Document (meta) information stored in file (AD/AP)

[BatteriesInc]

I was wondering if it would be interesting to create space for a notes field in the file properties (I'm aware I'm opening a can of worms there, IMHO there should also be room for data such as creator, company and copyright which then inevitably segways into a discussion about EXIF data too - allow me to stay away from that for now).

 

I've seen someone talk about a description/information layer but that's inside the design, what I'm talking about is the ability to store meta data with the document which describes content, with or without tags and other fun stuff that you could actually search for if the search facility, file system or DAM supports it.  At the moment, the only means to store data with a design is to add a box somewhere with some description or rely on a DAM to add external tags to a file which can get lost and which do not travel with the file in a makeshift collaborative environment.

 

Ironically, document properties are a default feature in wordprocessors such as MS Office and LibreOffice which are the one facility that needs it less because you can actually search in the file contents - no such luck with graphics..

 

Opinion?

[pgt]

I think I have a similar question (although I am new to Affinity products, this forum).

 

I want to prepare images for distribution via an Open Access repository like Zenodo or FigShare. To optimize recovery of these images in search results, I understand that the meta data associated with the image is key. I thought that I would be able to open my images in AP, select "file", then "meta data", and see/edit what is embedded with the image. But, I don't see any sign of that capability. (I am pretty sure that would have worked in Photoshop, but I am trying to avoid installing CS on my new MBP...) 

 

Does AP really offer no access to or control over meta data at all? If so, what is the next best step (short of installing CS)? I have Media Pro, which seems to give a very wide range of "annotation" options for images, which might work, but I don't want to clutter my image files with meta data that are not universally accepted standards. [I am sure there are lots of "standards" for image meta data. I don't want to get too deeply into that, just enough to get this job done (well).]

[BatteriesInc]

14 hours ago, pgt said:

Does AP really offer no access to or control over meta data at all? If so, what is the next best step (short of installing CS)? I have Media Pro, which seems to give a very wide range of "annotation" options for images, which might work, but I don't want to clutter my image files with meta data that are not universally accepted standards.

 

The handling of meta data is a chapter in itself.  If you read all the documentation on the site of Phil Harvey's exiftool you'll understand that meta data handling is far from trivial.  I'd love to be able to set tags like "creator", "copyright" and "comment" tags from within AD/AP, maybe even in some automated fashion with versioning support, but it's a chapter on its own.

Regardless of what you want to do with images, getting exiftool installed is probably an excellent first step - it's free, it's insanely powerful and its developer is well versed in the standards that apply.  You may find a tag that supports your needs in the documentation, otherwise, adding to the "comment" tag may be an approach.

 

[petemcl]

On 20/08/2017 at 0:19 PM, BatteriesInc said:

I was wondering.... 

 

Opinion?

 

I agree.  I'm using the trial version of Affinity Photo and I don't see a way to add that information as you can in Photoshop CS5.