computer question

[peggy]

So, when I take a picture with my digital camera, and up load it on to my computer, at the bottom of the screen of each picture is a list of stats. Date I took it, file size, etc...And it also has a place for tags. I understand tags. My question is this.
If I post that picture on the Internet, like on facebook, or a photo sharing site, etc...do those tags go with it? I mean, are they embedded in the image somehow? Do you know what I mean? If I put in a tag of cute puppy, could someone find that image by searching cute puppy? Theoretically, I mean. Millions of cute puppy pictures out there...:)

[Alan]

No. Those tags are for your use and aren't necessarily embedded into the picture, but rather linked to the various pics existing on your drive. In other words, the tags you apply are to help you sort things on your own computer and are not transferred to other media along with the picture itself.

Once you post a picture to another site, if that site gives you the ability to add tags to the photo, then those tags will be searchable.

[SteveinMN]

Some image formats include what is called EXIF data, which includes date and time the image was created, camera settings (shutter, ISO speed, etc.), and even copyright information (if your camera allows you to set it and you do so). That information is embedded in the image. There are some image manipulation programs which ignore EXIF data (not too many of them anymore; that's kind of old school) and others which allow you to strip that information when you save a picture for "Web export" or "Web format" (typically JPEG of reduced size and resolution). If that info is not removed, anyone receiving that image can look at the EXIF data.

As Alan said, tags you apply to the picture are not embedded directly in the image file. But EXIF is there and you might want to see if images you have stripped it from images you upload.

[Spartana]

I use tags like Alan said - to help me organize and sort my photos on my computer (and help me remember what and where the heck the photo was from) but for some reason I can't get a date stamp from my camera onto the photos. So the "date" of the photos is just the date it was uploaded or scanned to my computer. Is there as way to get a date stamped onto the actual photo itself? Is that done only via the camera or is there a way to add that info to the photo once it's on the computer, and send it with the date stamp actually on the photo to others?

[peggy]

Ah ha! so, I should tag these pictures to organize them in my computer. Didn't know i could do a search like that, just generally, for a tag. Cool. Thanks y'all.

[SteveinMN]

Is there as way to get a date stamped onto the actual photo itself? Is that done only via the camera or is there a way to add that info to the photo once it's on the computer, and send it with the date stamp actually on the photo to others?
On film cameras, the camera did it -- the info was "burned" into the negative. That doesn't happen with digital cameras. But it is part of that EXIF information.

It may be possible to add that date using the software that came with your camera; you could check there first as the least expensive, most streamlined solution. If not, there are separate programs out there which will add the information. Some of it is called "watermarking" software; other programs that do this can be found for your computer's operating system and camera by doing a Web search on the words add time stamp to photo.

[Spartana]

Thanks Steve. I'll check my (very inexpensive and crappy) digital camera to see if I can program it to add the date or look online for something.

[SteveinMN]

Thanks Steve. I'll check my (very inexpensive and crappy) digital camera to see if I can program it to add the date or look online for something.
You're welcome, Spartana. I will guess that the date option will not exist within the camera itself. However, your camera probably came with a CD of software and one of those programs might be able to do it (it probably will be a checkbox on a Preferences... or Settings... menu). If not, certainly there will be a free or low-cost program you can download which will do it.