# how to access the "comment" field (JPG files)



## hooly (Jan 18, 2009)

I use Lightroom to organize a lot of digital artwork, thousands of images.  There are many features of LR that make this attractive, not the least of which is Collections, Filters, and Keywording.  That said I am a LR newbie so I hope my question isn't too outrageous.

It so happens that a lot of images come to me with info in the "comment" field of the JPG files (some folks in the pipeline use it to organize images). Since I'm new to the project (and a consultant to boot) I'd like to be able to work within the procedures they've established, as opposed to asking them to do things differently on my account.  In other words I really need to see that "comment" field.

Of course I _can_ see that "comment" field in EXIFtool and PhotoME (see below), among others, but I haven't been able to figure out how to gain access to it in LR.  I have searched around for info on this in the forums and Google but have come up empty-handed.

So, the question is: how do I display, access, or at the very least use LR's "Find" on that "comment" field?

TIA,
Hooly


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## Kiwigeoff (Jan 18, 2009)

Welcome Hooly, thanks for filling in your signature, it really helps.
Now, what software is being used to write the comment in? I can't find a field like that In LR or PS.
Maybe you could email me a copy to look at and see what I can find. geoffwalkernzatgmaildotcom


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## hooly (Jan 18, 2009)

Thank you for the speedy reply!

I'll email you one of the files that has that comment field filled in.  As far as I know the program used by my clients to put the data in the "comment" field is FSViewer by FastStone.

Thanks again,
Hooly


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## hooly (Jan 18, 2009)

... actually turns out I can't add an attachment to an email so ... I'll attach one to this post and hopefully you can grab it that way (?).


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## Kiwigeoff (Jan 18, 2009)

Nope, can't see anything at all in that file, looks like all data is stripped out.
Send straight from your email application, not through the forum.


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## hooly (Jan 18, 2009)

Ok, will do. Sorry for being a thickie but to what email address should I send it?  I've poked around a bit and I'm not finding an email addy posted anywhere.  I'll keep an eye on my PMs too in case you'd prefer to send it there.

Cheers,
Hooly.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 18, 2009)

You can drop it to me at [email protected] if you like Hooly.


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## hooly (Jan 19, 2009)

Thanks Victoria.  I have emailed them to Geoff, but I'll forward you a copy as well.

FWIW, thanks to EXIFtool I have come up with a temporary hack that at least let's me move forward a bit: I batch copy the Comment field into another field that LR does see.  It's piggy and I hate it but for the moment it's the best I could come up with.  I do hope that there is a way to have LR see and display that Comment field on it's own.

--Hooly


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## Mark Sirota (Jan 19, 2009)

Nikon cameras allow you to populate the EXIF field "UserComment".  Perhaps that's what he's talking about?  There's no access to it from Lightroom.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 19, 2009)

Hi Hooly

I've just been looking at the files, in both LR and in Photoshop.  The only comments I can come across is the Caption field, in either program.


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## hooly (Jan 19, 2009)

FWIW, in the "ilya repin.jpg" file there is a Comment that reads:


> Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom



And in the "photome.jpg" from PhotoMe there is a Comment that reads:


> This file is just a sample image to show you how PhotoME decode the meta data.
> You can deactivate loading this file in the startup settings in the option dialog.



These Comments are clearly visible in PhotoME, EXIFtool, FSMaxView, FSViewer, etc.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 20, 2009)

Interesting.  Neither can be found in any Adobe software.

I looked at http://regex.info/exif.cgi and I can see the comment in the ilya repin.jpg but not in the photome.jpg.  It would appear that the the comments are indeed in the file, but not in standard image metadata (i.e. IPTC) fields.


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## Mark Sirota (Jan 20, 2009)

Victoria, what is the name of the field as shown by Exiftool?


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 20, 2009)

Here's the bit of Jeffrey's Exif Viewer that shows the detail on one.  The other doesn't show it at all.


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## Mark Sirota (Jan 20, 2009)

Yep, that's the EXIF field UserComment.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 20, 2009)

Ah!  How come that doesn't show up in PS's File Info either?  I would have thought that should show most data, shouldn't it?


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## Mark Sirota (Jan 20, 2009)

There's an awful lot of EXIF data that Adobe tools don't allow you to manipulate, and more they don't even show at all.  There are some they handle in a quite confusing manner (EXIF Artist is a popular example).  I hope someday Adobe will focus more on the EXIF standard than the TIFF standard that they've historically followed.


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## hooly (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks for your time on this guys, much appreciated.

I understand now that that Comment field isn't something I'm going to be able to see in LR as it stands.

Is that the sort of thing a plug-in could add?
Is that likely to be a daunting task?

FWIW, I've done a fair bit of programming over the years but I have no clue what's under the hood in LR in terms of plug-in/add-on building or scripting or whatever the options are.


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## MTNE (Feb 22, 2009)

I have just downloaded LR for a 3' day evaluation and this is one of the first problems I have run into. UserComments posted in IrfanView or ACDSee cannot be viewed in LR. This problem has been well aired in a previous forum discussion, see http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c'5cb18 so I'm a little puzzled that our gurus don't know about this.
I take a lot of insect photographs and need somewhere to store my field notes - can this be done in LR?


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## Mark Sirota (Feb 22, 2009)

I'm not sure why you're why you're puzzled -- we're Lightroom gurus, that doesn't mean we're familiar with every other piece of software in the universe.

It's true that Lightroom cannot show or manipulate the EXIF UserComment field.
UserComment is actually a fairly complicated bit of machinery in the EXIF specification, and I can understand why the Lightroom engineers chose to spend their resources elsewhere.

That said, you could use another tool like Exiftool (or Irfanview, if you prefer) to migrate that information into another field that Lightroom can see and process.  You can do this automatically on Export using Jeffrey Friedl's Run Any Command plugin, though I can't think of a way to do it within Lightroom's workflow before export.


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