Importing photos from a digital camera or other device (Mac OS)
With Mac OS, FileMaker Pro can import photos from digital cameras. FileMaker Pro can also import Exchangeable image file (EXIF) annotation data such as the aperture and shutter speed if your camera provides it. FileMaker Pro photo import supports JPEG and TIFF files, the most common digital image formats.
In addition to digital cameras, FileMaker Pro can also import photos and EXIF annotations from other image devices such as memory card readers.
To import image files that you have already downloaded to your computer, you can import a folder of image files. For more information, see Importing a folder of files all at once.
To import photos from a digital camera or other image device:
1.
Open the FileMaker Pro file into which you want to import the photos.
You need an existing FileMaker Pro file into which to import the photos and EXIF data. FileMaker Pro won’t convert the imported data into a new file.
2.
If you’re updating existing or matching records, make a backup copy of the target file that you’re importing into.
Important  Updating existing or matching records overwrites data in the target file and cannot be undone. Choose File menu > Save a Copy As to make a backup copy of the target file. Make sure you understand how updating records works. For more information, see Methods of importing data into an existing file.
3.
If the target file contains multiple tables, use the Layout pop-up menu to display a layout that shows records from the table you want to import data into.
4.
If you’re updating existing or matching records, do the following before you import. (If you’re adding new records, skip to the next step.)
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If you’re updating existing records in the file, make sure the found set contains only the records you want to replace. Sort the records (for example, by the filename) to ensure that data you’re importing replaces the correct records in the target file.
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If you’re updating matching records, make sure the found set contains only the records you want to update. Records outside the found set will not be updated, even if match field data matches.
5.
Connect your digital camera to your computer, turn it on, and make sure it’s set to the proper mode for downloading images. (Or, if you have a memory card, insert it into your card reader or disc drive.)
A disk icon appears on your desktop. If the Mac OS Image Capture or iPhoto program starts up automatically, use the Dock to make FileMaker Pro active.
6.
In Browse mode, choose File menu > Import Records > Digital Camera.
7.
In the FileMaker Pro Photo Import Options dialog box, choose options, then click Continue.
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For Device, choose your camera or other image device (if necessary).
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In the Download area, choose the images to download.
 
To download
Do this
All the images
Select All images.
Some images
Select Some images, then click Specify. Use the Specify Images to Import dialog box to choose which images to download, then click OK.
Note Also select Some images if you want to rotate some images during download. Then use the buttons in the Specify Images to Import dialog box to choose and rotate one or more images to the orientation you want.
The most recently captured images in your camera
Select The last n images, then enter the number of images you want to download.
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By default, FileMaker Pro downloads your images into the Pictures folder in your home folder. To download images to a different folder, choose the folder from Download to.
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In the Method area, choose whether to import only a reference to each image file, or import a copy of each image into the database.
Important  Because image files can be large, consider importing only a reference to each image file. However, if you import images by reference and later move, rename, or delete a source file, FileMaker Pro won’t be able to display it. Also, consider importing both the smaller thumbnail and the images into separate container fields. Designing some layouts to display the thumbnails instead of the full-size images may help increase the scrolling speed if you need to display many images in a list.
8.
In the Import Field Mapping dialog box, choose the type of import to perform, and map fields in your database to the data you want to import. Then click Import.
For details on using the Import Field Mapping dialog box and finishing the import process, see Setting the import action and mapping fields during import.
The following table lists the data available that you can import, and the field types you should map the data to.
 
Map to container fields
 
Map to text fields
Image
Image Thumbnail
   
File Path
Image Width
Image Height
Bit Depth
DPI
Date and Time Original
Exposure Time
F Number
ISO
Shutter Speed
Aperture
Exposure Bias
Subject Distance
Flash
Image File Name
Image Size
Notes
  •
FileMaker Pro only imports EXIF annotations when you import the photos directly from your digital camera into FileMaker Pro. If you first use iPhoto or the Mac OS Image Capture application to download your images and then import the photos with the import folder option, you cannot import EXIF data.
To import EXIF annotations into both a FileMaker Pro database and into iPhoto, import the photos into FileMaker Pro first, making sure you download the images into a folder other than the Pictures folder in your home folder. Then import the folder of photos into iPhoto.
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FileMaker Pro only imports JPEG and TIFF files from digital cameras. If you create movie or sound files on your digital camera, you must download them separately using the Mac OS Image Capture application.
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An alert will appear if an image file with the same name already exists in the folder where you are downloading images. You can choose whether to replace the file with the one you’re importing. FileMaker Pro imports the existing image if you don’t replace it.
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Your digital camera may not provide all the EXIF data that FileMaker Pro can capture. To verify the EXIF data that you can import, click the forward and previous arrows below the fields lists in the Import Field Mapping dialog box. When EXIF data for a field is not available, the field displays “n/a.”
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If you download image files to disk and import the Download Path data into a field, you can open an image file directly from FileMaker Pro: select the entire file path text, Control-click the text, and then choose Open File from the shortcut menu.
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If you regularly import photos into a particular FileMaker Pro file, you can set a file option to open the FileMaker Pro Photo Import Options dialog box when you connect your digital camera. (You won’t have to choose Import Records menu > Digital Camera each time you import photos.) To set this document preference, choose File menu > File Options. In the File Options dialog box, click the Graphics tab, select Auto-initiate Photo Import when camera is plugged in, then click OK. (Before you connect your camera, make sure the FileMaker Pro file you want to import records into is the active window.)
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If you usually import photos into FileMaker Pro when you download images, you can set FileMaker Pro to start automatically when you connect your digital camera. To make FileMaker Pro start when you connect your camera, first open the Image Capture application (available in the Mac OS Applications folder) and choose Image Capture menu > Preferences. Then choose Other from Camera Preferences list, and choose the FileMaker Pro application in the dialog box that appears.
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The EXIF format provides date and time information in a single field using the following format: YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS. To convert this data into the FileMaker Pro date and time formats or into a timestamp, import the EXIF date/time data into a text field. Then create either two calculated fields (one for dates and one for times) or one calculated field (for timestamps) to convert the imported data. You can use one or more of the following formulas. (Substitute your EXIF date/time field name for field.)
 
Calculation result is
Formula
Date
Date(Middle(field, 6, 2), Middle(field, 9, 2), Middle(field, 1, 4))
Time
Time(Middle(field, 12, 2), Middle(field, 15, 2), Middle(field, 18, 2))
Timestamp
Let ( temp = Substitute( field; ":"; " " );
  Date( MiddleWords( temp; 2; 1 );
    MiddleWords( temp; 3; 1 );
    MiddleWords( temp; 1; 1 )) & " " &
  MiddleWords( field; 4; 99 )
)
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During photo import, FileMaker Pro looks for the following EXIF annotation data in your device: Image Width, Image Height, Bit Depth, DPI, Data and Time Original, Exposure Time, F_Number, ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture, Exposure Bias, Subject Distance, Flash, File Name, and Image Size. (Apart from this EXIF data, FileMaker Pro makes the Image, Image Thumbnail, and File Path available for import.) If your digital camera provides additional EXIF data that you want to import, edit the XML file that defines the EXIF data that FileMaker Pro looks for during the import. This file, Photo Import EXIF Tags.plist, is in this folder in the FileMaker Pro application package:
Contents/Resources/English.lproj/
To access the contents of the application package, Control-click the application icon in the Finder, and choose Show application package from the shortcut menu. You can edit the file with the Property List Editor (available on the Mac OS X Developer CD) or with a text editor.
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