how do I check if I’m using XMP files on Mac?
It should be in the preference file. It’s only 4 small pages long. Read them and check if it obeys your desire.
But if you don’t have xmp files in your directory, then you don’t use them.
George
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PhotoLab 7 on Mac uses default settings for DOP and XMP sidecars - as long as the user leaves these settings alone.
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This setting tab is about XMP which is the standard container and transporter of metadata:
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This settings tab is about DOP sidecar files. DOP files contain a subset of settings, metadata and more that is otherwise stored in PhotoLab’s database - which is a catalog of all things related to the image files that PhotoLab has dealt with.
As per default settings
- DOP sidecar files are imported and exported automatically
- XMP sidecar files (or corresponding sections in JPEG, TIFF and DNG files) are not automatically synchronised with DPL’s database
Under default settings, image folders should contain the image files as well as the associated DOP sidecar files.
After manually writing metadata to files, or, if another app has been used to e.g. add keywords, image folders should also contain associated XMP sidecar files.
If an XMP sidecar file has been edited by an other app (e.g. to add a rating or keyword etc.), images in PhotoLab’s file browser are marked by a badge that looks like a squished letter “S”
BEWARE: The association of sidecars to the image file is done through the file names. If you change one of the files’ name with the Finder, the association is lost and the info contained in the DOP and XMP sidecars cannot be used sensibly by PhotoLab or other apps. The same goes for moving one of the files to a different location.
Hope this helps. There’s a lot to digest in this area and things aren’t easily understood because of the multiple interdependencies of apps and settings, but you’ll get it eventually.
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Should I be using them? Looks like I’m not.
thank you so much for this clear and easy to understand info. I’m not using .xmp. In your opinion do XMP files help in the situation I’m in or not? Also, could you explain what exporting sidecars did?
The words “automatically export sidecars” actually means “automatically copy info about image edits and metadata to .dop sidecar files”. The .dop sidecar will be created and/or edited to contain metadata and the “recipe” listing the steps necessary to get from the original image to the one you created using PhotoLab’s exposure, contrast etc. tools.
Metadata can also be contained and/or written to file, which means
- XMP information in e.g. JPEG files, or,
- XPM info in .xmp sidecar files
While DOP sidecar files are only understood by PhotoLab, XMP sidecar files can be understood and edited by other apps too.
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