Workflow Xl

Metadada in Lightroom

On o f the main reason that I have chosen to use Lightroom from Adobe as my raw converter is the fact that I can write all the IPTC info there and keep them with the raw file (by converting it to DNG) . Not only can I write it there I can automate lot part of the process when importing the images. I can FFX have it put all the info in the contact panel and even some or all of the info in the Content panel. When this is written I am in Baja California in Mexico. When I import files to Lightroom I let it fill out the fields of where images are taken. FX. City=Loreto Country=Mexico and so on. for explanation Ill go over the IPTC fields in Lightroom.

To the right in the working window in Lightroom is are the Metadata. At the top of this column you can shoos to show different information. I choose the IPTC data.

The first section is Contact. Here the information about you the Photographer are put in. This you do set up to be automatic when importing images. I will go through that later on.

Creator Creators name
Job title Job title (photographer)
Address Your address or your business address
City City of the business
State/province State
Postal Code Post code
Country Country
Phone Phone
E-mail Your e-mail can be more than one separated by a comma
Website website - can be more than one separated by a comma.

Then there is the Content panel. I usually do not do this automatic but it can be done in many cases.

Headline
A brief publishable synopsis/summary of the contents

Caption
The Description field, often referred to as a “caption” is used to describe the who, what and why of what is happening in the photograph.

IPTC Subject code
This field can be used to specify and categorize the content of a photograph by using one or more subjects as listed in the IPTC “Subject NewsCode” taxonomy

Description writer
The name of the one writing the descriptions.

Category
Further explanation according to the IPTC subject codes.

Other categories
Further explanation according to the IPTC subject codes or codes of the news agency or news media

Under Image comes further info and many of them can be automatically filled on import

Date created
Use this field to record the date of when the photograph was taken, not the date when you scanned
or edited the image. No need to fill it out if you are using digital camera as it is in the EXIF file.

Intellectual Genre
Use this field to describe the “type” of use that a photograph fulfills in terms of its intellectual or journalistic characteristics. This can be a different set depending on the publisher and media. Usually taxonomy developed "in-house"

Scene
This field is used to describe the scene of a photo using one or more terms from the IPTC "Scene- NewsCodes" controlled vocabulary

Location
Enter the name of a location shown in the photograph.

City
Enter the name of the city that is pictured in the photograph. If there is no city, you can use the location field alone to specify where the photograph was taken.

State/province
Enter the name of the subregion of a country–usually referred to as either a State or Province – that is pictured in the image.

Country
Enter the full name of the country pictured in the photograph.

ISO Country code
Enter the ISO Country Code of the country pictured in the photograph. This field is at the top/ first level of a top-down geographical hierarchy. Country codes should be displayed as upper-case letters (US not us), and may be either two- or three-letter codes as defined by the ISO 3166 standard.

Under Status there are further info.

Title
This field can be used as a shorthand reference for the image or “photograph” — primarily for identification.

Job Identifier
You can enter a number or identifier that was created or issued for the purpose of improving
workflow handling and image tracking. This ID should be added by the creator or provider for
transmission and routing purposes only and should have no significance for archiving.

Instructions
The Instructions field is a simple text field that can be used to include any of a number of
instructions from the provider or creator to the receiver of the photograph.

Provider
Use the Provider field to identify who is providing the photograph. This doesn’t have to necessarily be the owner/ creator.

Source
The Source field should be used to identify the original owner or copyright holder of the
photograph. The value of this field should never be changed after the information is entered following the image's creation.

Copyright
The Copyright Notice should contain any necessary copyright notice for claiming the intellectual property, and should identify the current owner(s) of the copyright for the photograph. Usually, this would be the photographer, but if the image was done by an employee or as work-for-hire, then the
agency or company should be listed. Use the form appropriate to your country.

Rights Usage terms
The Rights Usage Terms field should include text instructions on how this photograph can be
legally used.

Copyright info url
Web-side url where information about the copyright holder can be found

By filling out all of these fields life will become much more easier when you need to find your files. When you convert images through Lightroom to an other form these information will follow the file and thus always be there. When you then import images into some database system it collects those information and you can search and sort by any of them.

there is one key thing left and that are the keywords. Even though it is not under the IPTC fields in Lightroom it is the most important one. I will deal with that in a separate writing.

I will also write about the file info in Photoshop and file info in DAM softwares