Removing date & time...

[whooleytoo]

#1 Newbie Error: Took a lot of photos on holidays in Argentina and Uruguay (some very nice shots of the Iguazu falls), but left the Date & Time stamp on, thinking this was just a camera setting, not something imprinted onto the photos themselves. So all those nice landscape shots have big shiny red datestamps on them.

Is there any way of hiding/blurring these - for a Photoshop newbie. (Or is there some Magic Un-Dater button in iPhoto I've overlooked? )

 

[Le Big Mac]

#1 Newbie Error: Took a lot of photos on holidays in Argentina and Uruguay (some very nice shots of the Iguazu falls), but left the Date & Time stamp on, thinking this was just a camera setting, not something imprinted onto the photos themselves. So all those nice landscape shots have big shiny red datestamps on them.

Is there any way of hiding/blurring these - for a Photoshop newbie. (Or is there some Magic Un-Dater button in iPhoto I've overlooked? )

You could always crop it out.

 

[jsw]

Dumb question, but is there yet another camera setting to determine if the photos are exported with/without the date? It's unfortunate if the images themselves were actually permanently "disfigured"!

I don't think there's any good way to blur them without it looking like you clearly just blurred a date. As suggested, you're probably best off cropping them. Which is too bad.

 

[whooleytoo]

You could always crop it out.

I may have to, most of the photos have a lot of detail (foliage or water) so even filled and/or blurred it probably wouldn't look right.

 

[whooleytoo]

Dumb question, but is there yet another camera setting to determine if the photos are exported with/without the date? It's unfortunate if the images themselves were actually permanently "disfigured"!

I've looked, but couldn't find any such option - I assume the bits 'under' the date were blitzed when the photo was taken.

I don't think there's any good way to blur them without it looking like you clearly just blurred a date.

And heaven knows, I've had a few blurry dates...

As suggested, you're probably best off cropping them. Which is too bad.

Yeah, it looks like I'll have to follow Le Big Mac's suggestion. It might work ok, it'll make them more widescreen, so will look better on TV or as a desktop picture.

 

[Clix Pix]

Oh, how frustrating! I did that once with a film camera and shot a lot of photos with the stupid date imprinted all over them. Made me SOO mad! Since then I always check when configuring a new camera that the date thingy is NOT activated.

You could try cloning or the healing brush in PS, but I'm not sure that will be all that successful and it would take forever if you've got a bunch of images.

Unfortunately cropping is probaby the best bet...

 

[After G]

Put a nice logo over them.

Then you'd get rid of the date and watermark your pictures at the same time.

If whatever's behind the date isn't too important, I'd say crop it too.

 

[whooleytoo]

You could try cloning or the healing brush in PS, but I'm not sure that will be all that successful and it would take forever if you've got a bunch of images.

About 200 in total! Though in fairness, there's only about a dozen or so I really like. Frustrating, isn't it?

 

[whooleytoo]

Put a nice logo over them.

Then you'd get rid of the date and watermark your pictures at the same time.

If whatever's behind the date isn't too important, I'd say crop it too.

If I had any design talent, that mightn't be a bad idea. Even blurring it with iPhoto's retouching tool, then putting a watermarked logo over it might do..

 

[-hh]

Cropping, cloning and "logo-covering" would be three pretty good ways to go.

A 4th option should also be pretty straightforward, which would be to use the Photoshop "magic wand" tool to select the red date numbers{1} and then replace that selected red area with a different - - - less obtrusive - - - color.

The color to use is up to you: you could use black for on a dark background, green for on foliage background, etc.

{1}Be aware that the magic wand can do "cumulative addition" if you hold down one of the keys...Shift, I think?...after the first click. This way, you can go click-click-click on each number and then do the color replacement on all of them all at once. Experiment.


I suggest this because I suspect that its not necessarily the date stamp you're finding offensive as much as it is that its so garishly "stand-outish" beause its that glowing orange/red.


-hh