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Bulk change Person keywords

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rctneil

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Jul 1, 2012
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Latest
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  1. macOS 10.15 Catalina
I have about 500 Person keywords and need to edit them all to stop them from getting exported.

What's the best way of editing all the Person keywords in bulk to toggle that option off?

Thanks,
Neil
 
"I have about 500 Person keywords and need to edit them all to stop them from getting exported."

Unfortunately, LR provides no way for bulk editing of keyword attributes, even though many people have requested it:
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/better_keyword_management
Double unfortunately, the SDK for plugins omits some key, simple functionality that would allow plugins to do it:
https://feedback.photoshop.com/phot...t_to_lrkeyword_to_relieve_pressure_from_users
If you're adventurous and technically minded, you can search for posts in the Adobe forum that explain how to use a free database tool to modify the catalog database directly.

But note that you can accomplish your end goal another way. In the Export windows Metadata section, check the option Remove Person Info:

1587158274478.png


That will remove any keywords with the Person attribute from the exported photos. There was a bug with this, but it was silently fixed at some point in the last three years.
 
Hi @johnrellis Thanks for your quick reply. I'm quite a technical person therefore i'd like to have a go at modifying the db directly (after a good backup of course). Do you have any possible topics or threads that I could look at to get an idea of where to start with this?
 
Hi @johnrellis Thanks for your quick reply. I'm quite a technical person therefore i'd like to have a go at modifying the db directly (after a good backup of course). Do you have any possible topics or threads that I could look at to get an idea of where to start with this?

I’ve used NaviCat as a SQLLITE Database manager to open an maintain the Catalog file. You can simply explore the various tables to understand the structure and table relationships. There is no discussion of the catalog table structure and relationships. The table for keywords is apparent and you will want to select keywords that have the person keyword as the parent. Update the field for the “will export” flag.

It has been a while since I opened the catalog file in a database manager, so all of this is from memory.

Actually I think John’s last paragraph is a better and simpler solution since it does not involve hacking the database.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I remember someone posting the SQL statement that would update keyword attributes, but I couldn't find it on either of the Adobe forums. Adobe migrated to a new forum platform last fall and discarded most content prior to 2016.

Keywords to search include SQL, Lightroom (not "Classic"), table, AgLibraryKeyword, select. The late Rob Cole (robcole.com, no longer available) had published a number of SQL scripts, and some of his work has been captured on Github (and perhaps on the Internet Archive).

I did find these two threads, which give additional hints:
https://gist.github.com/John07/119fc5d1ea1d84677763https://feedback.photoshop.com/phot..._include_on_export_unticked_how_can_i_rectify
I use DB Browser For SQLite (a gui) and "sqlite3" (command-line access to SQLite databases).
 
All sorted! Just a small SQL statement required and that did in bulk in a second what would have taken many hours to do manually inside LR!

UPDATE AgLibraryKeyword
SET includeOnExport = 0
WHERE keywordType = 'person';

Thank you all for your assistance!
 
LR 13 finally provides enough functionality for plugins to provide batch (bulk) editing of keywords. The latest version of the Any Tag plugin has the ability to export keywords and their attributes to a .csv text file, edit the file, and import the changes back into the catalog. You can edit the file in Excel, Google Sheets, or a text editor, changing keyword attributes and names, adding and deleting keywords, and rearranging the keyword hierarchy.

So if you want to change the Include On Export attribute for all or some of your keywords, Any Tag gives a straightforward way to do it.
 
Can't wait to take a look at it. Sounds wonderful
 
Some methods have been labeled "deprecated" over the past many years due to name changes in the application (e.g. goToHealing() instead of goToSpotRemoval()), though the old versions still remain in the API. I don't recall any methods actually getting removed, though it's possible some were many, many years ago. In general, compatibility has been pretty good, and Adobe eventually fixes the most serious bugs that affect many people (e.g. the post-processing-action bug that broke publish-service plugins).
 
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I don't recall any methods actually getting removed, though it's possible some were many, many years ago. In general, compatibility has been pretty good,

That issue is behind my concern for using any of Rob Cole's plugins that are still available.

Phil
 
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