Re: [gthumb-list] I'm very confused about display of EXIF and IPTC data in gthumb

[Greg Mansfield <G Mansfield computer org>]

On 01/22/2012 12:55 PM, Chris Green wrote:
> I don't want gThumb writing to my
> files without asking me really.  If this was a digital image I'd lose
> the record of which camera had taken the picture.

I fully agree with Chris - gThumb should only make the changes that the user requests.

On 01/22/2012 02:34 PM, Paolo Bacchilega wrote:
> version 2.14.1 for example doesn't have the problem you describe.

I disagree.  I've seen this behavior in 2.14.1 and 2.90.0.  I created a patch that avoids 
writing gratuitous EXIF metadata to the image file unless the user modifies the image in 
gThumb.  Part of the change was committed to the master branch.  I've continued making 
changes to my source branch to avoid other metadata changes that were not made by me using 
gThumb.

One problem with all the metadata is lack of "standard" behavior in spite of all the 
standards organization.  For instance:

Where should gThumb write a user defined "Description"?  There are a number of choices:
        "Exif::Photo::UserComment",
        "Exif::Image::ImageDescription",
        "Iptc::Application2::Caption",
        "Iptc::Application2::Headline",
        "Xmp::dc::description",
        "Xmp::tiff::ImageDescription",


Maybe the "gThumb Users Group" can come up with some guidelines.

Greg Mansfield