Why doesn’t darktable update the displayed capture time after I edit EXIF DateTime fields?
Asked 4/29/2016
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I corrected the date/time metadata in some Nikon .NEF files with exiv2 by changing fields such as Exif.Image.DateTime and Exif.Photo.DateTimeOriginal, but darktable’s lighttable still shows the old capture time in Image Information. Where does darktable read this timestamp from, and how can I make it use the corrected time without losing my edits?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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Because darktable stores this info in its own database on initial import, you will have to force it to re-read the info from the altered files. The sure-fire way to do this is to remove the files within darktable and re-import them.
In the case where you have image edits that you don't want to lose, you'll need to create .xmp sidecar files for the image files (if you don't have this enabled by default in settings), then remove the images from within darktable, perform the datetime change on the .xmp files, then re-import the files into darktable. You can find discussions about various specific cases related to this on the mailing list (example).
Also note that you can offset the datetime info for the image directly in darktable's database using the time offset function of the geotagging module, rather than editing your RAW files (some people claim that you shouldn't perform exif edits on RAW files, I can't speak to that).
Originally by user37649. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37649
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
darktable usually reads and stores image metadata in its own database when the file is first imported, so changing EXIF in the original file later does not automatically update the time shown in lighttable.
To make darktable use the corrected timestamp, the most reliable method is to remove the images from darktable and re-import them so it re-reads metadata from the files. If you already have edits, first make sure your edits are written to XMP sidecars, then re-import so those edits can be preserved.
Another option reported to work in darktable 3 is editing the DateTimeOriginal value in the XMP sidecar file, then restarting darktable. It should prompt you to update the database from the XMP.
Also note that with some Nikon NEF files, exiv2 may not actually update the DateTimeOriginal value in the way darktable expects, even if it appears changed. In that case, editing the XMP sidecar or using darktable’s own time-offset/geotagging tools can be more effective.
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