This is an extension to the existing core xmpMetadata plugin. The core plugin reads metadata from your photos, such as location or camera speed etc.., and includes them as additional information about the image.
I wanted something that would also read the name tags from Picassa, and the core plugin proved a great starting block - a few lines of additional code enabled it to read the Picassa tags. With this, the names in each photo appear against the photos as tags, and can be searched for using the default Zen Photo search function.
To use:
- Save the php file in your zen photo plugin directory and rename the file - for security reasons, the extension is php_.txt.
- Enable the plugin in Zenphoto
- On Picassa, set Tools -> Options, select Name Tags tab, and tick Store Name Tags in Photo
- In Zen Photo, if you already have images, you may need to refresh the album's meta data: Albums, select an album, then click on Refresh Album Metadata
This works by reading the XMP section of the metadata. Other facial programs write to EXIF or IPTC sections, so this may not work with other facial tools.
This now does what I need it to do, but further enhancements could be to read the locations of the face and add locate it on the images.