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3dit0r1
Known Participant
May 20, 2021
Question

"The metadata for this photo has been changed by another application"... but it hasn't...

  • May 20, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 3312 views

Seeing the above metadata external change/conflict message on a great number of my photos. However, I'm hesitating about which option to choose (metadata from file/overwrite with LR settings) as none of those photos have been through any other applications. So I'm a little concerned there's been possible corruption within my LR catalog - is this possible?

 

Some background:

- I just clean installed MacOS (Big Sur 11.3.1) after a repair, and replacing the SSD.

- LR Classic is a new, clean installation also, latest version.

- Prior to replacing the SSD, the LR Catalog was backed up to an external HDD. This was then copied over to the internal SSD yesterday after installing LRC.

- The raw files themselves, though, were always on an external HDD. They still are. So the LR Catalog was reading from this HDD when these metadata conflict messages occurred.

- The raw files haven't been used with another program, copied, moved, etc. The folder/file structure is the same as it always was, and hasn't been moved around externally either.

- There doesn't seem to be any discernable pattern in which files now have this warning, and those which don't (e.g. developed/not developed, some of a particular shoot but not others, all cameras affected/not affected, no particular month/year/day, etc. etc.)

- I haven't yet re-installed any 3rd party presets. However, having checked through the develop settings of these files, not many had any presets applied, although a few did, so I don't see a correlation there either.

 

Would greatly appreciate thoughts/guidance from any experts on this, before doing anything which might mess things up.

 

Thanks in advance.

2 replies

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
May 20, 2021

Seeing the above metadata external change/conflict message on a great number of my photos. However, I'm hesitating about which option to choose (metadata from file/overwrite with LR settings) as none of those photos have been through any other applications. So I'm a little concerned there's been possible corruption within my LR catalog - is this possible?

 

If you are convinced no other application has touched your metadata, then select overwrite with LR settings. There are other explanations than possible corruption of the catalog ... but, you do have recent backups of your catalog file, don't you?

3
3dit0r1Author
Known Participant
May 20, 2021

Nothing apart from LR has had access to those raw files. Certainly no other image editing software has.

 

I used the raw files on my PC while the MacBook was being repaired (just before I replaced the SSD). This was running the latest LRC, with a copy of the same Catalog. However, I didn't use a copy of that PC catalog when I reinstalled to the Mac SSD, just the one I had copied to the PC beforehand.

 

I don't recall messing around with any metadata on the PC, though, just finding a few images - I'm not sure under what circumstances LR changes metadata...?

 

In fact, if this is the issue, that LR has changed metadata on raw files, I've been working all these years under a false assumption - my understanding was that LR didn't do anything to the raw files or write anything to them, I thought they were always left as they came out of the camera, and any and all changes were either stored in LR, or in XMP sidecars, if that were selected in options. If this isn't the case, and LR does write information to raw files, I would have been a lot more careful before opening up on another PC re: making sure the catalog was the latest version, etc.

 

I have two backups, yes, but they are recent copies of the masters on this particular disk, so if anything were corrupted at the file level, they would likely have this issue as well, I guess?

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
May 20, 2021

LrC does not change the image portion of your original files. NEVER, ain't going to happen.

 

LrC does not, by default, update XMP data in your original files or sidecar files. LrC updates the metadata in the XMP sidecar files (or if you have JPG or TIF, in the XMP portion of the original files) when you tell it to do so. You can tell it to update the XMP by either selecting photos and then menu command Metadata->Save Metadata to File, OR there is an option to do this automatically.

 

I think the most likely cause of your problems is that Lightroom is not updating the metadata in the files, even though you have performed an edit on the photo. You need to either make sure you use the menu command as needed, or turn on the option to update the metadata automatically. (Maybe this option has been turned off accidentally?)

 

I think it is much less likely that the catalog is corrupted, as usually corrupted catalogs will not open.

    cmgap
    Community Expert
    cmgapCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 20, 2021

    Test one image by selecting Metadata with file and if the information is as you expect use that setting on the rest. In 9 times out of 10 I choose Metadata with file as a rule I dont want to change that information. As always there are exceptions to the rule but test it yourself to see if that is the best way to go with your images.

      3
      3dit0r1Author
      Known Participant
      May 20, 2021
      quote

      Test one image by selecting Metadata with file and if the information is as you expect use that setting on the rest. In 9 times out of 10 I choose Metadata with file as a rule I dont want to change that information. As always there are exceptions to the rule but test it yourself to see if that is the best way to go with your images.


      By @cmgap

       

      Thanks, do you mean overwrite LR catalog data with the data on the files?

       

      In terms of the information being as I expect, to be honest, I'm not sure what I'm looking for, or expecting to see? Also, I don't know whether what I'm seeing currently is what's stored in LR or on the file?

       

      Sorry, quite an advanced user in terms of image editing, but my catalog skills aren't as well developed, and this is a completely new one on me.

      cmgap
      Community Expert
      cmgapCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 21, 2021

      No I didn't mean to overwrite with Lightroom data - I meant choose metadata from file. Read this Adobe article for more information on xmp side car files: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/metadata-basics-actions.html

       

      If your Lightroom catalog file is ever corrupted, deleted or lost in a hard drive crash, then all the edits that you’ve done to your RAW files, selections, star ratings, will not exist anywhere else. Having all of your data in your XMP sidecar files will save you a ton of work if you need to rebuild a catalog or start over. I always write changes to XMP sidecar files. The files are a tiny insurance policy that uses minimal storage space. You can also convert your images to DNG files and that will encapsulate all of your edits. You should always keep a few current backups of your catalog on an external disk.

       

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