Image Metadata for Newly Ingested Images

Darius1968 · June 15, 2014, 12:34:00 AM

Okay, I've just acquired a bunch of new images in the jpeg format (although, I think this goes for any file format), and I wanted to enter some metadata with respect to author, description, copyright, headline, etc. to catalog these. So far, most of what little metadata exists are locked. It seems as though images are inconsistent in this respect as to the specific metadata held in the files. So, what do I do to open a metadata set for these images so that I can enter some of this info about the images?

jch2103 · June 15, 2014, 03:28:37 AM

Did you try the 'Default' metadata template? It uses 'Standard' metadata tags, and should work with your images. The 'Browser' metadata template includes all available metadata for the selected image, including quite a few that are indeed locked. The 'Default' template should simplify things a bit. If it doesn't meet all your needs, a custom template can provide more flexibility.

Darius1968 · June 15, 2014, 06:04:31 AM

I'm attaching an image for which I tried to modify the Creator Contact Info of the IPTC Core, and I made sure the data was written back to the file, but for whatever reason, the changes aren't permanent.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Ferdinand · June 15, 2014, 02:29:45 PM

If you are running Imatch with the defaults then you are in metadata working group mode (MWG). In this mode IPTC fields are locked. You edit the corresponding XMP field instead, and the IPTC field is automatically populated from the XMP field. This is the opposite of how it was in 3.6, but it's the way of the future.

Mario · June 15, 2014, 03:06:49 PM

Correct. If Metadata Working Group compliance is enabled (the default), IMatch makes all IPTC/EXIF/GPS etc. tags read-only which have corresponding XMP tags. You only edit the XMP tags and IMatch will update the corresponding IPTC, EXIF, GPS etc. tags on write-back. Maybe this explains your problem?

Ferdinand · June 15, 2014, 06:00:56 PM

I wonder if we should be have a FAQ board for questions that get asked a lot. This one, and the embedded thumb/WIC one and the CR2 one come to mind.

jch2103 · June 15, 2014, 06:15:07 PM

Quote from: Ferdinand on June 15, 2014, 06:00:56 PM
I wonder if we should be have a FAQ board for questions that get asked a lot. This one, and the embedded thumb/WIC one and the CR2 one come to mind.

+1. There are a significant number of repeated questions, and more new users will mean more of these questions.

Mario · June 15, 2014, 07:28:23 PM

We have a FAQ board in

https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?board=44.0

please feel free to add topics there.

Darius1968 · June 16, 2014, 12:45:09 AM

Ferdinand wrote:
"If you are running Imatch with the defaults then you are in metadata working group mode (MWG). In this mode IPTC fields are locked. You edit the corresponding XMP field instead, and the IPTC field is automatically populated from the XMP field. "

I don't know at this instant whether or not my IMatch is in Metadata Working Group mode (MWG), but my attached screen capture shows that I had my Metadata panel set to IPTC (XMP) data entry mode. From here, I successfully modified the data for some of the fields in the IPTC Core. Of all I tried to modify, only the "Creator Contact Info) wouldn't cooperate and be changed. None of the fields for the IPTC Core were marked as locked, as is shown in the file attachment.

P.S.
I went to have a look at the metadata layout for this image with the selector set to "IPTC (XMP)", keeping in mind what Ferdinand said about the preference of modifying the XMP fields over the IPCT counterparts. There are no XMP fields. So, how do I access these?

[attachment deleted by admin]

Ferdinand · June 16, 2014, 09:17:10 AM

You can see whether or not you're in MWG mode from the Metadata2 tab in preferences. I'm currently travelling without a Windows PC so I can't check those fields. Mario may comment. On my install genuine IPTC fields are locked and XMP fields are editable. The use of the term "Core" implies XMP to me, but I don't understand why only some are editable.

Darius1968 · June 16, 2014, 02:54:31 PM

I went ahead and disabled the MWG Mode Compliance, and then tried to make changes to that field. Still didn't work. Therefore, I enabled Metadata Working Group Compliance again.

Ferdinand · June 16, 2014, 03:42:28 PM

As I don't have Imatch 5 with me on this trip, someone else will have to look at those fields and comment.

Mario · June 16, 2014, 04:13:29 PM

I looked into your problem today.

The ]CreatorContactInfo is not a tag you can directly update (I should not have included this in the sample layout - and have removed for the next build).

This is a so-called structured tag, which consists of multiple other tags. These other tags are, e.g., Creator:City or Creator: Country. These are the tags you want to update. These tags are also in the IPTC Core panel, directly below the CreatorContactInfo tag.

When you change the CreatorContactInfo and write-back, you can see the following error message in the ExifTool output panel:

Warning: Improperly formed structure for XMP-iptcCore:CreatorContactInfo

ExifTool simply ignores your update to that tag and issues the warning.

This panel (<F9>,<O>) is always a big help when diagnosing such problems.

Solution::

1. Update the individual elements of the CreatorContactInfo separately in the Metadata Panel.
2. Remove the CreatorContactInfo from your Metadata Panel layout.