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alanterra
alanterra
Inspiring
June 8, 2021
Answered

Metadata in pdf

  • June 8, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 1769 views

I am sure that this is a stupid question, but I don't know the answer: How do you get the data in the "File Info…" dialog into an exported pdf?

 

I have populated the File Information dialog, but when I export a pdf, that data is not propagated to the pdf. For instance, the File Information has three names in "Author" but in the exported pdf the only name in Author is mine (presumbably taken from the "User" menu item). I am confirming the metadata in the pdf using exiftool, which I am pretty sure works correctly with pdfs.

 

Is it true that I have to put all the metadata into the resulting pdf by hand, or am I missing a step somewhere?

 

TIA

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer alanterra

Hi Barb

I figured it out. This is so far down in the weeds that you may want a bourbon in your hands before reading farther.

OK. Here goes.

InDesign allows you to input multiple values for "Author," which makes sense because many documents have more than one author. However, the brilliant people who designed IPTC metadata (which was designed for images, and adapted to pdfs) decided that there can be only one author. (Don't get me going on IPTC metadata).

So, if you set the metadata of an InDesign document to have Author "me; myself; and I"

export the document, and examine the resulting pdf using exiftool, you see the following:

InDesign_test % exiftool -author -creator document.pdf
Author                          : me
Creator                         : me, myself, and I

This is because the metadata Author is defined to be a single string, but Creator can be an array of strings. InDesign, perhaps unfortunately, puts only the first value in Author but all values into Creator. (It could put the entire list of author names as a single string if it wanted to).

Now we get to the next confusing part.

If you examine the document in Skim (my favorite pdf reader) you see this:

And if you examine the same pdf in Preview (Apple's pdf reader) you get this:

But if you examine the pdf in Acrobat DC (clearly your favorite pdf reader) you get this:

 

So, as you can see, the first two readers pull the author information from one metadata field, and the last from a different field (at least in this case).

 

Hence my confusion.

2 replies

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 11, 2021

Hi @alanterra:

 

Not a bourbon drinker, but I do like tequila. BRB.

 

Ok, with the tequila in hand—and for my online friends who are now shaking their heads, I'm kidding, it's 9:11 in the morning in my time zone—that is a really great explanation. And the reason why I only use Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Any other PDF reader gets to do its own thing. 

 

Thanks for the thoughful and thorough explanation! I'm sure it will help others down the road. 

 

~Barb 

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 9, 2021

Hi @alanterra:

 

How are you creating the PDF, exactly? Here is the result using File > Export > Adobe PDF (Print). InDesign on the left, the resulting in Acrobat on the right. The Additional Metadata button shows the missing title and copyright info. Are you closing the PDF between updates, and before re-exporting?

~Barb 

 

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    alanterra
    alanterraAuthorCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    June 11, 2021

    Hi Barb

    I figured it out. This is so far down in the weeds that you may want a bourbon in your hands before reading farther.

    OK. Here goes.

    InDesign allows you to input multiple values for "Author," which makes sense because many documents have more than one author. However, the brilliant people who designed IPTC metadata (which was designed for images, and adapted to pdfs) decided that there can be only one author. (Don't get me going on IPTC metadata).

    So, if you set the metadata of an InDesign document to have Author "me; myself; and I"

    export the document, and examine the resulting pdf using exiftool, you see the following:

    InDesign_test % exiftool -author -creator document.pdf
Author                          : me
Creator                         : me, myself, and I

    This is because the metadata Author is defined to be a single string, but Creator can be an array of strings. InDesign, perhaps unfortunately, puts only the first value in Author but all values into Creator. (It could put the entire list of author names as a single string if it wanted to).

    Now we get to the next confusing part.

    If you examine the document in Skim (my favorite pdf reader) you see this:

    And if you examine the same pdf in Preview (Apple's pdf reader) you get this:

    But if you examine the pdf in Acrobat DC (clearly your favorite pdf reader) you get this:

     

    So, as you can see, the first two readers pull the author information from one metadata field, and the last from a different field (at least in this case).

     

    Hence my confusion.

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