A few months ago I mentioned that I was learning Python in order to write a GUI for ExifTool. Since then I abandoned Python, when encountered with mono 🙂 . Mono is the os equivalent of the .NET runtime. And I had some previous experience with c# anyway, so I decided that my ExifTool GUI will be a mono app.
I worked on it in november for a a few weeks and in the last week, and it is slowly taking shape!
Sagittarius (this is the name of the app) will focus on XMP, XMP-EXIf and XMP-IPTC to be proper.
It can load the content of a directory (yet it only can show files tha ExifTool can read and write, later I want it to be able to show files Exiftool can only read), can show thumbnails (even of raw files) , can show the metadata of a file in a notebook widget and a preview as well.
It will be able to edit multiple files (yet it can only edit a single file at a time) and to apply metadata-templates to image files. It is far from being released, but i can show you a few screenshots. Although it is on a very early stage, the code is already a mess. Well I’m not a developer. So before continuing the work on it i will rather focus on coding techniques and oo-development in general. So far it was just a try from my part, but now i really think that i will be able to finish it. I hope that in two months i will release a 0.1a. Stay tuned!
PHOTOBUNTU - photo management on linux 
January 25, 2008 at 10:06 pm
These are great news. I’ll be tuned waiting for its release. 😉
January 27, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Great news!
February 28, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Great. Looking forward 🙂
March 3, 2008 at 10:25 pm
vivosz, this makes very interesting reading.
I have been looking for a solution to this problem for some time… I’d like to have a tool to fit into the workflow that helps me to update the metadata with all sorts of information for cataloguing the photos. I see many stock agencies that require metadata and good tagging these days – and need it done by the photographer. So I’m looking at a simplified way to achieve this… And I’m not interested in editing every photo one at a time – I’d much rather do it all in bulk as quickly as possible.
I’m looking for something along the lines of Opanda (from my limited quick web-review) with a few extras included.
Not that I want the moon on a stick or anything but the following would be very useful. And so far, I can’t see anything that allows Linux users to do these… Do you know of alternatives?
1. There are always some data that could be stored in template (top pane of the window) for bulk application to a bunch of files:- name, e-mail address, copyright info, rights usage etc. Just change the template data when you need to… Click a button and all photos get this data.
2. As an enthusiastic amateur, when I take photos, I take lots of photos. So they’re all usually in the same location, probably of the same thing/person, on the same date etc. I’d like an option to fill in a secondary template/pane containing:- Country, state/county, town, location, people/models in the pictures etc since most of this would be the same for all photos in a session/folder. One click applies the metadata to all images in the folder.
3. To aid with cataloguing, I also would like to see a simplified taxonomy plug-in that allows you to pick up Flora/Fauna or whatever is your favourite classification system from the ones floating on the net… This could be as simple as an XML file that contains the cataloguing classifications. This should allow you to get down to proper (latin?) names of whatever the animal or plant is in your photos within a few clicks on a drop-down menu system. Then again, one click applies that keyword to all selected photos… This could also be customisable so that over time you can build up multiple classifications/taxonomies of your family and friends, or computer parts, bridges, buildings, birds photographed or whatever it is that you photograph so that their names can be easily selected through drop-down menus and added as metadata.
4. Then there should be the possibility to arbitrarily enter additional keywords to ensure that all areas are covered… (dates of construction, builder, original owners etc etc)…
5. I did wonder if this should be set up in some form of spreadsheet so that having applied the data by a button to some of the photos, you could just drag from a cell corner downwards to apply the same data to all those below that need it. This might be useful actually since it would potentially make it easier to concatenate all the keywords into one line/cell for pushing into the metadata of the photos.
As I said, I want the moon on a stick. But I’m sure it could be done. I’d be interested to hear your views on these comments. Is this the sort of thing that you need too for your purposes? Do you know of alternatives that might achieve the same thing?
Thanks. Keep up the good work. Looks impressive so far – looking forward to the release.
Mark.
March 4, 2008 at 10:42 am
To Mark:
Yes indeed, you want the moon on a stick. But your views and mine have a lot of common points.
Metadata templates will be a main feature of Sagittarius, but only from 0.2, or 0.3 release (i’m currently finishing 0.1a). As I imagine it, the user could create and save as many templates as wanted, and apply them on the selected photos. Templates will only update fields the user want to, so you can have one for creator/copyright info, and a second for a specific location, a third for people and so on.
Well, about taxonomy, it wont be implemented in Sagittarius for a while, if ever. I’m thinking of a hierarchical keyword database that the user can edit, but i don’t think that I would have the time to make it soon. On the first few releases there will be only the option of arbitrary keywords.
We are talking about a software that is only in the phase of planning, it is likely that it won’t suit all your needs for the next half year.
You should maybe try digiKam or blueMarine.
Vivosz
April 3, 2008 at 10:55 am
Hi,
that is great news indeed, although I am on a Mac, an i presume, that I cant use your app.
I am looking for something like this since I started digital photography. Exiftool is a great Tool and I managed to write some shell scripts for basic tagging.
A GUI with tag-presets and other bells and whistles would be really helpfull.
Keep up your work.
April 3, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Sagittarius is just before the finish line! I mean the 0.1a version 🙂 (with no tag-presets this far)
In the last few week i didn’t have any time to work on it, and it is unlikely to change in the next few weeks, but i surely will release something until the end of April.
Thanks for your comment
April 8, 2008 at 3:50 pm
[…] mentioning also is Sagittarius. Its development just started (version 0.1) by Vivosz. It is a mono-based app and focusing only on […]
October 15, 2008 at 12:27 am
Such a shame, Saggitarius has been abandoned as per the developers website. The developer “Didn’t feel like doing it anymore” Maybe others can help out and continue the project. 😦
September 21, 2009 at 5:30 am
I can help, require some start. I know how exit tool command line tool works a bit.
September 21, 2009 at 5:34 am
I can help, require some start. I know how exiftool command line version works a bit. May be a mono source could be a good headstart, I work on MS Windows XP OS.
September 21, 2009 at 11:54 am
ok, i will send you the monodvelop solution 🙂 hope you will find it usable
November 22, 2009 at 4:28 pm
@vivosz
Hello vivosz I was visit http://sagittarius.vokod.com/, but it didn’t exist. but, I want it,
Can you share it?
thanks
November 23, 2009 at 1:41 pm
sagittarius.vokod.com do exist. Maybe it was only temporary unavailable. If you still can’t reach it, i will mail you the source.
January 5, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Hi vivosz,
Till now, I can not access it.
would you like to send it to me?
thanks
January 12, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Buna, am deschis si eu un pagian web
March 24, 2010 at 9:09 am
Hi, looks great… seem as though your using Mono could you port it to Mac OS X?
June 21, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Hey vivosz, great article, but I have a question…
What distro are you using? what icon set are you using? I loved your theme scheme. 🙂
Thank you.
June 22, 2011 at 7:51 am
Hi Llefri,
I used the latest ubuntu distro of that time. As for the theme, if I could remember…
Maybe some tweaked Clearlooks theme, or Gilouche I really cant recall.
September 2, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Hi vivosz,
this tool seems totally great! Exactly what I am looking for since quite a while now already…
Unfortunately, the link doesn’t work that you provided. It would be really cool if you could give another mirror link to your program. If you should have abandoned development, maybe someone else could continue with your work if you would release the source code.
PLEASE HELP 🙂
Thanks, pnfg
September 7, 2011 at 6:41 am
Hi there!
Sagittarius is abandoned for two years. Unfortunately the site whee the code was hosted went down too. Even more unfotrunately i am not able to upload the code here, so I will mail it to you. Anybody else want to have the code, drop me a mail!
September 12, 2011 at 6:45 am
http://download.tuxfamily.org/xcfaudio/Sagittarius/
October 6, 2011 at 11:00 am
Hi vivosz
I came across Sagittarius and it looks just like the thing I need.
Any chance you can send me the source please?
Thanks
Raj
December 29, 2011 at 7:40 am
would like to have the code
Maybe will try something.
December 30, 2011 at 9:41 am
http://download.tuxfamily.org/xcfaudio/Sagittarius/
April 9, 2013 at 11:27 am
[…] et notamment une que je trouve juste fabuleuse. Au passage, on notera le jeune développement de Sagittarius, dotée d'une très agréable interface et développé en Mono, mais qui ne semble pas du tout […]