XnView Software

Rating/Label for RAW is only saved in Catalog, currently can't be changed in RAW itself


Is there way to save only the rating in external .XMP sidecar file or could you make it happen perhaps this could have solved the problem as Photoshop always prioritize sidecar .XMP files over what is embedded in DNG itself when opening in Adobe Camera Raw.

Basically if i create sidecar .XMP and place next to DNG with settings settings (screenshot in first post) Adobe Camera Raw will prioritize whatever settings are inside sidecar .XMP over what's in DNG and upon saving it will "eat the .XMP" (delete .XMP and save updated the settings in the DNG).

To ensure you do not break them in the future using XnViewMP, ensure the "Link companion files for the following actions" options are enabled on Settings:File list:Companion files.


Do you mean me to check the boxes "delete" and "copy/move/rename". That makes sense, though it won't fix the problem I'm having right now.
Correct on both counts. Necessary for future, not related to your current problem.


Beyond that, check that you have some settings correct:


I've had a look and the settings you mentioned are all correct.

It's a puzzle. The only reason for my initial speculation was a post I found when searching for a solution. Note that this only affects the files that I imported with a date added to the file name (the xmp files have the same name, added date and all). Other raw files imported previously are unaffected. I couldn't find an ini file to test the solution proposed there:
https://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?t=45638

Hmm, ok, and you've selected the images and done update catalog from files?

Yes you can have problems if you're trying to preserve the original name in the metadata. Trying the setting in that thread is a good idea.

Your ini file (xnview.ini) is in one of two places, depending on what you chose when you installed the application.
It is either in the directory where XnViewMP.exe is (check the location on your app shortcut) or it is in C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\XnViewMP


If you edit the xnview.ini file, make sure the app is closed before you do so. The app re-writes the file on exit.

One last thing to check (for future, not for the current issue) is in Settings:Formats:Write ensure that all the "Keep" options at the bottom are enabled. This will ensure when writing XMP files that all the data types are included.

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I've checked everything you mentioned, but have had no luck in figuring this out yet.


The name of the xmp file must have the same base name as the master file. So for a master file named A12345.cr3, there are only two acceptable names for the xmp:
A12345.xmp or A12345.cr3.xmp


The xmp files have the exact same base name as the master file in every case. (The xmp files were created after I imported the master files into lightroom so they were assigned the same name by lightroom.)


To ensure you do not break them in the future using XnViewMP, ensure the "Link companion files for the following actions" options are enabled on Settings:File list:Companion files.


Do you mean me to check the boxes "delete" and "copy/move/rename". That makes sense, though it won't fix the problem I'm having right now.


Beyond that, check that you have some settings correct:


I've had a look and the settings you mentioned are all correct.

It's a puzzle. The only reason for my initial speculation was a post I found when searching for a solution. Note that this only affects the files that I imported with a date added to the file name (the xmp files have the same name, added date and all). Other raw files imported previously are unaffected. I couldn't find an ini file to test the solution proposed there:
https://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?t=45638

Therefore, I'm wondering if the problem might be because I imported files into lightroom from the camera and, when doing so, I changed the name of the files to include the date as well as the name assigned by the camera, but that's speculation.

Regarding the above comment, if you only renamed the cr3 and not the xmp files, that was a mistake. If you now have files something like A12345-08-12-25.cr3 and A12345.cr3.xmp then you have indeed broken the xmp files.

The name of the xmp file must have the same base name as the master file. So for a master file named A12345.cr3, there are only two acceptable names for the xmp:
A12345.xmp or A12345.cr3.xmp

It is advisable to adhere to the .cr3.xmp standard.

You can rename files all you want, but the xmp files must be renamed to match. So if you have files named something like:
A12345-08-12-25.cr3 and A12345-08-12-25.cr3.xmp then you should be ok, since both the cr3 and xmp have the same base name.

The only solution for breaking your xmp files in that way is renaming things so they match again. To ensure you do not break them in the future using XnViewMP, ensure the "Link companion files for the following actions" options are enabled on Settings:File list:Companion files.

Beyond that, check that you have some settings correct:

-In Settings:File List:Companion files you should have:

Master Extension
*

Companion
{ext}.xmp;xmp

In Settings:Metadata, ensure all the Import options are selected (really, check all the options on that page)

In Settings:Metadata:Sidecar, ensure the Naming Convention matches the naming of your sidecar files. Since you will probably want to save metadata in sidecars as well, put a check by "Create or Update XMP Sidecar", and then also activate the export options on the Metadata page.

After all that is done, restart the app just to be safe, and then select the files in the browser from the Menu select Metadata->Update Catalog from FIles.

I am not a metadata beginner and use IPTC since the early 1990s with different apps (Adobe, Fotoware, Photomechanic and more).

Today I installed xn on my Mac (M4 Air), told it where my photos are...and now some questions occur.

The basics: M4 Mac, 32GB RAM, internal SSD. I have 101,050 files (1.6 TB) on a very fast SSD attached directly to this Mac. This is more than enough hardware power, right?

Most of my images are RAW and Jpeg files and contain IPTC/XMP metadata or have sidecar files for that.
All of them are in folders whose names make some sense like "Portrait Peter".

1. So, first thing: adding metadata. I selected ca. 300 files to add the name of the country where they were taken, one single field. Adding this one word to 300 files took more than a minute - this computer is really fast, and all images are on a very fast SSD. I can hardly believe that this is normal. Why is it so slow?

2. Second thing: In the xn settings I made sure it's in catalog mode, that the quick search searches in IPTC, comments, description etc., and everything else is in standard settings.

Surprisingly, in most cases I do not find anything . The folder name that contains the 300 images contains the name of the country. The name of the country is in IPTC IIM or XMP inside every single file in this folder. Result of searching for the country name does not give any results. The ONLY thing that really works is if the search word is part of the file name like "image_poland_28938239.CR2" or so. So far I can say that this does not work with RAW files. Adding metadata to jpeg files seems to work.

I double-checked this: adding one IPTC keyword to RAW files and then searching for that keyword gives no results.

3. Search speed: I searched for one single word, and xn searched for more than 5 minutes. I bet this is not a normal behaviour for an index-based search or better: it looks like it does not search in the index but in the file system every time. In the end it found six jpeg images containing my search word. It did not find the roughly 650 RAW files that contain the exact same keyword.

4. My Sony camera (a7c2) creates .ARW files and a few more, example:

DSC03160.ARW
DSC03160.HIF
DSC03160.hif_xmp

And this is what it looks like on my screen:

Bildschirmfoto 2025-12-02 um 16.37.52.png

It looks like xn cannot properly handle these files.


So, what do I have to change to make this work?

I haven't figured out how to display both formats in this directory.

check 'Show companion files'
in Settings>Filelist>Companion files

sorry but currently no way

XnViewMP 1.9.5
Windows11 (25H2), display resolution 3840x2160, dpi scale 150%

Metadata - custom labels
there are few inconveniences with custom metadata labels:

Rating
customized labels only affect Browser, not Viewer :


Color labels
switching languages does not change labels



Suggestion

settings_metadata_add_presets_add_rating.png

in Settings > Metadata
add Presets functionality to Color labels and Rating tabs
when user switches language - force update <Default> preset


add Rating tab


add 'Uncolored' label to Color labels tab







Related
suggestions
Metadata - labels - add presets, add rating (current post)
Metadata - edit xmp - writing to unsupported format
Metadata - edit dialogs - save modes
Metadata - edit dialogs - merge all into one
Metadata - unify 'Clean metadata' dialog
Settings - metadata - add high level rw options
- done -
Metadata - edit xmp - update rating appearance (1.9.0)
Settings - metadata - sidecar - minor UI adjustments (1.7.0)
Metadata - unify menu group in Browser/Viewer toolbar and context menu (1.5.0)

Hi all,

Since MP has one of the best databases out there, i'm using XnView MP for previewing my 3d objects too.
By the way i must tag both the LWOs (3d object) and their thumbnails in order to see them correctly, since XnView cannot create a thumbnail for the LWO itself - see image below.

I would love to filter the list and see only the LWO files, but i would need to assign them the jpg (which has same name of the LWO) as a thumbnail. I tried the "companion" file thing, where i've set LWO as master and JPG as companion, but nothing happens. I also tried the opposite but again nothing happens.

Is there a real way to force XnView to replace the LWO thumbnails with the JPG that has same name ?

Thanks,
Paolo

Screenshot_1.png

As Pierre mentioned, what you want in XnView is “categories”. These are arbitrary tags that you define, and you can browse files with such tags in the Catalog Filter.

Refer to the thread Michel posted…

Category tags can be in either IPTC or XMP format, and they can be saved in the image file, in a sidecar file (non-destructive Adobe style), both, or neither (just retained only in the XnViewMP database). It just depends on the settings you choose.

This is a bit of a complement to this post on letting the user define star ratings .

If possible, I think it would also be a useful addition to add "Not rated" or "Zero stars" to the rating function in the Catalog Filter, noting that if added, it should only return images and image-like (vector files? videos?) files, not folders or other non-image(-like) items (see further on).

I am aware that the user can find unrated images through search and the Filelist toolbar. However, neither of those are as easy to use as the Rating function is in the Catalog Filter.

I am also aware that in the Catalog Filter, there is a "No rating" choice in the Special Items category. However, it returns everything that doesn't have a star on it (images, yes, but also folders, sidecar files, etc. Hence the "noting that" part of my second sentence above).

So, yes, an image-file-specific "Not rated" choice on the rating function in the Catalog Filter would be, I think, a very useful addition to XnView MP.

As always, thank you for your consideration and happy shooting.

EDIT: Replicated with a blank Portable version, only modified settings a bit to make sure sidecar files are being generated. HOWEVER was able to replicate with DEFAULT settings after this as well!
Video and XNView.ini i used for this test:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/zdf1o23u2l093ezyc6wff/ADVcaf1Edts6-auiE6wwaqY?rlkey=s7gnajg8bxd7s9pr9bm0m7gy4&st=5y70jpap&dl=0

Thanks for checking the issue. I was able to reproduce it again, though it can be a bit finicky

Try with these additional steps:
- Create a NEW category/tag just for this image and tag the image with the tag
- After image is deleted and maintenance has been performed, and XNView has restarted, notice that the Category Filter count for that tag is still (1)
- In Catalog Filter CHANGE MATCH TYPE to "Global"
- Select that tag in the Category Filter.
- Change "Filter By" setting back and forth to something else and back to image (I usually use "custom" myself)

Image:
https://imgur.com/a/6TkKr81

EDIT: The solution was to click "No" on the "Do you want to check for affected entries first?" dialogue box when running Maintenance.

Original Post:
Behavior: After deleting a media file outside of XNView, catalog filter still has a record of them, even after maintenance is ran on the catalog.
Files show as 0byte ghost files.

I believe this behavior was introduced in 1.9.4

Steps to reproduce:
Tag an image in XNview with a category
Close XNView and delete that file in windows explorer (Also delete any relevant sidecar files)
Re-open XNView
Go to settings > Catalog
Run all "Maintenance", "Synchronize" and "Update metadata" features on relevant folder
Go to Catalog Filter Pane, and click the filter for the tag you used earlier
Deleted file shows up with its filename, but as a 0byte, no thumbnail record.

Selecting and deleting these ghost files only removes their record for THAT TAG.
If an image has multiple tags, has to be deleted for EVERY TAG INDIVIDUALLY by selecting the tag filter and deleting the ghost entries again and again.

So far I've manually deleted my entire catalog any time I need a significant clean up, but this is not an ideal solution as I have to rebuild it from scratch every time with "update catalog from files" feature.

Addition to my request:
IPTC:Caption-Abstract is limited to 2000 characters in the IPTC/IM specifications.
EXIF:Image Description and XML:Description are not directly limited.
The total amount of EXIF data in a JPEG image is limited to 64 KB. Data larger than 64 KB can only be written to a sidecar file.

Metadata > Edit IPTC... only allows 2 KB of data – OK.
Metadata > Edit XML... allows more than 3.7 KB of data (I have not tested the maximum) – OK.

My sample file has 3747 characters in the description.
Sample file:
https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/663d5094-7f5b-4289-8268-06afca2219a9
Screenshots
new 29.10. -15:36 https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/915fdea6-f1c1-4e02-beed-3ac553c6fced

The info area in XnView MP shows:
EXIF displays 2049 characters in a larger field. I would like to see a larger display (4 KiB) here.
IPTC-IIM displays 2030 characters in one line. Copy value only returns a subset.
XML displays 259 characters in one line. Copy value only returns a subset.
Exiftool displays in one line
- EXIF:Image Description 3747 characters. OK
- XML:Description 3747 characters. OK
- IPTC:Caption-Abstract 1995 characters. OK

Image management > Quick info (tooltip ) > {EXIF:Image Description} displays 1024 characters.
Image view > Information > {EXIF:Image Description} displays 1024 characters. I would like to see a larger display here (4 KiB).

Just by the by, I'd rather not use sidecar files for my routine photos. Too "messy" to deal with, doubling the number of files in use... Works fine if the only thing you use is the particular application using the files but if I use another - a file manager, for example, then I have all these 'random' (well, perhaps not random) files hanging around. ON1 does this - creates a file (*.on1) for every photo that it catalogues and I spend time deleting them...

Just my preferences.

Richard