Digital Imaging

Metadata Manifesto : Addendum

The Ideals behind Ideal Products

Besides adhering to the guiding principles proposed in the Metadata Manifesto, products aiming to gain significant market share in an increasingly metadata-hungry market should embody the following design ideals.

Products must allow metadata to be embedded as early as possible in the image creation process.

This could include:

• the ability to store a metadata template-or at least the image creator's name-in the internal memory of digital cameras and other image generating devices so that authorship information is automatically written to the metadata section of every newly created image..
• the ability to store authorship information on a protected sector of storage devices such as memory cards, and
• the ability to have image processing utilities automatically transfer this information (and even embed the information in the image) at the time images are copied to another device.

Products must allow metadata to be ubiquitous and persistent.

• Metadata must be preserved by default in all imaging applications.
• User interfaces must be clearly designed to prevent users from inadvertently removing metadata.
• Any mechanisms for removing metadata must allow image users to clearly understand what they are about to do.
• Metadata removal mechanisms must allow for selective removal of individual fields, as opposed to wholesale removal of all data.
• Any process for compression of images for low-bandwidth use should by default preserve at least a reduced set of metadata, and must at a minimum preserve the image ownership information.

Products should facilitate usage rights tracking.

Including:

• the ability to automatically assign a persistent, unique identifier to each image so image users can identify and track its origin more easily
• the ability to store passwords for selective levels of use permissions.
• the ability to password-protect authorship-related metadata to prevent inadvertent changes, as well as reduce the incidence of fraudulent changes.

Products must facilitate metadata automation.

Ideal products should:

• allow recorded actions or macros for metadata manipulation, including support for conditional statements.
• allow automated access to metadata elements through a cross-platform scripting language. There should be agreement on a common API and allow scripts to call the application's own metadata parser.
• allow scripts to read any and all metadata elements meant for public consumption. Restrictions, if any, should be honored so that private metadata is not read.
• allow scripts to write to any metadata elements for which writing is applicable or allowed.

Metadata Manifesto

Read the Manifesto here or Download the PDF

A Metadata Manifesto

A proposal from the Stock Artists Alliance
for the adoption of guiding principles, standards and technology
to promote image metadata use.

Version 1.0 / July 2006

Photographers, illustrators, publishers, advertisers, designers, art directors, picture editors, librarians and curators all share this same problem: struggling to track rapidly expanding collections of image assets.

In a world of desktops increasingly crowded with digital files, old methodology persists. Folders of digital images are "filed" while information about the images -- creator, caption and rights data -- often is available only from a separate database, notebook, or CD jacket.

The only link between the image and this data is a file name and where that file is stored. Unfortunately, this link is easily severed when file names get altered, files get relocated, copies are made and disseminated. Meanwhile, image information gets left behind.

Without effective systems in place for identifying and managing digital assets, everyone working with digital images is adversely affected. Resources are wasted, opportunities are lost, liability increases and intellectual property rights are eroded.

The volume of digital files challenges publishers who need to manage and access them. Busy designers and art directors download preview images to their desktops, only to find weeks or months later they cannot identify the source. Librarians and curators -- charged with making more cultural resources available to the public -- are already overburdened managing their legacy analog material. Now, they must cope with rapidly expanding digital assets as well.

Lack of information about an image file can delay projects, necessitating additional research to establish licensing rights, obtain clearances, and confirm caption details. This in turn has contributed to the growing problem of misuse of images, whether through error or by intent. Without proper licensing or permissions, users infringe copyright and expose themselves to liability.

The pressures on image creators-as copyright holders-to protect their intellectual property has intensified since the digitalization and online distribution of their images. If their images cannot be properly identified, they suffer from lost revenues due to missed licensing opportunities. Add to this the challenge posed by proposed changes in U.S. Copyright Law. If "orphan works" legislation passes as drafted, it would permit use of their images without a license in the event the owner cannot be located.

Industry wide adoption of metadata is the key to addressing these challenges. Yet today, it is underused and under-supported. What's missing is an adherence to standards and technology solutions that support metadata use and preservation.

Image creators need to commit to embedding metadata as they move rapidly to an all-digital workflow. Those at the forefront have recognized the value of metadata to better protect their intellectual property. A recent Stock Artists Alliance member survey of nearly 400 active stock photographers found that a majority currently embed metadata in their image files. 9 in 10 include a copyright notice, 8 in 10 include creator contact information, and 7 in 10 include a unique image identifier, title, caption and keywords.

Screencast Tutorials

Thanks to SAA's Imaging Technology Standards Chair (and metadata guru) David Riecks, SAA offers a series of visual tutorials about the latest metadata standards. We invite site visitors to view the folloiwing:

Screencast Tutorials #1-5:
An Introduction to the IPTC "Core" Panels

This series provides a "sneak peek" at the IPTC "custom panels" – the latest revision to the IPTC's widely used metadata standards, which many photographers know as the "File Info" feature in Adobe Photoshop. They will give you some insights into how they can be used to identify your image files, record rich metadata about the subject in an image and help to protect your intellectual property.

These Apple Quicktime videos may take up to a minute to load before they start playing. Please be patient; they are large files. You'll first need to first Download Quicktime Player if you don't already have it.

View the Screencasts now.

1. Overview of the IPTC Core panels (4:31 run time, 13 MB download)
2. IPTC Contact panel details (2:11 run time, 12 MB download)
3. IPTC Content panel details (2:23 run time, 9 MB download)
4. IPTC Image panel details (3:47 minutes run time, 11 MB download)
5. IPTC Status panel details (3:51 run time, 10 MB download)

More about IPTC Metadata Standards

From the IPTC site, you can download the custom panels, as well as a full package that includes a comprehensive user guide to these panels (authored by David Riecks), example photos with embedded XMP information, the specification document, an implementation guide for developers, and a "bug fix" for the Photoshop CS pre-installed panels. ...more

More Screencasts from SAA

Additional Tutorials on a variety of subjects are available to SAA members only. Topics include Creating Metadata Templates with Photoshop CS/CS2, which shows how to apply them to many images at one time; and Batch Processing, which demonstrates how to organize and generate keywords so they can be "batch added" using Photoshop CS/CS2 and iView Media Pro 2.6.4.