META Resources
Links to Other Resources
Recommended Reading
Introductory Basics
Metadata Utilities
Standards, Specifications and Schemas
Guidelines and Best Practices in Metadata Applications for Images and Image Collections
Image Metadata Discussion Forums
Metadata Conference Presentations & Reports
Periodical Articles
Blogs
Reference and Lookup Tools
Recommended Reading
User Guide to the IPTC Core
Descriptions of how to correctly put the current IPTC fields to use to embed metadata in digital files.
A Short History of the IPTC (International Press Telecommunication Council) Standards
David Riecks, [n.d.]
An excellent beginners' outline that also answers most frequently asked questions.
Basic Metadata: A Photographer's Best Friend
by Ethan G. Salwen
ASMP Bulletin, fall 2007
Basic Metadata: Don't Process Without It
Adding Contact and Copyright Metadata to Your RAW Processing Workflow
by Ethan G. Salwen
AfterCapture magazine, Oct/Nov 2007
Addressing practicing photographers, Salwen advocates adding metadata to RAW images as a first step in processing, using templates for key metadata.
UPDIG: Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines, version 4.0
September 2008
The UPDIG guidelines aim to establish photographic standards and practices for photographers, designers, printers, and image distributors. They cover Digital Asset Management, Color Profiling, Metadata, and Photography Workflow. Separate Guidelines for Photographers and Image Receivers are available on this site.
Introductory Basics
These sources provide an introduction to the problem of image data and metadata interchange, and early steps toward the solution.
A Short History of the IPTC (International Press Telecommunication Council) Standards
David Riecks, [n.d.]
An excellent beginners' outline that also answers most frequently asked questions.
SAA's Metadata Manifesto, issued July 2006
This site provides both a web version and a downloadable PDF outlining a proposal from the Stock Artists Alliance for the adoption of guiding principles, standards and technology to promote image metadata use among image-using industries around the world.
IPTC Photo Metadata White Paper 2007, Document Revision 11 [added by jldt 3/10]
Outlines metadata properties vital to image interchange, and workflows in current use by various types of image creators and users.
Basic Metadata: A Photographer's Best Friend
by Ethan G. Salwen
ASMP Bulletin, fall 2007
Metadata Utilities
Jeffrey Friedl's Online Metadata Viewer
A web based utility for reading Exif, XMP, IPTC, ICC, etc., data in most file types (including JPEG, TIFF, PSD, RAW, NEF, CR2, MP3, WMV, etc.) whether remote or local. Includes a button that can be dragged and dropped into one's local browser button bar (Compatible with recent versions of the Firefox and Safari browsers). The most flexible image metadata web-based viewer now available.
ExifTool
ExifTool is a platform-independent Perl library plus a command-line application for reading, writing and editing meta information in image, audio and video files. ExifTool supports many different types of metadata including EXIF, IPTC, XMP, and many others. ExifTool is also available as a stand-alone Windows executable and a Macintosh OS X package.
ExifTool GUI for Windows v3.10
[released April 4, 2008]
View Exif, IPTC, XMP, Maker Notes and more. This utility takes Phil Harvey's command line ExifTool utility and gives it a Graphical User Interface.
Photo Info (Exif only) for Mac
[Version 2.0.1 released Sept, 2006]
A simple Exif metadata viewer for the Macintosh operating system.
Microsoft Pro Photo Tools 2
Utility that permits viewing and editing image metadata from within Windows Explorer. Emphasizes adding GPS data, though currently only writes metadata using the XMP format.
Exif Viewer 1.45
A Firefox addon, by Alan Raskin. Displays the Exif and IPTC data in local and remote JPEG (only) images.
XMP metadata extractor (Jpeg only)
A web based utility for extracting the XMP from a JPEG file whether remote or local.
Standards, Specifications and Schemas
Photo Image File Format Specifications
JPEG
JPEG File Interchange Format, version 1.02
Issued September 1, 1992
TIFF
TIFF Revision 6.0
Final, June 1992
Adobe developers' file standards for TIFF file type.
PSD
File Standards for Photoshop PSD file type.
Updated May 2008
Parts copyrighted by Thomas Knoll
Photo Metadata Standards & Specification Schemas
Dublin Core
Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, Version 1.1
A ready reference to all Dublin Core elements; includes references to controlled vocabularies available for individual elements.
DCMI Metadata Terms
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
Recommendation of the DCMI Usage Board, issued January 2008.
IPTC Core
"IPTC Core" Schema for XMP, version 1.0
Specification Document, revision 8
IPTC 2005.
XMP value types and schema properties are given here, as well as a list of deprecated legacy IIM metadata elements mapped to current XMP values.
XMP
XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform)
XMP: Adding Intelligence to Media
XMP Specification
Adobe, 2005
Data and storage models, schemas, and embedding in image files.
IPTC IIM (Legacy)
IPTC Standard Photo Metadata 2008
IPTC Core, Specification Version 1.1
IPTC Extension, Specification 1.0
Document Revision 2
IPTC, 2008. Supersedes Document Revision 1.
The only change mentioned is moving a table from one section to another.
IPTC-NAA Information Interchange Model (IIM), version 4, Rev 1, July 1999
Standard for representing and exchanging news information (both text and image).
Exif
JEITA Exchangeable image file format for digital still cameras: Exif Version 2.2
JEITA CP-3451, established April 2002.
Published by Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA)
English translation of the standard, though the Japanese original is authoritative.
JEITA 49-1998
JEITA 49-1998 is the earlier version of the Exif standard.
Intellectual Property
PLUS Coalition License Data
PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System)
Free registration required to access the standards information, which includes:
BETA version of the PLUS License Generator, a web based tool that generates a PLUS Universal License Summary file in XMP, suitable for embedding in digital image files. The License Generator is available in the "UsePLUS" menu of the PLUS website for free.
BETA version of a License Embedder and Reader (different versions for Mac and PC), that allows users to embed or read a Universal License Statement one file at a time. Future versions will support batch processing, saved license templates, saved user contact info.
For Digital Image Collections
XML
NISO Metadata for Images in XML Schema
Technical metadata for digital still images standard
The Library of Congress' Network Development and MARC Standards Office, in partnership with the NISO Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images Standards Committee and other interested experts, is developing an XML schema for a set of technical data elements required to manage digital image collections.
ANSI/NISO Z39.87 - Data Dictionary - Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images
Defines a set of metadata elements for raster digital images to enable users to develop, exchange, and interpret digital image files. The dictionary has been designed to facilitate interoperability between systems, services, and software as well as to support the long-term management of and continuing access to digital image collections.
VRA Core 4.0
Visual Resource Association, Data Standards Committee.
March 2007.
This is a data standard for the cultural heritage community, providing a categorical organization for the description of works of visual culture as well as the images that document them. It consists of a metadata element set as well as an initial blueprint for how those elements can be hierarchically structured.
World Wide Web Standards and Specifications
W3C Resource Description Framework (RDF)
RDF Vocabulary Description Language 1.0: RDF Schema
W3C Recommendation 10 February 2004
The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a general-purpose language for representing information in the Web. This specification describes how to use RDF to describe RDF vocabularies. This specification defines a vocabulary for this purpose and defines other built-in RDF vocabulary initially specified in the RDF Model and Syntax Specification.
Encoding Dublin Core metadata in HTML
Informational Memorandum, not a standard. Offers several examples of encoding.
IETF, December 1999. © The Internet Society.
Image Annotation on the Semantic Web
W3C Incubator Group Report 14 August 2007
Offers use cases and solutions that illustrate vocabularies used in Dublin Core and VRA Core data elements.
Date and Time (W3C)
This document defines a profile of ISO 8601, the International Standard for the representation of dates and times. ISO 8601 describes a large number of date/time formats. To reduce the scope for error and the complexity of software, it is useful to restrict the supported formats to a small number. This profile defines a few date/time formats, likely to satisfy most requirements.
Guidelines and Best Practices in Metadata Applications for Images and Image Collections
User's Guide to the IPTC Core
(descriptions of how to correctly put the current IPTC fields to use)
Guidelines for Handling Image Metadata, version 1.0.1
February 2009
Metadata Working Group
A consortium of Microsoft, Canon, Sony, Nokia, and Adobe, launched July 2006, to establish metadata standards for images. Version 1.01 of its Guidance, issued February 2009, is available as a downloadable pdf at this site. It is intended to establish common standards among all branches of the image-making and image-using industries.
September 2008
The UPDIG guidelines aim to establish photographic standards and practices for photographers, designers, printers, and image distributors. They cover Digital Asset Management, Color Profiling, Metadata, and Photography Workflow. Separate Guidelines for Photographers and Image Receivers are available on this site.
Digital Library Federation, 2005.
As part of its Online Archive Initiative, the Digital Library Federation offers guidelines for expanding the simple (or unqualified) Dublin Core elements to provide richer descriptive elements about an archive collection. It makes available an XML schema and has reserved the metadata prefix oai_dc for this schema.
Digital Library Federation (DLF), Institute of Museum & Library Services, Online Archive Initiative (OAI), November, 2005.
Guidelines, especially for archivists, in creating shareable metadata about their holdings.
Version 1.0 Final Specification
IMS Global Learning Consortium, 2004.
This monitored and moderated public discussion group is for people who wish to engage in discussions related to the use of Controlled Vocabularies, Hierarchies, Thesauri, and Classification schemes used in databases, with a specific interest in image files and databases. Related topics include the use of IPTC meta data, Dublin Core, XML, and Adobe Photoshop's XMP data format. Over 1100 active members.
Active and well organized monitored and moderated public forum on Digital Asset Management for Photographers, an outgrowth of Peter Krogh's book of the same title. Over 2000 members, with wide ranging topics that include software, workflow, utilities, and practical applications more than theory.
Public moderated discussion group supporting the adoption and use of the IPTC Core metadata standard. This forum, launched February 2005 has well over 100 members and is moderately active.
Public moderated discussion group regarding additions to the IPTC for Stock and Cultural Heritage uses, launched July 2006, over 100 members, intermittently active.