P: Content Credentials-signed images will create an XMP file for JPEG images

[stunning_fashion5EDE]

I recently come across the following Issue:

I have a bunch of jpg files I have post-processed in Photoshop that I want to add geo locations to using the Lightroom Classic map module. After adding the locations I mark all images and do right click - metadata - save metadata to file. For some jpg files the data is written into the jpg file (desired behavior and how I know it from LR Classic for the past 6 years), while for others LR creates a seperate xml file (same location same name as the jpg) containing all metadata including the location.

Since this is a recent thing for me I suspected LR 14 to be the issue so I downgraded back to 13 but the issue persists.

I already cleared out my complete LR catalog and only importet a hand full of jpg files to test but the issues persists.

The issue can be reproduced, it is always the same jpgs causing the issue.

When I open one of the not functioning jpg files in Photoshop and save it again in a new location the issue persists. When I open it, create a new document of the same dimensions, mark all in the original, copy across to the new document and then save the new document as jpg I can then add gps locations to the new jpg in LR as expected.

I can also copy the gps data from a working jpg to one of the ones LR refuses to add gps data to using exiftools so the jpg file does not seem to be inherently broken in some way.

There is no different between the jpg files LR can write to and the ones where it insists on writing a xml file. They were taken using the same camera and have gone through the same workflow.

Any help would be appreciated since as of right now I am resorting to using a dummy image I assign the desired location to in LR and then use command line + exiftools to copy the gps tag across to the non functioning jpg which is extremely cumbersome.

[stunning_fashion5EDE]

After posting I have tested this on a completely different Laptop and again the issue persistes for the same jpg files.

I have attached two sample files:.

working.jpg - LR Classic writes the metadata into the file as expected

not_working.job - LR Classic creates a seperate not_working.xml and writes the metadata into that

[JohanElzenga]

Most likely the image is locked, so Lightroom can't write to it.

[stunning_fashion5EDE]

Thanks for your reply, could you elaborate on how to unlock a file? I checked and I found no way to lock or unluck a file anywhere. Under file properties in Windows the files are not marked as read-only.

[JohanElzenga]

I'm a Mac user, so I can't tell you how to check this in Windows. I'm sure Google can tell you. Do check if the problem images are in the same folder, because then it is also possible that the folder is read-only.

[stunning_fashion5EDE]

They are all in the same folder. I have googled already and besides permissions which are identical for all images there seems to be nothing. Did you by any chance try to download the two sample images I have attached to my first reply and checked if you can write metadata into both of them? Thank you for your help.

[JohanElzenga]

No, I did not download them, because I'm not sure that a file that is locked on your computer will still be locked when uploaded and downloaded. Anyway, I assume the answer is as given by John Ellis, as his answer is marked as correct.

[John R Ellis · Accepted solution]

It appears this behavior is caused by the addition of Content Credentials to the JPEG, which are added to the JUMBF metadata section.

In the past, when LR didn't know how to update an industry-standard file format, LR would write a .xmp sidecar instead. For example, when LR first added support for HEIC, it wrote .xmp sidecars; a later version of LR wrote directly into the HEIC file. Similarly, LR still creates .xmp sidecars for AVIFs, even though that format supports updatable metadata. (Actually, when LR first added support for AVIF, it would corrupt the files if you did Save Metadata To File, so instead of fixing the bug Adobe changed LR to write .xmp sidecars instead.)

So perhaps LR doesn't yet understand how to update files containing JUMBF sections, and the developers decided to expediently create .xmp sidecars instead?

To reproduce this behavior in LR 14.0.1 / Mac OS 14.6.1

1. Import the attached file working.jpg.

2. Observe that Metadata > Save Metadata To File writes to the file directly.

3. Export working.jpg back into the catalog with these Export options:

4. Select the exported/imported working-2.jpg and do Metadata > Save Metadata To File. Observe that a .xmp sidecar has been created for it.

[John R Ellis]

@Rikk Flohr: Photography, LR 14.0.1 creates .xmp sidecars for JPEGs with content credentials. Please verify this is as-designed or submit a bug, thanks.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

As-designed

In case of already signed JPEGs, metadata and develop settings are written to sidecar XMPS so as not to invalidate the CAI signature.

[John R Ellis]

@Rikk Flohr: Photography: "In case of already signed JPEGs, metadata and develop settings are written to sidecar XMPS so as not to invalidate the CAI signature."

Thanks, makes sense. I think this will turn into a relatively frequent question as content credentials start being used more.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

I've converted this thread to be the Primary Post for this topic. 

[stunning_fashion5EDE]

Thanks, that's it! As to why it only happens to some photos and not to others, it seems like using generative fill for the object remove tool in Photoshop will create the JUMBF section.

[John R Ellis]

@stunning_fashion5EDE: "As to why it only happens to some photos and not to others, it seems like using generative fill for the object remove tool in Photoshop will create the JUMBF section."

Looking at the metadata of not-working.jpg, it looks like you've enabled content credentials in Photoshop, which is why there is a JUMBF section in that file.  If you disable content credentials in Photoshop, will using generative fill on the file still cause your LR to write .xmp sidecars?

[stunning_fashion5EDE]

This is from an Adobe website: Adobe automatically applies Content Credentials to assets generated with Adobe Firefly features, such as Generative Fill in Photoshop. To learn more, check out Content Credentials for assets generated with Adobe Firefly.

To me this reads like I cannot disable content credentials when I used Generative Fill. I have definitely never actively enabled content credentials or selected anything to that effect when saving my images as jpg.

[John R Ellis]

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Thanks, that's interesting. Reading that article, which is a little ambiguous to me, and doing some experimentation shows that PS automatically adds credentials to a saved JPEG when you apply Generative AI Remove, and you can't turn that off (though it's easy to use a third-party tool to remove them later). 

Whereas LR only adds credentials if you explicitly enable them in Export, regardless of whether you've applied Generative AI Remove.

Here are my Photoshop settings used when I did the testing:

[stunning_fashion5EDE]

To anybody interested in how to remove them using third-party tools.

download exiftool

open a command line inside the downloaded folder where exiftool.exe is located

run the following command: exiftool.exe -jumbf:all= "<path to photo>"

alternatively to apply to all photos inside a folder: exiftool.exe -r -jumbf:all= "<path to folder containing photos>"