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simonbrattphotography
Inspiring
November 11, 2018
Answered

XMP files

  • November 11, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 4713 views

Hi

I am fairly new to lightroom, but a long time photoshop user.

Three questions that are probably really simple, but i cant find the answer.

1. XMP files, ( I know what they are... now). My LR has the default settings of writing XMP files. I know the pros and cons of not having them but if you dont create them are you soley reliant on having LR to be able to see yor edited CR2 file, and therefore are you more prone to losing all the edits for a CR2 file if you somehow lose the LR catalog.

I 'feel' having the XMP files always created, and then back up my files everytime i do a file backup, that im more likely to not lose my edits.

2. My CR2 icon files in Finder dont preview "show" the amendments (XMP data), is there a way for the previews to automatically reflect the CR2 edits (XMP data)?

3. Are there other programes that can read (and apply) the XMP data to the CR2 files? or are we, again, soley reliant on adobe to be able to apply the XMP edits in the future? I just wonder if I (we) move away from Adobe in the future, are some of our older CR2 files only going to be viewable as the native file, ie without the (XMP) edits?

thanks for the help

Simon

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer john beardsworth

    Great, useful responses, learning lots, thanks.

    Couple of points.

    My "Metadata - Update DNG Preview & Metadata" is greyed out, when  and how can you use that setting

    Taking everything else thats been said into account, I feel now im on the 'adobe' LR track, it sort of makes you feel you are on it for life. It pretty much locks you in to using it once your committed to using it. Giving it up later on is going to be a whole lotta pain.

    Even DNG files dont hold all the edit data (although i expect in reality, the edit in the DNG file would be enough for most people in the event of a necessity move fro adobe)

    Also someone said, "i backup my catalog everytime i exit LR" which is fine until your laptop, desktop dies. The you are reliant on the last seperate you did. LR seems to keep a historical number of backups on exit, so when i backup onto a seperate portable HD, it take all of those historical backups, probably useful incase one of those is duff?

    One point i dont think has been answered (unless i missed it) is the preview icon of the CR2 file. Can the icon preview (IMG001.CR2) on the mac Finder be visually updated? otherwise it looks like the original CR2 (which i guess it really is).


    simonb9342883  wrote

    Taking everything else thats been said into account, I feel now im on the 'adobe' LR track, it sort of makes you feel you are on it for life. It pretty much locks you in to using it once your committed to using it. Giving it up later on is going to be a whole lotta pain.

    Also someone said, "i backup my catalog everytime i exit LR" which is fine until your laptop, desktop dies. The you are reliant on the last seperate you did. LR seems to keep a historical number of backups on exit, so when i backup onto a seperate portable HD, it take all of those historical backups, probably useful incase one of those is duff?

    One point i dont think has been answered (unless i missed it) is the preview icon of the CR2 file. Can the icon preview (IMG001.CR2) on the mac Finder be visually updated? otherwise it looks like the original CR2 (which i guess it really is).

    I don't think that's true. Or at least as far as LR Classic is concerned, Adobe are scrupulous about letting you leave with your photos and the work you've done on them. Even if you no longer subscribe, LR still works - just Develop and Map are disabled. Because LR leaves images in their folders and writes adjustments and IPTC metadata in a standard format, you can move to other applications if you decide to end the link to Adobe. Capture One can read adjustments and IPTC from LR's XMP, for example, and other apps seem to follow that pattern. But turn it around and try to get your work out of Adobe's competitors - no other app reads work done in C1, while getting your adjustments out of Apple's Aperture was a pain.

    Do keep a backup of the catalogue, and keep it separately from the computer. That might be on an external drive or even in the cloud.

    You can't change the icon in Finder.

    4 replies

    JP Hess
    JP Hess
    Inspiring
    November 11, 2018

    I'm probably one who is more nontraditional than most. I have been using Lightroom for years, and is always relied on the catalog to store my editing and have not saved XMP files. I have backed up my catalog on a weekly basis. Over the years I have only found it necessary to restore a backup catalog one time. There are those who probably feel that I am walking on the edge and flirting with disaster, but my workflow has served me well for a long time.

      JohanElzenga
      Community Expert
      JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 11, 2018

      JimHess  wrote

      I'm probably one who is more nontraditional than most. I have been using Lightroom for years, and is always relied on the catalog to store my editing and have not saved XMP files. I have backed up my catalog on a weekly basis. Over the years I have only found it necessary to restore a backup catalog one time. There are those who probably feel that I am walking on the edge and flirting with disaster, but my workflow has served me well for a long time.

      Same here. Using XMP as backup is not very effective. XMP sidecar files are also not intended as backup in the first place. You will lose quite a few things that aren't stored in XMP sidecar files, such as virtual copies, stacks, collection memberships, edit history and publishing services. Backup your catalog regularly. I backup my catalog on quit if I made changes during that session.

      -- Johan W. Elzenga
        kentdesign
        Community Expert
        kentdesignCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        November 11, 2018

        I for one, really like converting my original camera files to .DNG. The DNG is like a container that incorporates all the changes into one box. And now other software can read DNG so your edits are there when you need them.

        J
        Community Expert
        Jao vdLCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        November 11, 2018

        Now if something really catastrophic were to happen to Adobe that puts them out of business (again extremely unlikely), my guess is that somebody would figure out how to translate the xmp settings edits to other software and approximate the rendering. The settings you see in the xmp file are not hard to understand.

        JohanElzenga
        Community Expert
        JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        November 11, 2018

        Edits in the XMP file can only be fully read by Adobe software. There are a few third party apps that can read part of it, but none of them read all edits. Other metadata like keywords are universal, and can be read by many applications.

        -- Johan W. Elzenga
        J
        Community Expert
        Jao vdLCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        November 11, 2018

        1. Yes, the xmp files do provide an extra layer of security to preserve your edits in case of a catastrophe. It is unlikely that you need it but can be good. Also note that it can slow down Lightroom considerably if you have this enabled.

        2. No not if you stick with the CR2 files. It is possible if you use dng files instead of CR2. You can update the preview in dng files from Lightroom and finder will pick the updated previews up for the icon.

        3. No just Lightroom and ACR. Nothing else understands the edits from Lightroom. In the case that Adobe goes bankrupt (not very likely as they are highly profitable) and your software stops working completely, you won't be able to access your edits. The only insurance against that is to export 16-bit prophotoRGB tiffs from every file.

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