How to remove metadata from sidecar jpg and/or export files

[Bruce_]

I'm importing from my Olympus camera with the jpg as a sidecar file to the ORF file. I have my metadata import default set to delete the caption field. If not, it will contain OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA. In Lightroom, this field is blank, as are the Title and Subject field. However, when I export the file, OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA reappears in the Title and Subject fields. I'm guessing the information is being retrieved from the sidecar JPG file, which doesn't seem to have this metadata removed.

I can stop this appearing in my exports by choosing to not include any metadata, but I do want to include some other fields. How can I stop Lightroom exporting this metadata (or, alternatively, how can I easily remove it from the JPG sidecar files)

[john beardsworth]

Maybe your best solution is to go into the camera's options. I don't know about Olympus, but generally the comment field or copyright can be set.

Does this also happen if you shoot raw only? And when you say "when I export the file, OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA reappears in the Title and Subject fields", in which software does it reappear, where do you see this?

[Bruce_]

Unfortunately, this is not an option on Olympus cameras (mine is an OMD-EM10-II). I'm shooting Raw+jpg. Haven't tried shooting just raw, but I'm guessing it would be fine in this situation (but I want to keep the jpg as well).

I can see this in Windows Explorer file properties for the jpg file exported from lightroom. (And this becomes the visible caption when I upload to Google photos - which is where I first noticed it).

[john beardsworth]

Just try with a raw file. I suspect the problem is also there because in general LR extracts info from a JPEG sidecar upon import, but would not need to refer to it again when you do the export.

Also, trying re-importing the exported file, with the metadata presets disabled. What do title and caption look like?

It might be necessary to share a test raw+jpeg that we can test.

[Jim Wilde]

I think this is a bug. I've just tested with some of my old Olympus ORF files, without sidecar Jpegs, and I get the same result if I only clear the Caption field and leave it blank. If I Ctrl+S to write the metadata back to the file (i.e. creating an XMP sidecar file) I still get the same result on export.

However, if I enter my own data into the Caption field (which I always do, which is why I've never noticed this issue before) then the resulting export will contain my caption, not the Olympus caption (even without doing a Ctrl+S). So I think it's a bug that Lightroom ignores the blanked caption field in Metadata panel on export, and instead uses the caption data which the camera has stored in the ORF file (and also ignores the blank field in the adjacent XMP sidecar file).

As to how to prevent it, it seems that the only way would be by including your own caption. 

[john beardsworth]

Thanks Jim.

[DdeGannes]

My thoughts on this are Lightroom never alters info contained in a raw file.

I am not sure what would happen if you import as DNG.

Maybe Lr is just not displaying that info in the Library module.

The option to alter what metadata is exported is available in the export dialog.

If you retain the original raw file, I would expect all the info from the camera to be retained.

[Bruce_]

Thanks everyone for having a look. I think what is happening is that Lightroom is (correctly) not importing the caption title and subject fields into the database. But when it is exporting it is also retrieving info from the files (either the raw or jpg sidecar).

So I think the problem is in the export module. Surely it should be just exporting what is in the database. For now, I will just use the export option to not include any metadata. But I would prefer to also include exposure information etc.

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

It is indeed a bug that's been present since at least LR 3.  See this bug report:

https://feedback.photoshop.com/conversations/lightroom-classic/lightroom-classic-cant-clear-caption-... 

Please add your constructive opinion to the bug report, and be sure to click Like and Follow at the bottom of the first post. That will make it a little more likely that Adobe will prioritize a fix, and you'll be notified when the bug's status changes. Product developers rarely participate in this forum and won't see your feedback.

The bug will occur regardless of whether you import the JPEG along with the raw. Olympus stores "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" in the EXIF:ImageDescription field of the raw. When you export from LR a raw in which you've cleared the caption, LR will use the EXIF:ImageDescription field from the raw rather than the cleared field in the catalog.

A similar bug occurs with JPEGs, but that is easily worked around by doing Metadata > Save Metadata To File before doing the export. Unfortunately, that workaround doesn't work for raws.

The only known workaround is to use the free Exiftool utility to clear the caption from the raw before you import it:

exiftool -exif:imagedescription= file.orf 

Also, reviewing sample images from dpreview.com, it appears that in the last year or two or three, Olympus has finally stopped adding "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" to the captions!  And we think Adobe is slow to respond?  Olympus users have been complaining about this since the mid-2000s.