I was using Adobe Bridge for the first time two weeks ago. I decided it would be nice to organize some of my photos by adding Keywords. I was not thinking at the time about the EXIF data, but now I realize that adding the keyword changed the “Date File Modified” in the EXIF data. And one of the photos was my only original for my potential Free Study entry. Did I just screw myself? Does adding a keyword through bridge grounds for DQ if I have a request to submit the original for validation? Thank you in advance for your help!
If it shows the image as having been handled, then yes, it can be DQ'd on that technicality because SC has no way of confirming your original has not been illegally modified.
I guess Canon DPP does not do that, because I had a recent validation and my original RAW that was adjusted in DPP was validated. I think DPP saves the adjustments in a separate file, because I lose those adjustments if I move the file to another folder.
If you didn't "import" it using Adobe Bridge you may be ok.
I recently acquired ACDSee Pro 2.5 and ran a test on it by adding keywords, categorizing and rating a photo. I sent the photo file to SC using Help/Contact and SC looked at the EXIF for me...it was still valid as an original (although I was reminded that it's always a good practice to keep an 'original original' for challenge entries).
You might want to try and get the attention of an SC member now (don't have much time however...).
If there's any software tag or date discrepancy in the EXIF then it can't be considered an "original straight from the camera" for validation purposes. That's why we recommend always copying files using the computer's OS. Personally, I don't erase the images from the card until after I've burned them to CD/DVD.
You might try using file recovery software (see recent threads) to pull the original off the card -- it's possible it's still there if you haven't shot too many images to that card since.
I just submitted the original to SC to confirm whether in will still be considered an original. It may be too late for me to know for the Free Study but I thought it was worth a shot.
But now I am looking at the files and it looks like an additional file was saved *.xmp with what appears to be Adobe Metadata - so I may be in the clear if it only saved the keywords here? I sure hope so!
If there's any software tag or date discrepancy in the EXIF then it can't be considered an "original straight from the camera" for validation purposes. That's why we recommend always copying files using the computer's OS. Personally, I don't erase the images from the card until after I've burned them to CD/DVD.
You might try using file recovery software (see recent threads) to pull the original off the card -- it's possible it's still there if you haven't shot too many images to that card since.
Thank you for your response Paul. I will most definetly back up my originals before doing anything from now on.
I have taken quite a few photos on the same card since, so I don't think I will be able to recover anything.
Originally posted by cpanaioti:
Was it a RAW file or jpg? If it's RAW, the original is not overwritten.
It was RAW. I sure am hoping the original was not overwritten!
If it's RAW, like Colette said, it should be fine. Keywording, etc...only populate the IPTC data of an image file and don't impact EXIF. That's if I understand it correctly (I'm sure it will be pointed out if not). :-)
Open the RAW file in an application where you can display the Image Properties, then look at the date fields. If you just keyworded the date created should match the other date items.
edit to show full image since it's small enough (instead of thumbnail view).
I just got a response from SC and it looks like I am all in the clear. I got lucky on that one. I will make a point to back up my photos before doing ANYTHING from now on! Thank you everyone for your help!
