How do you all handle the keyword management. Do you have to each time "copy and paste" all the info into each stock agency or is there a way that the keywords, file name and description are embedded in the file?

For example, if we insert the keywords and all info into Bridge CS3 in the IPTC Core, isn't it uploaded and recognized by the stock agencies? Or do we still have to copy and paste every time?

Thanks!

You can definitely do it in CS3. Using Photoshop, go to File > File Info... and just add title/description/keywords. Those are accepted everywhere. But you're going to have to edit the categories individually in each site, because every agency is different. That actually takes the most time when uploading photos in my experience.

Is Irfanview better than Bridge/Photoshop CS3?

It depends on your work flow. Irfanview has the advantage that you can do the photos in batch, and also separate the image editing phase from the tagging phase. If you want to add IPTC later in Photoshop, you have to reopen the JPG and that's lossy. Irfanview is lossless.

Sometimes I'm in editing mood (Photoshop) and sometimes in tagging mood (after two glasses of wine). Those moods don't mix. I'm also doing the tagging of a few volume shooters in private and the fastest way to tag other people's images is in Irfanview.

Microsoft Photo Info is okay too.

I installed it twice and removed it again. The keywords are presented on one line and there is no way to change the delimiters.

Batch-keywording sounds nice for sure 

You can also selectively replace fields in a batch operation. For instance, you can change the author or date fields in a batch without touching the other fields. In the latest version, you can also add info to existing fields, like adding one single keyword to the existing ones, whatever they are. Or adding "Isolated over white" to all existing descriptions is you forgot it.

What I still miss is search and replace, like when you misspelled a keyword, or deleting a particular keyword in a batch. Remove duplicates and counting (flag images with over 50 or N keywords or with a description length>200 or N) might be cool too. Given time, I'll try to write a plugin for Irfanview to perform these tasks easily, because almost none of the mainstream and reliable tools are geared towards stockers.

Can you copy data from one already keyworded image to new ones of the same series?

Yes of course. That's one of the great uses of Irfanview. It will copy all info from the first highlighted image to all others you've selected. Irfanview sorts the thumbs alphabetically by file name, so your pilot image might be somewhere in the middle. I simply solve it by copying the pilot image in the same folder and call it "adelete.jpg". Then it will appear on top. Select it, and then select all the other thumbs you want the IPTC info copied into, as you do in the Windows file explorer by holding the CTRL or SHIFT key. After completion, just delete the "adelete.jpg" again.

Lightroom can do this too.

In batch and without opening the image?

Images are never actually "opened" in Lightroom due to it's non-destructive editing features but you do have to export it in the end to get the metadata embedded in the final jpg that you will submit. (Original files remain untouched). So I guess thats what your trying to avoid?

Yes, thanks. I didn't know that Lightroom could do it, since I'm very ignorant about Lightroom. I had 1.1 but I had the impression it couldn't handle layers. I also didn't see immediately why I would migrate from Photoshop to Lightroom or how it would benefit my workflow. Mastering a new program always takes time.

I like Irfanview because I can handle the IPTC in a separate phase and simply because I know it since long. That doesn't mean it's the best. Whatever works for anybody is just fine.

I'm just curious, how much post-processing can be done in Lightroom? Is it possible to by-pass processing in Ps?

Infranview is PC only right?

Yes. I remember since Araminta (I think) asked one time here for an Irfanview clone for the Mac.

When I first started microstock I searched high and low for stable mac software that would do it from the finder because at that time I was naive enough to believe I could submit my shots direct from the camera (no post-processing) and didn't want to resave the jpg

Well before (2005-2006) I had a snapshotter that produced a lot of noise and I had to use PS for noise reduction. For cloning too of course, and for levels. Later, I learned that buyers are attracted by popped-up thumbs so I also added pop-up. IS doesn't like that but DT and SS do.

Now of course, I post-process every file to some degree and have been using Lightroom since beta. The only time it has not read a layered file was when I left it in Lab mode and forgot to change it back to RGB. It has improved leaps and bounds since 1.1 You should try out the 2.X.
edit: Typos and to clarify that Lightroom doesn't allow you to control your layered files other than read them. You can apply any LR adjustments to them and export as new (flattened) files.

Well for me layers are vital now. Can't work without layers, for the selective erase of noise and for the soft-layers that allow you to add a lot of creativity as to colors in specific areas. Also for cloning and isolations. But it really depends on your type of photos, and what you are used to. I'm ignorant about LR, and using it, I never could grasp why people would migrate from Photoshop to LR. Levels? Well levels are possible in PS too. If you just start, that might be different...

Wow, that's pretty cool. It could definitely simplify the workflow.