P: Save Custom Metadata in XMP

The other benefit is that custom metadata stored in the XMP would be available outside of the LR Catalog that it was created in.

To support recovery of this data from XMPs in the event of a trashed catalog, the FR will need to be fully implemented in Import as well. This has an additional benefit in that the photo with XMP can be imported to a different LR Catalog which has the appropriate custom metadata without losing the custom data.

This would also have the potential of making the custom metadata available to programs other than LR. Conceivably, one could also create custom metadata fields in LR to match custom XMP data created by other programs.

Thanks TK. Well, its just like any other data that may or may not be stored in XMP: If all goes well, its in the catalog, and the xmp version is redundant. The value kicks in when all does *NOT* go well, which anybody whose been following these forums knows can happen if you're not lucky. For example, some people won't use virtual copies for anything critical, because virtual copy settings are not stored in XMP, so they feel less confident in the security of virtual copy settings versus "real copy" settings. You lost orientations because they weren't stored in XMP and you had a catalog problem. When one's pants don't stay up by themselves, people often like having a belt in case their suspenders break... If people are using custom metadata for critical data, they'd like to know its secure in xmp as well as having a catalog backup. I guess xmp was invented as an intermediate data format, so different software had a common means for data sharing (e.g. Ps/ACR & Lr), but people have come to think of it as a secondary backup as well. And, in the special case of custom (plugin) metadata, users feel even less secure, since its not always clear what happens when the plugin is uninstalled or catalogs converted... - the answer is: custom (plugin) metadata is never discarded, even if plugin is uninstalled, for better or for worse, but most users aren't sure about that.

I fully support every motion to export every bit of data in the catalogue to external locations. Whether it is about edit histories, flags etc., or custom metadata; if the user wants it, it should be saveable externally.

I also support every motion that makes it easier for third-party to developers to extend Lightroom in a way that makes the extensions appear as if they had been native features from the beginning.

Rob, perhaps you can strengthen this FR by explaining what you would do with the new feature, or what the problems are if it continues to be absent.