The Custom Metadata Tool helps you customize your image tagging and searching experience in PhotoShelter for Brands, separate from the standard IPTC metadata fields.

Custom metadata fields are a great way to offer a preset list of tag options, or controlled vocabulary, for images. This makes it easier for you and your stakeholders to find images with commonly used terms, customized specifically to your organization’s needs.

If you don't see custom metadata in your Admin or Actions dropdown menu in the Library, please contact Customer Success.

 

Creating a custom metadata field and tags

A custom metadata field is a way to categorize your images. Each field contains a list of tags, which are preset metadata options that you’ll apply to image files.

For example, you could create the field “Stadium,” and add a list of tags like “Lambeau Field,” “Superdome,” and “Gillette Stadium,” so that you can easily tag an image with the stadium name where it was shot.

You can apply only one tag per field to each image.

 

Creating a field

• From the Admin menu, select Metadata Settings

• Click + Add  in the left pane next to Custom Metadata
• NOTE: Fields will appear in Your Fields in the order you've created them (oldest at the top, newest at the bottom). The sequence of Your Fields is permanent, so be sure to create fields in the order you'd like them to appear.

 

• In the center pane, type in your field name and click the checkmark or hit Enter to save.

• The field editing page will appear in the center pane.

Adding tags to your field

Once you’ve created a field, you can add a list of tags one at a time or in a batch.

• Go to the Custom Metadata page and click a field name in the left pane. The field editing page will appear, which is where you’ll add tags.
• To add one tag at a time, click the first line of the list, type a tag name in, and click the checkmark or hit Enter to save.

• To add a batch of tags, click IMPORT TAGS to upload a CSV of tags.

• Only the first column of entries will be added as tags.
• Subsequent CSV imports will append more tags to the bottom of your existing tag list.

• Please note that Custom Metadata works very well for finite lists, like the list of food in the example above. You may find that it is tedious to scroll through Custom Metadata fields with hundreds of tags. For best performance, avoid having more than 250 tags per field.

 

Making fields and tags visible in your Library and Portal

When you first create a field and add tags, the Show in Library and Show on Portal options are turned off. This means your field and tags will not be visible anywhere in your Library or Portal until you turn them on.

If you’d like to have a custom metadata field visible only to your Library Staff for internal use, you can turn it on in just the Library. This means it will not appear anywhere on your Public Portal.

If you’d like to make a field visible to the public so Portal visitors can search for tagged images, you can turn a field on in the Library and on the Portal.

To turn on your field:

• Go to the Custom Metadata page and click a field name in the left pane.
• In the center pane under the field name, turn the Show in Library option on.
• The field and tag list will appear in your Library.
• Your account’s Admin, Editor(s), and Tagger(s) will be able to see this field and apply its tags to images in the Library, either individually or in batch.
• They will also be able to search for tagged images in the Library.

• If Show in Library is on, you can also turn the Show on Portal option on.
• All Portal visitors, whether they are anonymous public visitors or logged-in Invited Users, will be able to see this field and tags on your Search page.
• They will be able to search for images with a specific tag.
• Like the rest of the Portal search, their search results will be limited to images with that tag contained in galleries that they have permission to see (per your Visibility & Access settings).

• If both options are off, no one will be able to see this field or tags in your Library or Portal.
• Both options are off by default, which is useful for when you’re first setting up your custom metadata field and tags, or if you’d like to disable or archive a field without permanently deleting it.
• If you toggle both Show in Library and Show on Portal off, and then turn them back on again later, any images with that field’s tags previously applied to them will still be tagged.

 

Editing fields and tags

• To edit the name of a field or tag, hover over it and click the pencil icon, then click the checkmark or hit Enter to save.
• Renaming a field or tag will change it everywhere it appears in the Library or Portal.
• Editing an existing tag and hitting Enter will insert a new tag below the first one.

• To rearrange the sequence of tags within a list, hover over the left side of a tag, click and hold on the “handle” that appears, and drag & drop the tag to its new place in the list.

• TIP: With longer tag lists, we recommend creating your initial tag list in Excel and sorting it to your preferred order before uploading it with the Import Tags feature.
• If you have an especially long tag list, you could divide your tags into multiple Fields (for example, "Species A - F" and "Species G - L," and so forth.

 

Deleting fields and tags

• To delete a field, click DELETE.
• Deleting a field will permanently remove the field from your Library (and Portal, if enabled there), and will also delete all of its tags from the images they’ve been applied to.
• To delete a tag, hover over it and click the trash can icon.
• Deleting a tag will permanently remove the tag from that field’s tag list, and will also delete the tag from any images it’s been applied to.
• NOTE: There is no way to recover a deleted field or tag, so delete with caution!

 

Using custom metadata in the Library

• Custom metadata fields that you’ve turned on in the Library will appear in 3 places:
  • “[Image]” will display if your account has video enabled, because custom metadata is an image-only feature.
• Left Pane: Image/File Search-> Custom [Image] Metadata
• Center Pane: Actions menu->Edit [image] custom metadata
• Right Pane: Custom Metadata
• At this time, custom metadata is available for images only.
• Admins, Editors, and Taggers can apply custom metadata tags in your Library.
• NOTE: Unlike IPTC metadata, custom metadata fields and tags are not embedded in images if you export the images from PhotoShelter for Brands, e.g. by downloading them from your Library or Portal.
• Using IPTC Keywords and custom metadata together gives your Library Staff and stakeholders an improved search experience, while ensuring that your images will carry their IPTC metadata with them, no matter where they go.

 

Adding tags to images

You can apply custom metadata tags to individual images or in batch.

Editing an individual image

• In the Admin Area, go to your Library.
• In the Left Pane, click the Gallery name containing the image.
• In the Center Pane, click the image thumbnail.
• In the Right Pane, click Custom Metadata, find the field you’d like to use, click the dropdown, select a tag for that image, and click the checkmark to save. If the image does not have existing custom metadata, click the pencil icon to reveal the fields. 
• You may only select one tag per field to apply to an image.

 

 

Editing multiple images at once

• In the Admin Area, go to your Library.
• In the Left Pane, click the Gallery name containing the images.
• In the Center Pane, select the image thumbnails.
• In the Center Pane, click Actions and select Edit [image] custom metadata.

• For each field, select the tag you’d like to apply to those images.
  • If an image already has a tag from that field applied to it, and you choose a new tag here, the old tag will be overwritten.
  • If you leave the tag name blank but select Update for a field, it will remove any tags that have previously been applied to those images.

• Click Submit to save.

 

Searching for tags

• In the Admin Area, go to your Library.
• In the Left Pane, click  File Search >.
• Click Custom Image Metadata.
• For each field, select the tag(s) you’d like to search for and click Search.

• All searches are “and” searches, so if you select multiple tags, your search results will show images that have all of those tags applied to them.
• If you do not see any search results for the tag you have selected, go back to the Library and make sure the tag has been applied to the images (see Adding tags to images).
• Note: if you search for your custom metadata tag(s) in the "Keywords" box you will not see any matches. This is because the "Keywords" box references IPTC Metadata and filename (only).

 

Using custom metadata on the Portal

• Any custom metadata fields that you have chosen to display here (by turning on Show on Portal) will display on the Portal’s Search page.
• Each field will display a dropdown list of all of its tags.
• Fields will display below the Keywords search field, in the sequence they appear on your Admin Area Custom Metadata page.
• All Portal visitors, whether they are public visitors or logged-in Invited Users, will be able to see this field and tags on your Search page.
• They will be able to search for images with a specific tag by selecting it from the dropdown list on the Portal search page.
  • Note: if the user searches by typing custom metadata tag out in the "Keywords" box, they will not see any matches (unless you add your custom metadata tags as IPTC metadata, too). This is because the "Keywords" box references only IPTC Metadata and filename.

• Like the rest of the Portal search, the user's search results will be limited to images with that custom metadata tags contained in galleries that they have permission to see (you manage this by editing Visibility & Access settings).

• Unlike IPTC metadata, custom metadata fields and tags are not embedded in images if your visitors download them from your Portal.

 

Custom metadata examples

• Custom metadata is useful for a variety of organizations. Below are some examples of fields and tags that you might find helpful as a starting point.
• Be sure to discuss your metadata policy with your Library Staff, so that everyone understands what your fields and tags mean, and how they should use them.
• NOTE: Unlike IPTC metadata, custom metadata fields and tags are not embedded in images if you export the images from PhotoShelter for Brands, e.g. by downloading them from your Library or Portal.
• Using IPTC Keywords and custom metadata together gives your stakeholders an improved search experience, while ensuring that your images will carry their IPTC metadata with them, no matter where they go.

 

Athletics

• Jersey Color: tag the jersey color your team is wearing in an image, so you can quickly find photos with your home vs. away colors.
• Arena/Stadium: if you play games at multiple athletics facilities, list the names of them to make it easier to find images shot there.
• Opponent: list your team’s rivals so users can find images from games you played against that team.

 

Education

• Sport: provide a list of sports your institution offers, like Women’s Soccer, Men’s Basketball, etc.
• Building: list academic buildings, dorms, and other campus locations or landmarks
• Department: list academic departments or campus staff teams
• Event: display common events at your school, e.g. Homecoming Parade, Parents’ Day, Alumni Weekend, Graduation, etc.

 

Corporate

• Subject: tag the person pictured in corporate headshots or portraits. Useful to prevent misspelling of people’s names.
• Office Location: create a dropdown of everywhere your company has offices or branches.
• Agency: list which marketing or design agency worked on an image.

 

Travel

• Destination: make a list of everywhere your company owns resorts or hotels, or leads trips to.
• Activity: show which activity is depicted in the images.

 

Consumer & Industrial Products

• Model: display a list of all of your company’s product models.
• Color: if your company’s products come in different colors, use their official names as tags.
• Store Location: create a dropdown of everywhere your company has stores.

 

Organization History and Image Usage

• Obsolete Status: show whether the image depicts something obsolete, like an outdated uniform style, discontinued product, or old marketing design.
• Obsolete
• Current
• Approval Status: list whether the Library Staff have approved an image to distribute to other stakeholders, like your Invited Users. This is useful if you’ve just uploaded a large archive to PhotoShelter for Brands and are gradually reviewing it before you make certain images available to your stakeholders or the public.
• Unreviewed
• Approved
• Disapproved