Making a Case for Photo Metadata

The Lifecycle of Embedded

Image Metadata within Digital

Photographs: Challenges and

Best Practices.

- or -

The Secret Life of Photo Metadata

To promote, protect,

manage and archive

your images.

MAKING A CASE FOR PHOTO METADATA

getMETAsmart SAA Photo Metadata Project Page 2

• What is the VALUE of an Image?


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• What is the VALUE of an Image?


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• Who is this woman?


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Where did this image come from?

Photo Metadata 101



What might we want to know about this image?©

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An image file can hold more than pixels.

It can also include metadata explaining:

• Creator and ownership information

• What the image depicts

• Rights and licensing information

• Technical information about the image file


An image file is like a bento box …

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… It includes containers for different things.


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An image file is like a bento box …

View Animation at:

http://www.photometadata.org/META-101-metadata-types


All flavors (actually “schemas”) include

Fields of Information

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When adding info to those fields consider

– What will be needed to “find” the image later?

– Think like an art buyer or image researcher


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What goes in each field?

• Download the IPTC Core Users Guide



What goes in each field?

• Use our “Guide To Photo Metadata Fields”

My field names are not the same as yours!

– Recognize that Developers have not standardized

• Some use the older “legacy” IPTC-IIM named fields

• Some use the IPTC Core fields

• Some make up their own field names!





My field names are not the same as yours!

– Developers have not standardized

• Some use the older “legacy” IPTC-IIM named fields

• Some use the IPTC Core fields

• Some make up their own field names!

– Use “Mapping Charts”ControlledVocabulary.com/imagedatabases/

ControlledVocabulary.com/imagedatabases/iptc_core_mapped.pdf


Caption and Keyword Guidelines

– Who

– What

– When

– Where

– Why

– How


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ControlledVocabulary.com/metalogging/

http://ControlledVocabulary.com/metalogging/


Bento Box GIF goes here

View Animation at:

http://www.photometadata.org/META-101-metadata-types


The Language of Schemas

IPTC-IIM

IPTC Core

IPTC Extension

Dublin Core

Exif

PLUS

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Schemas

IPTC-IIM

• Short for Information Interchange Model

• Sometimes called “legacy” metadata

• Stored using the Image Resource Block method

• Limited field sizes


Schemas

IPTC Core

• 2005 update to the IIM version

• Incorporates all the fields

• Adds Contact Info, Location, Rights Usage and

special IPTC fields, Genre, Scene and Subject Codes

• Stored as part of XMP

• No limits on length of field

• Unicode Compatible


Schemas

IPTC Extension

• New addition to the IPTC schemas (2008)

• Not currently in many applications

• Adds fields requested by “other” communities

– Stock

– Museum

– Libraries

• Includes a number of PLUS fields

• Stored as XMP


Schemas

Dublin Core

• Used by the Cultural Heritage Community

• IPTC-Core has 5 fields from the 15 original that overlap

• Stored as XMP


Schemas

Exif

• Exchangeable Information File

• Primarily “Machine Readable”

• Stores technical data on capture

• Both a Schema and a Storage Mechanism


Schemas

PLUS

• Picture Licensing Universal System

• Focused on Licensing and Rights Information

• Stored as XMP


How are these schemas stored inside image files?

getMETAsmart SAA Photo Metadata Project Page 37©

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How are these schemas stored?

Exif

– Both a schema and a storage method

– Maintained by camera manufacturers



Exif

Image Resource Block

– Legacy format

– Holds IPTC-IIM schema



Exif

Image Resource Block

XMP

– Newer method developed by Adobe (2001)

– Holds many schemas (IPTC Core, IPTC Ext, PLUS, Dublin Core)

– Photoshop namespace holds star ratings, color labels

– Unicode compatible

– No limits on field lengths

– Can be stored as a “sidecar” file


How do these schemas

relate to each other?

IPTC-IIM

IPTC Core

IPTC Extension

Dublin Core

Exif

PLUS


… OK, in most cases:

• IPTC Core includes nearly all of IPTC-IIM

• Dublin Core shares five fields with IPTC

• PLUS will embed fields in IPTC Extension

• Exif goes along for the ride

• With a few caveats

• Crosswalks

• Synchronization


• Synchronization Issues

– “Shared” fields

– Where & when info is

written DOES matter

– Backwards compatibility Issues


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– A Tale of Two Workflows



– New to Old Workflow (and return) = Problems



– Old to New Workflow = No problems



– Old to New Workflow = No problems


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Looking Ahead


The good news:• IPTC Core will soon be all you really need to know

• IPTC Extension will offer even more

• Information stored this way is easily repurposed

• And … software tools handle most of this for you:

Photoshop

Lightroom

Photo Mechanic

Expression Media

Others


Photometadata.org QuickTour







Do stock images have metadata?

SAA MetaSurvey (2008)

An investigative review of

the metadata workflow of

stock distributors


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Stock Distributor Workflow Questions

• Is critical metadata embedded and preserved in all image files?

Identifying: copyright, credit, contact & title

Descriptive: caption & keywords

Rights: terms, rights, release status, restrictions

• Is metadata used in compliance with universal standards?

• Is there industry coordination and adoption of best practices?

SAA MetaSurvey


Metadata on Stock Websites

SAA MetaSurvey

Thumbnails

Previews(watermarked)

Getty Corbis Jupiter Alamy Masterfile Veer

75% 70% 0 0 0 0

<1% 100% 90% 99% 85% 0

SAA MetaSurvey:

What happens downstream?


PhotographerStock

Distributor

Comp

DownloadsComp

DownloadsComp

DownloadsComp

DownloadsComp

Downloads

Unregistered

downloadsUnregistered






downloads

Sub-

DistributorSub-

DistributorSub-

DistributorSub-

DistributorSub-

Distributors

End UserEnd User

End UserEnd UserImage Users

SAA MetaSurvey:

What happens downstream?


no metadatano metadata

no metadatano metadata

©©David Sanger

Report: MetaSurvey of Stock Distributors

Available @ http://photometadata.org/META-Insights-MetaSurvey


SAA MetaSurvey

Preservation of Photo Metadata Survey

• Social Media

• Photo Sharing Sites



http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/socialmedia/

http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/socialmedia/



http://regex.info/exif.cgi

http://regex.info/exif.cgi





The SAA Photo Metadata Project is made possible thanks to the generous

support of the U.S. Library of Congress and our project partners.

www.photometadata.org/

http://www.photometadata.org/

Additional Info?

David Riecks

http://www.controlledvocabulary.com

Twitter: davidriecks


http://www.controlledvocabulary.com/

Education

Making a Case for Photo Metadata