Make it easy to delete keywords rapidly

[dandv]

When importing images, sometimes I encounter images with a lot of spam tags. I haven't found a way to just delete all tags.

So I went to the Edit IPTC dialog:

Can't delete keywords easily.png

The problem here is that there's no shortcut to delete a tag. Pressing Delete doesn't work.

If I click the "x" button, the focus is gone from the list of keywords, so I have to click on the next keyword, then click on the X again.

Please implement keyword deletion when the user presses Delete, and please set the focus to the next keyword in the list after the user clicks the X button.

[m.Th.]

Please implement keyword deletion when the user presses Delete, and please set the focus to the next keyword in the list after the user clicks the X button

+1

[helmut]

+1 (Delete must only delete when focus is on the list of assigned keywords.)

[CameronD]

When importing images, sometimes I encounter images with a lot of spam tags. I haven't found a way to just delete all tags.

If there enough images and enough keywords then I find it useful to use the command line exiftool program.
It is very powerful, although it comes at a price of somewhat arcane syntax that you need to get to grips with.

I have a few shell script files (you might need to use cmd/bat files in windows) that I keep and modify a bit each time I need to remember what to do.
For example, this command will simply wipe ALL keywords in all jpg images in a folder:

Code: Select all

exiftool  -overwrite_original  -IPTC:keywords=  -XMP-dc:Subject=  -XMP-lr:HierarchicalSubject=  -EXIF:XPkeywords=  -XMP-microsoft:LastKeywordXMP=  *.jpg

One aspect of this, which might be important in your case, is that MS in their usual wisdom invented a few fields of their own. If the person sending you the images used various MS products you will find their old keywords are still retained in the other places after you have tried to remove them using xnview. I do not know what get used in png images.
These are not a problem with xnview, which ignores them, but they can still be included by, for example, windows 7 file explorer Tags list. They can also reappear if you ever use other bits of software to modify keywords, but that way madness lies.

Exiftool has an option to create a desktop icon that you can drop files onto and have it process the files, but I have never tried it that way.

[CameronD]

When importing images, sometimes I encounter images with a lot of spam tags. I haven't found a way to just delete all tags.

You can select all undesired keywords and press the X key.
Actually, there seems to be a UI bug here - new bug created:
I can select a range using shift-click, but control-click also just selects a range, or deselects a range, depending on how it is applied.

[m.Th.]

You can select all undesired keywords and press the X key.

Where??
I doesn't work for me...

[CameronD]

You can select all undesired keywords and press the X key.

Where??
I doesn't work for me...

the screenshot visible in the first post.
Windows 7, x64. ctrl-A also works provided I have first clicked in the keywords area to give it focus

[m.Th.]

the screenshot visible in the first post.
Windows 7, x64. ctrl-A also works provided I have first clicked in the keywords area to give it focus

Unfortunately IPTC window works only for few formats.

My request from here http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=35114 has much more impact since it covers all formats.

[CameronD]

the screenshot visible in the first post.
Windows 7, x64. ctrl-A also works provided I have first clicked in the keywords area to give it focus

Unfortunately IPTC window works only for few formats.

My request from here http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=35114 has much more impact since it covers all formats.

Except it has rather different impact. I am fairly certain that deleting categories does not remove the keywords from the files themselves.

I have just tripped myself up on this earlier today, trying to get around a problem with a wrongly named category.
Do not repeat:...

• find and select all files with wrong category
• unapply the category
• delete the wrong category
• oops - all files vanish and you can't apply the new category.

Lesson: apply the new category first

So, back to the OP's question, you can at least either

• remove all keywords from one file at a time, or
• remove one bad keyword from all files at once

Either is at least better than one keyword at a time from one file.

And of course, it all assumes that user has already chosen the option to synchronise category with keyword, in both directions.

[m.Th.]

Except it has rather different impact. I am fairly certain that deleting categories does not remove the keywords from the files themselves.

Of course, this...

http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=34726

...is a "must fix" issue.

Lesson: apply the new category first

Classical.
(not XnView related)