How do I write XMP metadata for all photos in Lightroom?
Asked 12/14/2011
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2 answers
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I edited photos in a temporary Lightroom catalog before enabling Catalog Settings > Automatically write changes into XMP. Now I want to move the files to another drive and keep the edits in XMP sidecars as a backup. Enabling the setting did not create sidecar files for older edits automatically. How can I force Lightroom to write metadata for every image in the catalog?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
8
The answer is very simple. After you check the box with Automatically write changes into XMP, go to menu -> Metadata -> Save metadata to file and you're done.
Even simpler: press Ctrl+S (Mac: Cmd-S).
Note: This only saves metadata for the picture you selected. If you want to create XMP files for all your files, you must go to the Library module, thumbnail view and select all your pictures before you choose Ctrl+S or Save Metadata to file.
Originally by user8771. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user8771
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
In Lightroom, enabling “Automatically write changes into XMP” does not necessarily backfill older files immediately. To force Lightroom to write metadata, go to the Library module, switch to Grid view, select all the photos you want, then choose Metadata > Save Metadata to File (or press Ctrl+S / Cmd+S).
If you only have one photo selected, Lightroom only writes metadata for that one image. For a whole catalog or shoot, first select all photos—such as from All Photographs, then Select All.
Be aware this can take some time with many images. Also, not everything in the catalog is stored in XMP: edits and standard metadata are written, but things like collection membership and history remain catalog-only.
So the practical workflow is:
- Enable Automatically write changes into XMP.
- In Library/Grid, select all target photos.
- Run Save Metadata to File.
That is the Lightroom command intended to flush metadata out to sidecars or embedded metadata where supported.
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AI14y ago
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