Sorting photos by date taken

Topgun269

Newbie Joined: Jan 18, 2013 04:55 Messages: 4 Offline

Solved by

Jan 18, 2013 05:20

I recently downloaded PowerDirector 11 trial version (Ultra 64bit) and I am considering purchasing it. The program has great features but there is one essential feature that seems to be missing and I hope you can help. When I import photos into the program I want to sort them by "Date picture taken". They can be sorted by date but this is the date they were transferred from the camera to the computer. I often download my own photos and also those of my travelling companions and "Date picture taken" is the only way to get these into chronological order. Even if I sort them into "Date picture taken" in Windows (7) or using camera software (Sony PMB) when I import the pictures into PowerDirector it resorts them into the "Sort by" preference previously selected. Its seems the only option is to rename files into chronological order before importing them, but surely that can't be the case. Can you assist?

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Jan 18, 2013 05:42

Hi Topgun -

By default, the Media Library is sorted by "Name".

With your photos imported, just...

Cheers - Tony


Filename	Sort Media.png	Download
Description
Filesize	38 Kbytes
Downloaded:	1259 time(s)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 18. 2013 05:42

Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Topgun269

Newbie Joined: Jan 18, 2013 04:55 Messages: 4 Offline

Jan 18, 2013 06:08

Hi Tony

Thanks for responding. When I import the pictures and sort them by date as you suggested, they sort by "Date Modified" and not "Date picture taken". Do you have any other suggestions?

Regards Topgun269

RonH

Contributor Location: Norway (from Australia) Joined: Sep 05, 2011 10:13 Messages: 364 Offline

Jan 18, 2013 11:13

Quote: ... It seems the only option is to rename files into chronological order before importing them ...

Not sure if this is the answer you are looking for but when I import pictures I am usually importing pictures ( taken with 2-3 different cameras) from my Picture file . I have found the best way (for me at least) is to copy what I need into a project file for the PD11 project, use the file facility to sort all of them into a date taken order and then rename in a numerical series by selecting all etc ... you obviously know how this works. Then they retain this file(date) order when imported into PD11.

Using this method, I am not altering/renaming my primary picture file/s. CYa Ron (W10/i5gen8/Nvidia)
Someone famous once said: "We only have the 4th dimension of 'time' so that everything does not all happen at once"

Topgun269

Newbie Joined: Jan 18, 2013 04:55 Messages: 4 Offline

Jan 21, 2013 05:33

Thanks for your input RonH.

So what I am hearing from the Members is there is no way I can import photos and sort them by 'date taken' (as disticnt from 'date' which is basically the date I have downloaded them from my camera or from a CD provided by a travelling companion). So the only way to get all the photos from more than one source into chronological order is to rename the photos (or a project copy of them) into the order I want before I import them. Is that right?

I am struggling to comprehend that a program of PowerDirector's capabilities has missed such a basic need.

Do any other Members have a suggestion?

Regards Topgun269

RonH

Contributor Location: Norway (from Australia) Joined: Sep 05, 2011 10:13 Messages: 364 Offline

Jan 21, 2013 08:44

I find that Windows 7 also has a mind of its own! Its never a problem using just one file series eg pics from 1 camera, but as soon as multiple cameras are involved ...

I find its OK sorting to picture taken date in the main Picture Library but as soon as I select them in other programme/s the sequence is often changed eg pics get grouped by camera file data etc. Though I don't seem to have your problem of 'download date' since I can use the correct 'taken' dates. Is your EXIF data OK for all your imports to your pc?

I gave up trying and now for PD11 (or other) I copy the pics I want to use into a special project file, sort as I want and then rename to maintain this sorted order. I would also add (per the advice of our experts) that its smart to work on copies rather than the originals in your picture file. If something goes amiss you are not then affecting your most important pic file. CYa Ron (W10/i5gen8/Nvidia)
Someone famous once said: "We only have the 4th dimension of 'time' so that everything does not all happen at once"

PatC

Senior Member Location: Suffolk UK Joined: Nov 17, 2009 14:00 Messages: 156 Offline

Jan 21, 2013 12:23

Hi Topgun269

I copy my video files from Panasonic Video cameras with the supplied software
and it offers various options for saving to Hard Disk.
If I choose save to Year/Month then it will create the various monthly folders and
save the files in the correct folders in chronological order. The files are named by the
program with yearmonthdaytime. eg 2013-01-161545 (2013 Jan 16hrs,15min,45secs.)
When imported to PD library they are all in correct order.

I would assume that other camera software has similar options! Maybe...

PatC

All vodi

Senior Contributor Location: Canada Joined: Aug 21, 2009 11:24 Messages: 1431 Offline

Jan 21, 2013 13:32

Topgun269 ,

To answer your question: you are correct, PD does NOT use the date taken tag. Which is unfortunate and that is why you have to look at workarounds such as the ones mentioned by other users. Win 10, i7

Topgun269

Newbie Joined: Jan 18, 2013 04:55 Messages: 4 Offline

Jan 23, 2013 03:31

Thanks RonH, PatC and HDedit for responding to my enquiry which is appreciated. I will take all of your comments on board and move forward.

Cheers

Topgun269

vn800rider

Senior Contributor Location: Darwen, UK Joined: May 15, 2008 04:32 Messages: 1949 Offline

Jan 23, 2013 05:55

Pain in the ...... being either held hostage to windows modifying dates or PD using the date modified.

I rarely recommend software but you might take a look at this

JPGDateChanger - Tool to Restore Last Modified Date for JPG Files.

Google it.

It seems to work well, with multiple files/sub-folders handling but it may not suit your needs??

Cheers
Adrian

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.