Author Topic: Capitalized Keywords in Alamy (and Deepmeta) (Read 8130 times)

steheap · « **on:** February 10, 2012, 17:01 »

I came across a strange behavior today. I was always a bit bemused why some important keyword didn't get imported into Alamy when all the other ones were there. It turns out that if you have a Capitalized keyword like "Moon" it is ignored in the upload process. As I researched a bit more, I found that Deepmeta does the same thing - when you add files to Deepmeta and then go to the editor to convert to Istock defined vocabulary, the capitalized keywords are absent. Just why this is (and if it is just my computer I apologize!), I don't know, but I have posted a question on the Alamy forum to see if it is a known issue.

The core issue is that Lightroom only can store one version of a word, so if you already have a keyword called "Moon" and you type "moon" into a new file, it magically gets converted to "Moon" and so the problem continues. I haven't found a way to find all my images online with missing keywords (that would be a great program for someone to develop!), but I did research and find a way to get rid of the issue in Lightroom. I posted the instructions on my blog if you have this issue and don't know how to fix it: http://www.backyardsilver.com/2012/02/strange-behavior-with-capitalized-keywords/

Steve

ann · « **Reply #1 on:** February 10, 2012, 17:13 »

That's puzzling. My capitalized keywords show up when I upload to Alamy - whether I use online upload route or FTP for the Live News Feed. (I use CS5 to process raw files & input metadata)

luissantos84 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 10, 2012, 17:24 »

I don´t capitalize..

steheap · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2012, 17:58 »

Ahh, I think there is something else going on here. I see the keyword in Lightroom (it was Kauai as I just came back from there), but I don't see it in Shutterstock or Bigstock, and when I look at the JPEG itself in a file manager, I don't see it there either. So I need to work out why the "save metadata" and export functions in Lightroom aren't pushing a particular keyword into the JPEG file. Time to put my detective hat on and sorry for causing confusion.

Steve

steheap · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2012, 18:06 »

Wow - I've found the problem, but have no idea what the underlying cause was. If you double click on a keyword in the Keyword list in Lightroom there is a check box called "Include on Export." If this is not checked, then the particular keyword does not get exported when you save to metadata or export to a JPEG. Amazing thing is that the two I have found so far - Kauai and Washington make up a big set of my images...

I think I have a lot of work to do...

Steve

LesHoward · « **Reply #5 on:** February 11, 2012, 02:21 »

It's an easy fix, Steve:
1. Got to the keyword list.
2. Right click or Command click on the keyword you want to change.
3. Select 'Edit Keyword Tag ...' which displays the edit dialog box.
4. Click on the option 'Include on Export' and save. The keyword is then changed for ALL images that include it.
5. Select the images and re-export them.
That doesn't fix the images you've already uploaded however. You'll have to fix each one on the microstock sites. That's easy on iStock if you use Deepmeta.

A bigger question is why was the 'Include on Export' option deselected? On my system, all three options are always automatically selected for every new keyword I add to the list unless I make a point of deselecting one of them. I use the hierarchical keyword features in Lightroom and there are some top level keywords I use for organizing them that I don't want exported so this is a feature I've used extensively.

That also raises the question what other keywords have the switch reset? I'm sorry I don't have an easy way to answer this question. You'd have to select and examine every keyword one at a time. That would be time-consuming if you have a lot.

Something else to watch out for. If you use the hierarchical method and uncheck 'Include on Export' then any keywords in the hierarchy above the unchecked one will also not be exported regardless how the switch is set.

I hope that helps - good luck.

steheap · « **Reply #6 on:** February 11, 2012, 11:18 »

Thanks Les. I'm struggling to find that magic bullet that tells me which other keywords are in this state. It is strange that of the four or five I have found, most of them had a capital first letter. I don't know what that is, and I'm at a loss to see how some really important keywords like "washington" were being ignored, but I'll have to live with the results and improve going forward.

If anyone knows of a way to look at the settings of all the keywords and identify those that are not being exported, please let me know!

Steve

steheap · « **Reply #7 on:** February 11, 2012, 15:17 »

OK, much research later, I think I have got to the bottom of this. I was an early Lightroom user in version 1. In those days I added many of the basic keywords that we all start with - tree, flower, cat, washington, virginia, cloud, arizona etc. As Lightroom was enhanced through the versions, I upgraded and the database was converted as new functions were added. Somewhere along the way (I suspect between V1 and V2) Adobe must have enhanced the keyword tables to allow you to choose which keywords are exported. The initial ones in the database were set to "No." All new keywords appear to have the default of being exported. End result for me is that 3000 files are online with some of the most obvious keywords missing :'(

Luckily, some sites pick up the words in the description and I probably put the obvious keywords there as well, but it is a bit of a bummer.

I've found a way to look at the underlying database in the Lightroom catalog and find which keywords are in this state. I've written a detailed post about how to do this if anyone thinks they have a similar issue:

http://www.backyardsilver.com/2012/02/strange-behavior-with-capitalized-keywords/

If you were a user of Lightroom 1, it may be worth checking this out.

Steve

LesHoward · « **Reply #8 on:** February 11, 2012, 15:27 »

Quote from: steheap on February 11, 2012, 11:18

If anyone knows of a way to look at the settings of all the keywords and identify those that are not being exported, please let me know!

I was wondering the same thing and after sleeping on it, came up with this:

1. Start Lightroom.
2. On the menu bar select 'Metadata' then select 'Export Keywords...' which brings up the dialog box.
3. You are about to save a text file with your complete keyword hierarchy in it. The file will be called 'Lightroom Keywords' (you can change that name if you wish) and you should select a folder to save the file in so you will know where to look for it. Then click on 'Save'.
4. Now go find the file and double click on it which should display it in your favorite text editor. Here is a small sample extracted from my own exported keyword file:

   [FLORA]
      cactus
         prickly pear
      fern
         ostrich fern
            {matteuccia struthiopteris}
            {shuttlecock fern}
         sensitive fern
            {onoclea sensibilis}
            {bead fern}

The square brackets [,] indicate a keyword that will NOT be exported (for example FLORA will not be exported above). So you can simply look at your list and quickly see all the keywords that will not be exported. If your text editor has a search feature, you could do a search for [ to find them one at a time. Then just edit the keyword in Lightroom to set the 'Include on Export' switch. TextEdit on a Mac has that feature.

The curly brackets {,} indicate keywords that have been defined as synonyms of the word above it.

When you fully expand that Keyword List and look at it inside Lightroom, you will see only this:

   FLORA
      cactus
         prickly pear
      fern
         ostrich fern
         sensitive fern

The synonyms and other info is not shown. I spell out keywords in all caps as a signal to myself that the keyword is not exported so I will recognize that in the keyword list.

Here's an idea - it's speculation, I have not tried it: If you find there are a lot of keywords you need to fix, you could use your text editor to modify the keywords file to remove the square brackets then re-import the keywords file. WARNING: BACK UP YOUR FILES AND CATALOG BEFORE YOU TRY THIS. You might even want to define a new catalog and play around with it a bit before you do anything like that.

LesHoward · « **Reply #9 on:** February 11, 2012, 15:35 »

Looks like I was writing my epistle while you were writing yours.

I need some time to read through your blog entry but unfortunately I have to go out right now. Gotta walk my dog and replenish the beer supply before the hockey game starts. I'll be back later.

steheap · « **Reply #10 on:** February 11, 2012, 15:45 »

Wow - thanks Les. That is a neat way of achieving the same end. I did have an export of my keywords, but the problem ones were some way down the list and so I didn't see the square brackets. I should have held back on all my typing!

So if you want to really look into the inner workings of the Lightroom catalog, then my blog tells you how to do it. Your way is a much simpler way of solving my particular issue!

Thanks

Steve

LesHoward · « **Reply #11 on:** February 12, 2012, 03:02 »

I left some comments on your article to clarify some of your points. I'm glad you were able to solve your problem

steheap · « **Reply #12 on:** February 12, 2012, 09:21 »

Thanks Les, for all your support on this!

Now all I need is a way to update all my online files in 20 agencies with the missing keywords....

Steve

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Author Topic: Capitalized Keywords in Alamy (and Deepmeta) (Read 8130 times)

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