DF Studio Updates: August 2014 – Metadata Writing, Improved Metadata Management

New Features and Enhancements

Metadata Management

• DF Studio now updates files with metadata entered in the Metadata Editor pane. JPEG, TIFF, PDF and PNG files are updated along with the large (1:1) previews. Custom-sized JPGs with embedded metadata can be created using the custom size option in the Download Only Messenger template.
• There is a new show/hide toggle for displaying the original file metadata pane containing EXIF and IPTC information. The metadata information on a single image can be viewed by pressing the “i” key on the keyboard.
• Special Instructions has been added as an editable field in the Metadata pane.
• “Copy Defaults from Project” buttons have been added for the Photographer and Location fields in the Metadata pane and a button was added for inserting the default copyright.
• The “Copy Keywords from Project” button in the Metadata pane has been improved to merge with existing keywords and not to create duplicates.

The enhanced metadata editing overlay

Account Administration

• A new Account Setting found at Settings -> Security Settings allows sending browser verification codes via SMS in addition to email. To receive the SMS notification, users must have a mobile number entered in their contact info (Settings -> User Contact Info)
• A welcome email containing login information is now sent when new users are created (Settings -> Users And Groups).

Text Export

• The Text Export function now remembers the fields that were checked from the last time the tool was used.
• The Text Export feature now retains the order of images when exporting from a Collection (previously sorted by names alphabetically).

Navigation

• When viewing a project, the dropdown folder navigator now returns the user to the page where the project was originally selected instead of always returning to the first page of the folder.
• The path information at the top of the Project Details page now has link/navigation information like when viewing project images.

Interface and Usability

• The Download Options pane has been redesigned and offers new options for improved usability.
  

  The new Download Options overlay

• Approval messengers now support keyboard shortcuts like in Standard Messengers:
  • Approve: 1 key
  • Kill: 3 key
• Photographer and Year have been added to the list of facet fields in the Image Search Results, further improving the browsability and refinement of search results.
  

  New “Photographer” and “Year” search facets

• The keyframe generation process has been improved so that the temporary placeholder keyframe does not get cached by the browser.
• File management has been improved by retaining selection information from Files view back to Thumbnails and List views. This allows users to select images by file type and perform actions using those selections such as sending Messengers or moving images to Setups.
• The names of Messenger edits appearing in the “Edits” dropdown menu now contain both the name and email address of the recipient (provided the contact had a name when the Messenger was sent). This will help make recipients’ edits more identifiable in cases where email addresses are not recognizable names.
• Images are now sorted using Natural Sorting so it is no longer necessary to pad image numbers with zeros to make them sort correctly. For example, img_1.jpg, img_2.jpg, img_3.jpg..., img_10.jpg instead of img_001.jpg, img_002.jpg, img_003.jpg ..., img_010.jpg. (Using padding still works too.)
• The Java Web Start (jnlp) download option has been re-added to the Files Perspective for users that cannot run the new DF Studio Downloader, such as those running OS X 10.6.8.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused the Inspector not to load for messages in the Inbox.
• Fixed a problem that caused shift-select not to work in Files view.
• Fixed a problem that broke the ability to download selected images from a Messenger.
• Fixed a problem that caused double-click not to work on thumbnails in the Messenger
• Fixed a loophole that allowed moving folders into one of their child folders, causing folders to disappear.
• Fixed a bug that caused broken previews when the uploaded image’s dimension metadata contained a decimal value.
• Fixed a problem that caused a delay in displaying activity in the Activities list when uploading imges via the Web Uploader.
• Fixed a problem that caused a blank white page to appear after creating a Folder using the New Folder (+) link in the Navigator.
• Fixed a bug that caused Collection keyframes not to be generated automatically.
• Fixed a problem that caused the Image Inspector not to load when selecting an image in a Collection.