Best way to use IPTC for detailed photo metadata?

[mattyo1]

Hi, I want to start using embedded metadata to keep track of photo details, such as the names of people and pets in the photos, locations, etc. (too much information for the Description or Comment fields). I guess IPTC is the place for this. I could add custom IPTC keywords for people's names, or locations, but I don't think that's what keywords are intended for. The IPTC standard does have many data fields, such as PersonInImage or LocationShown, etc. that seem interesting to me. But I don't know how to enter this data using XnView's IPTC editing dialog. Does anyone have any suggestions?

PS, I think there's a bug in 1.99.5.... If you go into "Edit IPTC data" for a photo, the "Keywords" tab shows as active initially, but actually the "Caption" tab is displayed. So to get to the Keywords tab, you have to first click on another tab, then click on the Keywords tab again. Just a minor glitch.


Thanks! XnView is great!!

[CameronD]

I think IPTC caption and Keywords are the best available options at the moment. These can be listed as "title" and "tags" respectively in windows explorer.
They are both indexed in Picasa and can be used for searches.
The search on windows-7 does not seem to index them readily - I have it set to "file properties only", but despite both title and tags being listed in file->properties->advanced, they do not get found.

XnView provides the best way I have found for assigning them in bulk, although it can get a bit complicated whether keywords get appended, overwritten or only added if empty. Sometimes I forget to check.

I don't think it matters what exact keywords you assign. I have gradually built up a set that are meaningful to me. I would suggest you don't create too many, or you end up spending too long searching for them. But you can always add to or remove from the list in XnView. The value of the preset list is not having to remember how you have chosen to tag some things.