NEW EXIF Data and How to Find It

[docsimsim]

I was surprised as I go email back from the developer...
In about two weeks it will have full resolution support as well as being able to get rid of ads. I don't know (he never mentioned) if it will be in-app purchase or a separate app. I will see if he is willing to join us here on MobiTog!

I dislike apps that don't save at full resolution, be it an editing app or a camera app. I want as high a resolution as I can because if I choose to print the picture I can print it larger if I want. I do have some that save at lower resolution but unless it is something unique and I can' together some other way I normally don't keep them. I have sent email to more then a few of the developers but it is pretty rare that they bother responding. In some cases apps are aimed at Instagram and so have resolutions of 640x640 or so but if you print they look really poor.

Some apps have settings so if you are sending to IG then it sends a smaller image. Some people don't mind smaller images but I prefer larger. More opportunity for cropping and still maintaining half decent picture quality. Some may have the size in system prefs as opposed to in the app itself. This app has neither in-app or system prefs.

Stupid question but where do I find out what resolution each app has? I haven't so far printed anything but just save photos to my camera roll. So is 640x640 the optimum resolution if one wishes to print?

 

[Lzed]

Stupid question but where do I find out what resolution each app has? I haven't so far printed anything but just save photos to my camera roll. So is 640x640 the optimum resolution if one wishes to print?

I use this link a lot. It will come up with a search box and you type in the name of the app and it tells you what os it requires save resolution etc.
http://lifeinlofi.com/more/ios-iphone-photo-app-compatibility-grid/

I use a iPad 3 and biggest file size is 5 megapixel and images are saved at 2592x1936. Your iPhone is more then likely 8 megapixel so the images would 3264x2448. Some apps like Hipstamatic are 1:1 ratio or square pics so max for them would be 2448x2448 on a iPhone 8 megapixel, on the iPad they are 1936x1936. There are some apps that will actually give you larger image sizes, for example I have an app LemeCam Pro which on my iPad will export to 12mp or 3500x3500.

Most printers print at around 300 dots/inch so a 640x640 would print at just over 2"square so your 8mp iPhones full size images can print ap around 8x10" without the app that is doing the printing up scaling to get the picture size you want.

In resolution the bottom line is bigger (more pixels) is better.

 

[docsimsim]

I use this link a lot. It will come up with a search box and you type in the name of the app and it tells you what os it requires save resolution etc.
http://lifeinlofi.com/more/ios-iphone-photo-app-compatibility-grid/

I use a iPad 3 and biggest file size is 5 megapixel and images are saved at 2592x1936. Your iPhone is more then likely 8 megapixel so the images would 3264x2448. Some apps like Hipstamatic are 1:1 ratio or square pics so max for them would be 2448x2448 on a iPhone 8 megapixel, on the iPad they are 1936x1936. There are some apps that will actually give you larger image sizes, for example I have an app LemeCam Pro which on my iPad will export to 12mp or 3500x3500.

Most printers print at around 300 dots/inch so a 640x640 would print at just over 2"square so your 8mp iPhones full size images can print ap around 8x10" without the app that is doing the printing up scaling to get the picture size you want.

In resolution the bottom line is bigger (more pixels) is better.

Thanx Larry, just now by accident I managed to open this page on an app I use called PhotoWizard and it has something called 'Export resolution' and there's a choice of ticking numbers ranging from 720 to 2048 and there's one column which says max. Is that what you mean? Export resolution is for saving into Camera roll? Or printing or both? Also has 'share resolution' seperately

 

[Lzed]

Yes

Thanx Larry, just now by accident I manged to open this page on an app I use called PhotoWizard and it has something called 'Export resolution' and there's a choice of ticking numbers ranging from 720 to 2048 and there's one column which says max. Is that what you mean? Export resolution is for saving into Camera roll? Or printing or both? Also has 'share resolution' seperately

if there is a setting for max I would have it set on that. One of the first things I try with any app I download is first to see if there are settings for image size or if I can't find anything I will take a picture and save it then check how big it is. I have teen using and beta testing an app called PhotoSpector, it's free and will give you all kinds of info. You can also add tags (think of them as snippets of information). I tag images that don't have exif data themselves, then I can search for a tag. PhotoSpector does not copy the image from cameraroll (other tagging apps do copy) just makes a thumbnail and info is attached to the thumbnail.

 

[docsimsim]

Yes

if there is a setting for max I would have it set on that. One of the first things I try with any app I download is first to see if there are settings for image size or if I can't find anything I will take a picture and save it then check how big it is. I have teen using and beta testing an app called PhotoSpector, it's free and will give you all kinds of info. You can also add tags (think of them as snippets of information). I tag images that don't have exif data themselves, then I can search for a tag. PhotoSpector does not copy the image from cameraroll (other tagging apps do copy) just makes a thumbnail and info is attached to the thumbnail.

Thanx Larry, I can't find an app called PhotoSpector, maybe it's had a name change? And what is metadata (includes geotag and something else I can't remember now)?

 

[Darren@RI]

Thanx Larry, I can't find an app called PhotoSpector, maybe it's had a name change? And what is metadata (includes geotag and something else I can't remember now)?

Photospector is an iPad only app, so wouldn't show up in the iPhone App Store.

Metadata is "data about the data", or in this case information about the picture. There is a huge amount of information embedded inside a JPEG file about how it was created and where. There are many free "EXIF Viewer" apps on the App Store that will the metadata

 

[docsimsim]

Photospector is an iPad only app, so wouldn't show up in the iPhone App Store.

Metadata is "data about the data", or in this case information about the picture. There is a huge amount of information embedded inside a JPEG file about how it was created and where. There are many free "EXIF Viewer" apps on the App Store that will the metadata

Yes I saw a few when i looked now? And one called EXIF viewer! Any suggestions which to choose?

 

[Darren@RI]

Yes I saw a few when i looked now? And one called EXIF viewer! Any suggestions which to choose?

I use this one on iPhone/iPod : https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photo-exif-viewer/id615379138?mt=8

 

[Lzed]

Yes I saw a few when i looked now? And one called EXIF viewer! Any suggestions which to choose?

One thing to remember with any exif viewer....
The fields for X+Y resolution or DPI Height and Width do not mean anything. They are an arbitrary number that the developer adds, most use 72 but I have seen 300 etc. to fill in those fields.
PixelWidth and Height are what you are interested in.
Some sites and apps when you load an image will clear existing exif data but some images tell you what app it was taken with, Hipstamatic images for example show the Lens, Film, Flash what version of Hipstamatic etc in exif which is nice

 

[docsimsim]

One thing to remember with any exif viewer....
The fields for X+Y resolution or DPI Height and Width do not mean anything. They are an arbitrary number that the developer adds, most use 72 but I have seen 300 etc. to fill in those fields.
PixelWidth and Height are what you are interested in.
Some sites and apps when you load an image will clear existing exif data but some images tell you what app it was taken with, Hipstamatic images for example show the Lens, Film, Flash what version of Hipstamatic etc in exif which is nice

To be honest I would not know what Pixlwidth and height I should be looking for and where to look for it. Yes Hipstamatic tells you what lense, film and flash one has used which is great info but it doesn't tell you anything else, right?

 

[Lzed]

Ex

To be honest I would not know what Pixlwidth and height I should be looking for and where to look for it. Yes Hipstamatic tells you what lense, film and flash one has used which is great info but it doesn't tell you anything else, right?

if can be searched, using PhotoSpector I can find for example any Hipsta picture taken with a superficial lens or film, or I can see every picture taken with vividHDR that is in the cameraroll or Pro HDR, true HDR etc. there are other apps for tagging or searching exif data like PhotoShack. It is similar to PhotoSpector but they do have a iPhone version, if I recall right I paid $3.99 for it, they have 3 versions for iPad from 4.99-14.99 but to get similar features in the iPhone version I would have to use the most expensive iPad version. Again you can search by pretty much anything you want. Exif data with the image transfers to the desktop where there are also apps for searching/viewing exif. iPhoto on the desktop shows exif data as does others.

Yes the in-app info in Hipsta is basically the time, date, and lens, film, flash and does not include for example the image size. In Hipsta the switch on the left side of the lens lets you save image in different sizes, lowest setting on mine is 640x640, middle setting is 1200x1200 and highest setting (switch is at top) is 1936x1936 on the iPad and 2400x2400 or so on the iPhone.

 

[Lzed]

Thanks @RoseCat for moving this to it's own thread, was going to ask but you beat me to it

 

[RoseCat]

Thanks @RoseCat for moving this to it's own thread, was going to ask but you beat me to it

You're very welcome!

 

[Venomator]

@docsimsim & @Lzed - Superb discussion guys, thanks for asking Simin and thank you Larry for clearing up some of the nuances and hidden secrets of EXIF...

 

[Lzed]

Was watching some videos/tutorials last night on the app Photogene and the fellow there made it even simpler for people to understand.

If you open any song in iTunes it tells you the name of the track. If you select a track and then info it tells you the author, date, album, track number etc. this is basically meta data for music and is pretty standard industry wide, the meta data for photography is also industry wide and along the same idea only has information about the image like the lens, f-stop, shutter speed etc or the size in pixels, format, aspect ratio, ego location etc.

Apps like PhotoSpector or Photo Shack will let you add or edit the meta data. Both of these apps do not copy your image from cameraroll but create a thumbnail which references the original image in photoroll and tags or other edits to the meta data are on the thumbnail. Other apps like Photo Manager Pro copy your image from photoroll and any tags or other edits to the meta data are attached to the copy. In both cases if you export your image from these apps the changes for the meta data goes along with the picture. If you export from photoroll it will not have that changed data.

The reason we have the two types of apps that allow you to add tags or other meta data is because Apple will not allow other apps to alter the meta data of any image in photoroll.

If you want to watch the video go here, it runs about 3-1/2 minutes but he explains it really well

The video is specific to Photogene, other apps will edit in different manners

 

[Carolyn Hall Young]

Was watching some videos/tutorials last night on the app Photogene and the fellow there made it even simpler for people to understand.

If you open any song in iTunes it tells you the name of the track. If you select a track and then info it tells you the author, date, album, track number etc. this is basically meta data for music and is pretty standard industry wide, the meta data for photography is also industry wide and along the same idea only has information about the image like the lens, f-stop, shutter speed etc or the size in pixels, format, aspect ratio, ego location etc.

Apps like PhotoSpector or Photo Shack will let you add or edit the meta data. Both of these apps do not copy your image from cameraroll but create a thumbnail which references the original image in photoroll and tags or other edits to the meta data are on the thumbnail. Other apps like Photo Manager Pro copy your image from photoroll and any tags or other edits to the meta data are attached to the copy. In both cases if you export your image from these apps the changes for the meta data goes along with the picture. If you export from photoroll it will not have that changed data.

The reason we have the two types of apps that allow you to add tags or other meta data is because Apple will not allow other apps to alter the meta data of any image in photoroll.

If you want to watch the video go here, it runs about 3-1/2 minutes but he explains it really well

The video is specific to Photogene, other apps will edit in different manners

Thanks for this, Larry!