Take image descriptions from the image meta-data

[kerravonsen]

Title:
Take image descriptions from the image meta-data

Area:
image hosting

Summary:
Save time in creating image descriptions by taking them from the image meta-data, using that to pre-fill the image description form.

Description:
When one uploads an image to the DW image hosting (yay!) you are able to drag-and-drop or select an image to upload, and then you get presented with a form which has things like "Title" and "Description" in it, which you have to fill in. But a lot of my images already have descriptions in the meta-data (e.g. the "Comment" field in a JPEG file). It's a pain to have to type all of that in again when I already did it once. What I would like to suggest is that the image uploader read the meta-data from the image, and use that to pre-fill the form. The user then can edit that as they like, but if they're already happy with what's in their meta-data, they can just save what's there without changing it. This would also be useful if someone is using the old "upload by email" interface which used to be the only way of uploading images to DW. That interface could use the meta-data of the image to fill in the Title and Description information, which the user could edit later on the DW website. As for what meta-data to use, I think one could use the filename for the Title (that's what LJ does) and use the JPEG "Comment" field, or the "Caption-Abstract" field from the EXIF data for the Description.

Poll #18047 Take image descriptions from the image meta-data

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 36

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
19 (52.8%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
4 (11.1%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
7 (19.4%)

(I have no opinion)
5 (13.9%)

(Other: please comment)
1 (2.8%)

Comments

[pauamma]

Would it work as well with PNG, GIF, and SVG images?

[swaldman]

AIUI these don't have any way to embed metadata such as captions. (well, SVG is XML, so it certainly could contain metadata in a custom field, but I'm not aware of provision being in the standard. IANAExpert.)

[swaldman]

With changes : should definitely be the EXIF caption field, not the comment, as that is explicitly what it is for. (maybe use JPEG comment if there's no EXIF data?)

And this should be applied not just to DW image hosting, but to the "insert image" dialog box on the update page as a default for the alt text. (I realise that what makes a good caption doesn't necessarily make good alt text, but it's better than nothing)

[kerravonsen]

Should definitely use the JPEG comment if there's no EXIF data, because many image programs make it easier to update the JPEG comment than the EXIF data (for example, GIMP makes it easy to update the comment field when saving a JPEG, in the "Advanced" options in the save dialogue).

[juniperphoenix]

Is there a risk that the metadata for an image might include sensitive information such as the location where the photo was taken? If so, I'd want to make sure there's a step that gives the poster the opportunity to review the metadata before it goes live on DW.

(I don't take photos with my phone, so I don't know what kinds of metadata are usually automatically included in such photos.)

[brainwane]

Seconding this.

[turlough]

+1

[kerravonsen]

My understanding is that location metadata is a separate field, it isn't the same as the Caption/Comment field, so it wouldn't be put into the description in the first place. As for reviewing the metadata, that was part of the original suggestion: that the description form should be pre-filled from the meta-data, but it wouldn't "go live" until the user saved the form.

[vanja_y]

If somebody has an access to an image file, ze automatically has an access to all the metadata stored inside the file. Revealing this information as a suggestion for the caption can only make the poster aware of this fact, but using it as a caption does not affect the privacy of the poster any further.