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User profile for user: S_Snyder
S_Snyder Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

How do change date of multiple photos in photos app on mac to same exact date/time?

Hi, so I have a bunch of scanned photos that I'd like to import into Photos with specific dates. I found a way to change the dates of the photos as a batch.


But, in instances where the photos were not scanned on the same day it ends up changing the date to days and times that are not when the photos were actually taken. Presumably this is a feature to use if you took the photos with a digital camera with the date set wrong. You assign a date to one photo and it adjusts the rest accordingly. Unfortunately this doesn't work for my needs. Does anyone know how to just set a whole group to one day (I don't care about the time, but the same time is fine too)? Thanks for your help.


[Link Edited by Moderator]

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Dec 27, 2021 3:45 PM

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User profile for user: Old Toad
Old Toad
User level: Level 10
210,615 points

Posted on Dec 27, 2021 4:44 PM

Unfortunately, there is not way to change all of the EXIF capture dates to the exact same date in Photos. However, there are a couple of AppleScripts created by users that can add a date to the Title field, either with or without added text and a padded sequential number. If exported with the Title as the new file name the date you assigned will be part of the file name. The AppleScripts that can do that are:


Batch Change Title to Text w/Padded Sequential Numbers

Script: Batch Change the Titles to a Given String


The first of those two will give this result:

Before:

Then add date and text:


To get this:


When exported with the title as the new file name you'll get this:



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User profile for user: Old Toad
Old Toad
User level: Level 10
210,615 points

Dec 27, 2021 4:44 PM in response to S_Snyder

Unfortunately, there is not way to change all of the EXIF capture dates to the exact same date in Photos. However, there are a couple of AppleScripts created by users that can add a date to the Title field, either with or without added text and a padded sequential number. If exported with the Title as the new file name the date you assigned will be part of the file name. The AppleScripts that can do that are:


Batch Change Title to Text w/Padded Sequential Numbers

Script: Batch Change the Titles to a Given String


The first of those two will give this result:

Before:

Then add date and text:


To get this:


When exported with the title as the new file name you'll get this:



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User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,954 points

Dec 28, 2021 1:43 AM in response to S_Snyder

If you want to change the date outside of photos, there are a number of apps that will do that. Most are paid, however there is a very powerful tool called exif tool. As standard it is command line based, but there is also a GUI available.

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/52791/exiftool


Another free one that might work (limited filetype support, and not sure how up to date the development is)

https://www.qdev.de/?location=mac/exifrenamer


Or one of the paid ones:

https://www.exifedit.com/for-mac/

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How do change date of multiple photos in photos app on mac to same exact date/time?

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