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Microstock Photography Forum - General => Newbie Discussion => Topic started by: atramos on October 02, 2011, 15:21

Title: newbie questions about keywording & organizing
Post by: atramos on October 02, 2011, 15:21
I read somewhere that the stocksites want "IPTC" keywording... But my favorite software right now is Windows Live Photo Gallery, which I understand uses "XMP" for keywording instead of "IPTC".

Is that a problem? Do I have to dump WLPG and go ahead and get some "real software" now?

This is not as clear-cut as some may think... the specifications ofr IPTC and XMP are inter-related... e.g. from iptc.org: "The IPTC Core standard defines the same set of photo metadata fields as used from IIM but its technical implementation is builds on Adobe's XMP technology."

The other question I have is... How do you organize your photos if you're not allowed to have extraneous tags? For instance, if I submit a photo to shutterstock I'd like to tag it "submitted-shutterstock". I assume they would reject this. How do you manage your collection if you cannot use tags for that purpose?

Thanks
Title: Re: newbie questions about keywording & organizing
Post by: microstockphoto.co.uk on October 02, 2011, 16:02
I don't know about Windows Live, but I am afraid most sites won't import those keywords as they are in XMP as you said, not IPTC.
But luckily there are free programs for IPTC: Irfanview, XnView and many more.

Regarding your other questions, there are many IPTC fields that are unused, you may add your comments there instead as keywords. But it's easier to keep track in a spreadsheet, or upload a batch to all sites at the same time and then move to an "Uploaded" folder.
Title: Re: newbie questions about keywording & organizing
Post by: leaf on October 02, 2011, 16:11
I organize my photos in folders.

If I create 10 stock images, I put copies of each file in a folder for each site.  So if I have 5 sites I upload to, I'll put those 10 images in each of the 5 folders.  When I upload the image to site X I delete it from the site X folder.  to save space, instead of putting actual copies of each image in the site folders I just put shortcuts to the image.
Title: Re: newbie questions about keywording & organizing
Post by: RacePhoto on October 03, 2011, 12:25
I don't know about Windows Live, but I am afraid most sites won't import those keywords as they are in XMP as you said, not IPTC.
But luckily there are free programs for IPTC: Irfanview, XnView and many more.

Regarding your other questions, there are many IPTC fields that are unused, you may add your comments there instead as keywords. But it's easier to keep track in a spreadsheet, or upload a batch to all sites at the same time and then move to an "Uploaded" folder.

Actually some sites prefer XMP it seems. I include the metadata in both formats to make sure.

XMP is the new XML-based "Extensible Metadata Platform" developed by Adobe in 2001. Adobe worked with the IPTC to incorporate the old "IPTC headers" into the new XMP framework and in 2005 the "IPTC Core Schema for XMP" specification was released. XMP is an open-source, public standard, making it easier for developers to adopt the specification in third-party software.

Of course Microstock may be behind the times and not up to 2001 standards? ???