File Format/EXIF/PIM II/Software

[sparky01]

I need some feedback to come up with a more efficient workflow.

I have been working with Photoshop Elements (currently at version 2) for several years now, and overall am still happy with it.

I use an Olympus C-750 which saves in JPG format, with EXIF 2.2 and PIM II support. I use an Epson RX500 printer, which has also has EXIF and PIM II support. Epson provided a patch or plugin to add PIM II support to Elements, Photoshop etc. Using this capability involves "importing" any eligible files into Elements. Once imported, the files have names of Untitled1, Untitled2, etc., (as opposed to their own file names after a "normal" open). When opened using the PIM II import, they can only be saved as copies. The image adjustment provided using this method works well, but it makes it a bit of a pain saving files, since I wish to retain the original file names (if not necessarily the extensions or folders). I have to go back to each photo in a different window to determine what its original name was, then manually name it before saving. It's not a big deal if working on one file, but it used to be considerably simpler to just select and drag a bunch of photos in as a group, and close and save each as I completed them.

I no longer want to save work in JPG format in order to preserve as much image quality as possible. In the past, I've simply overwritten the original file once I've made any adjustments. I've played a little with JPEG 2000, but windows doesn't appear to recognize it, and I'm wondering what kind of support I can expect for it in the future.

I would also like to be able to preserve, by one means or another, the EXIF metadata from the original shot.

I would really prefer not to have to keep multiple copies of images.

Any suggestions? TIFF (LZH) seems to be the best available choice as a final save at this point, but does it support EXIF metadata? Is there a simpler way to apply the PIM II adjustment and convert to TIFF while preserving the shot info? If I then edit the photo in Elements, and it wipes out the shot info, is there a way to restore it or at least archive it elsewhere?

[ssidlov]

I don't think that you can store the same kind of info in a TIFF as a JPG, but there are a number of shareware and freeware products that will extract the EXIF data and write it to a file. see: http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/exifsoftware/ for a list. Some may allow you to edit the EXIF. I think that XP will allow you to edit EXIF by RMB on the photo and choosing Summary tab and then the Advanced button.....so you could put the comments, author, etc in prior to extracting it to a file....but some of these may allow you to do that too.

[sparky01]

Progress so far.

I have determined that the PIM II import is what is stripping the EXIF data from the photos. I may simply have to do without it. (I have downloaded a newer version of it, but I haven't had opportunity to try it out yet, or determine its behavior.)

TIF (at least as saved from Elements) saves practically no EXIF data. I believe the camera model was about the extent of what it retained.

JPX (JPEG 2000) seems to be retaining all EXIF info, and has zero loss capability. It looks like this is the way to go. I need to find something that will let me preview thumbnails, view and view EXIF data similar to the way Windows treats regular JPGs.