Changing EXIF data?

Does anyone know if there is a way to change the default metadata for my images? My problem is that all my scanned images use the name of the scanner and the date of the scan for the Camera and Date fields. I would like to override this and include the actual camera and used, and the date the photo was taken.

Thanks,
BrentM

Hmmm not sure but you can change it in processing thru a free program like Reveal
http://albumshaper.sourceforge.net/

Create a metadata template in PS and apply it as a batch to all your newly scanned images in Bridge...if you are ussing PS and bridge that is. If mot there are many other probrams out there that can do it. Lightroom is one.

Hmmm... are you sure that's true? I've seen lots of software out there that lets me edit "user-editable" metadata, like name, copyright info, captions, keywords, etc. But nothing that lets me edit the camera, lens and capture date.

Brent, take a look at ExifTool. It's command line, so if you don't like that type of processing you might want to look at something else.

Craig

I Googled and found a free GUI app that someone's built on top of ExifTool. I've heard from those using ExifTool (geo-tagging), but don't have any experience with the GUI...

Be aware that changing the scanner name to the camera name may alter processing in some applications that are aware of different input devices. It's not often, after all, that your average Nikon F5 outputs a digital file!

It shouldn't be a big deal, more an annoyance as you may need to tweak some settings. It won't be an issue if you're not reading into a program that expects to do some initial image setup based on EXIF data.

ExifTool is the solution I know of, too.

Thank you. I consider myself pretty computer-literate, but ExifTool looked a bit daunting. I mean, really.... who works via command line any more? But the GUI add-on seemed to work great. Now, based on Les's comments, I just need to decide if I really want to go messing around with metadata. I mean, there must be a reason it's so difficult to change this info. Maybe I should just leave well enough alone.

Thanks for the help.

Brent, I think you will be far better served from a meta data standpoint to have the real camera, lens, and exposure details than your scanner info on these images. I can't think of any applications that take this information into account for allow/disallowing post processing commands.

BTW, I'm a Unix administrator and DBA. I use command line daily and hate it when we don't have the option to do so as it limits what you can do in automated scripts.

Craig

You should be okay with going after the metadata, Brent; I can't imagine you'd be getting into a situation where you'll be needing that data after you do your initial processing. It's mostly used by RAW processing programs to determine camera model. I provided the caution just as a "there's an outside chance that...".

I'm with Craig; as a system admin, no command-line can be no fun.