Hi Tom,

EXIF metadata (contains all the shooting information) actually resides
within the JPEG image files themselves, and you should be fine as long
as it was embedded correctly in the first place, and as long as further
editing retains the data.

Some older versions of image editors discard the EXIF data when
resaving, so best to keep originals whenever editing photos.

In terms of learning more, books are good, also perhaps joining a
friendly discussion forum (such as http://www.shuttertalk.com) and
posting questions there will also get you a lot of helpful feedback.

All the best!

Regards,
Julian
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Shuttertalk Forums Member
http://www.shuttertalk.com