Including your name, copyright, and contact information in your images should be an important part of your workflow photo editing. Embedding that information as metadata in your photographic files is like putting an address tag on your luggage. Wherever the image goes, there will be a means to identify you as the photographer and contact you if someone wants to buy, license, or otherwise use your photograph. Even if all you ever do is share your images with friends and family or make prints for yourself, it is good practice to attach this metadata to your image files.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create a preset with your chosen metadata that can quickly and easily be applied as you import your photographs into Lightroom Classic.
Creating the Preset
- Open Lightroom and select the Library Module.
- Go to the Metadata menu on the right side of the window. In the Preset dropdown menu (where “None” is the default), select “Edit Presets”.
3. In the Edit Metadata Presets dialogue box that appears, click on the arrow to the left of the IPTC Copyright option. Enter your name in the Copyright field (to create the © symbol with a Mac computer, hold down the Option key and tap the G key. For Windows PCs, the process varies depending on the keyboard – see https://www.lifewire.com/copyright-symbol-on-windows-and-mac-2688246 for details). Change the Copyright status to Copyrighted. If you have a website, enter the address in the Copyright Info URL. Put a checkmark in the box to the right of each field that you’ve entered data in. You can leave the Rights Usage Terms field empty, or enter something like “No reproduction or distribution without the express permission of the photographer”.
4. Click on the arrow next to the IPTC Creator option and enter your contact information in the appropriate fields. None of these fields are mandatory, but I recommend that you include at least one way that you can be contacted regarding a photograph – email, telephone, and/or website if it includes your contact info. Put a checkmark in the box to the right of each field that you’ve entered data in.
5. For a generic import preset, you can ignore all the other fields (Basic Info, Camera Info, Video, Keywords, and the additional IPTC fields).
6. Go to the top of the Edit Metadata Presets dialogue box, click the Preset dropdown menu, and change “Custom” to “Save Current Setting as New Preset”. In the dialogue box that pops up, enter a name for your preset, such as “© yourname”. Click on the Create button.
7. Click on Done at the bottom of the Edit Metadata Presets dialogue box.
Using the preset
- With Lightroom open and Grid view selected in the Library Module, click on “Import” at the bottom of the left panel.
- Navigate to the source (memory card or hard drive) with the photos you want to import. If desired, refine the selection to choose only specific files.
- On the right side panel of Lightroom, select the Apply During Import menu. In the Metadata dropdown box, select the preset that you created.
- Optional: if all the images you are importing are from one shoot, location, or trip, enter a few tags in the Keywords field that apply to all photos in that import. This will make it easier to find those photos in the future.
- Select the destination hard drive and folder for the import.
- Click Import. Your metadata will be attached to all of the photos as they are being imported. You can see that information when you select a photo in any of the view modes when you’re in the Library module of Lightroom. It will also appear in the “File Info” fields in Bridge and Photoshop.
Other ways to use metadata presets
You can also use this preset to attach the same metadata to photos that you’ve previously imported. Just select the images in the Library module, go to the Metadata menu and choose your custom preset in the Preset field.
Another very useful option is to create additional custom metadata presets for locations, subjects, or events that can be applied either on import or by selecting previously imported photos in your Lightroom catalog.
If you’re not currently using a preset like this during your Lightroom import sessions, give it a try and let me know what you think.
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