Operation Manual

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Organizing photos
Last updated 11/30/2015
Synchronize metadata between photos in the catalog
Specific metadata in selected photos can be synchronized with metadata in another photo. This provides a fast way to
add information and IPTC metadata to photos. Synchronizing metadata saves you the effort of repeatedly typing the
same metadata into photos.
1 Select a photo in the Grid view that has metadata that other photos will synchronize to. This becomes the active
photo.
2 Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to select photos that will synchronize with the active photo.
Shift-click to select contiguous photos.
3 Do one of the following:
• Click the Sync button below the panels on the right.
• Choose Metadata > Sync Metadata.
4 In the Synchronize Metadata dialog box, select the metadata that you want and then click Synchronize.
Note: The metadata you select to synchronize overwrites existing metadata in the selected photos.
5 (Optional) Choose Metadata > Enable Auto Sync or click the Enable Auto Sync switch on the Sync button to
automatically apply metadata changes to all selected photos as you edit.
Synchronize Lightroom metadata with Camera Raw and Adobe Bridge
By default, Lightroom metadata is saved to the catalog file. For Camera Raw, Photoshop, and Adobe Bridge to view
changes to Lightroom metadata, including Develop module adjustment settings, metadata changes must be saved to
XMP in Lightroom. When you save metadata to a raw file, the changes are saved in an XMP sidecar file. With other file
types, the metadata is saved in the file itself.
Note: Keyword hierarchies created in any of these applications are preserved, and no data is lost, even though they might
not appear in one or more of the applications. Versions earlier than Camera Raw 4.1 may not recognize some of the Develop
module adjustments made in Lightroom.
Automatically save metadata changes to photos in Lightroom
The easiest way to make sure that Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw see metadata changes made in Lightroom is to
automatically save those changes as you work.
1 Choose Edit > Catalog Settings (Windows) or Lightroom > Catalog Settings (Mac OS).
2 In the Metadata tab, select Automatically Write Changes Into XMP.
View unsaved metadata
Lightroom displays three types of icons in the Grid view of the Library module to identify unsaved metadata:
Metadata File Needs To Be Updated
Indicates unsaved metadata changes made to the photo in Lightroom.
Metadata Was Changed Externally
Indicates metadata changes made to the photo in an external application and not applied in Lightroom.
Error Saving Metadata
Indicates an error saving metadata in Lightroom. This icon appears when the same metadata for a photo has been
changed both in Lightroom and externally.