Editing Variable Text

Variable text is mainly useful when batch-assigning information to EXIF.

Advanced users can make use of it when batch-renaming photos as well. However, to do so, they must first activate this feature, by entering the “ * ” (asterisk) character as the first character in the Filename field.

Meanings for the Individual Fields:

Field Meaning
{II} Picture’s place in a series – e.g. “Picture X out of Y”
{IC} Total picture count in series; can only be used in file lists and slideshows
{PAGE} The number of the page on which the picture will be printed
{PAGES} Total number of pages
{TIME} Current time (e.g. at the start of generating a gallery)
{DATE} Current date
{NAMEEXT} Filename with extension
{NAME} Filename without extension
{EXT} File extension
{PATH} Path to file
{FS} File size
{TC} or {PT} Created (Picture taken)
{TM} or {TA} Last changed (Last opened)
{W} Width
{H} Height
{BPP} Bits per pixel
{IS} Data size
{C} Compression
{CM} Color model
{DPI} DPI
{A} Author
{T} Title
{K} Keywords
{D} Description
{AUD} Audio Note
{FLASH} Flash
{ET} Exposure length
{F} Shutter
{FL} Focal length
{ISO} ISO
{CAM_MAXAPERTURE} Maximum aperture
{CAM_FOCALLENGTH35MM} Focal length (EQ 35mm)
{CAM_DIGITALZOOM} Digital zoom
{CAM_EXPOSITIONADJUSTMENT} Exposure balancing
{CAM_EXPOSUREMETERINGMODE} Exposure measuring mode
{CAM_EXPOSUREMODE} Exposure mode
{CAM_WHITEBALANCE} White balance
{CAM_MODEPSMA} Exposure program
{CAM_ORIENTATION} Camera orientation
{CAM_SHARPNESS} Sharpen
{CAM_CONTRAST} Contrast
{CAM_SATURATION} Saturation
{CAM_GAINCONTROL} Gain control
{CAM_PHOTOENHANCEMENT} Picture Enhancement
{CAM_SCENECAPTURETYPE} Type of captured scene
{CAM_LIGHTSOURCE} Light source
{CAM_FLASHDETAILED} Flash, detailed
{CAM_LENSNAME} Lens used
{CAM_FOCUSMODE} Focusing mode (that is, automatic or manual)
{CAM_FLASHENERGY} Flash energy
{CAM_FLASHBIAS} Bias (balance) of flash
{CAM_SCENETYPE} Scene type
{CAM_SUBJECTDISTANCE} Distance to subject
{CAM_SUBJECTDISTANCERANGE} Distance mode (macro, etc.)
{CAM_COLORPROFILE} Name of picture’s color profile (if present)
{CAM_CAMHWMAKER} Camera manufacturer
{CAM_CAMHWMODEL} Camera model
{CAM_CAMERASW} Software
{CAM_FIRMWARE} Firmware version
{CAM_CAMERASERIALNUMBER} Camera’s serial number
{CAM_CAMERAOWNER} Camera owner
{CAM_LONGITUDE} Longitude
{CAM_LATITUDE} Latitude
{CAM_ALTITUDE} Altitude
{IMG_PICTURERATING} Picture ratings
{IMG_ISSIGNED} Picture has a digital signature – yes/no
{IMG_HASCAMERADATA} Picture has picture information regarding camera settings – yes/no
{IMG_HASTEXTDATA} Picture has text picture information – yes/no
{IMG_COLORSPACE} Color space (sRGB etc.)
{IMG_QUALITY} JPEG compression quality for original of picture
{IMG_COPYRIGHTEDITOR} Editor copyright
{IMG_COPYRIGHTPHOTOGRAPH} Photographer’s copyright
{IMG_CATEGORY} Category
{IMG_SUPCAT} Supplementary category
{IMG_CAPTIONWRITER} Author of picture’s description
{IMG_AUTHORPOSITION} Author’s position
{IMG_CITY} City
{IMG_STATE} State/Province
{IMG_COUNTRY} Country
{IMG_COUNTRYCODE} Country code
{IMG_LOCATION} Position
{IMG_CREDIT} Credits
{IMG_PHOTOSOURCE} Source
{IMG_HEADLINE} Header
{IMG_SPECIALINSTRUCTIONS} Instructions
{IMG_TRANSREF} Link to origin
{IMG_URGENCY} Urgency
{IMG_LABEL} Labels
{IMG_PICTURERATING} Rating
{USRF#xx} The contents of custom information field #xx

Web Galleries Only

{GPSLINK} By default, this is a link to a web map

Only during filtering of the Catalog view

{RT_SEARCH_RANK} Number of times search text appears in file
{RT_SEARCH_GPSDISTANCE} Distance from GPS coordinates sought

If the #S modifier is in a field and that field is not the last one, then a text separator will automatically be written after the text. Normally this is a comma and a space: “, ” For example, for a photo with the title “Photo,” the code {NAME#S}{D} will be translated into “Photo, description” if the photo has a description, or just “Photo” with no separator otherwise. To use a different separator than the standard one, you can define your own using e.g. {NAME#S:”; “}

Most fields have predefined field descriptors, e.g. {NAME} “Name: ” etc. You can include these descriptions automatically, by adding #P at the end of a code. For example, {NAME#P} is expanded into “Name: Photo.jpg.” You can use such descriptions without worries even for codes that may not give any output, because if there is no output for a code for a given picture, no description will be shown either.

If the predefined description does not meet your needs, you can define your own. To do so, use the technique illustrated below: {NAME#P:”My name: „}.

Other ways to extend fields

Modifying the size indication for the {FS} and {IS} fields
{FS} automatically
{FS#FM:A} automatically
{FS#FM:B} bytes
{FS#FM:K} kilobytes
{FS#FM:M} megabytes
{FS#FM:G} gigabytes
{FS#FM:A-} automatically (without units)
{FS#FM:B-} bytes (without units)
{FS#FM:K-} kilobytes (without units)
{FS#FM:M-} megabytes (without units)
{FS#FM:G-} gigabytes (without units)
Modifying the internal separator for {IID_KEYWORDS}
{K#IS:”;”} custom internal separator (default is “,”)
Default value
{TC#DV:”Unknown”} “Unknown” value to show if the selected field cannot be used
{TC#DV} „?“
Modifying character case
{NAME} unchanged (standard behavior)
{NAME#C:U} force uppercase
{NAME#C:L} force lowercase
{NAME#C:C} make first letter in each word uppercase, make the rest lowercase
Suppress the actual code output
{???#DO} suppresses the writing of the code output itself. Just the name of the field is used instead. For example: {NAME#DO#P} “Name:”
{???#DO:ONLYIFVALID} only gives output when the given code is valid for the given file

Time and date formatting

{TC#F:S} short date format (e.g. 9/30/2008 1:45 AM for the United States)
{TC#F:L} long date format (e.g. Tuesday, September 30, 2008 10:29:29 AM for the United States)
{TC#FD:S/L} date only (short/long)
{TC#FT:S/L} time only (short/long)
{TC#FT:”time format”}
h Hour without leading zero, 12-hour cycle
hh Hour with leading zero, 12-hour cycle
H Hour without leading zero, 24-hour cycle
HH Hour with leading zero, 24-hour cycle
m Minutes with no leading zero
mm Minutes with leading zero
s Seconds with no leading zero
ss Seconds with leading zero
t Single-character a.m./p.m. indicater – A/P
tt Multi-character a.m./p.m. indicator – AM/PM
{TC#FD:”date format”}
d Day of the month, with no leading zero
dd Day of the month, with leading zero
ddd Three-character day-of-week indicator
dddd Full name of day of the week
M Month number, with no leading zero
MM Month number, with leading zero
MMM Month as a three-character shortcut
MMMM Full name of month
y Year as last two digits, with no leading zero
yy Year as last two digits, with leading zero
yyyy Year as all 4 digits
All month names, day names, and other language-independent texts are replaced based on your regional and language options in the Windows control panel.
Examples of use:
Variable text: {TC#FD:”ddd’,’ MMM dd yy”#S:”; “}{TC#FT:”hh’:’mm’:’ss tt”}
result: Tue, Sep 30 08; 10:29:29 AM

Formatting GPS coordinates

{CAM_LONGITUDE} Degrees° Minutes’ Seconds” Direction (49° 33′ 30″ S)
{CAM_LONGITUDE#F:N} same as CAM_LONGITUDE, but with no parameters
{CAM_LONGITUDE#F:S} Degrees° Minutes’ Seconds” Direction, with decimal precision (49.00° 33.00′ 30.00″ E)
{CAM_LONGITUDE#F:M} Degrees° Minutes’, with decimal precision (+49° 33.500′)
{CAM_LONGITUDE#F:D} Degrees as a floating-point number (e.g. 49.5583333)

 

When you are preparing Web galleries, you can also specify which files should be used when the program is “mining” the data to use in the codes. This can be useful with, for example, date information: wanting to publish the time when a picture reached the gallery is different than wanting to publish the time when the picture file reached your gallery. If the variable text codes are written in uppercase letters, the original picture on disk is used as the source. If they are written in lowercase letters, then the picture located on the web is used as the information source.

You can chain modifiers one after the other. Example of use: {NAME#C:U#P}. If a code does not make sense in the context where it is used, it is ignored.

Formatting options for codes used to set Tiles and Thumbnails texts

  • <b>, </b> —start and end of bold text
  • <i>, </i> —start and end of italic text
  • <br /> —new line (can be used in combination with {_E#T:”<br />”})
  • <alb>, </alb> —start and end of text that you want to receive automatic line breaks (e.g. in Tiles mode)
  • <a href=”http://www…”>, </a> —active link…