Preserve the story in the file

Know where your information lives

Photo information can live in three different places: inside the image file, in a companion sidecar, or in an application's database. A caption displayed in your library is not proof that another program will see it. Before relying on a field, inspect a test export in a second application and compare it with the original.

EXIF is widely used for camera and capture information. IPTC Photo Metadata defines descriptive and administrative fields, including captions, keywords and rights information. XMP is a metadata framework used to store or exchange many kinds of information, either embedded or in sidecar files. Support depends on the format and the software; the same label on screen can map differently between applications.

A practical field glossary

Capture date / DateTimeOriginal

The recorded moment of capture, often written by the camera. It may be wrong if the device clock was wrong, and older records may lack an explicit time-zone offset.

File creation and modification dates

File-system timestamps that can change during copying, downloading or editing. They are not reliable substitutes for the event's capture date.

Caption or description

Human-readable context about the scene. A concise sentence can be more useful than many vague keywords.

Keywords

Reusable descriptive terms that support retrieval. Check whether your application exports them as portable metadata rather than keeping them only in its catalog.

GPS coordinates

Location data that can reveal sensitive places. Useful in a private master archive, but potentially inappropriate in public exports.

XMP sidecar

A companion file, commonly ending in .xmp, that may hold descriptive metadata or editing instructions. Keep it alongside its corresponding image.

Rights and creator fields

Fields for attribution and rights statements. Record accurate information; adding a name does not resolve ownership disputes.

Correct dates without inventing history

Start with evidence: a known event, a reliable neighboring image, a travel itinerary or a camera clock offset. Distinguish an incorrect clock from a display-time-zone issue. A batch shift that fixes one camera may damage files from another device, so group the affected images carefully.

Test corrections on copies and record the original value, the adjustment and the reason. ExifTool can inspect and modify many fields, but its flexibility makes careful testing essential. Read its official documentation before writing data, and preserve originals rather than experimenting on the only copy.

For scanned prints, the scan date and the original event date describe different things. Keep the scan date as a digitization record and add an approximate event date in a caption or an appropriate documented field. If you only know “summer, approximately 1994,” preserve that uncertainty instead of presenting an exact day as fact.

Keep companions and edits together

RAW files often depend on sidecars or catalogs for non-destructive editing instructions. Those instructions may not render identically in another editor. Preserve the original RAW file, its companion information and, where the finished appearance matters, a high-quality rendered export.

Formats such as JPEG, TIFF, HEIF and DNG have different metadata capabilities and compatibility patterns. Do not convert a whole archive merely to standardize extensions. First test whether your current and future tools can read the images, preserve important fields and reproduce the results you need.

Test an export before moving a library

Choose a small sample containing a captioned image, a tagged image, a date correction, an edited photo and any important special formats. Export originals with companion metadata where the application supports it. Export rendered edits separately when needed. Then open the results outside the source application.

• Check pixel dimensions and that full-resolution files were retrieved.
• Compare capture dates, captions, keywords and orientation.
• Confirm whether favorites, albums and face labels were preserved separately.
• Keep any export manifest or JSON companion files until you understand their role.
• Document which information did not transfer.

For example, Google Takeout can include companion information whose relationship to the media needs checking. Do not discard unfamiliar files just because they are not photographs. Retain the original export package while you test an import into another system.

Separate archival richness from public sharing

Your private archive and your public export can have different metadata policies. Preserve useful context in the protected master. For sharing, create a derivative and remove sensitive GPS data, personal names or other details you do not intend to disclose. Verify the derivative after export; do not rely solely on a checkbox label.

Keep a brief metadata policy with your archive notes: which fields you use, how approximate dates are recorded, and which details are stripped from shared copies. That written explanation helps future you—and anyone inheriting the archive—understand the decisions without reverse-engineering an app.

Standards and tool documentation

For field definitions and current capabilities, consult the IPTC Photo Metadata standard, Adobe's XMP overview and ExifTool documentation. These external resources are independent of this website.