Resucing 2 photoshoots by replacing xmp files? (Dying computer)

My current computer is dying. It works mostly but I can't open LR (v3). My photos and the xmp files are on an external hard drive.
Thankfully, I have my data backed up (photos, xmp and catalogue files) apart from these 2 photoshoots (just photos and xmp). My new computer is arriving Wednesday and I'll just (hopefully) import most of the photos/database into the new computer.
Here's my question. I have 2 photoshoots with no catalogue backup but they exist on my external hard drive as .RAW files and .xmp files. Should I import them a 'new' RAW files, delete the new .xmp files and replace the deleted .xmp files with the 'old' .xmp files? Will LR be fooled by this approach? Or do I just tell LR to rescan the external hard drive and it'll find the 2 photoshoots+xmp files? Or is there a better way?
Thanks in advance.

If I understand you correctly, the two photo shoots (with no catalog backup) have been imported in Lr on your old computer and are therefore in the catalog on your old computer but you cannot access it any more. Therefore you are thinking of loading your latest catalog backup onto the new computer - but this catalog backup does not contain the two shoots.
If my assumption is correct you should - after installing Lr on the new machine and loading the latest catalog backup - import the photos from the two shoots. Since they are not in the loaded (backup) catalog, Lr will treat them as new images. Lr will read the xmp-file on import and display your images accordingly. But you won't see your previous editing steps in the History panel.
Make sure that in the Import Dialog on the right side under <Apply During Import> you select <None> for <Develop Settings> and for <Metadata>.
Naturally it would be better to transfer your working catalog from the old computer to an external hard drive and from there to your new computer. You won't need Lr for that. Just copy or move the file with the ending < .lrcat> to the external drive via Mac Finder / Win Explorer. Do a search for files ending with < .lrcat> and - if you find several - transfer them all. You can sort out later which ones you won't need anymore.
If you manage to salvage the catalog from the old computer open Lr with this catalog by double-clicking it. You only will have to do the re-linking of your folders in case they are on drives with different drive letters. It will make it easier if you can give your drives (including the external ones) the same drive letters they had with the old computer. The catalog contains also your history, so you would see the history steps for the photos of the two shoots.

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How do I import xmp files that contain edits from another computer?

I edited some images on my laptop and the Metadata Catalog settings show changes are written into the .xmp files. I copied both the CR2 and corresponding .xmp files to my Desktop computer. When I imported the images into LR 5.5, the edits did not show up.
How do I get the corresponding .xmp files to update the CR2 files? Or do I have to start over and import the LR Catalog from my Laptop for just this series of images?
If I send off my CR2 files for someone to edit and they send me back the .xmp files containing the edits, shouldn't I be able to update my original CR2 files???
Thanks, Marc

Also for the info to be read 100% both computers need to be using the same version of LR. (e.g. Lr 4.x will not apply all the info from LR 5.x)

My NEF files were replaced with XMP files

After processing my NEF files in Adobe PE's Camera RAW 6.5, my NEF files were replaced with XMP files. I checked the Recycle Bin and they are not there. I did nothing different from the past, using Open Image to move the file into the Editing module of PE. Is there a natural place they would have gone?

An alternative aproach would be to import as DNG instead of leaving the RAW files in native Nikon NEF format. DNG can be saved with any adjustments made in ACR, and does not need the XMP sidecare file. It is also a good idea to do any file moving from within Bridge so as not to lose track of any sidecar files. I don't use Lightroom, but would imagine file management is even more important with Lightroom.
BTW I am surprised that other than Noel's underlining the fact that you are using Elements, that no one has asked why you are asking in a Photoshop forum. Not that you aren't welcome Don.

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?

How to Edit and Replace Psd Files in Adobe Flash - Help!

Hi Everyone,
I am new to flash and I am trying to build my first flash site using a flash template. I can use flash to edit certain components like header text, etc. But The content is impossible for me to change. I think that these are psd files, which I can open with gimp or another program and edit. I save and replace that file, but when I view movie again, the content is the same. I guess what I need to know is how to get these files back into my flash movie after I have edited them. Please help, I am no computer expert, but I am learning. A how to for dummies answer would be awesome.

Maybe You should try the Flash-forum:
http://forums.adobe.com/community/flash

My hard drive with all my actual music files died. how can I transfer the music on my ipod classic to another drive?

my hard drive with all my actual music files died. how can I transfer the music on my ipod classic to another drive?

If you purchased all of the songs through itunes store, please follow these steps:
1. Open up Itunes and Click on Itunes Store
2. Once you're in the Itunes Store look to right side of the screen and you should see the word "purchased". Click purchased and you'll be sent to a purchase screen.
3. Click on "All Songs" and then it will show all the songs you've downloaded. From there you just hit the button that looks like a cloud with an arrow on it, and it will download all the songs all over again.
If you didn't purchase them through Itunes, then you'll have to download software that will strip the songs from your iPod onto your computer. Here is a guide about how to copy iPod music. Hope it helps. Feel free to email me if you need further help.

.XMP files no longer appear as sidecars--how to clear metadata?

Photoshop CS2 ver 9.0.2
Bridge ver 1.0.4.6
ACR ver 3.7
eMac G4 800 MHz
Mac OS X ver 10.4.9
1 Meg RAM
12 GB available disk space
Bridge and Photoshop are set to save metadata in .XMP sidecar files, but sidecar files no longer appear. That is, up till a few days ago, .XMP files appeared when I opened raw files, but no longer. The drop-down menu is still set to save metadata in sidecar files.
Cannot clear metadata in Bridge. I can select "Camera Raw Defaults" in ACR, but that doesn't clear cropping.
1) How do I return already-stored metadata to .XMP files?
2) How do I get PSCS2 to store future metadata as .XMP files?
3) How do I clear metadata currently stored in ACR/PS database?
4) What did I do to cause system to store metadata in ACR/PS database despite being set to save in sidecar files?
Thanks.
--HC

Noel,
Excellent point. I have no idea. Maybe this was only working for
.PSDs/etc. (which contain the metadata embedded in the file itself[,
right?]). I may have been deluding myself this whole time. It's
possible that it never really worked the way I thought it did to begin with.
But, more specifically, here's the current question: If I have this
file (which is a backup from long ago):
J:\backup of M90\Documents and Settings\philipt\Application
Data\Adobe\CameraRaw\Database
...assuming that drives are currently mapped (by drive letter) the same
way they were when that backup was made), can I just replace the current
file:
C\Documents and Settings\philipt\Application Data\Adobe\CameraRaw\Database
...with the one from J: and expect it to work correctly?
What's the worst that can happen if I do this?
BTW, the file on J: is 2,569 Kb; the (new) one on C: is 2,754 Kb. This
doesn't seem to bode well, since the old one (J:) should have much, much
more data in it (assuming that the "Database" file per se is where the
metadata is stored): the older file has complex,
multi-tiered data for 10s of 1000s of images. "??"
Thanks again for your willingness to help with this!!
Aloha,
-pt

XMP Files from MAC Not Reading On PC

My question is two-fold, so I apologize that this is long, but it will be best with the backstory:
I shoot Raw on a Canon 5DMIII and import my images into Lr5 on my PC as CR2 files. I am beginning to work with an editor for the post production of my images and upload my files to her via Dropbox. In effort to keep the files as small as possible (and upload/download times shorter), I export my images as DNGs. Specifically, I ensure the 'Use Lossy Compression' option is checked and the 'Embed Original Raw File' is unchecked. I then resize the image to 2000 pixels on the Long Edge and the overall file is under 1MB.
She then imports the DNG files into her iMac for editing also in Lr5. Prior to my exporting, I will edit a few images as sneak peeks for my clients, flag them as a 'pick' and code them as 'red'. When she imports my DNGs, she can see the 'red', but she cannot see the flagged images. Fine, this is something I can live without. She does her editing, also flagging them as a pick and coding them red. She then exports as the original file.
She then uses ExifTool, opens the terminal application and write in: "exiftool -xmp -b -w xmp -r", drags in the DNG files and exports the XMPs. She then sends the XMP files back to me, I place them into my folder with my original RAW files, tell my PC to 'replace' the XMP files that are already in the folder. Then in Lr5, I highlight all my files and select 'Read Metadata From File'.
Now, initially, nothing happens. I am unable to see any images flagged or coded red. However, I do see the 'attention' icon (I'm sure that is not the right name for it) on the upper right corner of the images she has edited when in the library module. If I click on it, it tells me that the MetaData has conflicting information and do I want the file or catalog to be primary. I click on the 'file' option and only then do I see her edits, including the 'red' coding (but not flagged as 'pick').
Part 1 Questions: Why when I am instructing it to 'Read the MetaData From File' is it not automatically picking up her edits? Am I doing something incorrectly when I put the XMPs back in the original folder with the RAW images and have the XMPs replace the originals? Is it normal for the 'pick' flags to not transfer?
Part 2 Questions: When she edits my images, she creates a virtual copy and creates one color and one b+w of each image for my clients. As such, she sends me back two XMP files for one image. How do I get these 2nd XMPs to map to the virtual copy within my library, as I am only creating the virtual copy of an image once I know it is one she selected for the final gallery. If I create a virtual copy of an image she edited after-the-fact, the b+w XMP cannot locate it.
Any guidance is appreciated! Thank you!

I never tried this, but I'm pretty sure that with DNG files, Lightroom will ignore xmp files, even when you instruct Lightroom to "Read Metadata from File". Lightroom expects all the metadata to be in the DNG file, not in the xmp file.
Pick flags, as far as I know, are never written to xmp file; nor are they written to DNG files.
If you're going to make this transfer procedure work, you need to do it by either (a) embedding the metadata in the DNG file and send those back and forth; or (b) use RAW and xmp and then sending the xmp files back and forth (plus I guess you have to transfer the original RAW once to your editor)

Metadata & XMP files in Bridge CS3 under Windows XP

Question regarding Bridge CS3, 2.1.1.9, on a computer running Windows XP Pro, Service Pack 3:
A useful feature seems to have disappeared from my installation of Bridge. In Horizontal Filmstrip view, I used to see a little icon over the thumbnails showing the CR2 files that I had opened and processed in Camera Raw. The icon was a small circle with a downward-pointing triangle, if I recall. The CR2 files that I had never opened in Camera Raw did not show that icon. Now I never see the icons, even for those CR2 files for which the XMP file is present in the same folder as the CR2 file.
Is there a way that I can get Bridge to display those icons again?
Thanks.

CS3 does have a symbol for a modified RAW thumb. This differentiates if from the unmodified RAW thumb. A circle with 2 arrows in it I believe.

XMP files not moved

I have searched the fourm and there are a couple of responses to similar questions, but I I can't seen to find how to move the XMP files when I drag a folder of photos from one external drive to another external drive.
I drag the folder with 500 photos over the photos go but I get a message saying the following files did not transfer and its all my XMP files for the images I transfered. How can I get the folders and the edits to transfer from a 500gb to a 4TB external hard drive
Thank you in advanced
Joe Cosentino

Lr creates XMP-files only for Raw images - although the box in >catalog Settings >Metadata tab speaks of " ... write changes to XMP>.
But true XMP-files in the sense of side-car files, i.e a separate little file that sites next to its image file are only created in the case of Raw images. In the case of JPGs, TIFFs, PSDs the changes are written into the header of the file (but not in the image pixels!) and a separate xmp-file is not created.
Lr saves changes to XMP (i.e. writes the changes into the header of JPGs, TIFFs, PSDs and creates separate "true" xmp-files for Raw images) only if you do this either manually (by pressing Ctrl / Cmd + S / or doing >Metadata >Save Metadata to file) or by checking the box <Automatically write changes to XMP> in >Catalog Settings >Metadata tab.
I you do neither of these, Lr will not save to XMP and will not create xmp side-car files for Raw images.
My remark about <Show hidden files> was not meant for Lr. What I meant was that you move the files in your OS (Mac Finder / Win Explorer); and in Win Explorer is an option to <Show Hidden Files> under >Tools >Folder Options >View tab.
If you move images in your OS Lr will show the old folder with a question mark and will show images as "missing". You then have to re-link Lr to the new location of the images.
See here on how to do that: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm
Since it seems to work now, better stay with moving images from within Lr - until you understand the issues involved in moving images in your OS.

.xmp files showing up in my SD card when accessing RAW files in Finder... Very weird!

Hi,
I'm having a very weird problem... I'm using a 4GB Scandisk SD card and am shooting my RAW photos on a Canon Rebel 2ti. I'm using a Macbook Pro, 2011 2.3Ghz i5, 4gb of Ram, with Lion v. 10.7.2 and am accessing the SD card RAW files through Finder. I'm secondary clicking on the image file or double clicking them as PS is my default opening program for RAW files. When I hit the "Done" key on any of the Photoshop files, a new .xmp file shows up in Finder. When I open it, it's a Microsoft Messenger for Mac 8 License Agreement...
I do have Microsoft Office 11 installed and have never used Messenger. It's not a huge deal, but it's driving me crazy and it's totally weird!
Thanks,
-Dave

It's a lot of separate, unrelated things happening to you in one long chain, but each step is normal and explainable.
You are opening raw files straight from a card into Photoshop. Photoshop will open them in Camera Raw. Camera Raw's preferences are set to save changes in XMP sidecar files. You are clicking Done, which applies the default Camera Raw processing, and that change generates an XMP file to store these new settings. That's why an XMP file is showing up in the same folder. On a computer, that's fine. But writing back out to a camera card with a device other than the camera is not recommended. What is recommended is to use another, faster way to preview raw files on a card without changing them (Adobe Bridge, Lightroom, Apple Aperture, Photo Mechanic, etc.), so that the card's left untouched as it should be.
If you don't want the XMP file to be generated, you have to do just one of the following:
In Camera Raw preferences, change the "Save image settings in" option to "Camera Raw database", not "Sidecar XMP files".
Instead of clicking Done every time, which applies any changes, click Cancel instead, if you were just looking and not editing.
Use something other than Photoshop to preview raw files. Most of the other ways are faster than opening them in Photoshop. The recommended workflow is to use a camera downloading utility to look through all the images on the card at once (instead of one by one as you are doing), and then select only the ones you want to bring into your computer. Bridge (via File > Get Photos from Camera, not by browsing), Lightroom, Aperture, and iPhoto all have that capability.
As to why double-clicking an XMP file opens a Messenger license agreement: As you probably know, the system has to figure out what program should open a file with a given filename extension. It sounds like maybe both Adobe and Microsoft have used the XMP extension, and the Office installer probably associated it with some type of MS Messenger file. So when you double-click an XMP file, Mac OS X opens Messenger. Since you have not used Messenger before, it's showing you the "first run" screen for Messenger, and Microsoft has set it up so that you have to click Agree on the license agreement before using it. If you never click Agree, it will still be the "first run" next time you open Messenger, whether you meant to or not. You can use Get Info in the Mac Finder to reassign XMP to open in another program.
You probably didn't expect so many things to happen from just opening a raw file off a card, but that's the way it worked out.

ACR not using .xmp files after 03/09/2011

I'm using ACR 6.4.1.145 and Bridge CS5 on a Windows 7 x64 Pro machine. Canon S95 and G12 CR2 files created before 04/09/2011 behave exactly as they should: changes aved in .xmp files are recognized and applied in Bridge thumbnails and when the image is re-opened in ACR.
Images created on 04/09/2011 and any later date (tested by altering the file dates) have their changes saved in an .xmp file, but this file is not applied to the thumbnail in Bridge, the Bridge thumbnail does not indicate the .xmp file exists, and the .xmp changes are not applied when the image is reopened unless the .xmp file is loaded manually.
I have purged the cache, restarted Bridge, and restarted Windows. I've moved the images to a different directory, then a different drive. I've loaded the images from the SD card several times now. The problem persists.
All assistance appreciated.

Thanks Thomas.
I am pretty sure the CR2 files don't contain any .xmp data. For one thing, the problem only occurs on my installation. If I use another computer, everything works as it should.
The problem has returned, however. I just tried to make changes in ACR to images created today, and although ACR saves the .xmp, it does not recognize it when I open the image again. I have to load the .xmp manually.
I will bet that tomorrow, the problem has gone away. That would make it somehow time/date dependent. More important to you and anyone else trying to help, it seems to happen only on my installation of CS5. Something has gotten corrupted, I think. If the problem persists, I will probably try a re-install, but I hate the patching proces that follows.

Can I save PS edits in an xmp file to be read by LR?

The reason I ask this is I have hundreds of photos that were taken on a 5D with a scratched filter, so I am treating the marks as dust bunnies and getting rid of them in the same way, using spot healing and for the scratches, whtever the feature is called where you use the spot healing brush but you 'draw lines'.
However I am one of the many who suffer appalling performance in Lightroom edits so after maybe 20 spot heals the computer slows down so much so as to be unusable. So I then send the file into PS/CS6 as the same doesn't happen there.
I quickly fix all my spots and scratches and then I appear to only have the option of saving the file as a TIF back to LR.
What I'd love to do is save the xmp file, and then have LR update the image given those xmp changes.
Is this possible or do I have to continue to have the extra TIF file?

Hmmm I can't replicate what I did now. The problem with using ACR is that the spot removal tool is just that, a spot. It doesn't allow the removal of scratches, which is the whole point of what I'm doing. If I hit 'Done' after healing a spot it does indeed write to the xmp file, but then I hvae to delete the preview and refresh in order to see the change. I could cope with that if the ACR spot removal was the same tool as in LR, where you can do scratches as well.
Oh well, I'm halfway there so should be grateful for that. Cheers.

Acrobat X save metadata to XMP file problem

I am having no luck saving metadata from a PDF to an XMP file using Acrobat X. This has worked properly for me in previous versions of Acrobat, but since upgrading to Acrobat X 10.1.7 the XMP file is given no name automatically, and when saved is zero K and contains no data. I am running on a Mac Pro 3,1 using OS X 10.7.4. I have found only one other mention of this problem in the forum, but it was not answered clearly. Is anyone else having this problem?
Many thanks for any assistance with this!
2014 Update: Still no solution to this. Am I alone with this problem?

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your time on this. Our workflow includes having to repurpose xmp metadata from existing PDFs and apply it to new PDFs. This involves going to the "Document Properties" dialogue, selecting "Description", then "Additional Metadata". From the sidebar of the Additional Metadata dialogue, we would choose the "Advanced" option, which would then allow us to either "Save" the xmp data to a file, or "Replace" the PDF's current metadata with data from an existing xmp file.
This worked perfectly up until we moved to Acrobat X, at which point we were no longer able to save the xmp data to a file. We are able to use the Replace function, but it's critical that we also are able to Save the data.
As David noted, we are also able to successfully Save an xmp file using Acrobat XI Pro running on Windows 7. However, all our production work is done on our Macs, so we hope to regain this capability on the Mac version of Acrobat X Pro or XI Pro.
Cheers and thanks.

Question about replacing corrupted file in windows 7

hi,
I read in windows 7 bible that if a system file is corrupted , I can replace it with system recovery tool (at command prompt) if I have onother computer with windows 7 installed.
my question is here , if I replace any file with copy the file from computer to dvd and replac it on my computer , does the windows version must be the same for 64 bit or it doesn't a matter.
thanks
johan
h.david

Hi,
Yes, the version must be the same. You may be able to get a known good copy of the system file from another computer that is
running the same version of Windows with your computer. For different versions there may be different configuration settings in the files that you operating on which if replaced with the wrong version might cause new issues.
More information regarding How to manually replace a corrupted system file with a known good copy of the file, please check it in the link:Use
the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files
Hope this may help
Best regards
Michael
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Resucing 2 photoshoots by replacing xmp files? (Dying computer)

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