Is it possible to use XMP files with DNG?

[dwterry]

I have used XMP files since the very beginning of Lightroom. It's a handy way of having an "instant backup" of changes just in case something ever happens to my Lightroom Catalog.  I love the safety net that XMP files give me.

A year and a half ago (after 15 years with Canon) I switched to the Sony a7iii.  The biggest downside to that is that Sony's ARW files are 47mb each.  But if I use the Adobe DNG Converter, I can losslessly compress them down to just 27mb each.  As I shoot thousands upon thousands of images each month, that 20mb per image savings is huge.  Especially when you take into account backups.  

However, this is one big thing I hate about using DNG files.  And that is that every time I make a change in Lightroom (change a star rating, adjust exposure, crop, etc) that 27mb DNG file needs to be backed up.  AGAIN.  Because unlike my Canon raw files, with XMP sidecar files, the DNG files are written back to whenever I make any changes.  

Is there any way to change Lightroom to write to a tiny XMP file every time I make a change, rather than modifying my 27mb DNG files?  I would much rather backup and rebackup tiny little XMP files.  It makes no sense to have to backup an entire 27mb file just because a few bytes inside of it have changed.  And it costs me money (I have to pay extra to my Internet provider as I go over their imposed limits). 

So please ... is there any way to use XMP files with DNG?  And if not, can you please add this to the wishlist?  My hard drives and my internet bills will thank you.

[TheDigitalDog]

Yes indeed, lots of software companies can't follow instructions. If you find one, let em know. 

[TheDigitalDog]

"And sidecars for JPEGs and TIFs and PSDs and any other publicly-documented formats that have no need of sidecars?"

I could argue there's no need. As we both know, the idea behind sidecars was because Adobe wouldn't write the XMP into a proprietary raw for good reason. I'd far prefer that useful data be part of the container. I understand those that have 'issues' with small XMP changes forcing a backup of the entire document. But when data changes, I think it should be backed up no matter how small. I can open a Word document that could be as large as some raw images and change one word. The entire document would be flagged and udpated. I don't see that as an issue no matter the kind of doc. 

[TheDigitalDog]

Sidecar's can now be created with DNG with ACR (12.3) because the old ACR database is gone. Will LR get such a 'feature'? 

[ukbrown1]

I just have this basic theory, never store more inforation that you have to and cerainly do not replicate it as incosistencies can occur between two version of say photo edits, whihc one is right.