How to Change a Photo Date Stamp

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Make sure your photos are "stamped" properly.

Organizing your photographs by date is a simple and easy way to keep track of all the pictures you take. However, sometimes photos will have the incorrect date tagged to them, as the date must be set by the owner. This is especially true of digital photos, which use a camera's internal calendar for its date stamp, and sometimes get taken with an incorrect entry date. Changing the date stamp on a photograph can be done on any up-to-date Windows or Macintosh computer.

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Step 1

Arrange your photos by the actual dates they were taken. Create a file folder on your computer for each day and sort each image into its correct folder in your desktop. Right-click on your desktop and select "Add Folder" to create a new folder. Click on the photograph, hold the mouse button, and "drag" the photo to the appropriate folder. Repeat with every photograph on which you wish to revise the date. Sort the photos by subject, too, if it will help you organize the images when you are done.

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Step 2

Open a file folder in Windows Photo Gallery and select all the images in it. Go up to the menu bar and select "Tools," then select the option "Batch Adjust Time Stamp." Select "EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) Date/Time Original" in the pop-up window and click "Next." This will open a window marked "New Time Stamp." Enter the new date and new time, and click the "Apply New Time Stamp" button. This will change the date and time of all the selected photographs.

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Step 3

Revise the time of day on each image, if necessary. This is done by selecting a photograph, and right-clicking on it. Under the menu that pops up, select "Properties." In the window that opens, select "Details." Select the "Date Taken" box, which will allow you to revise the time on the image. Do the same with any other images on which you may wish to change the time.

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Macintosh Computer

Step 1

Sort the photos you wish to change the time stamp on in the Finder. Create new folders by pressing Control on your keyboard and right-clicking on your desktop. Sort the photos by the day they were taken, and place them in folders by the correct date.

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Step 2

Download and install an EXIF data editor program, which will be necessary to change the data in the photograph. There are several of these on the Internet; comparison shop for the one that fits you the best. Click on the "Disk Image" it creates on your desktop, and then click the program marked "Installer" or drag the icon into your "Applications" folder.

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Step 3

Open the editor program, and go to the File menu and choose "Open" to see the photograph you wish to change. The program will present you with the date, time, exposure and any notes on the photo, and you can change the date and time to the correct one.

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