Beginner Dated Photographs?

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Joy
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Hi......could someone please confirm that if I set the date and time on my camera that the photographs subsequently printed will bear the information? I loaned my camera to a friend after setting the date, he took photographs then went to a print shop to have them printed. When the date was missing the assistant said that the date was just on the camera and not on the SD card. I have concluded that it must be a print option to have the information included......am I right. I would appreciate guidance as I need to have dated photographs. Thankyou
 
The date and time the photo was taken is embedded into the data, but does not appear on the printed photograph.

If you need to have the date on the printed photograph, this will need adding in a photo manipulation software such as photoshop.
 
Some cameras offer a date stamp option. Using the Panasonic TZ70 as an example...
  1. Set command dial to 'P'
  2. Press the menu button
  3. Select the Rec sub-menu
  4. Down arrow to Page 6
  5. Select 'Date Stamp'
  6. Select 'WO TIME', 'WITH TIME' or 'OFF'
The date will then become part of every image taken until you disable the function. If you do this you would only be able to remove the date with an editor. On other cameras the feature (if present) may be available in other ways. For example: the Sony HX90 offers the option 'Write Date' from the 'system' sub-menu when in 'P' mode.
 
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Canon Powershot series have it as an option. Entry level Nikon DSLRs do as well. Believe me now @Lez325 ?

@Happychic An easy way to do it is if you export the images from your camera into a folder on your PC. Use FastStone Image Viewer (free) and its Batch Process tool. That will write the datestamp from the exif data on to wherever you wish it to be placed on your image. Takes only a minute to do and will resolve your problem if your camera does not give you the option.
 
Canon Powershot series have it as an option. Entry level Nikon DSLRs do as well. Believe me now @Lez325 ?.

I don't use entry level kit like a Powershot whatever that is?

I thought you maybe have insight into Pro equipment and a setting I was unaware of hence my original question

Les
 
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I don't use entry level kit like a Powershot whatever that is?

I thought you maybe have insight into Pro equipment and a setting I was unaware of hence my original question

Les
Why would you think that? Do ’Pros’ suffer from reading comprehension problems? Oh, and how do you define ‘Pro equipment‘?
 
I've checked manuals I have on my computer for the Nikon D7200, D500 and D850 and they do not offer a date/time stamp option. The D3500 (and Powershots) do. A problem with adding a date stamp this way is that the stamp info is permanently added to the image - you can not remove it in the future if you want to print an image with the date.

As noted, the full date/time is embedded with the photo in the EXIF data. However, as far as I can tell, Lightroom export does not have an option to place the date/time on the. exported photo - it is just maintained in the EXIF data. The Lightroom print module does allow you to add the date to the white space around the photo. I could find no way to add the time nor a way to place the date/time over the actual image. Maybe there are options I am missing.

In the OP's original question, I am left with the impression that the person wanting the date/time info on the photo will not have a lot of experience with processing digital images. So, while FastStone Image Viewer will work (unless you use a Mac computer), it may not be a suitable solution for that situation.

I am surprised that the print shop didn't know date/time is in the EXIF of the photo. And, that their software didn't allow the option to stamp the data/time on prints.
 
I know this is not exactly the question but don't people write on the back of prints any more?
 
I've checked manuals I have on my computer for the Nikon D7200, D500 and D850 and they do not offer a date/time stamp option. The D3500 (and Powershots) do. A problem with adding a date stamp this way is that the stamp info is permanently added to the image - you can not remove it in the future if you want to print an image with the date.

As noted, the full date/time is embedded with the photo in the EXIF data. However, as far as I can tell, Lightroom export does not have an option to place the date/time on the. exported photo - it is just maintained in the EXIF data. The Lightroom print module does allow you to add the date to the white space around the photo. I could find no way to add the time nor a way to place the date/time over the actual image. Maybe there are options I am missing.

In the OP's original question, I am left with the impression that the person wanting the date/time info on the photo will not have a lot of experience with processing digital images. So, while FastStone Image Viewer will work (unless you use a Mac computer), it may not be a suitable solution for that situation.

I am surprised that the print shop didn't know date/time is in the EXIF of the photo. And, that their software didn't allow the option to stamp the data/time on prints.
I’m not sure it’s surprising the ‘assistant’ couldn’t solve the problem, there was almost complete lack of information in the OP — what camera etc etc. — and it’s probably an unusual request these days though it was pretty commonly done with film cameras and of course data backs for slrs.
 
I’m not sure it’s surprising the ‘assistant’ couldn’t solve the problem, there was almost complete lack of information in the OP — what camera etc etc. — and it’s probably an unusual request these days though it was pretty commonly done with film cameras and of course data backs for slrs.

That part of my post was not about the assistant' 'solving' the problem. I was trying to say two things:
  • The 'assistant' should have known enough about photographs to know that the date/time information was embedded in the photos EXIF, not stored on the computer. Instead, they provided the customer with inaccurate information;
  • The store's software could offer the capability to date/time stamp photos if customers want that option.
I'm not sure why this seems to have become a 'big deal'. I don't want date/time stamps on my photos when I print. I may add it to the back of the image, if needed. But, if people do want the images time date/time stamped, it shouldn't be so hard to get it done.
 
Hi......could someone please confirm that if I set the date and time on my camera that the photographs subsequently printed will bear the information? I loaned my camera to a friend after setting the date, he took photographs then went to a print shop to have them printed. When the date was missing the assistant said that the date was just on the camera and not on the SD card. I have concluded that it must be a print option to have the information included......am I right. I would appreciate guidance as I need to have dated photographs. Thankyou

Actually the date and time will be included in the image file, therefore the date and time will be wherever the file is, thus if the file is in the camera's memory, on a memory card, in the computer, on a memory stick, on a CD-R, whatever, the date and time will always there, not matter which media you use. Therefore the date and time is on the SD card.
 
I don't use entry level kit like a Powershot whatever that is?

I thought you maybe have insight into Pro equipment and a setting I was unaware of hence my original question

Les

You didn't ask the original question so what does it matter what you use? Seems like a bit of a grumpy response to be honest!
 
First of all - why do you need the date and time?

Is it for reference so whoever the prints go to can always remember when they were taken? Or is it for a legal reason in order to prove when the photos were taken?

It used to be a common feature on early PAS digital cameras - I remember friends of mine coming back from holidays in the early Naughties with their prints proudly displaying the date stamp.

Never been a fan.
 
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Never been a fan.
Photography as a medium has many, many uses and for several of those uses recording the date and time is essential. Just a few examples are: engineering, medical, insurance and security. Like that prince of Denmark says: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." :thinking:
 
Photography as a medium has many, many uses and for several of those uses recording the date and time is essential. Just a few examples are: engineering, medical, insurance and security. Like that prince of Denmark says: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." :thinking:

Hence me asking what the intended use is.

For 'tourist' photos I've never seen the point. But I think it's probably a hangover from the days of film where, if you didn't write the date on the back, you never knew when they were from.

Certainly seemed to become less of a feature, the longer PAS cameras were around and fewer people bothered printing them.

I'm talking about stuff like this:

35820_406090541020_2837050_n.jpg
 
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That part of my post was not about the assistant' 'solving' the problem. I was trying to say two things:
  • The 'assistant' should have known enough about photographs to know that the date/time information was embedded in the photos EXIF, not stored on the computer. Instead, they provided the customer with inaccurate information;
  • The store's software could offer the capability to date/time stamp photos if customers want that option.
I'm not sure why this seems to have become a 'big deal'. I don't want date/time stamps on my photos when I print. I may add it to the back of the image, if needed. But, if people do want the images time date/time stamped, it shouldn't be so hard to get it done.

My experience of store assistants these days is that in many cases you'd get a more knowledgeable answer asking a random customer.
It MAY be that the images where edited & something like photoshops 'save for web' feature was used. This strips all EXIF from the image. The datafile will of course still have timestamps, but some software updates these when editing so they can show when it was edited rather than when it was taken.
 
Just to be argumentative :D I do think there’s a use for dates printed on photos for other than forensic purposes. Having recently had to go through a lot of old family snapshots (some in albums, some loose) it would have been great to have dates on them. Saying it’s all in the EXIF is no help if all you have are prints. Even with digital many don’t know how to access the EXIF and anyway it’s often stripped out by software/web sites. So, to be clear, I’m thinking of prints of family snapshots. Here’s an example:https://lifesquared.squarespace.com/#/the-new-snapshot/ .
 
Just to be argumentative :D I do think there’s a use for dates printed on photos for other than forensic purposes. Having recently had to go through a lot of old family snapshots (some in albums, some loose) it would have been great to have dates on them. Saying it’s all in the EXIF is no help if all you have are prints. Even with digital many don’t know how to access the EXIF and anyway it’s often stripped out by software/web sites. So, to be clear, I’m thinking of prints of family snapshots. Here’s an example:https://lifesquared.squarespace.com/#/the-new-snapshot/ .
In going through family photos there are several that I can't reliably date to closer than a 50 year period. But I can't see it being a significant issue with shots taken on digital gear, digital copies of such shots are usually available, and it's not difficult to find out how to access EXIF if such data is desired.
I would expect it to be pretty rare that people can only get family shots via a website that strips the data, and in most cases where that's the easiest way to grab them their will be info on the page that indicates the date within a year.
On any camera I've had that puts the date in the image, I've ended up searching out the option to turn it off.
 
For 'tourist' photos I've never seen the point.
But other people may think it's a great idea. It's not for any of us to be proscriptive about these things.
 
In going through family photos there are several that I can't reliably date to closer than a 50 year period. But I can't see it being a significant issue with shots taken on digital gear, digital copies of such shots are usually available, and it's not difficult to find out how to access EXIF if such data is desired.
I would expect it to be pretty rare that people can only get family shots via a website that strips the data, and in most cases where that's the easiest way to grab them their will be info on the page that indicates the date within a year.
On any camera I've had that puts the date in the image, I've ended up searching out the option to turn it off.
I mostly agree but you’re coming at from the perspective of a ‘photographer’ rather than a normal human ;). It’s easy to find the EXIF if you know it exists but many don’t. The date of posting to to a social media web site is no indication of when the photo was taken — could be 100 years ago. My (limited) experience is that for a lot of people their snapshots exist only on their phones and are not backed up anywhere. Often they don’t even know where on their phones the photos reside and often take screenshots of their own photos to post to WhatsApp etc !!! having the date on the phot won’t solve all these ills but it might help and it seems to be a popular idea judging by the vloggers who explain how to do it in a multitude of apps.
 
Just to be argumentative :D I do think there’s a use for dates printed on photos for other than forensic purposes. Having recently had to go through a lot of old family snapshots (some in albums, some loose) it would have been great to have dates on them. Saying it’s all in the EXIF is no help if all you have are prints. Even with digital many don’t know how to access the EXIF and anyway it’s often stripped out by software/web sites. So, to be clear, I’m thinking of prints of family snapshots. Here’s an example:https://lifesquared.squarespace.com/#/the-new-snapshot/ .

Having put together 'photobox' (other photographic websites are available) books for several of my mates' 40ths, my auntie's 60th and my Nana's 90th, I agree that it would have been great to have more information than was provided on either the prints I was given, or the various scans of prints that came in from relatives. A lot of it was guess work. Until it came to any of the digital shots, which clearly had the dates in an easily accessible form and made it very simple to work out which order they should go in the book.

But other people may think it's a great idea. It's not for any of us to be proscriptive about these things.

I wasn't being proscriptive - merely expressing an opinion. I can see why some people might want them, but I think they spoil photos - even snaps.

YMMV.
 
I wasn't being proscriptive - merely expressing an opinion. I can see why some people might want them, but I think they spoil photos - even snaps.
YMMV.

I agree, but it would be nice to have dates discretely on the family Daguerreotypes, Glass negatives & 6x6 contact prints. I've failed to find anything that can read EXIF on these :D
 
Having put together 'photobox' (other photographic websites are available) books for several of my mates' 40ths, my auntie's 60th and my Nana's 90th, I agree that it would have been great to have more information than was provided on either the prints I was given, or the various scans of prints that came in from relatives. A lot of it was guess work. Until it came to any of the digital shots, which clearly had the dates in an easily accessible form and made it very simple to work out which order they should go in the book.

i had a similar problem putting together a ‘book’ of my brother’s funeral and a sort of ‘in memoriam’ of his life with words and pictures from different sources, which would have been so much easier if printed photos had a date on them somewhere.


I wasn't being proscriptive - merely expressing an opinion. I can see why some people might want them, but I think they spoil photos - even snaps.
YMMV.

Yes, I agree the date *in* the image spoils the photo for me (like the watermarks often used here:() but I’m OK with captions etc on a border as in the example I linked above — in fact I like them! Of course “borders” are another thing that people here have strong opinions on too so I’m not going down that route ;).

Edit to clean up quoting.
 
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