Re: updating XMP sidecar-file for NEF files

[Reply to a message mistakenly posted in the SDK forum:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1158444?tstart=0]
Adobe has stated that LR 3.4 and later follow the standard "Guidelines For Handling Image Metadata" from the Metadata Working Group, which incorporates the EXIF and IPTC standards. Adobe continues to make incremental improvements to LR's metadata handling, so I'll just focus on the behavior of the current release, 4.3. Following the detailed steps you posted:
LR 4.3 does not add Photoshop:Urgency to the .xmp sidecar. As you've observed, Photoshop:Urgency is a deprecated field not part of the IPTC Core, so that makes sense.
LR 4.3 does copy the XMP field MicrosoftPhoto:RatingPercent from the .nef to the .xmp, but it doesn't update that field when you change the Rating in LR. Both of these behaviors make sense. RatingPercent is not part of the standards supported by LR, so of course it won't update that field. But it is part of the XMP metadata in the .nef, and tools should in general preserve all of the XMP metadata, even if they don't use it or know how to interpret it (XMP = "Extensible Metadata Platform").

Similar Messages

How do I force lightroom to (re)load an XMP sidecar file?

Good morning from Boston!
I am new to Lightroom and just finished importing my Aperture library into Lightroom 5 on a Mac. For that, I followed the instructions on Adobe's landing page and Lightroom solutions. For those not familiar with the instructions, you essentially export all your originals with an XMP sidecar file and then export all the adjusted/edited files as 16-bit TIFFs. Then you add them all back into Lightroom and get everything back into Catalogs, Labels, Ratings, and such by using keywords that were added while in Aperture. It took forever, but worked pretty well overall. I had about <1% fewer images in LR5 than in Aperture, which were likely suspected duplicates. So far, so good.
Here's is my problem. My keywords didn't always transfer over (the Keywording panel is empty). I did search forums and plug-ins, but seem to only find issues related to EXIF and GPS data. I also used "Metadata:Read Metadata from File" and "Metadata:Update DNG Preview & Metadata," which didn't do anything. I am suspecting that "Read from File" means "read from the image file itself but not from the sidecar file." Take file IMG_5888 as an example. This particular one was taken as RAW (.CR2) + JPEG on a Canon Rebel XS, but I am having the same issue with RAW only on my Canon EOS 6D. Same goes for JPG + XMP. Puzzling thing is that other files loaded just fine.
In the directory/folder where the file is, it looks like this:
IMG_5887.CR2
IMG_5887.JPG
IMG_5887.XMP
IMG_5887.dng
IMG_5888-2.JPG
IMG_5888.CR2
IMG_5888.JPG
IMG_5888.XMP
IMG_5888.dng
IMG_5889-2.JPG
IMG_5889.CR2
IMG_5889.JPG
IMG_5889.XMP
IMG_5889.dng
The .dng were generated by Llightroom. Now, the sidecar files typically have something like so in them (I cut out some keywords for clarity—you get the idea):
<rdf:Description rdf:about='' xmlns:photoshop='http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/'>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description rdf:about='' xmlns:dc='http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/'>
<dc:subject><rdf:Bag>
<rdf:li>Black Head Trail</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Cliffs</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Maine</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Monhegan</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>RAW</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Sunrises</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>United States</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Waves</rdf:li>
</rdf:Bag></dc:subject>
</rdf:Description>
So, the keywords were exported from Aperture, but for some reason, Lightroom isn't always loading them from the XMP file.
On a related note, the keyword hierarchy that was exported as text file from Aperture and imported into LR5 worked well. Everything appears to be there and in its place.
Any ideas for a Lightroom rookie as to how I can get LR5 to read those XMPs? Over 20,000 didn't tag, so I would rather not do this by hand!
Many thanks in advance,
Paul

John, what a pleasure. Well, here is the update. First, copying over 300GB of pictures to a drive and then backing up said drive takes a bloody long time. But here is what happened, for others who might run into the same issue.
I first tried a small set of files to narrow down whether the issue was the Aperture export or the Lightroom import.
Conclusion: the "issue" is mostly on the Lightroom side.
What I found: Although Aperture will export an XMP sidecar for a JPEG, Lightroom will not read it, ignoring all keywords. I exported a set of JPEGs only and then opened the XMPs with an editor (well, the UNIX cat command, to be exact). The information was there, keywords and all. However, LR appeared to ignore XMP for JPEG. That said, if you have a RAW+JPEG in Aperture, the RAW XMP sidecar will overwrite the JPEG one, effectively leaving you with only the keywords for the RAW version. That shouldn't be an issue for most, but just in case you have different keywords for your RAW and JPEG images, be aware of this.
What I did:
Back up all the images and catalogs/libraries from Aperture and LR.
Make sure #1 worked out.
Make sure #1 worked out (not a typo; you really need a backup, as you will find out below).
Delete the old JPEG files that were uploaded into LR. I had them in a From Aperture folder, as instructed by John's article and Adobe's landing page (referenced in John's article), so I deleted all JPEGs in that folder. My Aperture database was not affected and in fact resides on a different drive.
Run find . -iname "*.JPEG" -delete [if you do not know how 'find' works, ask someone, as this can potentially delete every single file accessible to your computer!]
Run find . -iname "*.JPG" -delete [ditto! Don't tell me I didn't warn you!]This is why you need to backup everything. I was deleting copies/exports of the originals in Aperture (again, read John's article for the difference) and still had the originals in Aperture, on a different drive.
[I didn't worry about the unmatched/orphaned XMP files for the JPEGs only; they are tiny and don't hurt.]
In LR, select 'Library:Find All Missing Photos.' If asked, remove them from the Catalog only.
Create a Smart Album in Aperture and include only 'Filetype is JPG.'
Select all images in that album.
Export those original images per Adobe's landing instructions, but for this set of images, select 'Include IPTC' instead of creating a sidecar file.
When Aperture is done, open LR and Add the whole 'From Aperture' folder back to LR (make sure 'Ignore suspected duplicates' is selected.
John, as you rightfully pointed out, this is tricky. If my experience is any indicator, I would suggest migrating in 3 steps:
Export all RAW originals with IPTC in XMP sidecar files.
Export all non-RAW originals (which I would guess are mostly JPEGs) with IPTC included. (not a sidecar)
Export all versions as 16-bit TIFF.
If #2 is added, then the process is actually most straightforward. Steps 1–5 in the first block above were to clean up the mess that I had created and should not happen otherwise (famous last word...)
If the above is unclear, please let me know and I will expand on it. If I had the issue, I suspect others will as well.
Thank you for your help and suggestions. I am officially migrated to LR and up and running!
Cheers from Boston,
Paul

Replacing .xmp sidecar files not recognized in Lightroom 3.6- Lr 'Guru' Question Alert!

- I have 'Automatically write changes ino XMP' checked
- I have not moved my catalog or files for years and only continue to add files to my catalog.
ISSUE:
I made some accidental global changes to about 600 .cr2 raw images and to save me time in recovering from each change I made, I closed Lightroom and then deleted the sidecar .xmp files in the folder. I then copied the .xmp files from a backup created and then launched Lightroom again- there was no indication that the metadata had been changed and thought that was odd. I right-clicked on the folder and slected 'Synchronize Folder' and the only option was 'scan for metadata updates' so I tried to synchronize from there- still no changes made to the image previews. The Metadata -> Sync Metadata option was grayed-out so that wasn't an option either.
What I finally had to do was highlight all the files in the Library module and select Photo -> Read Metadata From Files and ONLY after that did the previews update and read from the newly imported .xmp files.
So, my question is WHY did Lightroom not see that the .xmp files were changed as I have experienced in the past?

I would have done Read Metadata from Files as my first choice.
From what you say, the LR metadata data was newer than the XMP metadata date and LR’s metadata updated date was newer than the XMP file-modification date so why would LR overwrite its newer metadata with older XMP metadata with a Synchronize? It might have worked the way you wanted if you had changed the file-modification date to be something current, by using a “touch” command or editing the contents of the XMP files, but LR seems to have done the right thing by not updating its internal metadata from and older XMP file using Synchronize and requiring an explicit command to do so.
It used to be impossible to update XMP files to the current set of edits if LR thought the metadata was current even if you explicitly commanded it to Write Metadata to Files, so Adobe has made adjustments to how LR and sidecars work together.
If LR used to revert edits based on older XMP sidecar files, that sounds wrong, and probably Adobe has fixed things to work in a more safe manner.
Do you remember if you saw an ! on the thumbnails indicating a metadata conflict or was LR completely unaware that the XMP files had been reverted to an earlier copy?

Camera raw in Elements 12 - Using the database instead of xmp sidecar files

PSE12 ACR
Is there somewhere some documentation about using the option to save the ACR settings in a database rather than in xmp sidecar files ?
I have found the location of the 'Database' file in C:/Users/[my name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/CameraRaw/
Several questions:
- how to ensure that the 'Database' is backed up with the built-in backup process in the Organizer ?
- that Database seems to be independent of the catalogs
- How is the Database updated if you move or rename files from the Organizer ?
- What happens if you already have xmp sidecar files when you choose the option of the Database in the ACR dialog ?
- If you upgrade catalogs from Elements to Lightroom, are the settings saved in the database recognized by Lightroom ?

What is your screen resolution on the computer you're running PSE8 on?
ACR requires a vertical screen resolution of 768. If you're on a small laptop or a normal-sized netbook, PSE will skip the ACR-user-interface and go directly into the editor.
The update for ACR will be on http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/ and choose Camera RAW - Windows/Mac at the top, and then after choosing the ACR version, the page that comes up should have a link for a PSE-specific install process. The text on the main ACR update page will have the Photoshop instructions so you have to look for a link for the PSE instructions. It should involve downloading a ZIP, extracting the files, and replacing the plug-in file manually.

XMP sidecar files not recognised

I am new to Lightroom and want to migrate an Expression Media catalog to a LR catalog.
The import worked OK for the images (raw/Nef, Tiff, jpeg) , but I have a problem with the IPCT medata ( so far I use only : title, rating, country, copyright).
I don't like the idea of writing this medata into the image files , using the Sync command in Expression Media.
So I created xmp sidecar files for all images nef, tiff and jpeg ('extract metadata / annotations only' command in XM).
Image files and sidecar files have the same name and are stored in the same folder.
LR imported the metadata for raw images only, not for tiff or jpeg.
I guess xmp 'space' is supposed to be inside tiff and jpeg image files, and outside raw files (sidecar files), but is there a way to have LR import consider sidecar files for non raw files ? (strangely, 'sidecar files : xmp' is mentioned in the metadata panel for tiff files, not for jpegs)
Thanks for your help,
Lenanard

but is there a way to have LR import consider sidecar files for non raw files ?
No. Xmp's only for proprietary raw file. For others Lightroom only rads embedded.
(strangely, 'sidecar files : xmp' is mentioned in the metadata panel for tiff files, not for jpegs)
Lightroom just looks at whatever files are there with a common base name. You can even have a TXT file as a sidecar.

How to save metadatas in RAW files (and not in external .XMP sidecar file)

Hello,
I would like to save metadatas (for example keywords) inside the RAW files, and not in external .XMP sidecar file.
How to do this in Lightroom ?
Thanks
Josh
PS: is XMP a file format (= .XMP files) or a metadata format that can be embedded either in a .XMP sidecar file or in the RAW itself ?

MarvinFoster wrote:
It's a horridly named catalog setting since if you are using DNG you don't have XMP files but it does the same thing, it updates the dng with the catalog settings.
XMP does not mean XMP FILES per se.
XMP is a metadata format/standard. so it´s not horrible named but simply missunderstood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Metadata_Platform
XMP can be used in several file formats such as PDF, JPEG, JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, GIF, PNG, HTML, TIFF, Adobe Illustrator, PSD, MP3, MP4, Audio Video Interleave, WAV, RF64, Audio Interchange File Format, PostScript, Encapsulated PostScript, and proposed for DjVu. In a typical edited JPEG file, XMP information is typically included alongside Exif and IPTC Information Interchange Model data.

Lightroom 5 not loading .xmp sidecar files during import

I have a folder of RAW images that also contain .xmp sidecar files that I am trying to import into Lightroom. The images import with no issues but it appears that Lightroom is ignoring the sidecar files since none of the metadata they contain are appearing in the catalog. I am seeing the same behavior when I take the same RAW/.xmp files and first run them through the DNG converter and then import the DNGs into Lightroom (again, no metadata). I have tried to update the catalog by both writing to file as well as reading from file but nothing I do will get the metadata read into the catalog. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks...

Rob Cole wrote:
Whoops - I just realized you had also tried force-reading metadata after import.
If that doesn't work, then either the xmp sidecar files were not named properly, or something in them Lr not liking (presumably)
If you can make a copy available (of original photo file + xmp sidecar, e.g. zipped) I can have a look.
PS - Lr will only read DNG sidecar if newer than DNG (and hence embedded xmp).
Rob
Thanks Rob. New to these forums so still trying to feel my way through it. I tried both using the context menu as well as the metadata menu option for a selected image with no success. I have tried this with an image I had previously converted to a .DNG and the metadata does not load into the catalog for those either. However, I can't determine that the .DNG version had the metadata loaded or not. I don't know enough about the file structure or have the tools to peer inside to verify. The .zip file is 12MB in size so I am unable to insert the RAW file but I can't figure out how to attach to .xmp file either. Will continue to research to see how I can do that...

Write xmp sidecar files without need to export masters - script

I've written a script to write xmp sidecar files for referenced and online images (the 2 conditions in the script) of the selected images. I looked for a while at system events and other stuff to be able to write the xmp file, but i'm not a programmer, so in the end i chose the long and dirty way to do it.
This script will export all iptc expanded fields as aperture does (creating basically the same file). It can be easily adjusted to include other tags, even custom ones. I don't know how to get at the adjustments for images, otherwise those could be included as well.
If anyone has the energy to clean this up and make it faster, feel free to do so. Next, I'm going to try to write a script to do the opposite, import xmp sidecars for imported online and referenced files.
Here it goes (thanks to Brett Gross for the database part to find the master filename):
--script to create sidecar xmp files for referenced files without having to export masters. parts of the script (finding the file name) are by brett gross
property p_sql : "/usr/bin/sqlite3 "
global g_libPath
on run
my getLibPath()
--counter for processed images, reset, just in case
set mastercount to 0
tell application "Aperture"
if not (exists selection) then
display dialog "You have to select at least one image" buttons {"OK"} default button 1
return
else
display dialog "You have selected " & (count of selection) & " images." & return & "Continue?" default button 1
end if
set theSel to selection
--run through the selected images
repeat with currentpic from 1 to count of theSel
tell item currentpic of theSel
-- only apply to referenced and online images
if referenced and online then
set mastercount to mastercount + 1
set curID to id
--find the master file path and name - this part by brett gross, thanks
set libPOSIX to POSIX path of g_libPath
set libDBPOSIX to (libPOSIX & "/Aperture.aplib/Library.apdb") as string
set theScript to p_sql & (quoted form of libDBPOSIX) & " \"select ZFILEUUID from ZRKVERSION where ZUUID='" & curID & "'\""
set ZFILEUUID to do shell script theScript
# ---------- Get the master's path
set theScript to p_sql & (quoted form of libDBPOSIX) & " \"select ZIMAGEPATH from ZRKFILE where ZUUID='" & ZFILEUUID & "'\""
set ZIMAGEPATH to do shell script theScript
# ---------- Get the master's disk name
set theScript to p_sql & (quoted form of libDBPOSIX) & " \"select ZFILEVOLUMEUUID from ZRKFILE where ZUUID='" & ZFILEUUID & "'\""
set ZFILEVOLUMEUUID to do shell script theScript
set theScript to p_sql & (quoted form of libDBPOSIX) & " \"select ZNAME from ZRKVOLUME where ZUUID='" & ZFILEVOLUMEUUID & "'\""
set diskName to do shell script theScript
set imgPath to (diskName & "/" & ZIMAGEPATH)
--end brett gross part
--strips extension, seems to work for files and paths with more than one period
set oldlim to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "."
try --remove last extension only
set contador to text item -1 of imgPath
set noExtension to Unicode text 1 thru -((count of contador) + 2) of imgPath
on error --handle files with no extensions
set noExtension to imgPath
end try
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to oldlim
--create the file and path name with the .xmp extension for writing
set xmpPath to "/Volumes/" & noExtension & ".xmp" as Unicode text
--convert posix path to alias for easier write and read handling
set xmpPath to POSIX file xmpPath as file specification
-- header for xmp file
set xmpheader to ("<?xpacket begin='' id=''?>
<x:xmpmeta xmlns:x='adobe:ns:meta/' x:xmptk='XMP toolkit 2.9-9, framework 1.6'>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf='http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#' xmlns:iX='http://ns.adobe.com/iX/1.0/'>") & return
-- footer for xmp file
set xmpfooter to ("</rdf:RDF>
</x:xmpmeta>
<?xpacket end='w'?>") & return
--xmp content, part 1
--check for existence of iptc tags, create content or empty string depending on existance of tags
if (exists IPTC tag "Contact") or (exists IPTC tag "Country/PrimaryLocationCode") then
set xmpcontentpartone to ("<rdf:Description rdf:about='' xmlns:Iptc4xmpCore='http://iptc.org/std/Iptc4xmpCore/1.0/xmlns/'>") & return
try
set CountryCode to value of IPTC tag "Country/PrimaryLocationCode"
set xmpcontentpartone to xmpcontentpartone & tab & "<Iptc4xmpCore:CountryCode>" & CountryCode & "</Iptc4xmpCore:CountryCode>" & return
end try
try
set CreatorContactInfo to value of IPTC tag "Contact"
set xmpcontentpartone to xmpcontentpartone & tab & "<Iptc4xmpCore:CreatorContactInfo>" & CreatorContactInfo & "</Iptc4xmpCore:CreatorContactInfo>" & return
end try
set xmpcontentpartone to xmpcontentpartone & ("</rdf:Description>") & return
else
set xmpcontentpartone to ""
end if
--xmp content, part 2
--check for existence of iptc tags, create content or empty string depending on existance of tags
if (exists IPTC tag "Category") or (exists IPTC tag "City") or (exists IPTC tag "Country/PrimaryLocationName") or (exists IPTC tag "Credit") or (exists IPTC tag "DateCreated") or (exists IPTC tag "Headline") or (exists IPTC tag "Province/State") or (exists IPTC tag "Source") or (exists IPTC tag "SpecialInstructions") or (exists IPTC tag "SupplementalCategory") or (exists IPTC tag "Writer/Editor") then
set xmpcontentparttwo to ("<rdf:Description rdf:about='' xmlns:photoshop='http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/'>") & return
try
set Category to value of IPTC tag "Category"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:Category>" & Category & "</photoshop:Category>" & return
end try
try
set City to value of IPTC tag "City"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:City>" & City & "</photoshop:City>" & return
end try
try
set Country to value of IPTC tag "Country/PrimaryLocationName"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:Country>" & Country & "</photoshop:Country>" & return
end try
try
set Credit to value of IPTC tag "Credit"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:Credit>" & Credit & "</photoshop:Credit>" & return
end try
try
set DateCreated to value of IPTC tag "DateCreated"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:DateCreated>" & DateCreated & "</photoshop:DateCreated>" & return
end try
try
set Headline to value of IPTC tag "Headline"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:Headline>" & Headline & "</photoshop:Headline>" & return
end try
try
set State to value of IPTC tag "Province/State"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:State>" & State & "</photoshop:State>" & return
end try
try
set Source to value of IPTC tag "Source"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:Source>" & Source & "</photoshop:Source>" & return
end try
try
set Instructions to value of IPTC tag "SpecialInstructions"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:Instructions>" & Instructions & "</photoshop:Instructions>" & return
end try
try
set SupplementalCategory to value of IPTC tag "SupplementalCategory"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:SupplementalCategory>" & SupplementalCategory & "</photoshop:SupplementalCategory>" & return
end try
try
set CaptionWriter to value of IPTC tag "Writer/Editor"
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & tab & "<photoshop:CaptionWriter>" & CaptionWriter & "</photoshop:CaptionWriter>" & return
end try
set xmpcontentparttwo to xmpcontentparttwo & ("</rdf:Description>") & return
else
set xmpcontentparttwo to ""
end if
--xmp content, part 3
--check for existence of iptc tags, create content or empty string depending on existance of tags
if (exists IPTC tag "Byline") or (exists IPTC tag "Caption/Abstract") or (exists IPTC tag "CopyrightNotice") or (exists IPTC tag "Keywords") or (exists IPTC tag "ObjectName") then
set xmpcontentpartthree to ("<rdf:Description rdf:about='' xmlns:dc='http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/'>") & return
try
set creator to value of IPTC tag "Byline"
set xmpcontentpartthree to xmpcontentpartthree & tab & "<dc:creator><rdf:Seq><rdf:li>" & creator & "</rdf:li></rdf:Seq></dc:creator>" & return
end try
try
set description to value of IPTC tag "Caption/Abstract"
set xmpcontentpartthree to xmpcontentpartthree & tab & "<dc:description><rdf:Alt><rdf:li xml:lang='x-default'>" & description & "</rdf:li></rdf:Alt></dc:description>" & return
end try
try
set rights to value of IPTC tag "CopyrightNotice"
set xmpcontentpartthree to xmpcontentpartthree & tab & "<dc:rights><rdf:Alt><rdf:li xml:lang='x-default'>" & rights & "</rdf:li></rdf:Alt></dc:rights>" & return
end try
--keywords, slightly different, as they need to be written as a list and not as a string
--i don't think it's a problem if we create an empty list if there are no keywords present.
set xmpcontentpartthree to xmpcontentpartthree & tab & "<dc:subject><rdf:Bag>" & return
--make list item for every keyword
try
repeat with n from 1 to count of keywords
set cursubject to name of (keyword n)
set xmpcontentpartthree to xmpcontentpartthree & tab & tab & "<rdf:li>" & cursubject & "</rdf:li>" & return
end repeat
end try
set xmpcontentpartthree to xmpcontentpartthree & tab & "</rdf:Bag></dc:subject>" & return
try
set title to value of IPTC tag "ObjectName"
set xmpcontentpartthree to xmpcontentpartthree & tab & "<dc:title><rdf:Alt><rdf:li xml:lang='x-default'>" & title & "</rdf:li></rdf:Alt></dc:title>" & return
end try
set xmpcontentpartthree to xmpcontentpartthree & ("</rdf:Description>") & return
else
set xmpcontentpartthree to ""
end if
--part four. aperture doesn't seem to export anything there
set xmpcontentpartfour to "<rdf:Description rdf:about='' xmlns:photomechanic='http://ns.camerabits.com/photomechanic/1.0/'>
</rdf:Description>" & return
--part five. rating
set xmpcontentpartfive to "<rdf:Description rdf:about='' xmlns:xap='http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/'>" & return
try
set Rating to main rating
set xmpcontentpartfive to xmpcontentpartfive & tab & "<xap:Rating>" & Rating & "</xap:Rating>" & return
end try
set xmpcontentpartfive to xmpcontentpartfive & "</rdf:Description>" & return
--join everything
set xmptext to xmpheader & xmpcontentpartone & xmpcontentparttwo & xmpcontentpartthree & xmpcontentpartfour & xmpcontentpartfive & xmpfooter
--write file
my writexmpFile(xmptext, xmpPath)
end if
end tell
end repeat
display dialog "Processed " & mastercount & " referenced and online image(s)." buttons {"OK"} default button 1
end tell
end run
-- write xmp sidecar file routine
on writexmpFile(theContents, xmpFileName)
--tell application "Finder"
try
open for access xmpFileName with write permission
set eof of xmpFileName to 0
write (theContents) to xmpFileName starting at eof
close access xmpFileName
on error
try
display dialog xmpFileName
close access xmpFileName
end try
end try
--end tell
end writexmpFile
--this part copied from Brett Gross-------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
on getLibPath()
tell application "System Events" to set p_libPath to value of property list item "LibraryPath" of property list file ((path to preferences as Unicode text) & "com.apple.aperture.plist")
if ((offset of "~" in p_libPath) is not 0) then
-- set p_posix to POSIX file p_libPath
set p_script to "/bin/echo $HOME"
set p_homePath to (do shell script p_script)
set p_offset to offset of "~" in p_libPath
set p_path to text (p_offset + 1) thru -1 of p_libPath
set g_libPath to p_homePath & p_path
else
set g_libPath to p_libPath
end if
end getLibPath
--end brett gross part

imigra wrote:
I've written a script to write xmp sidecar files for referenced and online images (the 2 conditions in the script) of the selected images. I looked for a while at system events and other stuff to be able to write the xmp file, but i'm not a programmer, so in the end i chose the long and dirty way to do it.
This script will export all iptc expanded fields as aperture does (creating basically the same file). It can be easily adjusted to include other tags, even custom ones.
Excellent stuff!
I don't know how to get at the adjustments for images, otherwise those could be included as well.
They are stored as binary data in the Version XML files at the bottom level of the Library package. You can also have a look around in the ZRKIMAGEADJUSTMENT table, but again the actual settings for each adjustment are in binary form.
If anyone has the energy to clean this up and make it faster, feel free to do so.
As far as I can remember, Aperture uses the 'proper' IPTC tag names when accessing them via AppleScript, so you may be able to do a loop through all the IPTC tags for each image, rather than picking out each specific one. But that would need checking. The EXIFTools site is a good place to find out about the different ways that IPTC data can be described.
Next, I'm going to try to write a script to do the opposite, import xmp sidecars for imported online and referenced files.
Don't rush unless you feel like it - I've already started planning out a free (as in beer and speech) XMP importer with a GUI so that you can choose how to map the XMP CORE tags that don't exist in Aperture. You've given me an extra idea, though - if we can decide on a set of custom tags, my importer could map the XMP CORE tags to them and your exporter could export those tags.
Thanks for the work!
Ian
P.S. I'll check through your script tomorrow, some of the database tables changed between 1.5.6 and 2.0, so you might need to add in a version check to be really thorough.

A way to force XMP sidecar file use with JPEG files?

I have a nice camera but it only saves in JPEG format. Once I rename the files and put my basic copyright info into the metadata, I like to mark them as read-only for safety. However, I want to be able to save the metadata that I enter in Lightroom 1.1 out to disk along with the files so that other programs can read it. I see that Lightroom will save in a separate XMP sidecar file if the photo is in one of those snobby RAW formats but not if it is in one of the low-life formats like JPEG. ;^)
Is there any way at all to get Lightroom to use a sidecar file with JPEGs or do I have to just risk it and let it edit my JPEG files every time I do anything? I'm sorry, but my lowly JPEG files are just as important to me as a RAW file is to someone else. They are my photographs and I want to protect them.

I'm not a pro so my backup routine is a little slip-shod. Sometimes I just grab a few files off the card, process them, and send the processed version out to whichever friend or relative is waiting impatiently for them.
I guess, I am most concerned about:
A) LR corrupting the working file and losing all the virtual edits. It is not easy for me to re-figure out what I did in the first place. Knowing about the safe-write technique helps.
B) Backing up just the edits. If the virtual/non-destructive edits were stored in separate .XMP files then I could back up those files to the same media as the original files and have them both together for future recovery operations. As it is, I now have to back up the entire working copy of the file in order to back up the edits. This creates two different versions of the file on my backup media, which will be harder to keep track of. Besides, .XMP files are small enough, and I would only be creating them for my better photos, so I could squeeze them onto the original backup media if I saved a bit of room. If I have to back up the entire modified file then it is less convenient.
C) When I write the metadata to the JPEG file, does it change the Windows modified date or creation date?

Importing metadata from XMP sidecar files into Aperture 2.0?

Has anybody found a way to to do this? It appears that the metadata stored in the XMP sidecar files created by Photoshop and Bridge is ignored by Aperture when it imports images. That is pretty much a show stopper when it comes to using Aperture for asset management.

The XMP import capability is limited to metadata/IPTC type info - NOT ACR adjustments and such - those values are specific and make no sense to Aperture. This is true in reverse as well - ACR/Bridge/LR/NX2, etc, etc may pickup IPTC type metadata from XMP or embedded values but NO software will translate adjustment values from another piece of software that are stored ad metadata.
RB

Always use external XMP sidecar files

I am coding a utility to convert my existing collection to LR, and I am wondering:
1) If LR can read XMP sidecar files for images even if the image can internally contain XMP data, e.g. JPG files?
2) If LR can export XMP data to a sidecar file even if the image can internally contain XMP data, e.g. JPG files?
Regards
P.

the sad part is that if your .jpg are read only (the files only), Lightroom will NOT export the XMP metadata. It would be nice is Lightroom exported XMP sidecar. Better, it would be nice to tell Lightroom to do it every time, like beta 4 was doing (if I'm not mistaken).

How can I generate XMP sidecar files?

Hello,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
I am trying to figure out how to generate XMP sidecar files for my DNG RAW files in Adobe Bridge. How do I do this? The reason why I ask is because my instructor is really getting on my case because I'm not able to generate the XMP files.
Love is the Law, Love under Will.
Most sincerely,
Jessica Sideways

Might do a little research as either you are phrasing the question wrong, you misunderstood the instructor, or instructor does not know what he is talking about.
Here is a link from other authors from Lighroom that also backs up what I said - To avoid sidecar files, consider converting your raw files to DNG. Metadata is written to these files in XMP format, but within the DNG..
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4306185

Importing .xmp sidecar file doesn't populate IPTC info??

Good evening everyone. I've been trying to import .xmp files alongside some of my old movies to save me from having to retype the IPTC info such as location, etc. I have a folder which contains the .mov file I want to import, along with the .xmp file of the exact same name. I thought this was automatic (at least from my perspective), put I guess not? The .mov file imports just fine, but Aperture doesn't seem to populate any of the metadata fields with any info from the .xmp file. I've tried this with different videos/xmp sidecar files with no luck. Am I stuck re-entering all the metadata by hand? I really don't have much info, but I have several hundred files I'm trying to re-import, so it could be a long week. In case it helps, here's the xmp sidecar file that was created when I used iView Media Pro software pre-Aperture:
Thank you!!
sample .xmp file:
<?xpacket begin="" id="W5M0MpCehiHzreSzNTczkc9d"?>
<x:xmpmeta xmlns:x="adobe:ns:meta/" x:xmptk="Public XMP Toolkit Core 4.0">
   <rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
      <rdf:Description rdf:about=""
            xmlns:photoshop="http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/">
         <photoshop:City>Venice</photoshop:City>
         <photoshop:Country>Italy</photoshop:Country>
         <photoshop:DateCreated>2005-09-19</photoshop:DateCreated>
      </rdf:Description>
      <rdf:Description rdf:about=""
            xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
         <dc:creator>
            <rdf:Seq>
               <rdf:li>Philip H. Sterling</rdf:li>
            </rdf:Seq>
         </dc:creator>
         <dc:description>
            <rdf:Alt>
               <rdf:li xml:lang="x-default">The world famous Venetian gondolas!</rdf:li>
            </rdf:Alt>
         </dc:description>
      </rdf:Description>
      <rdf:Description rdf:about=""
            xmlns:mediapro="http://ns.iview-multimedia.com/mediapro/1.0/">
         <mediapro:Event>Italian Vacation</mediapro:Event>
         <mediapro:CatalogSets>
            <rdf:Bag>
               <rdf:li>Venice</rdf:li>
            </rdf:Bag>
         </mediapro:CatalogSets>
      </rdf:Description>
   </rdf:RDF>
</x:xmpmeta>
<?xpacket end="w"?>

The Photoshop and/or Bridge forums would be more likely places to get answers to your questions. This forum is inhabited more by programmer types interested in implementing the XMP specification in applications we write.
I'd expect CS2 to ignore CS1 panels so I doubt that's the issue. Panels don't interfere with each other--they just offer different views of the data. In any case, move the extra panels to your desktop and see what happens.
As far as I know, all you need to do on the Mac is drag the CS1 application folder to the trash to uninstall it.

Importing XMP sidecar files

I used Lightroom to catalogue my pictures as Aperture would not run on my G4. I have now upgraded my computer and have purchased Aperture. I exported my pictures out of Lightroom with XMP sidecar files. On importing my pictures into Aperture I do not have the ratings and keywords assigned in Lightroom. Is there any way I can import the side car files or do I have to rate my pictures again and add the keywords manually?

The XMP import capability is limited to metadata/IPTC type info - NOT ACR adjustments and such - those values are specific and make no sense to Aperture. This is true in reverse as well - ACR/Bridge/LR/NX2, etc, etc may pickup IPTC type metadata from XMP or embedded values but NO software will translate adjustment values from another piece of software that are stored ad metadata.
RB

Is it possible to import NEF raw files and also import the tags from the existing XMP sidecar files?

I use Daminion to organise, tag and filter my photo collection. It allows me to place all of the tags in sidecar .xmp files. It uses the Adobe libraries to create these files. When I import the photos into Lightroom 3 or 5, Lightroom does not currently read the tags in the sidecar files.
Does anyone know if there is a way to get Lightroom to read the .xmp tag info?
Is there a setting in Lightroom that I am missing?

I'm just a raw beginner when it comes to Lightroom. I know it has tagging capabilities, but they seem quite outside of Lightroom's main focus which, as I see it, is photo tweaking.
Daminion of the other hand is totally focussed on management of a large and diverse digital assets collection (Photos, Video, Audio, Office documents, PDF's Vector graphics CAD). At this point I am using the stand-alone version of Daminion, but I will probably upgrade to the networked version when the collection has been whipped into shape enough to be shared sucessfully.
This is not intended as a commentary on Lightrooms capabilities. As I mentioned I am beginning to learn to use it.
I generally try to use the best tool for each task. I really like Daminion for it's asset management focus; Lightroom for Photo editing. You CAN drive nails with a wrench but why would you want to?

Re: updating XMP sidecar-file for NEF files

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