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Entries in Sort Shots (1)

Sort Shots goes 2.0 - adds Metadata export to Mac/PC

We mentioned Sort Shots a few months ago when discussing the absence of professional level photo management software like Photo Mechanic on the iPad.

At the time the big issue was that Sort Shots could not pass any Tags or Rating metadata added in the app, back to your computer, or even import what you had already added in say Lightroom or Aperture.  This meant you had to double-up on your Tags and Keyword entries.

With the release of Sort Shots 2.0 the developers have gone some way towards addressing the issues around adding and editing EXIF data to images using the iPad.

Sort Shots have added Metadata import from and export to some of the major image processing apps, although only Adobe Bridge and Lightroom get full import and export at the moment.

Here is a summary from the Press Release:

Metadata keywords can be read by various software packages including: 
* Adobe Bridge and Lightroom (import and export keywords and ratings)
* Apple iPhoto and Aperture (import keywords)
* Microsoft Photo Gallery(R) (import keywords and ratings)
* Nikon Capture NX2 (import keywords)

For Aperture users export of Keywords and Ratings back to your Mac is being developed and will no doubt be available in a future update.

Restricted Access

If you have imported Photos directly onto your iPad from a camera or iPhone, you cannot edit their metadata while they are in your Photo Library.  You must import the photos that you want to work with into Sort Shots first.

You can import photos either from the Photo Library on your iPad or from your computer via the iTunes File Sharing interface. The video below shows how to do this. It is not as integrated as we would like, but probably the best workaround that Developers can offer at the moment due to Apple's restrictions on iOS access.

Full Res or Optimised?

Another key feature is export of full resolution images back to your computer, although they do say this will slow the process down, so there is an option to export optimised versions of your photos if that is acceptable. We think that it is worth taking the 20% hit in performance to stick with full res images but it is nice to have the option to speed things up when the Web might be the final destination for the images and full res is not necessary.

Remember, Sort Shots is not writing anything back to the originals in your Photo Library, so you have to manually move the edited versions back onto your computer using the iTunes File Sharing function and drag and drop back to a folder as explained in the video below.

An important thing to note is that Sort Shots does not work with RAW images, so it will be your JPEGs that are being edited.

The new features in Sort Shots make it worth another look for those who need to Tag, Rate and edit EXIF data in their images whilst on the move or away from home.  Whilst the import/export functionality is a workaround, we still think it is very useful when you need it.

We have mentioned Sort Shots' new features here, but it is worth checking out all of the additional ones on their features page.  You may also want to take a look at the video below which explains the new import/export features and how to use iTunes to get the photos into Sort Shots.

Sort Shots 2.0 is available now in the app store at £2.99 ($4.99).