The info pane and the preview columns

The info pane

The info pane shows everything the program knows about the item selected in the file list: a preview of the image or movie, the file system dates, the embedded dates, the flags and the complete list of metadata tags. Open and close it with the button at the right end of the window’s title bar or with Toggle Preview Pane in the View menu.

The date rows are the fields the actions can read and write:

• Composite Content Creation Date, derived from the embedded dates (see date sources)
• File Creation Date and File Modification Date
• DateTimeOriginal and DateTimeDigitized (EXIF; see the timestamps explainer)
• Content Creation Date, Media Create Date, QuickTime Create Date, QuickTime Creation Date and QuickTime Modify Date/ EXIF DateTime for movies
• Spotlight Content Creation Date, Spotlight Content Modification Date, Spotlight Download Date and Spotlight Date Added

A row that shows n/a is a field this kind of file does not have: a folder has no shooting date, a PNG has no QuickTime dates. Where a value can be written for the selected file type, an arrow button next to it opens the action that changes it, so the pane doubles as a shortcut into the right action.

Below the dates come the Lock Flag, Creator Code, Type Code, File Extension Visible?, Finder Label and Spotlight WhereFroms rows, then every metadata tag found in the file. This is the easiest way to see which tags a file actually carries before changing or removing them.

The preview columns

The file list shows the columns relevant to the current action with each file’s current values; the Advanced date manipulation action also previews the new dates before you click Perform Changes. The date columns are abbreviated: Created and Modified are the file system dates, DT Original and DT Digitized the EXIF timestamps, Content, Media Create and QuickTime Cr. the movie dates, Composite the derived date, and the SL columns the Spotlight dates. A cell that reads waiting… is still being read; large movies take a moment.

View ▸ File List Columns ▸ Full Path Column adds the full path next to the name. The icon in the supported column tells you whether the action applies to that row; see what the icons mean.