How do I stop Lightroom from re-importing exported keyword synonyms as new keywords?
Asked 4/28/2016
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2 answers
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In Lightroom Classic, I’ve created a keyword hierarchy with synonyms and I want many of those synonyms included in exported files. The problem is that after exporting images and then using Synchronize Folder / re-importing those files, Lightroom brings the synonyms back as separate flat keywords instead of preserving them as synonyms under the original keyword.
Is there any way to export keyword synonyms but prevent Lightroom from importing them back as new keywords?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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Where are the synonyms being stored in the exported images?
In general on export Lr is gonna write all the keywords and synonyms into a flat list. IPTC provides for keywords, and that's it. Keyword hierarchies are actually stored elsewhere in the XMP metadata, and not all applications can even read them.
I'd wanna look at the XMP in the exported file, but I'd surmise it's just a comma separated list of all that. So when Lr imports that list, it treats the synonyms it finds as a new keyword.
Exporting and then reimporting isn't a normal Lr workflow, so I expect they didn't account for this. I would think simply turning off the option to export synonyms would solve your problem, since they already exist within Lr.
Originally by user39992. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user39992
10y ago
0
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Probably not. Lightroom exports keywords and synonyms as a flat IPTC keyword list. IPTC keywords don’t preserve the synonym relationship, and keyword hierarchies are stored separately in XMP metadata that many apps don’t fully use. So when Lightroom later re-imports or synchronizes those exported files, it sees the synonym terms as ordinary keywords and adds them as new tags.
In other words: once synonyms are exported, they become real exported keywords.
The practical fix is to disable exporting synonyms (or exclude selected keywords from export) if you plan to re-import/synchronize those exported files back into the same catalog. Since the synonym structure already exists inside Lightroom, keeping synonyms out of exported metadata avoids the duplicate flat-keyword problem.
Exporting files and then re-importing them into the same Lightroom library isn’t a typical workflow, so Lightroom doesn’t appear to preserve synonym relationships in that round-trip.
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