"Metadata has been changed..."

[Dick.E.Hoskins]

Lightroom Version

LR 11.1

Operating System

1. Windows 11

I see the message "The metadata for this photo has been changed by Lightroom and another application, etc."

Under what conditions should I check "Import Settings from Disk" or "Overwrite Settings" ? I have one folder of photos that appears in two different LR Catalogs. ZB, folder "Output" appears in "Photos2020" and "Photos2121." But I see it sometimes in a variety of situations. I also have a catalog that is just "Output." I suspect there is crosstalk between the edits I do in one catalog and then changed in another that the file shares.
I have my whole collection (> 120,000 images) in several different catalogs by year because I found that one large catalog performance was a problem. "Output" is used to store photos that I will eventually print or post.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

If you have the same image(s) in more than one catalog, then writing metadata to files is asking for trouble. You’ll never know which catalog wrote the latest changes and whether or not you want those changes in the other catalog(s) too. That is also the reason why I can’t answer your question. Normally I would advise to overwrite the settings, but in this case that may not be what you want…

 

[Dick.E.Hoskins]

If you have the same image(s) in more than one catalog, then writing metadata to files is asking for trouble. You’ll never know which catalog wrote the latest changes and whether or not you want those changes in the other catalog(s) too. That is also the reason why I can’t answer your question. Normally I would advise to overwrite the settings, but in this case that may not be what you want…

I understand what you are saying. Looks like I should use "Output" for exported files only which I will not change in "Output" with LRC with any catalog. If I want to make a change to a photo that I have exported to "output" then I should go back to the catalog that produced it.
I am trying to set a file where final results are stored independent of LRC. When I go to that great darkroom in the sky I want to leave a folder that has all the photos that my family wants to keep. Leaving them a folder that is being managed by LRC will leave photos that are not in their edited form in that folder which is what I want to leave my family. Further, my LRC folders will have lots of images that my family would not be interested in.

Any suggestions on how to create a legacy folder with finished results to leave behind? Maybe I am making this too complicated.

But what is the difference in "Import Settings from Disk" or "Overwrite Settings" ? thanks for you help-

 

[clee01l]

It does not take two catalogs accessing the same images to get the metadata changes message. My position is to simply ignore the informational message. With only one catalog and a system backup app, you can also generate the message. It does not indicate an error.

Lightroom is a non destructive editor. That should apply to metadata as well. You should not really care what metadata is in your original image file All of the metadata used to create a derivative export image will come from the catalog. You already imported the original metadata to the catalog when you first imported the image file.

As long as the metadata in the catalog is correct, it will b e correctly written to any derivative exports files. Ignore the message and make peace with yourself. If you want to consider the cloud based Lightroom, Adobe did not consider this to be important enough to include the metadata message when they developed that product.

Personally, I think Adobe made a mistake when they included this process in the original scope of the product.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Dick.E.Hoskins]

It does not take two catalogs accessing the same images to get the metadata changes message. My position is to simply ignore the informational message. With only one catalog and a system backup app, you can also generate the message. It does not indicate an error.

Lightroom is a non destructive editor. That should apply to metadata as well. You should not really care what metadata is in your original image file All of the metadata used to create a derivative export image will come from the catalog. You already imported the original metadata to the catalog when you first imported the image file.

As long as the metadata in the catalog is correct, it will b e correctly written to any derivative exports files. Ignore the message and make peace with yourself. If you want to consider the cloud based Lightroom, Adobe did not consider this to be important enough to include the metadata message when they developed that product.

Personally, I think Adobe made a mistake when they included this process in the original scope of the product.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I like the idea of ignoring the message. I have never been aware of any problem with the metadata when I got this message. I am well acquainted with LRC weirdnesses, I will just add this one to the list. Thank you!

 

[Califdan]

Notwithstanding the inherent issues having the same folders in more than one catalog, This paritiuclar warning seems to have a mind of its own. If it worked as the message implied or if Adobe would actually provide a simple way to see what the mismatch is then it would be a very useful tool. However, it seems that the various flavors of these warnings (mismatch, changed on disk, changed in LR) get turned on for reasons that can't be redily determined. So, follow advice of the others.

On your other quesiton about keeping folder(s) of "compeleted work for posterity", this is something that is a reasonable thing to do as it is unreasonable to assume that furture generations will be able or willing to use LR or LrC to view and/or print historic images. My suggestion is to export the "finished" images to an appropriately named folder that can be synchronized with a cloud based storage platform and shared. In the export dialog you can specify if you want those "finished" images added back to the catalog as new photos or not.

Another (and perhaps better) solution is to use Publish services in LrC. If you actually want to have a website with these images that others can browse at will you can pick a tool (e.g. SmugMug, Zenfolio, or even Adobe's Portfolio) and use a Publish Service Plugin or tools designed for that platform to manage the images from within LrC and keep them current if you decide to make further changes. You can also use a "harddrive" Publish Services without additional plugins to manage a folder (or nested folders) on your computer.containing these "Finished" images and, similar to the exporting option, these folders can be added to any number of cloud sharing web options.

 

[Denis de Gannes]

All these “Metadata” discussions just reinforce my decision to not write info automatically to xmp and to disregard the push to utilize DNG files. I am comfortable with the info for my work in LrC is all safely stored in the Catalog file.
I respect the decision made by other users to utilize these alternate options that assist in their chosen workflow. However, I just keep my workflow “KISS“ keep it simple sweet.