Datewell™
Date Taken FixerEvery scan, back on its real date.
Scanned photos all claim they were taken the day you scanned them. Datewell reads the date you already wrote in each file name and sets it as the photo's real Date Taken, so every picture lands in the right place on the timeline.
What Datewell does
Scans named 1987-07-04 Lake Tahoe.jpg, phone pictures named IMG_20190312_142310.jpg and prints named July 1965 Christmas.tif all get the right date, so they sort correctly in Lightroom Classic, Windows, Apple Photos, Google Photos and every other program that reads photo dates.
When a name has no date, Datewell can read the orange date stamp a film camera printed in the corner of the picture, or the month and year a lab printed on a print's white border. It never guesses: a photo it can't date is left alone, with the reason.
It comes two ways, with one license for both: the Datewell app for Windows and Mac, which needs no Lightroom, and the Lightroom Classic plug-in. Nothing changes until you have seen a preview and clicked Write dates, and every run can be undone.
Features
Dates in many shapes
1987-07-04, 20040704_142310, July 4 1987, 4 Jul 1987, July 1987, Summer 1971, Christmas 1965, phone, WhatsApp and screenshot names, and month names in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian.
Camera date stamps
The orange or red digits film cameras printed in the corner, such as ’97 12 20, read digit by digit, either way up. Faint quartz date backs are read too, and a hidden digit can be filled in from the photos beside it.
Dates printed on the border
Many prints from the 1950s to the 1970s carry the month and year they were developed on their border, such as JUNE 1956. Datewell reads them on all four sides.
It never guesses
A name with no date, two different dates, a date that doesn't exist or one in the future is left alone, and the preview says why. US or day-first order is your choice when a date could be read either way.
Preview first, undo any run
Every photo is listed with the date found and the date it has now, with a close-up of any stamp or border date it read. Undo puts the old dates back, in the app or in Lightroom.
The picture is never re-saved
Only the date fields change, so there is no loss of quality and keywords and captions stay as they are. Each photo is read back to check the new date is there.
Folder names and your own patterns
No date in the name? Use the folder's name instead. Unusual names can be read with a custom pattern such as Roll * DD-MM-YY.
Hard stamps online, if you like
For stamps your computer can't read, Datewell can ask Claude, OpenAI or Google Gemini with your own API key. Only the photo's bottom right corner is sent, never the whole photo.
How it works
In the app
- Choose a folder (with the folders inside it if you like) or some photos.
- Click Preview the dates and check the list. Untick any photo you want left alone.
- Click Write dates. Changed your mind? Undo this run, now or later.
In Lightroom Classic
- Select the photos and save Lightroom's changes to the files first (Metadata > Save Metadata to Files).
- Choose Library > Plug-in Extras > Set Date taken from file names and click Preview.
- Check the preview and click Write dates. Datewell then has Lightroom read the new dates from the files.
Requirements
- Windows
- Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). Nothing else to install: Python and the image libraries come with it.
- Mac
- A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 13 or later. An Intel Mac uses the Mac's own Python 3; the installer says so if it has none.
- Lightroom Classic
- For the plug-in only. The app needs no Lightroom, just a current web browser (Edge, Chrome, Safari or Firefox).
- Files
- JPEG, TIFF, DNG, HEIC, PNG, WebP and PSD get the date inside the file. Camera raw files get an .xmp sidecar beside them, as Lightroom and Bridge make, or the date in the raw file itself if you choose. Date stamps and border dates are read on JPEG, TIFF and PNG.
Price and free trial
- Every feature works free for 21 days on each computer, with no watermark and no account. After that, Datewell keeps working for 7 more days with a reminder; then the preview still works, and writing dates needs a license key.
- One license is for one person on up to 2 computers, covers both the app and the Lightroom Classic plug-in, and includes complimentary updates within the major version (a version 1 key works for every 1.x release).
- Your key arrives by email. It is checked on your computer: no account or internet connection is needed to use Datewell.
- Moving to a new computer? Click “Remove license from this computer” on the old one and enter your key on the new one.
- Also in The Well Tools Bundle: Squarewell™, Spoolwell™, Pivotwell™, Datewell™ and Labelwell™ on one license key for $149.
Windows may show “Windows protected your PC” the first time: click More info, then Run anyway. The Mac download is signed and checked by Apple: open it and double-click the Install app.
Lost your key? · License terms · Refund policy · Questions: info@thepictureorg.com
Questions
Why do my scans show the wrong date?
A scanner writes the day of the scan as the photo's date, so a 1965 picture sorts as if it were taken this year. Datewell replaces that date with the one in the file name, a date stamp or the print's border.
What if the name only has a year or a month?
The photo gets the first of that month (or January 1) as its Date Taken, because that field needs a full date, and the XMP “Date Created” field keeps exactly what the name said, so programs that understand partial dates show it as 1987 or July 1987.
What time does it use?
Dates without a time get 12:00 noon, so a time zone change can't move them to the day before. You can choose another time.
Will it change my pictures?
No. Only the date fields are written. The picture itself is never opened or saved again, so there is no loss of quality.
Why are there extra steps in Lightroom?
Lightroom doesn't let plug-ins change the capture time in its catalog, so Datewell writes the dates into the files and has Lightroom read them back. Saving Lightroom's own changes to the files first keeps any keywords or captions you added from being lost.
Does anything get sent online?
No, unless you turn on reading hard date stamps online with your own API key. Then only the bottom right corner of a photo is sent, and the cost goes on your own account, well under a dollar per thousand photos with the usual models.
Is anything sent from my computer?
Only a once-a-day check for a newer version, which fetches a small version list and sends nothing about your computer, your photos or your license key. You can turn it off. Online reading, if you turn it on, sends only what is described above, with your own API key.
How do updates work?
Datewell tells you when a new version is out. Install now downloads it, checks that it carries The Picture Org's signature, and installs it, putting everything back if anything goes wrong. Updates within the major version are complimentary.
What's new
Version 0.9.14 24 October 2026
- The User Guide now has step-by-step instructions for getting an API key from Claude, Google Gemini or OpenAI to read hard date stamps online, with a note on what each service does with what you send.
- User Guide: a new Updates section; the License and Help sections now match the other Picture Org apps.