[digiKam-users] When do tags get written to image file(s) - how to delete a tag?

[Andrew Goodbody]

On 20/09/18 17:24, Chris Green wrote:
> I hope I'm not becoming a big nuisance asking all these questions. :-)
> 
> I'm a bit confused about the order in which tag changes (and
> especially tag deletions) happen.

Not surprising, it is far from obvious.

> I deleted a tag using the Tag Manager and assumed that would delete it
> from the image so I then did "Read tags from image".  However it would
> appear that my idea of how this works is all wrong as the deleted tag
> came back.

OK, yes, the Tag Manager manipulates the list of tags in the database. 
It does not directly affect the images.

> So, after using the Tag Manager (or manipulating tags in any other
> way) how do I guarantee that all my changes are in the image files?
> I need them to be there for other programs to use them.

 From the Tags Manager window, use the 'Sync Export' dropdown and use 
'Write tags from database to image' although I am not 100% confident 
that this will remove tags from the images that you deleted from the 
database, but in theory I think it should.

The other tool you can use is in Tools->Maintenance and sync the 
database to the images.

Both of the above options seem rather heavy weight to me and liable to 
touch more files than they need to.


The way I would use however does not involve the Tags Manager tool at 
all. Click on the Tags icon in the left sidebar, then select the tag you 
wish to delete. This should show you all the images that have that tag 
applied to them. Select all visible images with Ctrl-A. Un-tick the 
relevant tag in the tags area on the right. Click 'Apply' in the tags 
area. Right click the tag in the tags area on the right and select 
'Delete tag'. This way you know that you are removing the tag from all 
relevant images and then removing it from the database.

Andrew