How to sort files by exposure

[ed_hurst]

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I have started shooting multiple files for some of my panos - including exposure bracketing. It would help me considerably if I could sort my files within a folder by exposure details - perhaps shutter speed or aperture. I have in mind creating a column for this info. in Bridge (I run CS5) and then simply clicking on that column so I can sort all the files easily. However, this doesn't seem to be one of the options for columns in Bridge.</p>

<p>Anyone got any ideas on how I can do this simply without having to look at each and every file's details in the panel to the right?</p>

<p>Many thanks,</p>

<p>Ed</p>

[ed_hurst]

<p>Solutions using other software would also be most welcome. I have a project right now involving over 1600 files in a folder and being able to sort easily by exposure would save me a lot of pain!</p>

[howard_m]

<p>have you looked at Adobe Lightroom? Jeff Friedl (and others) have written many useful add-on's such as Data Explorer.</p>

<p>http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/data-explorer</p>

 

<table id="list">

<tbody>

<tr>

<td>Exposure*</td>

<td>Exposure summary (e.g. “1/60 sec at f/2.8”).</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Total Exposure (camera Ev)</td>

<td>Total camera exposure (Ev), derived from the shutter speed, aperture, and the ISO speed rating.</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Total Effective Exposure (effective camera Ev)*</td>

<td>Total effective camera exposure (effective Ev), derived from the shutter speed, aperture, and the ISO speed rating, then adjusted to reflect any Exposure added or removed in Lightroom.</td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

[gregf]

<p>Ed, I have the same problem, I would like to sort by Exposure Compensation, but Bridge (I use CS6) does not have that option.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>I've used IDImage PhotoSupreme, where you can sort and filter on any of the EXIF data tags; other DAM tools such as MediaPro, PicaJet FX should be able to do so too. Lightroom sre is a good option too, though the 'dedicated' DAM tools are more powerful in search/filter/sort and so on.<br>

Maybe the free version of PicaJet can also filter and sort on EXIF data, I am not sure; I haven't used this software myself extensively. All three tools I mentioned have trial editions, and when working large projects with so many files, looking into a DAM tool might be worth your time anyway.</p>

[peter_cohen]

<p>+1 for Howard M's suggestion of using Jeff Friedl's plug-in with Lightroom. The number of criteria on which it can search and find exceeds 100, including exposure as Howard noted. I use another of his plugins and it's rock-solid.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>It's not exactly what you want; but, as you may know, if you have your images in the same folder you can "filter" the results by aperture and/or exposure in Bridge</p>

[ed_hurst]

<p>Thank you all so much for your ideas - I will look into them.</p>

<p>JDM - I do have my files in the same folder, but I have found now ay of filtering the results by aperture, shutter speed/exposure. Are you sure this is possible, and if so, could you perhaps advise me how please?</p>

<p>Warmest regards,</p>

<p>Ed</p>

[Ian Taylor]

<p>Easy in Aperture. Mac only.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Ed, if you're on Windows (Vista or later), there is an even simpler (and cheaper) solution: Windows Explorer. If you select the "Details" view, you can customise the columns with file data that show for each folder. Among the data fields you can show, there is "Exposure Time", "F-Stop" and "ISO speed". Once you've added these columns, you can sort and filter on them.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Re Bridge filtering.<br>

In the "filter" tab, you will find (or can set it up so you can find) heading(s) for aperture, shutter speed, etc. Under the "aperture" bar when you open it up, you can check off and only show "f8" or "f8 and f11", for example. It's not sorting but filtering what is shown in the display of files window.</p>

<p>It's a workaround rather than a solution, but ...</p>

[JeffOwen]

<p>I have just tried the Windows Explorer (Windows 7) method and it works a treat. Very simple and easy to do. Great!</p>

[ed_hurst]

<p>I am running a Mac, so the Windows Explorer method won't work for me...</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Howard: Thanks for the tips regarding Jeff's LR doodads - I'd read his blog but had no idea he also made LR doodads. Looking forward to trying a few.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

Lightroom already has a built-in tool for grouping by , camera, lens, ISO, aperture, and shutter-speed.

[GBarrington]

<p>Ed Hurst wrote:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Solutions using other software would also be most welcome. I have a project right now involving over 1600 files in a folder and being able to sort easily by exposure would save me a lot of pain!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Try ACDSee Pro 6, You can sort by any field in</p>

<ul>

<li>ACDSee Metadata</li>

<li>EXIF Data</li>

<li>File Properties</li>

<li>Image Attributes (height, width, landscape portrait, etc)</li>

<li>IPTC Data</li>

<li>Multi-media attributes</li>

</ul>

<p> </p>

[ed_hurst]

<p>Hi Glen,</p>

<p>Looks like 6 is a PC-only product, but they have ACDSee Pro 3 Mac - I will see if that performs the same task. Thanks for the heads-up!<br /><br /><br>

Ed</p>

[GBarrington]

<p>Hey, Ed.<br>

ACDSee Pro 3, Mac is a separate product from Pro 6 with it's own pricing structure and version release cycle. It is my understanding that while it is built around the photo management conventions developed for PC based ACDSee, it is not as mature a product as the PC line.<br>

I'm not saying it won't work for your needs, I'm just saying I don't know much about it. </p>

[GBarrington]

<p>Isn't there a Windows emulator for the Mac (Like WINE for Linux)? If you have trouble finding a suitable Mac product, I wonder if that would be an option? Sorry, I didn't see your post specifying Mac products. </p>