diff --git a/metaSave b/metaSave
index 2f88e16..cc56a69 100755
--- a/metaSave
+++ b/metaSave
@@ -25,8 +25,9 @@ import	os
 import	re
 import	sys
 import	fnmatch
+import  traceback
 from picasa3meta import thumbindex, pmpinfo, iniinfo, exiv2meta, contacts
-
+from codecs import open
 
 
 def locatedir(pattern,start):
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ def main():
 		"photo tree and Picasa3 files to another system or have them "\
 		"remotely mounted with a different path you can use --tweak to "\
 		"adjust the path. \nexample:\n\t"\
-		"--tweak '/my/path/Pictures':'/thumbindex/path/Pictures'" )
+		"--tweak '/my/path/Pictures'::'/thumbindex/path/Pictures'" )
 	args = parser.parse_args()
 
 	
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ def main():
 			os.path.join(args.dest,os.path.basename(source)+".meta"))
 		
 		if args.tweak != "":
-			myPath, thumbPath = args.tweak.split(':')
+			myPath, thumbPath = args.tweak.split('::') # double colon for windows compatability (C:\bla split otherwise) 
 		else:
 			myPath = ""
 			thumbPath = ""
@@ -228,6 +229,7 @@ def main():
 					iniDir = os.path.dirname(img)
 					if myPath != "":
 						pmpDir = iniDir.replace(myPath,thumbPath)
+					else: pmpDir = iniDir
 					outDir = iniDir.replace(source,dest)
 					outBase = os.path.basename(img)				
 					outFile = os.path.join(outDir,outBase+".meta")
@@ -237,10 +239,10 @@ def main():
 					except:
 						pass
 					
-					oF = open(outFile,"w")
+					oF = open(outFile,"w", "utf-8")
 					# pmp index
 					index = picasaDb.indexOfFile(os.path.join(pmpDir,outBase))
-					oF.write("pmp.index:%d\n"%index)  
+					oF.write("pmp.index:%d\n"%index)
 					# pmp info
 					for K,V in pmpDB.getEntry(index):
 						oF.write("pmp.%s:%s\n"%(K,V))
@@ -300,12 +302,16 @@ def main():
 							
 					# and finally, exiv2 data
 					for K,V in exiv2meta.EXIV2Meta(img):
+						V = V or "" # replace NoneType with empty string (avoid NoneType error)
+						if not isinstance(V, str):
+							V=", ".join(V) # join lists (like face data)
+						V = V.encode('string_escape') # escape invalid bytes
 						oF.write("%s:%s\n"%(K,V))
 					oF.close()
 					
 			print "%d files"%count
 		except:
-			print "error: ",sys.exc_info()[0],":",sys.exc_info()[1]
+			traceback.print_exc(file=sys.stdout) # print a full stack trace
 			return 3
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":