Since 2016 I have been using Nikon View NX or Nikon NX Studio to add keywords to my images. The image descriptions were saved in a .nksc (Nikon Side Car) file associated with the image due to an incorrectly set "Save as ..." option.
Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to read the image descriptions from an .nksc file in order to save them temporarily in a .txt or .csv file for further processing.
A colleague recently pointed out to me that in the Nikon NX Studio settings under “Save” you can select whether the image information should be saved in an .nksc file or in the original image file.
This is my workaround to copy image descriptions from .nksc files into the original image file for further processing with XnView MP.
With just a few clicks, it is possible to transfer the image information from an .nksc file to the original image file. Below I have briefly described how this works.
Important:
- A backup copy of the original image files should be made before making any changes!
- I do not guarantee that the instructions below are error-free and that they are “the only correct way”. But this is how it worked for me to copy the image descriptions from the .nksc files into the original image files.
- I did the copy with .jpg images. I have not tried whether it also works with .nef images, as I process my .nef images with DxO Photo Lab.
In Nikon NX Studio:
- Under “Edit -> Settings -> Save” activate the option “... in the original image file ...”
- Close Nikon NX Studio and open it again to save the changes (better safe than sorry
)- Open the desired image folder in Nikon NX Studio and select all images
- Insert e.g. a “space” in an empty description field
- Save all images with “Ctrl + S”. All image descriptions are now written to the original image file.
That's it! Now the XMP/IPTC information can be further processed with XnView MP.
Create a file list with XnView MP:
- Open the desired image folder in XnView MP and select all images.
- Under “Create -> File list” create a file list (.txt/.csv/.xml) with the desired keywords for further processing.
Notes:
- By image descriptions I mean e.g. image title, image caption, ISO country code etc.
- In Nikon NX Studio, in my experience, something has to be changed in the image description so that they can be saved.
- The two folders “_Original” and “NKSC_PARAM” can be deleted if they are no longer needed.
Good luck and have fun!
Greetings Wulf
Software used:
- DxO Photo Lab Vers. 8.3.1 64-bit
- Nikon NX Studio Vers. 1.7.1 64-bit
- XnView MP Vers. 1.8.5 64-bit
- Windows 11 Pro Vers. 24H2
Translated from german to english with deepl.com