P: Add an option to always export complete keyword hierarchy

I use a large keyword controlled vocabulary that I have organized by creating top level terms that have the "Include on Export" unchecked. When exporting or publishing for external use this works as expected. These top level terms are removed from the images.

The problem occurs if I want to create and save some special derivative files and keep them in my catalog by checking the "Add to This Catalog" option in the "Export Location" and "Write Keywords as Lightroom Hierarchy" in the Metadata panel.

The result is that the derivative is created and automatically imported back into my catalog just as I intended. However, the keyword hierarchy is now completely missing and the bare keywords are added into the Keyword list as individual terms.

When the intent is to round trip the image back into the catalog the original keyword hierarchy should be kept completely intact.

This is also the case if I want to use export to create a derivative file to be processed by an external application and eventually imported back into Lightroom.

-louie

See this topic for an extended discussion of the issue: https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-export-destroys-keyword-hierarchy-w.... I don't want to merge the two topics, because merging will hide all of the useful replies in the merged topic.

Which Adobe product are you using?
Which version?

I have the same problem. Adobe, help!!!!

I am using Lightroom 5.6 to export photos for my website. I hope Adobe is listening to this discussion. This is a bug that has not been fixed for over 3 years.

I have a carefully created hierarchy of keyword and every time I export an image for my website it corrupts my hierarchy. This is very frustrating.

So Adobe please a feature to Lightroom 6 that will take care of this Bug!

Hi Alan,

This is a good idea but it doesn't always work for a couple of reasons. First in the case of HDR Efex Pro the export dialog does not give you access to that option.

Second are words that have multiple distinct meanings. For example the word plant can mean the biological thing or can refer to an industrial plant. In this case the hierarchies for each are completely different. In this case I've seen Lightroom punt and simply add a single bare keyword because it couldn't tell which one to use.

-louie

why haven't I thought of that myself?! I'll give it a try first thing in the morning. The time it'll save is worth the time to tidy up my keyword list

While I agree that it would be great if Lightroom did export hierarchical keywords correctly (this still has not been addressed in LR 4.2), I wonder why people don't just export with the hierarchical keyword option turned off.

What I find is that when the exported photos are added back to the library, LR finds the keyword in the hierarchy, and matches it. This has the added benefit that if you export and another user imports it who has the same keyword, but a different hierarchy, the photo matches itself to that user's hierarchy.

The downside is that you cannot have two keywords with the same name at different places in the hierarchy, but it would seem a bad idea to have duplicate keywords for lots of reasons.

This issue continues to effect me on a regular basis. I shoot a fair number of HDR sets that I run through HDR Efex Pro. I have spent dozens of hours creating a keyword hierarchy that suits my needs but every time I create a new HDR image my keyword structure is messed up.

The ability to have a sophisticated keyword structure is wonderful. The ability to mask that from the outside world is also wonderful. However, there are multiple valid workflows where it is desirable and even necessary to keep all the information without prejudice. To arbitrarily declare one method as the only "valid" method is quite restrictive.

If fact in this case in particular I would go so far a s to say it goes counter to one of the express intents of export in the first place. That is the ability to export derivatives and re-import them back into the catalog. By insisting on the "mandatory" removal of elements of the keyword hierarchy is effectively corrupting the users catalog.

I simply cannot believe that it can be all that difficult to update the export function to make this behavior optional and I sincerely hope that someday soon it will appear as part of a serious attempt to enhance general keywording capabilities in Lightroom.

-louie