How can I transfer metadata from old scanned DNG/XMP files to newly rescanned DNG files?

Asked 2/14/2022

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2 answers

I previously scanned about 1,000 negatives and saved metadata in DNG/XMP files. I’ve now rescanned the negatives with a new scanner and want to apply the old metadata to the new DNG files. Is there a practical way to copy metadata or edits from the old files to the new ones, ideally in batch?

metadata lightroom exiftool dng xmp

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

4y ago

2 Answers

With exiftool:

exiftool -TagsFromFile srcimage.jpg targetimage.jpg

But your big problem will be to create the correspondence between the old scans and the new. Or did you manage to make them bear the same name in the two sets?

Originally by user75947. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user75947

4y ago

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes—if you can reliably match each new scan to its corresponding old scan. A common command-line option is ExifTool, which can copy metadata from one file to another:

exiftool -TagsFromFile old.dng new.dng

This is practical for batch use, but the key challenge is file correspondence. If the old and new scans have matching filenames or another clear one-to-one mapping, the process is much easier.

If your goal is specifically to transfer editing/develop settings rather than all metadata, Lightroom can also work: place the old and new files together in order, then copy develop settings from the edited file to the matching new file. This can be done quickly with keyboard shortcuts when filenames and sequence align.

So the answer is yes, but success depends mainly on how well you can match each old scan to its new rescan.

How can I transfer metadata from old scanned DNG/XMP files to newly rescanned DNG files?

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