setting flickr metadata using IPTC information
I've tried setting Flickr metadata using IPTC information before, but got snagged on the keywords. I'd assumed you should use comma or quote delimiters, but Flickr just reads that as one big keyword.
I couldn't find any details about it over at Flickr, apart from a brief blog post. There's nothing in the FAQ about IPTC metadata. I realise now that you can search the help forum but at the time I was FAQ-focussed :)
I tried to look up the IPTC standard (to find out what the standard delimiter is) but their website is a warren and I had no luck. A little ironic really.
But anyway I've worked it out - keywords need a line break. I find that a bit of a weird delimiter but what the hey. So I'll be using IPTC fields to set up my metadata from now on. The main advantage is storing the metadata inside the asset - that is, the photo's JPG contains the metadata. So if I have to re-upload, or upload to another system sometime down the track, then my original files have the metadata.
I set the IPTC metadata using Irfanview, my image viewer of choice. Some editing software might have different names/labels for the IPTC fields.
First off, all IPTC fields seem to be revealed on the 'more detail' screen. Some are extracted for more general use though; this is the rough map based on some experiments:
| IPTC Field | Flickr Field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Caption | Description | |
| Headline | Title | See Object Name |
| Object Name | Title | Object Name overrides Headline for use as Flickr Title if both are present in IPTC. |
| Keywords | Tags | Each keyword needs to be on its own line in the IPTC metadata. |
| City | Converts to tag(s) | Bug 1: Multi-word location fields will be added both as a single keyword and separated keywords. I tried wrapping them in quotes but that didn't help. It's a single-line field so I gather line breaks don't apply. I'm pretty sure this is a bug and not some kind of quirk of the IPTC standard.. Bug 2: sublocation does not convert to tags but does show in 'more detail' view. A fix has been suggested in the Flickr Ideas group. |
| Sub-location | See bug 2 | |
| Province-State | Converts to tag(s) | |
| Country | Converts to tag(s) | |
| ??? | Geotag | I've seen a couple of posts which suggest this is possible but I can't find definitive info. |
The full list of fields that I'm sure are shown in 'more detail' view:
- Caption/Abstract
- Caption Writer/Editor
- Headline
- Special Instructions
- By-Line (Author)
- By-Line Title (Author Position)
- Credit
- Source
- Object Name (Title)
- Date Created
- City
- Sub-Location
- Province/State
- Country/Primary Location Name
- Original transmission reference
- Category
- Supplemental Category
- Urgency
- Keywords
- Copyright Notice
Other fields might also come through. This list is pretty much everything shown in Irfanview. I'd look up the IPTC standard again to see if there's a full list, but life's too short to dig through that mess again.
Anyway, hopefully that info will be useful to someone else too... :)
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