Photoshop overwriting EXIF Property "Subject" and "Comments" fields

[DenisuPhotos]

In Photoshop can you change settings so that when you save an edited file it doesn't erase the information in the EXIF Property "Subject" and "Comments" fields?

This is when saving TIFF to a different filename or saving as JPEG from TIFF in particular

[Stephen Marsh]

@DenisuPhotos 

The Save/Save As/Save a Copy commands preserve all metadata. So saving TIFF as TIFF or JPEG with a different name using these commands shouldn't remove any metadata.

What exact version and build of Photoshop are you running and on which Windows OS version?

Export > Export As and Export > Save for Web (Legacy) have options to include/exclude metadata, so it depends on the method and options used.

[DenisuPhotos]

Um, I don't think I would have asked the question if Photoshop did preserve all the EXIF Metadata!

The question was specifically about the "Subject" and "Comments" fields.

See attached before and after screen shots saving from TIFF to JPEG, but it's the same for any "Save As": the "Subject" field gets overwritten with the same data as the "Title" field and the "Comments" field data is deleted. The "Programme Name" field is also overwritten, in this case the scanner details with Adobe Photoshop, but that doesn't matter.

Adobe Photoshop Version: 26.2.0 20241207.r.140 bc85906 x64  (there is an update pending)

I'm running Windows 10 Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045.5440) which is up-to-date. I can't run Windows 11 on this machine.

[Stephen Marsh]

Welcome to the wonderful world of cross-platform and cross-application metadata!

It wasn't clear that you were referring to Windows-specific metadata display, I assumed that you were referring to what you see in Adobe apps, not in Windows File Explorer file properties.

Both of these MS Windows specific metadata entries for "Subject" and "Comments" that you mention are discussed in the first two topics linked below.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge-discussions/metadate-field-name-mismatch/m-p/15053249

https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge-discussions/wondering-where-quot-comments-quot-section-in-deta...

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/metadata-bug/td-p/13392689

https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=10108.0

I'll reply in more detail on these specific metadata entries when I have more time.

[Stephen Marsh]

OK, I have tested Save As to JPEG from Photoshop, with a file that already had Windows "XP" metadata embedded.  Windows "Subject" and "Comments" are intact, they were not overwritten or removed. I visually checked in Windows 10 file properties and also using ExifTool to inspect the metadata and [IFD0] XPComment and [IFD0] XPSubject are OK.

I also tested adding metadata in Adobe Bridge to the unrelated IPTC Title field and the  Windows "XP" metadata was retained for both Subject and Comments.

Windows "Comments" and "Subject" are only written to their proprietary [IFD0] XP entries and are not written into standard metadata entries.

____________

On a related note. if one puts an entry into the Title field in Windows 10 file properties, it is written to the following metadata entries:

[IFD0] XPTitle

[IFD0] ImageDescription

[XMP-dc] Title

[XMP-dc] Description

[IPTC] Caption-Abstract

This will appear in the IPTC Description field in Adobe software, which can't read/write to the XPTitle field.

If one then edits the IPTC Description in Adobe software, the edit doesn't appear in the XPTitle when viewing in Windows file properties.

So there is now a disconnect!

So it is usually a good idea to avoid platform-specific (whether Win or Mac) non-standard metadata fields where possible and only use open/cross-platform metadata for Adobe products. The main thing to take away from this is that if one is interested in cross-application/cross-platfrom photographic-related metadata, proprietary operating system metadata should be avoided. Don't add metadata in Windows File Properties, add it using Adobe software.