Any image editing software from Canon for MAC system?

[kakoli]

Canon gives Zoombrowser for Windows. I was using it for light editing and adding comments to jpg images.

What is the equivalent tool for MAC? I am on Mac BigSur 11.5

[johnrmoyer]

I have a newer version of macOS, but on my iMac, I use Canon DPP sofware, Canon EOS utility, exiftool, and a GraphicsMagick built from source using macPorts. The photos.app that comes with macOS works well. The image capture app that comes with macOS works well.

The manual for Canon DPP is at https://cam.start.canon/en/S002/manual/html/index.html and the software may be downloaded from the support page for your camera.

Exiftool is a command line program and is available free at https://exiftool.org/ 

Gimp is available at https://www.gimp.org/downloads/  and is free software

photos getting started guide is at https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/get-started-pht23b129fed/8.0/mac/13.0

https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/add-titles-captions-and-more-phta4e5a733f/6.0/mac/11.0 for Big Sur

The comment field for JPEG has been standardized as "description". https://exiftool.org/TagNames/MWG.html has the standard meta data tag names.

[kakoli]

I was not keen into command-line tools and wanted something from Canon which simple to use.

I did download Canon DPP. One issue that I have is adding 'comments' in the jpg images which are like properties/metadata in the file. They do not appear in the photo, but appears while opening the file in ZoomBrowser and is useful for internal consumption(to get some context of the photo). Now this may be a bit dated functionality.

Since I am very much used to it, is there any equivalent feature in DPP. 

[p4pictures]

Unfortunately DPP is distinctly lacking in the ability to add to the metadata in the form of keywords,  descriptions or captions. I have been able to do this with the standard Apple Photos app that comes with the mac, but this does then mean you need to import the images in to Photos.

[johnrmoyer]

I found ImageBrowser EX for Mac OS X at  https://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer/products/cameras/powershot/a-series/powershot-a710-is.... 

I do not know if ten year old software will run on a modern macOS. It will not install on my iMac.

The Photos.app that comes with macOS will edit your photos.

[kakoli]

Thanks for your response. ImageBrowser does not install on my Mac, and trying a 10 year old software without updates is not a good approach.

But my question was different. I am trying Canon Digital Photo Prof.4. One feature that is missing in DPP is adding 'comments' in the jpg images which are like properties/metadata in the file. Is there a way to add 'comments' to jpg photos in DPP? If DPP does not support it, any other recommended tool which supports comments?

For anyone unused to Comments - They do not appear in the photo, but come up in the properties section of the jpg file. It is useful for internal consumption(to get some context of the photo). 

[johnrmoyer]

I agree that it would be good if DPP would enable one to put text in the "EXIF:ImageDescription" or "IPTC:Caption-Abstract" or "XMP-dc:Description" or "CurrentIPTCDigest" or "IPTCDigest" or even better yet follow the Metadata Working group guidelines and let the user enter a "description" which would update all of those. "Usercomment" is standard, but not supported by most software. If by "comment", you refer to the ancient superceded JPEG comment field, then I disagree because it should no longer be used by any software.

https://exiftool.org/forum/index.php?msg=67388 

Comment is the very old jpeg COM block. It dates back to the beginning of the jpeg format and is not part of any other standard. It is very fragile, as some programs will overwrite it to place the name of the program. For example, Photoshop used to write "File written by Adobe Photoshop" there, overwriting anything that used to be there. IMO, using it should avoided.

UserComment is part of the EXIF standard. Very few programs use it and it's very unlikely to be overwritten. It's usually set manually through the camera at the time the image is take. At least that's the case on my old Nikon. Not many programs read it, though.

Some Canon cameras can set some of the IPTC metadata and some of the XMP metadata which are more modern standards. And, Canon EOS Utility can write text into a few of the IPTC fields in the camera.   It would be good if Canon DPP software had better support for these standards.

I have read that Adobe bridge is free to download and can edit the metadata, but I have not used it.

Usually Canon is very good at supporting standards and the committees that create the standards.

https://exiftool.org/TagNames/MWG.html has a table listing what the Metadata Working Group says should be used. A draft of the standard is at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180919181934/http://www.metadataworkinggroup.org/pdf/mwg_guidance.pdf  

Open source programs using libexiv2 are able to edit the metadata. Exiftool is able to edit the metadata from a command line, so examples of how to do it exist and standards exist. DPP should include at least the option to edit the IPTC metadata.

Canon DPP is updated more frequently than the firmware for old cameras. Canon DPP would be a good place to put this feature.

[kakoli]

The 'Comment' in jpg files that I was referring to is shown in the picture below.

 

[kakoli]

In DPP, none of the Exif/XMP fields looks editable. Really incredible that they have overlooked this simple feature.

By adding comment in cmd line tool Exiftool, does the comment show up in DPP?

[johnrmoyer · Accepted solution]

Some of my image processing workflow is because I am very old and set in my ways. So, it might not be good for others. For example, I still use ksh as my login shell on macOS because I have been using it on Unix and Linux since 1987.

I usually use Canon DPP on my iMac, but sometimes rawtherapee on my Debian Linux machine.

After processing the raw file, if I plan to edit the image in another program, I will save it as a 16 bit TIFF, else I will save it from Canon DPP as a JPG at quality 10 and sometimes also at quality 8 or 9 to get a smaller file. I save a dr4 recipe file from Canon DPP and can use exiftool to read the dr4 file later and see what edits I have done.

Then I will use exiftool to add a description and some other metadata to any JPG, TIF, or HIF files I have created. I also add copyright and location information. I copy the makernotes from the CR3 file because Canon DPP does not copy all of the makernotes.

exiftool -imagesize -datetimeoriginal -description IMG_0404c*.[JTH]?? 
exiftool -"description=Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on June 15, 2024" IMG_0404c*.[JTH]?? 
exiftool -sep ", " -"keywords=bird, cardinal, Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, wildlife, wildlife photography, Oklahoma, photography" IMG_0404c*.[JTH]?? 
exiftool -Xmp:LicensorURL='https://www.rsok.com/copyright.html' -Xmp:LocationShownProvinceState='Oklahoma' -Xmp:LocationShownCountryName='United States' -State='Oklahoma' -Xmp:LocationShownCity='Norman' -Country='United States' -City='Norman' -copyrightnotice='Copyright John Moyer, all rights reserved.'  -copyright='Copyright John Moyer, all rights reserved.' IMG_0404c*.[JTH]?? 
exiftool -tagsfromfile /Volumes/EOS_DIGITAL/DCIM/100CANON/IMG_0404.CR3 -makernotes IMG_0404c*.[JTH]??

Then on my Debian machine I use a graphicsmagick command line to resize the image smaller and add a frame with a caption and then put it on my web server https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2024Jun17_birds_and_cats/2024jun15_cardinal_IMG_0404c.html 

On your mac, "exiftool -description -datetimeoriginal *.jpg" will print to the terminal for each jpg file the description and the time the photo was made if the camera recorded the time correctly.