.xmp file

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Posted By
frankg
Jan 16, 2006
Views
193
Replies
5
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Closed
CS2 CameraRaw

When saving RAW files as Tif a separate xmp file is saved. I understand that this is a Metadata file but why is it a separate file ?

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frankg
Jan 16, 2006
ok dont worry – found the ‘sidecar’ story in the Help

"frankg" wrote in message
CS2 CameraRaw

When saving RAW files as Tif a separate xmp file is saved. I understand that this is a Metadata file but why is it a separate file ?
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BP
Barry Pearson
Jan 16, 2006
frankg wrote:
CS2 CameraRaw

When saving RAW files as Tif a separate xmp file is saved. I understand that this is a Metadata file but why is it a separate file ?

I think what you are seeing is the XMP sidecar file that holds the edits and settings of the raw conversion in ACR 3.x. I suspect it is not actually to do with the TIFF file. If you look inside it, (it is a structured text file that you can view with notepad, Word, etc), you will probably see things that relate to the sliders you set in ACR. For example, if you crop, you should see the coordinates of the corners.

ACR keeps its metadata separate from the raw file unless it is converting DNG files. The reason is that, except for DNG, Adobe doesn’t know enough about the raw file format to be able safely to write the metadata back to the raw file. (And the raw file concerned may not actually support XMP metadata).

When ACR 3.x edits DNG files, it saves the settings into the DNG file itself (in a non-destructive way). Adobe knows how to do this safely. (So can any other software, because it is a published format). For some people, (myself included), this is one of the valuable features of DNG. So I guess you are not using DNG.

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Barry Pearson
http://www.barry.pearson.name/photography/
http://www.birdsandanimals.info/
K
KatWoman
Jan 16, 2006
"Barry Pearson" wrote in message
frankg wrote:
CS2 CameraRaw

When saving RAW files as Tif a separate xmp file is saved. I understand that this is a Metadata file but why is it a separate file ?

I think what you are seeing is the XMP sidecar file that holds the edits and settings of the raw conversion in ACR 3.x. I suspect it is not actually to do with the TIFF file. If you look inside it, (it is a structured text file that you can view with notepad, Word, etc), you will probably see things that relate to the sliders you set in ACR. For example, if you crop, you should see the coordinates of the corners.
ACR keeps its metadata separate from the raw file unless it is converting DNG files. The reason is that, except for DNG, Adobe doesn’t know enough about the raw file format to be able safely to write the metadata back to the raw file. (And the raw file concerned may not actually support XMP metadata).

When ACR 3.x edits DNG files, it saves the settings into the DNG file itself (in a non-destructive way). Adobe knows how to do this safely. (So can any other software, because it is a published format). For some people, (myself included), this is one of the valuable features of DNG. So I guess you are not using DNG.

—
Barry Pearson
http://www.barry.pearson.name/photography/
http://www.birdsandanimals.info/

I haven’t used RAW much yet.
So if I take the shot as RAW (my camera doesn’t make DNG) image can go straight into PS CS as a DNG and not use the RAW at all? or I must save as RAW and then convert to DNG?

I like the idea of the info being saved within the file not as a side car (everyone seems to be losing the "pairs" when archiving or moving files)
CJ
C J Southern
Jan 16, 2006
"KatWoman" wrote in message

I haven’t used RAW much yet.
So if I take the shot as RAW (my camera doesn’t make DNG) image can go straight into PS CS as a DNG and not use the RAW at all? or I must save as RAW and then convert to DNG?

I like the idea of the info being saved within the file not as a side car (everyone seems to be losing the "pairs" when archiving or moving files)

Adobe have a freebee "whatever format" to DNG converter that you can download from their website. With it you point it at your source files (in my case I point it at my memory card reader) then tell it where you want to put the converted files. At the same time it can convert names like _MG00001 to names line "Xmas 05 at the zoo 001". You also get the chance to save them in a lossless compressed format (that knocks them down to around 3mb in my case) and even embed the original file in it’s entirety (I don’t bother with that bit – it just increases the file size, but gives me no other advantages).

In summary you end up with smaller files – no loss of quality – a standardised format – and no "sidecar" files. Only penalty is the time it takes for the extra conversion step (that’s no big deal as you can do something else whilse it’s doing it).

When you open a DNG file it opens in ACR just like a regular RAW file.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Colin
BP
Barry Pearson
Jan 17, 2006
KatWoman wrote:
[snip]
I haven’t used RAW much yet.
So if I take the shot as RAW (my camera doesn’t make DNG) image can go straight into PS CS as a DNG and not use the RAW at all? or I must save as RAW and then convert to DNG?

I like the idea of the info being saved within the file not as a side car (everyone seems to be losing the "pairs" when archiving or moving files)

If you use CS, and therefore probably ACR 2.4, you will get XMP sidecar files even when editing DNG files. ACR 2.4 doesn’t write XMP metadata to the DNG files. (Although it can read it if it is there). If to use CS2, and hence ACR 3.x, then it writes the metadata to the DNG files.

If you already have lots of XMP sidecar files, either because you have used CS / ACR 2.4, or CS2 / ACR 3.x and not-DNG, it is possible to incorporate that metadata into DNGs. If the 3.x DNG Converter is run on a folder with a mixture of raw files (DNG or otherwise) and XMP files, it will generate a folder of DNG without XMP files. It will incorporate the XMPs into the corresponding files (DNG or otherwise).

(It is probably better to use a separate destination folder for this case, otherwise things can get very confusing!)

—
Barry Pearson
http://www.barry.pearson.name/photography/
http://www.birdsandanimals.info/

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