D60, Canon IXUS 300, Canon IXUS 400, Canon IXUS v2, Canon IXUS v3, Canon IXUS, Canon PowerShot A20, Canon PowerShot A40, Canon PowerShot A70, Canon PowerShot A80, Canon PowerShot A85, Canon PowerShot G2, Canon PowerShot S30, Canon PowerShot S40, Canon PowerShot S230, Canon PowerShot S300, Canon PowerShot S330, Canon PowerShot S400, Canon PowerShot SD100, Casio EX-S1, Casio EX-Z3, Casio QV-3000EX, Epson PhotoPC 3000Z, FujiFilm DS-7, FujiFilm DX-5, FujiFilm DX-10, FujiFilm FinePix A303, FujiFilm FinePix40i, FujiFilm FinePix1400Zoom, FujiFilm FinePix2650, FujiFilm FinePix4900Zoom, FujiFilm FinePix6800Zoom, FujiFilm FinePixS1Pro, FujiFilm FinePixS2Pro, FujiFilm MX-1200, FujiFilm MX-2900Zoom, FujiFilm MX1700, FujiFilm SP-2500, HP PhotoSmart 318, HP PhotoSmart 735, HP PhotoSmart C812, JVC GR-DC2000, Kodak CLAS Digital Film Scanner HR200, Kodak DC210, Kodak DC240, Kodak DC3400, Kodak DX4330, Kodak DX4900 Zoom, Kodak ProBack, Konica Q-M100, Kyocera FC-S3, Minolta DiMAGE 5, Minolta DiMAGE 7, Minolta DiMAGE 7Hi, Minolta DiMAGE A1, Minolta DiMAGE EX, Minolta DiMAGE S304, Minolta DiMAGE S404, Minolta DiMAGE X, Nikon CoolPix 775, Nikon D1X, Nikon D70, Nikon D100, Nikon E775, Nikon E900, Nikon E950, Nikon E990, Nikon E5000, Nikon E5700, Olympus C40Z, Olympus C860L, Olympus C960, Olympus C2040Z, Olympus C3030Z, Olympus C4040Z, Olympus E-10, Olympus E-20, Olympus X-2, Panasonic DMC-LC33, Panasonic DMC-LC40, Panasonic DMC-LC70 (Lumix), Panasonic FX7, Panasonic FZ5, Panasonic FZ20, Panasonic LZ2, Panasonic NV-GX7, Pentax ist D, Pentax Optio 330, Pentax Optio 430, Pentax Optio S4, Pentax Optio S4i, Ricoh DC-3Z, Ricoh RDC5300, Sanyo SR6, Sanyo SR662, Sanyo VPCSX550, Seiko Epson PhotoPC 3000Z, Sony Cybershot, Sony D700, Sony DCR-PC110, Sony DigitalMavica, Sony Mavica, and Traveler SX330Z

Even, if your camera is not listed above, the chances are the program will be able to open and edit the meta-data. (If not, send me the file nick@mmisoftware.co.uk, and I will see what can be done).

Still left to do:

Complete the interface integration (pretty much done)
Improve/complete map integration
Finish the output procedures for writing the meta-data back to the files

Well, I have tracked down the problem with PhotoGPSEditor and PhotoInfoEditor when running under Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)…

The problem is this line: [NSImage imageFileTypes]

Under 10.4 and 10.5 it would return data in the same format, which was admittedly a strange format, but it came back on a predictable way so at least it could be handled, and the required file type, i.e. jpg, jpeg, JPEG etc. easily extracted.

Under 10.6 the format of the data returned has been changed…. and this is causing the problem.

The fix is fairly straight forward for PhotoGPSEditor, and a new version of the program should be out later this evening – early tomorrow.

Unfortunately the fix is a bit more complicated for PhotoInfoEditor (mainly because PhotoInfoEditor handles file types in a slightly different way, and also accesses more of the ‘inner-workings’ of the file than PhotoGPSEditor)….

Watch this space for updates….

Neither PhotoGPSEditor or PhotoInfoEditor are currently working under Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

The programs can run, but will not recognise any photo file formats. (Apple has changed the way such information is stored under 10.6).

The problem has been identified, and a fix for PhotoGPSEditor should be out within a few days, and a fix for PhotoInfoEditor shortly afterwards.

Nice little write-up on PhotoGPSEditor over at Bioneural.

Basically Bioneural gives a good little run down on geotagging photos on the Mac. It is a nice piece and worth a read.

I particularly enjoyed the part that said:

“One of these methods allows you to zoom in using satelite view in Google Maps to the point where you were standing—and best of all you only need to mark one photo in a set this way, and the offset will be applied to all photos in the set. Very clever:”

It was the “very clever” bit I liked!

No mention in the article of PhotoInfoEditor, which can be used to geotag photos when no GPS data is available…

PhotoInfoEditor and PhotoGPSEditor are freeware programs from MMISoftware – continued development can be supported by making donations (PhotoInfoEditor Donation | PhotoGPSEditor Donation), or purchases at the MMISoftware GPS and camera stores.

Both programs are available for download:

At the moment MMISoftware is testing a number of their programs to make sure they work with Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)…

PhotoInfoEditor is fine and works great. It can be used under 10.5 to geotag your photos for viewing in the new 10.5 Preview – see earlier post for more details.

There may be a slight problem with PhotoGPSEditor, and the program is still being investigated/tested. Hopefully there will be an update on the status and/or a new version soon.

iCalMaker is also still being checked out.

One thing that a couple of iCalMaker users have emailed about is that the program will no longer import calendars from the iCal 10.5. Well, this is actually a ‘feature’ that was added to iCalMaker after 10.4. In 10.4 the way that the iCal data was stored was changed so much from 10.3 that iCalMaker would not work at all. Therefore, to protect the user (and the user’s iCal data) a check was put in to the post-10.4 iCalMaker so that it would not import calendar data from iCal in 10.5 until a new version of iCalMaker was released.

PhotoInfoEditor and PhotoGPSEditor are freeware programs from MMISoftware – continued development can be supported by making donations (PhotoInfoEditor Donation | PhotoGPSEditor Donation), or purchases at the MMISoftware GPS and camera stores.

Both programs are available for download:

Just installed Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), and tested PhotoInfoEditor – good news!

PhotoInfoEditor has been tested under the final release version of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and it all seems to be working OK.

One really cool feature in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) is ‘Locate’ in Preview. Why not try the following.

1. Add Geocoding data to a photo using PhotoInfoEditor.
2. Save the photo.
3. Open the photo in Preview.
4. Open the Preview Inspector (command-I, or Inspector in the Tools menu).
5. In the small inspection (information) window that opens up select the second ‘menu’ item (looks like a speech bubble with an exclamation mark in it).
6. Look at the GPS entry and you will see a small map showing the location.
7. Click locate and be taken straight to the location using Google Maps.

Cool!

Just looking through the list of 300+ new features in Leopard and spotted the following on ‘GPS’.

It appears in Preview that there is GPS metadata support. In fact it says:

“Get real information from your photos. If your image has embedded GPS metadata, Preview will show you exactly where that perfect photo was taken. Open the Image inspector and select GPS. Preview pinpoints the location where you took the photo on a world map. From there you can even open the GPS location in Google Maps.”

Fantastic! I just hope they have iPhoto sorted so when editing photos it no longer ‘chews-up’ added GPS meta-data.

Get the GPS units fired up, and those photos tagged.

For geotagging of photos why not try: PhotoInfoEditor and PhotoGPSEditor from MMISoftware.

MMISoftware GPS Store | MMISoftware Camera Store

Yes, it has been too quiet on the MMISoftware blog…. so what has been going on?

Well, there is a lot of news, but unfortunately time is tight so I can only give a quick overview…

Programs: Work is continuing on updating a number of programs (notably PhotoInfoEditor), as well as some of the other products in the MMISoftware stable….

New Programs: There are a couple of new programs in the works, and more will be revealed about these in the coming weeks.

Website work: At MMISoftware we don’t only write programs for the Mac (and soon some other platforms! ), we also do a lot of work with companies helping them to improve their ‘web-presence’ and search engine ranking. We have just completed work for Farr & Roberts, Builders, have carried out a re-write and update of the Court Park Properties website, and we are just about to start work on the Quartz Finance website. In addition to this we have also been working on our own website, although the update is not yet on the server.

And finally, there is a new website project in the works…. which is linked in to the new programs mentioned above. More details to follow…

Sponsorship: One last bit of news – MMISoftware is delighted to be sponsoring two mad souls who are raising money for charity by driving a Morris Minor from London to Mongolia in the 2007 Mongol Rally. For full details of what they are trying to achieve have a look at their website – www.minorproblems.co.uk, and if you have some spare change why not make a donation, or even offer to help the guys out. And, of course, watch this space for further updates on their progress…

Team Minor Problems (Doug, Rob and Jill the Morris Minor) are ready for the London to Mongolia 2007 Mongol Rally

Visit the Minor Problems website to get the full story…

It is great when I get emails from users of PhotoInfoEditor and PhotoGPSEditor. Some emails are bug reports, some are suggestions, some are complaints, some are users complaining the programs are too cheap … anyway, what ever they are please keep them coming.

Recently I have had some great emails:

Michael emailed me with the report of PhotoGPSEditor crashing. This was the new release (version 1.5.3 – read the post) that was causing the problems, and as he sent the ‘crash log’ I could easily locate and solve the problem (took all of 30 minutes) and a new version was posted this evening (version 1.5.4 – read the post). Thanks Michael.

Tony emailed to say how useful he found PhotoInfoEditor and sent in a few suggestions for changes. What was spooky was 75% of the changes he suggested have already been added to the new version of PhotoInfoEditor, which is currently undergoing testing. Again, thanks Tony.

Kim from Korea emailed to report that PhotoGPSEditor would not display DNG images produced by his camera. We have had a long email chat about the problem and he really helped me chase the problem by providing examples of problem DNG files .

As Kim said: “The kids wear Korean traditional clothes and shoes. Shape of Hair means my hometown symbol pine tree.”

First, Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) supports DNG (or so it claims) ‘out of the box’. And indeed it seems to. However, the DNGs Kim sent would not open in Preview, and would not display in PhotoGPSEditor (they reported a formatting error in the debugger). Some digging in the code of PhotoGPSEditor showed that the things really weren’t working as expected. The files were being loaded, but would not translate to an image. Some more work, and a change in the code, and the files Kim had sent (plus some photos from other users), now worked. As a final test I asked Kim for one more example of the type of DNG file his camera produced. And guess what? It wouldn’t load in to PhotoGPSEditor. This was odd… I thought that maybe the file had been damaged ‘in transit’ as Preview also couldn’t open it, but when I tried Photoshop, success! An image! Great! The file was OK, but PhotoGPSEditor didn’t work!

I then tried the file again with PhotoGPSEditor, and it showed a preview image…. odd…. After some ‘experiments’, using an unopened version of the file, I discovered that the act of opening the DNG file in Photoshop, and then closing the file WITHOUT A SAVE ‘fixed’ the photo so it could be displayed by PhotoGPSEditor. How, or why this happens I have no idea!

What was also interesting was that even when PhotoGPSEditor could not display an image from the DNGs, it could still write the meta-data (location information etc.) to the file when it was saved. Therefore, I have now added a ‘feature’ to PhotoGPSEditor that states that the image can’t be viewed, but that the program should still be able to write the meta-data.

If PhotoGPSEditor encounters a file that it can write meta-data to, but can’t display an image, it now states the fact!

These improvements in image handling, and the reporting of ‘problem’ images, will be added to the next version of PhotoInfoEditor.

PhotoInfoEditor and PhotoGPSEditor are freeware programs from MMISoftware – continued development can be supported by making donations (PhotoInfoEditor Donation | PhotoGPSEditor Donation), or purchases at the MMISoftware GPS and camera stores.

Both programs are available for download: