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bryn_f
Known Participant
December 9, 2011
Open for Voting

P: Before after comparison of metadata conflicts

  • December 9, 2011
  • 29 replies
  • 1664 views

It['d be great to be able to use the before after split screen mode to look at metadata conflicts visually. You could see which version of the metadata is the one to keep. Although you still need to see differences like keywords and so on. I like rob cole's SQLLiteroom's ability to find the files with metadata conflicts, but now I need to figure out which one to keep. Even if it wasn't a visual comparison, that'd be ok. I just feel like I'm blind choosing between the catalog and the xmp file that are out of sync.

    29 replies

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    R
    Russell Cardwell
    Participating Frequently
    July 1, 2019
    Another thing I have started doing recently:

    Since I automatically save metadata as external files, I have started using ‘Show in Finder’ to open the folder at the image location. There, I can make a copy of the XMP file. Then when I click the button to update the settings, I know that I can restore the original by renaming the XMP file.

    Not an elegant solution by any stretch. But until Adobe decides to fix this, we’re stuck with such workarounds.
    rpengale
    rpengale
    Participating Frequently
    July 1, 2019
    Adobe just emailed an offer to "Learn from the experts on how to create amazing customer experiences." Maybe we'll get lucky and their programmers will sign up for the conference.
    hennell
    hennell
    Participant
    July 1, 2019
    Good to know in 8 years this remains unsolved.

    Obviously Lightroom can see there is a conflict, so why can't it display it? Even a basic listing of the fields it can see conflicting would be a million times better than the random guessing we have now...

    In Library:
    Title: "Summer in the pool"
    In File:
    Title "Summer in the pool!"


    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    June 6, 2019



    I'm glad you went to the trouble to write this one up. It doesn't sound like an easy "fix," but compared to destroying our metadata, it seems to me to be a worthwhile effort for Adobe to make. If they only let us see what we'd changed, where and when, it could be enough much of the time, but in cases like yours, maybe better to go all the way to letting us compare visually if that's reasonably possible.

    R
    Russell Cardwell
    Participating Frequently
    June 6, 2019


    I am constantly confronted with the little exclamation point icon that tells me that metadata has been changed. (Theoretically by another application, but usually no other application has been involved. Lightroom has simply lost track.) 

    Unfortunately, all the choices are blind.


    • Blindly overwrite the metadata with different metadata Lightroom has found on the disk.
    • Blindly overwrite the metadata on the disk with different metadata lightroom has found.
    • Or ignore this notice and hope it goes away.
    There is no way to know what metadata has been changed. Is it EXIF data or is it develop settings? Which set of data is newest? There's no way to know. 

    Long ago, I learned the hard way not to click the button. I ignore it unless I absolutely need to resolve it. At that point the only way to resolve it is to create a virtual copy, update the original, and compare.

    Why not add a preview feature, or better a way to compare the two versions side by side? It would save a lot of time.
      MerlinDE
      MerlinDE
      Inspiring
      April 13, 2018


      Whenever Lightroom detects any kind of conflict between it's catalogue and a XMP sidecar file, it asks me how to handle that conflict. Problem is, I don't get any detailed information on the conflict like editing timestamps or actual differences in settings.

      We do need 
      1. much better conflict detection (often times LR detects conflicts that don't exist)
      2. overview on changes between the two versions
      3. preview of image rendered with the different settings

      This has been discussed for years now:
      Lightroom: Before after comparison of metadata conflicts

      Please fix this!
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMember
      Inspiring
      November 9, 2017
      Yes and I would like a sensible resolution choice. Right now we have:
      - Overwrite original (terrible terrible terrible)
      - Reload from source (looses all keywords, ratings, cropping, development, etc)

      We really need a sync the metadata from file but keep Lightroom settings.
      B
      bryn_fAuthor
      Known Participant
      March 1, 2017
      Since Rob's website is gone, we're back to "huh, there's a metadata conflict. I have no idea what to do"
      areohbee
      areohbee
      Legend
      December 10, 2011
      @17369164-12-10 (v4.0), ChangeManager has a feature that presents a dialog box with a list of all develop setting and metadata differences between what's in the catalog, and what's in xmp on disk. I have not thought of a way to include visual comparison, yet.
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