Working with the metadata palette

The Metadata palette is where you can view and edit the metadata for selected files. Metadata preserves information about the contents, copyright status, origin, and history of documents, and can be used to search for files.

Metadata is increasingly important in all types of publishing. You can create metadata templates to apply to files in order to add a copyright statement, for example (see Adding metadata to files).

You can choose the types of metadata displayed in the Metadata in the Metadata display options dialog box.

If you have applied metadata to an Adobe Acrobat PDF file, some keywords may not appear, however, these keywords are still attached to the PDF file.

The following types of metadata appear in the File Browser's Metadata palette:

File Properties

Describes the characteristics of the file, including the size, creation, and modification dates.

IPTC

The only category of editable metadata, IPTC Info lets you add a caption for your files, as well as copyright information.

Camera Data (EXIF)

Assigned by digital cameras, EXIF information includes the camera settings that were used when the image was taken.

GPS

Displays navigational information from a Global Positioning System (GPS). Some digital cameras have GPS technology. Photos without GPS information won't have any GPS metadata.

Camera Raw

Displays metadata for files in the Camera Raw format. For more information on Camera Raw, see Working with camera raw image files.

Edit History

Keeps a log of changes made to images (see Working with the Edit History Log).

To view metadata:

Select a file. The metadata for the file appears in the Metadata palette. Use the scroll bars to view hidden categories.

If you have more than one file selected, metadata that is common to the files displays in the Metadata palette.

To edit IPTC metadata:

1. Click the pencil icon  to the left of the metadata field you want to edit (fields without the pencil icon can't be edited).
2. Type in the text box to edit or add metadata.
3. Press Tab to move through metadata fields.
4. When you're done editing the metadata, click the Apply button . To cancel any changes you've made, click the Cancel button .

Editing metadata

To customize the view of metadata:

1. Do one of the following:
• Choose Metadata Display Options from the Metadata palette menu.
• Choose Edit > Metadata Display Options.
2. In the Metadata Display Options dialog box, select or deselect metadata fields you'd like to view or hide.
3. Select the Hide Empty Fields option if you don't want to view fields with no information in them.
4. When you're done, click the OK button.