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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

MEcmd, command line editor for real enthusiasts

MEcmd is Windows console application for batch modifying of digital photos metadata (EXIF, IPTC, XMP, etc...). MEcmd utility is installed by default along with MetaEditor.

You can use MEcmd basically for these tasks:
  • for batch modifying of metadata by same template - soap file. (What is soap file?)
  • automatic geotagging your photos by track files from your GPS device, so you will be able to locate place where photo has been taken. Detection process is time-based.
  • wipe out metadata from your photos

MEcmd usage (new syntax from version 1.3.0.0!) :


MEcmd [-PATH=<path_to_file(s)> [-SOAP=<soap_file>|-GPX=<gpx_file>|-CLEAN] -LIST] [switches]


Arguments & switches:



PATH
picture_fileFile path to one JPEG or TIFF file to process.
directoryA full directory path. All JPEG and/or TIFF files under directory will be processed. Directory must be ended by backslash "\" char.
COMMANDS (mandantory)
soap_fileA file, created using MetaEditor before. It contains metadata modification list.
gpx_fileA file(s) from your GPS device. It contains tracks and waypoints log. Used for geotagging your photos. Wildcards are allowed.
-CLEANClean-up metadata from file(s). Only image data will be saved.
-LISTList of all known metadata names.
switches (optional)
-SUBSearch for photos in all subfolders
-TIMEZONE=valueUse custom timezone offset, value is from interval -12 to +14 hours
-FORCEForce update geo-data in photos, regardless of photo file has been already getagged
-TESTRUNDon't make any changes in photos, just simulation
-TIFFCOMP=[NONE | CCITT3 | CCITT4 | LZW | RLE | ZIP]TIFF compression method
-EXCLUDE=<ID list>CLEAN exclude switch. Don't clean-up these tags. ID tag list separated by semicolon (;). See -LIST command.
-VERBOSEShow detailed log after each modification


Examples:



note to modify a single JPG picture with SOAP file, previously created with MetaEditor GUI (how to create soap file?)

MEcmd -path=C:\MyDocuments\Photos\image1.jpg -soap=RemoveArtistInfo.soap


bullet to batch modify all JPG photos in folder C:\MyDocuments\Photos\ by using same soap file

MEcmd -path=C:\MyDocuments\Photos\*.jpg -soap=RemoveArtistInfo.soap


bullet to batch modify all JPG photos in folder C:\MyDocuments\Photos\ and all subfolders by using same soap file

MEcmd -path=C:\MyDocuments\Photos\*.jpg -soap=RemoveArtistInfo.soap -SUB


bullet to geotag all photos in folder C:\MyDocuments\Photos\ by single GPX file located in current folder

MEcmd -path=C:\MyDocuments\Photos\*.jpg -gpx=20100312.gpx


note to geotag all photos in folder C:\MyDocuments\Photos\ by all GPX files starting with "2010" located in another folder C:\MyGPSfiles\

MEcmd -path=C:\MyDocuments\Photos\*.jpg -gpx=C:\MyGPSfiles\2010*.gpx


note using -FORCE and -VERBOSE switch to update photos regardless they have been already geotagged with detailed action log

MEcmd -path=C:\MyDocuments\Photos\*.jpg -gpx=C:\MyGPSfiles\2010*.gpx -FORCE -VERBOSE


note to remove all metadata from all files under C:\MyDocuments\Photos\ directory

MEcmd -path=C:\MyDocuments\Photos\ -clean


note to remove all metadata from all files under C:\MyDocuments\Photos\ directory except EXIF Image.DateTime, Image.Make and Image.Copyright tags

MEcmd -path=C:\MyDocuments\Photos\ -clean -exclude=183;170;203


note to list all metadata's IDs
MEcmd -list


Sample output:


Sample 1: MEcmd basic usage

Sample 2: using -FORCE switch you can overwrite existing geodata in photos

Sample 3: another switch (-VERBOSE) is used to display more detailed log on each tag modification

Sample 4: using -TIMEZONE switch to set time zone at GMT+1, according your GPS device settings

Sample 5: using SOAP file to modify all photos in folder, replacing of UserComment tag










Note: geotagging features are available from MECMD version 1.1.0.0.

8 comments:

  1. Hey Pavel, great job with this cool tool! Like it very much.
    I've just got a problem to run the command line tool in batch because i got to enter y or n for continueing the process. Do you have any clue how i make this run without entering?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Andreas, yes, I have clue - I will update MEcmd tool to support "silent" mode. No problem, check this site later.

      Delete
    2. Update is available for download, MetaEditor's version number is same, there is minor update in MEcmd utility only.

      Delete
    3. Thank you a lot, Pavel! Works great.

      Delete
  2. ahoj,

    lze použít MEcmd na hromadné hloubkové přiřazení metadat ze zdrojové složky na cílovou složku (včetně podsložek)?

    Příklad:
    Mám zdrojovou složku se zmenšeninami fotografií, ve které edituji metadata.
    Tato složka má stejnou stromovou strukturu a názvy souborů jako cílová.
    Mám cílovou složku s originály fotografií.
    Chci vzít metadata ze souborů ve zdrojové složky a přiřadit je souborům v cílové složce.

    díky za info

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zdravím, v nové verzi MetaEditoru je v MEcmd nástroji možnost provádět to, co jste myslel. Prosím o vyzkoušení a informaci, jak to funguje. Beta verze aplikace je ke stažení zde: https://docs.google.com/uc?authuser=0&id=0B3kLPWSiqAedWW4xS3FDMVFwVDg&export=download

      syntaxe je následující:
      mecmd -PATH= -COPYTO= -SUB

      Přepínač -SUB je volitelný, zajišťuje zpracování všech případných podsložek.

      Pavel.

      Delete
    2. nějak se blbě zobrazila ta syntaxe, vypadly složky:

      mecmd -PATH=zdrojova-slozka -COPYTO=cilova-slozka -SUB

      např.

      mecmd -PATH=C:\Obrazky\nahledy -COPYTO=C:\Obrazky\Full -SUB

      Delete
  3. Zdravím, krátce řečeno: nejde. V podstatě by se jednalo o kopírování pouze metadat, jestli tomu dobře rozumím. Jednotlivě to umí "mecommander" ve stylu dar commanderu. Ale ne hromadně, to mě zatím nenapadlo a nikdo s tím nepřišel. No, když se budu hodně nudit :-), tak bych to přidat do aplikace mohl, to by zase nemělo být velký problém.

    ReplyDelete

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