Kodak Opens Software Architecture for Digital Images; Creation of Software Standard Allows for Larger Digital Picture Business

Business Wire, Nov 13, 2000

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

COMDEX Fall 2000

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2000

You take the pictures, drop off the film, pick up the prints. It's that easy. And it's been that easy for as long as you can remember. Behind the scenes, though, a complex system of compatible chemistries and processes from all manufacturers took care of processing, exposing and printing pictures. For digital photography to be as successful, it has to become that easy. Eastman Kodak Company today strengthened the foundation for this system, announcing that it would make available its architecture for manipulating picture metadata available as Open Source software.

"Making this architecture broadly available underpins the digital photography industry, much as standard processing chemistries and procedures have made consumer photography so reliable over the last century," said Jim Stoffel, senior vice president and chief technical officer, Eastman Kodak Company. "That's key to making digital photography ubiquitous and driving new growth for Kodak and the category."

Metadata includes such information as the nature of the scene, the type of camera, the identity of the photographer, as well as key words the user can add which will help in retrieving pictures. All this information enables users to manage their digital pictures in a way that goes far beyond the limitations of conventional photo albums, helping to foster demand for digital cameras, digital albums and digital prints.

"Open systems drove the dramatic growth of the computer industry over the last 20 years. Opening up this architecture is a critical factor in igniting explosive growth for digital photography," said Alexis Gerard, Future Image Report. "We're pleased to see Kodak step up to this leadership role."

Today's announcement fulfills the company's commitment, made at the Digital Imaging Group's Technical Forum on Metadata at the Seybold Conference in September, to make its hitherto proprietary architecture open source. By releasing the toolkit as open source software, Kodak hopes to streamline the use and application of picture metadata throughout the industry, making digital photography as easy as film photography.

The Kodak Picture Metadata Toolkit provides a uniform way to handle picture metadata, the information about the picture that is used by image processing algorithms to create original files, store changes or annotations, and print. Uses for metadata can also include sound, order handling (such as the digital print order format or DPOF), personalization, and security. The Kodak Picture Metadata toolkit provides a consistent means of accessing metadata stored in a variety of popular formats, including TIFF, Exif 2.1, and the new DIG35 metadata standard.

While storing metadata with pictures is a familiar concept among developers, a common architecture for handling them among all cameras, scanners, and software would provide a platform for more consistent display, printing, and use of pictures. Said Stoffel, "It's the glue that holds the digital imaging chain together."

Starting today, the Kodak Picture Metadata Toolkit source code will be available for download, modification, and redistribution in accordance with the Kodak Public License through the company's Developers' Relations Group at www.kodak.com/go/drg. Developers need only register with the open source community and agree to terms of the Kodak Public License.

Editor's Note: For information on Kodak's picture metadata toolkit, customers can visit our web site at www.kodak.com/go/drg or email us at drg@kodak.com.

(Kodak is a trademark.)