Remove all metadata from RAW files only

[fourdogslong]

Hi,
I used to write metadata to RAW files directly but this caused some issues with softwares that uses XMP so I changed my preferences to write metadata to XMP sidecars instead.

Is there a way to strip metadata from my RAW files so there is only metadata in the XMP sidecars?
Right now it seems like there are some leftovers metadata in the RAW files and that causes confusion when I change some keywords in Photo Mechanic and then import the photo into lightroom, lightroom reads the old metadata from the RAW file AND the XMP metadata...

Thanks!

[Kirk Baker]

I used to write metadata to RAW files directly but this caused some issues with softwares that uses XMP so I changed my preferences to write metadata to XMP sidecars instead.

Is there a way to strip metadata from my RAW files so there is only metadata in the XMP sidecars?
Right now it seems like there are some leftovers metadata in the RAW files and that causes confusion when I change some keywords in Photo Mechanic and then import the photo into lightroom, lightroom reads the old metadata from the RAW file AND the XMP metadata...

Use the Revert TIFF-based RAW to original command on the Tools menu when you have the images you want to revert selected in the contact sheet.  Set the "Backup XMP to XMP sidecar files or re-add to DNGs" checkbox.  Then click the Revert button.

The embedded metadata will be removed and the RAW files will now have XMP sidecar files.

HTH,

-Kirk

[fourdogslong]

Great, I only knew about the update IPTC/XMP tool, glad this one exists too!

On a semi-related note, I'm moving to lightroom (and will keep PM+ as well) and before I start importing everything into it I want to make sure I have the best settings.
Other than using the Adobe snapshot in the IPTC/XMP preferences, is there anything else I should do?

Thanks a lot!

[Kirk Baker]

Great, I only knew about the update IPTC/XMP tool, glad this one exists too!

On a semi-related note, I'm moving to lightroom (and will keep PM+ as well) and before I start importing everything into it I want to make sure I have the best settings.
Other than using the Adobe snapshot in the IPTC/XMP preferences, is there anything else I should do?

Make sure that the color class labels and colors match what you're using in Lr.  You can adjust them in the General page of the Photo Mechanic Plus Preferences dialog.

-Kirk

[fourdogslong]

Excellent, thanks a lot!

Lastly, I've been reading and testing quite a bit but haven't really found what I was looking for. Is there any way to have structured keyworks work from PM= to Lightroom and from Lightroom to PM+ without ending up with a bunch of duplicates?

[Kirk Baker]

Excellent, thanks a lot!

Lastly, I've been reading and testing quite a bit but haven't really found what I was looking for. Is there any way to have structured keyworks work from PM= to Lightroom and from Lightroom to PM+ without ending up with a bunch of duplicates?

Are the keyword paths being duplicated (whole path or partial path), or just the individual keywords along the path?

-Kirk

[fourdogslong]

Excellent, thanks a lot!

Lastly, I've been reading and testing quite a bit but haven't really found what I was looking for. Is there any way to have structured keyworks work from PM= to Lightroom and from Lightroom to PM+ without ending up with a bunch of duplicates?

Are the keyword paths being duplicated (whole path or partial path), or just the individual keywords along the path?

-Kirk

Here's a screenshot of a Jpeg exported from lightroom.
The image had structured keywords applied in PM+ with seperators between keyworkds in the path so they appear "in a tree / folder style" inside PM+.
Then I imported it in Lightroom, did not change anything and exported a jpeg with all metadata and the "write keywords as Lightroom hierarchy" option ON. If I leave that option OFF than only the individual keywords without seperators are written.
So as you can see from the screenshot, the Structured Keywords are still there but they have duplicates as single keywords.

Just trying to figure out what is the best approach to not mess things up.

[Kirk Baker]

Excellent, thanks a lot!

Lastly, I've been reading and testing quite a bit but haven't really found what I was looking for. Is there any way to have structured keyworks work from PM= to Lightroom and from Lightroom to PM+ without ending up with a bunch of duplicates?

Are the keyword paths being duplicated (whole path or partial path), or just the individual keywords along the path?

-Kirk

Here's a screenshot of a Jpeg exported from lightroom.
The image had structured keywords applied in PM+ with seperators between keyworkds in the path so they appear "in a tree / folder style" inside PM+.
Then I imported it in Lightroom, did not change anything and exported a jpeg with all metadata and the "write keywords as Lightroom hierarchy" option ON. If I leave that option OFF than only the individual keywords without seperators are written.
So as you can see from the screenshot, the Structured Keywords are still there but they have duplicates as single keywords.

Just trying to figure out what is the best approach to not mess things up.

The single keywords are there because, if I remember correctly, the IPTC specification calls for hierarchical keywords to be represented as flat keywords for compatibility with applications that do not recognize hierarchical keywords.

We've had a number of users ask us to not honor that specification and omit the flat keywords, but we have not yet done so.

-Kirk

[fourdogslong]

The single keywords are there because, if I remember correctly, the IPTC specification calls for hierarchical keywords to be represented as flat keywords for compatibility with applications that do not recognize hierarchical keywords.

We've had a number of users ask us to not honor that specification and omit the flat keywords, but we have not yet done so.

-Kirk

It's ok, is there a workaround to delete duplicated using Find and Replace or a similar option in PM+?

[Kirk Baker]

The single keywords are there because, if I remember correctly, the IPTC specification calls for hierarchical keywords to be represented as flat keywords for compatibility with applications that do not recognize hierarchical keywords.

We've had a number of users ask us to not honor that specification and omit the flat keywords, but we have not yet done so.

It's ok, is there a workaround to delete duplicated using Find and Replace or a similar option in PM+?

PM will just put them back if you make other changes to the keywords.

-Kirk