File management

trondk · Jun 7, 2017

Hi
I´m looking for a file browser / file manager that will show WHEN a picture was TAKEN, WITHOUT having to open one and one picture to check exif, putting the pictures into iPhoto or running a bunch of scripts.
Does something like this exist?
I find it appalling that a OS that prides itself on beeing the number one photo/video/graphics platform does not have this by default.

Raz0rEdge · Jun 7, 2017

Welcome to Mac-Forums..

From the terminal

Code:

mdls <image file> | grep kMDItemContentCreationDate

This will show you the creation date of the file. If you have lots of file, it's easy to traverse them and export the data to a CSV file or whatever you want to do with this info.

Professional who use Macs for photo/video work load their content within the apps specific to that task which will give them all that info.

pigoo3 · Jun 7, 2017

trondk said:
I find it appalling that a OS that prides itself on beeing the number one photo/video/graphics platform does not have this by default.

Normally I like to welcome new members with a BIG-Happy "Welcome to Mac-Forums"!

But when someone comes out of the gate saying what was quoted above...I take exception! :Angry:

Instead of immediately blaming the OS...how about first asking a question to see if what you would like to do is already possible...or maybe be a bit more modest or self-deprecating...and admit that you looked but couldn't find the option.

With that being said...I'll point to what is already possible within the Mac OS...and then you can see if this will work for you.

- Open a folder.
- Go to the "View" drop down menu.
- Select "Show View Options".

Here you will see a whole slew of possibilities...including "Date Created":

Screen Shot 2017-06-07 at 12.08.18 PM.png

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. Welcome to Mac-Forums! REALLY.

Raz0rEdge · Jun 7, 2017

Nick, those dates are not when the phone was taken which is stored in the EXIF data but rather when the file was perhaps copied to that machine from the SD card or whatever. I had a picture I downloaded for some testing and the creation date of it is 5/16/2017 (that's the day I downloaded it), but using the mdls command from my post I see that the image was created on 09/10/2014..

Here is the entire output of the mdls command for the image:

_kMDItemOwnerUserID = 501
kMDItemAcquisitionMake = "Phase One"
kMDItemAcquisitionModel = "IQ180"
kMDItemAperture = 6.918899858956276
kMDItemBitsPerSample = 32
kMDItemColorSpace = "RGB"
kMDItemContentCreationDate = 2014-09-10 22:47:51 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate = 2014-09-10 22:47:51 +0000
kMDItemContentType = "public.jpeg"
kMDItemContentTypeTree = (
"public.jpeg",
"public.item",
"public.data",
"public.image",
"public.jpeg",
"public.content"
)
kMDItemCreator = "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh)"
kMDItemDateAdded = 2017-05-16 18:42:12 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName = "2016-Porsche-Boxster-Spyder-01.jpg"
kMDItemEXIFVersion = "2.2"
kMDItemExposureProgram = 0
kMDItemExposureTimeSeconds = 4
kMDItemFNumber = 11
kMDItemFocalLength = 35
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate = 2017-05-16 18:42:12 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate = 2017-05-16 18:42:00 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel = 0
kMDItemFSName = "2016-Porsche-Boxster-Spyder-01.jpg"
kMDItemFSNodeCount = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID = 20
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID = 501
kMDItemFSSize = 1308468
kMDItemFSTypeCode = ""
kMDItemHasAlphaChannel = 0
kMDItemISOSpeed = 50
kMDItemKind = "JPEG image"
kMDItemLogicalSize = 1308468
kMDItemOrientation = 1
kMDItemPhysicalSize = 1310720
kMDItemPixelCount = 9259200
kMDItemPixelHeight = 3600
kMDItemPixelWidth = 2572
kMDItemProfileName = "Adobe RGB (1998)"
kMDItemResolutionHeightDPI = 305
kMDItemResolutionWidthDPI = 305
kMDItemUserModifiedDate = (
"2017-05-16 18:42:12 +0000"
)
kMDItemUserModifiedUserHandle = (
501
)
kMDItemWhereFroms = (
"http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2016-Porsche-Boxster-Spyder-01.jpg",
"http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2016-Porsche-Boxster-Spyder-01.jpg"
)
kMDItemWhiteBalance = 0

pigoo3 · Jun 7, 2017

Raz0rEdge said:
Nick, those dates are not when the phone was taken which is stored in the EXIF data but rather when the file was perhaps copied to that machine from the SD card or whatever. I had a picture I downloaded for some testing and the creation date of it is 5/16/2017 (that's the day I downloaded it), but using the mdls command from my post I see that the image was created on 09/10/2014..

Thanks for mentioning that Ashwin.

Yes I am familiar with the EXIF data (the "burned in" unalterable info in every photo). Was hoping the built-in OS option I mentioned above would be helpful to some degree for the OP.

Especially if someone transfers photos from an iPad, iPhone, digital camera, etc. to their computer relatively close to the date that the photo was taken.

Of course the example you gave is a perfect situation of how this built-in OS feature would not be very helpful for older photos transferred more recently. The Terminal command you gave would work.

Trying to help the OP as much as possible...without spending any cash.

- Nick

trondk · Jun 7, 2017

Pigoo3 and Raz0rEdge, thanks for the input so far!
And as a reply to Pigoo3`s comment on my somewhat harsh opening, it is a result of many google searches, differet apps tried and so on without a, for me, workable solution.
I want a view, where I easily can sort the folder content by the date the picture is taken and not when it was copied to my Mac.
As far as I can understand this is simply not possible.
Finder confuses date taken with when it first saw the file, and scripting the info out to a csv does not give the ease of use I´m looking for.
As for spending cash I´m now so desperat that I would give my left leg to find something useful.
Oh, and thanks for the welcome. I should have started with a Hi here I am post, but just found this forum and went "all in" at once in the hope someone had a tip

Sorry about that!

pigoo3 · Jun 7, 2017

trondk said:
Oh, and thanks for the welcome. I should have started with a Hi here I am post, but just found this forum and went "all in" at once in the hope someone had a tip Sorry about that!

It's all good.

I can understand your frustration. I will do some searching as well...see what I can find.

I know that we have some very dedicated photography members at Mac-Forums...and hopefully they will chime in with a solution/recommendation!

- Nick

p.s. If no one comes up with an app related solution to the issue. I'll be the first one standing in line behind you to support what you mentioned in post #1!!!

p.p.s. And there is the solution Raz0rEdge mentioned in post #2.

p.p.p.s. Moved thread to better location.

trondk · Jun 7, 2017

Again, thanks for all you help despite my initial tantrum

Raz0rEdge · Jun 7, 2017

Thank you for explaining what it is you are trying to do..

Finder does not do what you want, so you might want to give Path Finder a shot. It's available as a 30 day free trial and might have the sort of by image creation support in it since it was asked for last year and a feature request went to the developers.

trondk · Jun 7, 2017

I`ll give Path Finder another look.

I used it shortly after moving to OS-X but it had no support back then.

trondk · Jun 7, 2017

No dice! The hunt is still on $:\$

Raz0rEdge · Jun 7, 2017

I just played with it and while it easily shows the EXIF data of images, it isn't a sortable thing..so not quite what you want..

Unfortunately, most suggestions related to this are on how to do it within Photos..

trondk · Jun 7, 2017

Raz0rEdge said:
Unfortunately, most suggestions related to this are on how to do it within Photos..

Yeah, however I do not like the idea of putting all my pics in a DB. I like my folder structure

Also it is a requirement as there are some Windows PCs in the house

katpm · Apr 15, 2018

I'm not very good at this and macs confuse me a lot. I really too would like to know the actual date a picture was taken not when it was transferred from my apple device. How do you do the mdls command? Our IMac is running OS X Yosemite. We tried to upgrade and since the computer is so old really slowed everything down too much. We have the computer partitioned off so a part of the hard drive runs windows. I always go tooth side to transfer and date my pictures however once again my portable hard drive is not working on that side for some reason (I am smart enough to have 2, one as back up) but will have to transfer everything on it once again after wiping it out and reformatting. We used exFAT and it worked good for a while. Husband hates windows but I really like to see the date my pictures were taken not when I transferred them. Thanks so much for your help

badshoehabit · Apr 15, 2018

You won't like the suggestion but Mac Photos has an inbuilt system which shows when (and where) a photo was taken. It's called 'Moments'.

pm-r · Apr 15, 2018

trondk said:
No dice! The hunt is still on $:\$

Have you looked at this??? And it's completely free and part of the Mac OS X you already use and own!!! : ;D
Find photos by text, content, or date
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/photos/find-photos-by-text-content-or-date-pht64de33e5a/mac

And maybe some of the links if needed.

- Patrick
======

Slydude · Apr 15, 2018

Give this article a quick read. There's a link to a program called EXIF Viewer which might do what you need.

pm-r · Apr 15, 2018

Slydude said:
Give this article a quick read. There's a link to a program called EXIF Viewer which might do what you need.

I dare say Sly that app is getting a bit long in the tooth but there are lots of later ones that do similar things available here:
Apps found for “EXIF Viewer”…
https://www.macupdate.com/find/mac/EXIF Viewer

- Patrick
======

Slydude · Apr 15, 2018

You're right again.That's what happens when I try to solve problems using quick searches.

New rule for me: If forum regulars, hereafter referred to as the brain trust, haven't found the answer by now I probably won't find it.

pm-r · Apr 16, 2018

@Slydude

Slydude said:
You're right again.That's what happens when I try to solve problems using quick searches.

New rule for me: If forum regulars, hereafter referred to as the brain trust, haven't found the answer by now I probably won't find it.

Hey, don't knock your discovery talents Sly, just because an app is old doesn't really mean that it's not any good. But the lack of any update may indicate it's not keeping up with things. And not all application places list older software so one has to discover them from other old sources.

BTW: I don't know if any of them will suit the OP in this case for what they are wanting.

PS: I notice you're still up and typing it seems when I'm heading to bed and you're two hours ahead of me.
Anyway, it's just over a year ago that I came home from hospital after a three and a half week stay and a few complications added to the original situation. Still not perfect by a long shot but at least I can still use my Macs etc. :Blushing:

- Patrick
======

File management

trondk

Raz0rEdge

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pigoo3

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Raz0rEdge

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pigoo3

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trondk

pigoo3

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trondk

Raz0rEdge

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trondk

trondk

Raz0rEdge

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trondk

katpm

badshoehabit

pm-r

Slydude

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pm-r

Slydude

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pm-r

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