Why do my images return to original orientation after I rotate them?

TheMightyGoat · Apr 2, 2009

Someone tell me how this happens, because I can't make sense of it.

1) I rotate an image in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
2) I open it in Photoshop; it appears in the orientation I made it with WPaFV.
3) I make modifications to the image and save it as a .jpg.
4) I review the saved copy; it is in the orientation I want.
5) I upload it to a webhost or view it on another computer. It has reverted to its original orientation.

This happens only with pictures taken with my Panasonic FZ-28. The camera has that feature that automatically displays the pictures horizontally on the LCD for playback regardless of the orientation in which they were taken. I turned that feature off, because I find it to be an annoyance. I don't know if that's somehow related to my pictures un-rotating themselves... but it's driving me bug****. I don't understand how a .jpg can do that after being saved in Photoshop.

Overread · Apr 3, 2009

Skip stage one - don't rotate in windows picture and fax viewer - just open the image in photoshop and rotate there - its much more healthy for your photo - since I assume its a JPEG and thus your having to save it twice (once when rotating and once when in photoshop) and since JPEG is Lossy that means you are losing data with each save. Best to just save it once and do all your editing in photoshop

TheMightyGoat · Apr 3, 2009

Overread said:
Skip stage one - don't rotate in windows picture and fax viewer - just open the image in photoshop and rotate there - its much more healthy for your photo - since I assume its a JPEG and thus your having to save it twice (once when rotating and once when in photoshop) and since JPEG is Lossy that means you are losing data with each save. Best to just save it once and do all your editing in photoshop

I know that .jpg is a compressed file format. That's not my concern here. I want to be able to look at my images in their proper orientation and have them upload the same.

When I open them in Photoshop straight from the camera, they're in the proper orientation because Photoshop reads the metadata from the camera telling it what orientation to display the picture in. But if I view the images in an explorer window, as I generally do as it's faster and takes less memory than Bridge, the images are horizontal when they should be vertical. That's why I flip them in WPaFV. And when I do that, I still see them as they should be in Photoshop. I can make adjustments to them, save them, view them in I.E. or Firefox from my hard drive, and they're the way I want them, until I upload them.

If I just open them in Photoshop, make adjustments and save, they do upload as they should, but I can't see them in an explorer window the right way.

dcclark · Apr 3, 2009

Perhaps one or the other of these programs isn't actually rotating the file, but simply changing the metadata -- and then the online service you're using is misreading (or not reading) that? That's my only guess so far.

TheMightyGoat · Apr 3, 2009

dcclark said:
Perhaps one or the other of these programs isn't actually rotating the file, but simply changing the metadata -- and then the online service you're using is misreading (or not reading) that? That's my only guess so far.

I expect WPaFV only changes the metadata rather than actually rotating and saving the file. But it only displays them horizontal because it's not reading the original metadata. Photoshop apparently reads them in their proper orientation regardless, but when I upload them, neither metadata entry is read? Then how can I view them in proper orientation in both Photoshop and default programs?

Is there a way to prevent Photoshop from reading the rotation metadata?