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?

• Who is this woman?

getMETAsmart SAA Photo Metadata Project Page 7im

es fro

m the L

merican M

Where did this image come from?

Photo Metadata 101

What might we want to know about this image?©

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 …

… It includes containers for different things.

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

When adding info to those fields consider

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

– Think like an art buyer or image researcher

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

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

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

• Exchangeable Information File

• Primarily “Machine Readable”

• Stores technical data on capture

• Both a Schema and a Storage Mechanism

Schemas

• 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©

How are these schemas stored?

– Both a schema and a storage method

– Maintained by camera manufacturers

Image Resource Block

– Legacy format

– Holds IPTC-IIM schema

Image Resource Block

– 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

… 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

– A Tale of Two Workflows

– New to Old Workflow (and return) = Problems

– Old to New Workflow = No problems

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

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

DownloadsComp

Downloads

Unregistered

downloadsUnregistered

downloads

DistributorSub-

Distributors

End UserEnd User

End UserEnd UserImage Users

SAA MetaSurvey:

What happens downstream?

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://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/

Additional Info?

David Riecks

http://www.controlledvocabulary.com

Twitter: davidriecks

making a case for photo metadata

legacy metadata

secret life of photo

archive image metadata

iptc schemas

iptc core fields

schemas iptc core

special iptc fields

image files

Education

making the most of metadata feb 2014 - bnb linked data...

photo metadata - iptc · iptc photo metadata properties...

iptc photo metadata conference - digital images and digital...

jenn riley metadata librarian indiana university digital...

making metadata matter

coastal geotools charleston sc january 2003 making metadata...

making meaning with metadata

iptc photo metadata user guide

photo metadata - iptc · this document is under the...

towards reusable experiments: making metadata while you...

collection & item level metadata: making sense of federated ...

transform your content supply chain with smarter...

making sense of language tags 10 th metadata open forum

the lifecycle of embedded image metadata within digital...

the iptc video metadata hub · the roadmap • june 2014:...

some ideas on making research data: "it's the metadata,...

making photo frame in 3d's max

making your way through the metadata maze · 2020. 5....

metadata for special collections in contentdm: how to...

bea 2013 - making your metadata rock