Creating Your Own Custom Metadata (Copyright) Templates in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4
From the book
From the book
At the beginning of this chapter, I mentioned that you’ll want to set up your own custom metadata template, so you can easily and automatically embed your own copyright and contact information right into your photos as they’re imported into Lightroom. Well, here’s how to do just that. Keep in mind that you can create more than one template, so if you create one with your full contact info (including your phone number), you might want to create one with just basic info, or one for when you’re exporting images to be sent to a stock photo agency, etc.
Step One:
You can create a metadata template from right within the Import window, so press Command-Shift-I (PC: Ctrl-Shift-I) to bring it up. Once the Import window appears, go to the Apply During Import panel, and from the Metadata pop-up menu, choose New (as shown here).
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Step Two:
A blank New Metadata Preset dialog will appear. First, click the Check None button at the bottom of the dialog, as shown here (so no blank fields will appear when you view this metadata in Lightroom—only fields with data will be displayed).
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Step Three:
In the IPTC Copyright section, type in your copyright information (as shown here). Next, go to the IPTC Creator section and enter your contact info (after all, if someone goes by your website and downloads some of your images, you might want them to be able to contact you to arrange to license your photo). Now, you may feel that the Copyright Info URL (Web address) that you added in the previous section is enough contact info, and if that’s the case, you can skip filling out the IPTC Creator info (after all, this metadata preset is to help make potential clients aware that your work is copyrighted, and tell them how to get in contact with you). Once all the metadata info you want embedded in your photos is complete, go up to the top of the dialog, give your preset a name—I chose “Scott’s Copyright (Full)”—and then click the Create button, as shown.
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Step Four:
As easy as it is to create a metadata template, deleting one isn’t much harder. Go back to the Apply During Import panel and, from the Metadata pop-up menu, choose Edit Presets. That brings up the Edit Metadata Presets dialog (which looks just like the New Metadata Preset dialog). From the Preset pop-up menu at the top, choose the preset you want to delete. Once all the metadata appears in the dialog, go back to that Preset pop-up menu, and now choose Delete Preset [Name of Preset]. A warning dialog will pop up, asking if you’re sure you want to delete this preset. Click Delete, and it is gone forever.
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