Contents

ShotScope – photo metadata

ShotScope displays and edits your photos’ metadata — EXIF, IPTC and XMP: camera and lens, exposure, capture date, description, GPS as well as rights and author. Reading happens directly in the app; writing goes through the proven ExifTool.

12.1 Opening and scanning

Open ShotScope via the “▾” image module switch in the header bar, entry 🏷 ShotScope (this excludes the image comparison from chapter 10). Use the side switch ← Left / Right → to choose the source (default: right) and click 🔍 Scan (“Scan the active source — click here after changing the path or the side toggle.”). With very many images a progress overlay appears (“⏳ Scanning images …”); a running scan can be stopped with ✕ Cancel.

ℹ️ Local folders only, up to 2,000 images

ShotScope reads local folders only (Dropbox paths stay out of scope) and shows at most 2,000 images per scan (“⚠ Only the first 2,000 images are displayed.”).

12.2 Layout of the window

The view is split in two: on the left the image list with preview thumbnails and file names, on the right the preview image at the top and below it the metadata, sorted by topic into expandable groups:

Group	Contains
Camera & lens	manufacturer, model, lens
Exposure	aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length
Date & time	capture, modification and digitising date
Description	title, keywords, comment (IPTC/XMP)
GPS	place of capture (coordinates)
Rights & author	creator, copyright
More	raw manufacturer/hex tags — can be shown via “Show raw tags”, off by default

The File type: selector (All · RAW · JPEG · PNG · TIFF · HEIC) narrows the list down to one image type; the zoom slider changes the thumbnail size. Common formats are read as well as RAW (including Canon CR2/CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Fuji RAF, DNG) and XMP sidecar files.

Screenshot 56: Overall ShotScope view: thumbnail list on the left, preview image on the right and the metadata sorted into groups (“Camera & lens”, “Exposure”, “Date & time” …) — Fig. 56 — Overall ShotScope view: thumbnail list on the left, preview image on the right and the metadata sorted into groups (“Camera & lens”, “Exposure”, “Date & time” …)

12.3 Editing and saving metadata

Every field is an input field; as soon as you change it, a small dot marks the changed value. Save (“Write changed tags via ExifTool”) writes back the changes of the currently selected image; Discard reverts your unsaved changes.

ℹ️ RAW photos stay untouched

With RAW files ShotScope writes the changes into an XMP sidecar file by default (lossless, an Adobe standard) — the original RAW stays unchanged. Only with the expert option “Write directly into RAW” are the tags written into the RAW file itself.

ℹ️ ExifTool is required for writing

For viewing, SynQaiPro alone is enough. For writing, ExifTool is needed; if it is missing, the note “ExifTool not found — writing disabled (see Tools\exiftool\)” appears and ShotScope remains a pure viewer.

12.4 In trial mode

🧪 Reading free — writing locked

In trial mode writing metadata is locked (“Writing locked during evaluation”), and the expert option “Write directly into RAW” is hidden. Scanning, browsing, displaying the tags and the preview as well as filters and zoom remain fully usable.