IPTC standards in Adobe’s Custom Metadata Panel

Adobe’s professional services team has created an extension for Adobe tools called Custom Metadata Panel. The tool, which works with Adobe Bridge, Lightroom, Photoshop and Premiere Pro, allows users to embed metadata using custom definitions. A recent update to the tool has added crucial features that now support the full range of metadata properties used by IPTC Photo Metadata Standard and Video Metadata Hub.

The IPTC Photo and Video Metadata Working Groups have created metadata templates for our standards, which are now included “out of the box” in the Custom Metadata Panel.

Installing the extension/plugin

In most cases this can be done using the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop application. We suggest using this extension with Adobe Bridge, as Bridge is made for managing images, including their metadata.

1. In Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Bridge: choose Window > Extensions > Custom Metadata
   In Photoshop: choose Windows > Extensions (Legacy) > Custom Metadata
   Note: Apple Silicon users, please run Photoshop in Rosetta 2 mode in order to use this extension.

2. First an empty panel is shown. After selecting an image, more details appear:

The blue area shows the tabs of the panel: each tab provides a specific set of metadata fields, such a set is called View by the Custom Metadata Panel. Currently only a Default view and a special one about Accessibility fields is active.

3. Next, open the Tab Management screen: first click on Preferences. After its details are shown, click on Tab Management.

4. A new window pops up showing currently active Views on Tabs. Click on Add tab.

5. A new window pops up:“Add a Tab View.” First fill the field Tab name with “IPTC Photo All”. Next, click on Create new below it.

6. The View Editor window pops up. Click on Load Example Views in the lower region:

7. A dropdown opens. Hover over IPTC, a second dropdown to the right opens, select “IPTC photo all” (by DOUBLE clicking on Windows).

8. Now the View Editor window is filled with many lines, each one stands for a shown IPTC field.

You must save this set of fields to a local JSON file:

• Click on Save. A panel of the operating system of your computer (Windows, macOS) opens.
• We suggest saving the file to a new folder. The file name is already preset to the name of the new tab.
• Save the JSON file to your new folder.

As a result, above the Save button the path to the JSON file is displayed:

9. Click on the Close button of the View Editor window. It should disappear.

10.Return to the Add a Tab View window: it should show the file name of the View JSON file.

Click on Save to add this new tab with the IPTC Photo All view. The window closes.

11. Return to the Tab Management window. It should show a new line for this new tab, including the full path to the View JSON file.

Click on Save to add this new tab to the set of Custom Metadata Panel tabs.

12. Now you must close Bridge and launch it again else the new tab and view is not recognised.

13. In the relaunched Bridge, activate the Custom Metadata Panel again: go to the menu. select Window > Extensiosn > Custom Metadata

14. You should see “IPTC Photo All” as new tab in the panel. Click on it.

15. You should see the first fields of the IPTC Photo Metadata Standard.

16. We suggest clicking the link at the very top of the view, it opens a web page with some guidance in handling a few specific field types of the Custom Metadata Panel.

If you discover any problems, please contact Brendan Quinn at mdirector@iptc.org or the IPTC Photo Metadata Working Group via iptc-photometadata@groups.io.