INTRODUCTION:

ExiFilm is a suite of programs that can be used to annotate digital
images with information about the film exposure used to create them.
In particular, it is designed for use with large format film cameras
where the photographer may then scan the film to create a digital copy
for a library or for digital processing.

By storing the exposure metadata in EXIF tags of scanned images, the
photographer can have electronic access to the same information
contained in the written record from the field from within an image
viewer.  Further processing of the data can be done without the need
to store the metadata in a separate database.

THE PROGRAMS:

The file "lfrecord.ps" is a PostScript file that can be printed on US
letter paper (or other sizes).  It is a single page of four exposure
record forms design for large format photography.  The author trims
the four forms and binds them together as a notepad to take into the
field.  The PostScript program is hand-written and can be altered
fairly easily.

The Python program "exifilm.py" provides a data entry screen similar
to the form in "lfrecord.ps".  It takes an optional argument of a path
to a directory with JPEG image files.  It will provide a drop-down
list of JPEG files in the directory, and selecting one of the files
will load the EXIF information from that file.  In this way it allows
the user to quickly enter metadata for a number of scanned film
images.  The metadata are saved immediately upon loading a new file or
exiting the program.

The Python program "printrecord.py" loads the metadata previously
entered with "exifilm.py" and produces pages similar to those in
"lfrecord.ps" with the metadata typeset into the fields.  The
resulting file may then be printed and bound into a photo archive with
the original film.  Example usage:

  python printrecord.py /path/to/images 1 16 | lpr

Produces four pages of output including the metadata for image IDs 1
through 16.


James E. Blair <corvus@gnu.org>
October, 2009