Custom Metadata

Custom metadata fields are a great way to offer a preset list of tag options, or controlled vocabulary, for images and video. This makes it easier for you and your stakeholders to find assets with commonly used terms customized specifically to your organization's needs. Members of your Library Staff can apply custom metadata tags in your Library.

Using IPTC Keywords and custom metadata together gives your Library Staff and stakeholders an improved search experience, while ensuring that your image files will carry their IPTC metadata with them, no matter where they go.

Unlike IPTC metadata, custom metadata fields and tags are not embedded in image or video files if you export them from PhotoShelter for Brands, e.g. by downloading them from your Library or Portal.

• Creating Custom Metadata Fields and Tags
• Enabling Fields and Tags in the Library and Portal
• Managing Fields and Tags
• Adding Tags to Files
• Searching for Tags in the Library
• Using Custom Metadata on the Portal
• Custom Metadata Examples

Creating Custom Metadata Fields and Tags

A custom metadata field is a way to categorize your image and video files. Each field contains a list of tags, which are preset metadata options that you’ll apply to files. You can apply only one tag per field to each file.

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 or video containing the stadium name where it was shot.

 

Creating a Field

Fields will appear in the order you've created them (oldest at the top, newest at the bottom). The sequence is permanent, so be sure to create fields in the order you'd like them to appear.

• Click Admin > Metadata Settings
• Click +Add in the left pane next to Custom Metadata
• In the center pane, type 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 Fields

Once you’ve created a field, you can add a list of tags one at a time or in batch using a CSV. Custom Metadata works very well for finite lists, like the list of food in the example below. 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.

To add tags one at a time:

• On the Custom Metadata page, click a field in the left pane
• 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 tags in batch:

• 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.
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Enabling Fields and Tags in the 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 only in 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 enable the field in the Library and/or Portal:

• On the Custom Metadata page, click a field name in the left pane
• In the center pane under the field name, enable the toggle next to Show in Library
• The field and tag list will appear in your Library.
• Library Staff will be able to see this field and apply its tags to image and video files in the Library, either individually or in batch.
• Library Staff can also 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 Invited Users, will be able to see this field and tags on your Search page.
  • They will be able to search for files with a specific tag.
  • Like the rest of the Portal search, their search results will be limited to files 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 files with that field’s tags previously applied to them will still be tagged.

 

Managing Fields and Tags

Editing Fields and Tags

To edit the name of a field or tag, hover over it and click the Edit 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
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Rearranging Tag Sequence

To rearrange the sequence of tags within a given field, click and hold on the anchor icon 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 next to the field name

• Deleting a field will permanently remove the field from your Library and/or Portal, and will also delete all of its tags from the image and video files 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!

 

Adding Tags to Image and Video Files

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

Editing an individual file

• In the Library, select an image or video file and click Metadata
• Find the field you’d like to use and click the dropdown to select a tag to apply to the file. You may only select one tag per field to apply to an image.
• Click Submit to save

Editing Multiple Files in Batch

• In the Library, open a gallery to select multiple files. You can also select multiple files from Search results.
• Click Edit Metadata in the right pane
• Scroll down to the Custom Metadata fields and select the tag to apply to the files
• Click Save

NOTE: If a file 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.

 

Search for Tags in the Library

• Enter a search term into the search bar at the top of the Library
• In the left pane, click Custom Metadata
• For each field, select the tags you’d like to search for and click Search.

All searches are “and” searches, so if you select multiple tags, your search results will contain files 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 files (see Adding tags to images).

NOTE: If you or your end users search for your custom metadata tags in the Keywords field, no matches will be returned. This is because the Keywords field references IPTC Metadata and filename (only).

 

Using Custom Metadata on the Portal

Any custom metadata fields that you have chosen to display on the 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 Invited Users, will be able to see this field and its corresponding tags on your Search page.
• End users can search for image and video files with a specific tag by selecting it from the dropdown list on the Portal search page. Keep in mind that, 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 be used.

Athletics

• Jersey Color: tag the jersey color your team is wearing in an image or video to differentiate between home and away games
• Arena/Stadium: if you play games at multiple athletics facilities, list the names of them to make it easier to find images and videos at a specific location.
• Opponent: list your team’s opponents so users can find files from specific games

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 various office locations or branches
• Agency: list which marketing or design agency worked on an project, image or video file.

Travel

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

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/Video Usage

• Obsolete Status: show whether a file depicts something obsolete, like an outdated uniform style, discontinued product, or old marketing design.
• Obsolete
• Current
• Approval Status: list whether 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 your Library and are gradually reviewing it before you make certain image or video files available to your stakeholders or the public.
• Unreviewed
• Approved
• Disapproved