saving metadata to file

[mgolin]

Lightroom Version Number

6

Operating System

1. Windows 10

Hello LR folks,
While I've been very good backing up my original photo files & LR catalog, I have not been saving the metadata when I develop them. I've decided finally to export at full size as back up for my thousands of developed virtual copies. (For any who care for my motiviation to do so, it's to simplifiy for my kids so they don't have to delve into LR itself. I'm getting old enough that this is part of my 'estate' planning.)
It seems to make sense that since theoretically this export process will create the 'final' versions, now's the time that I should add the metadata. I see that ctrl S saves the metadata, but only to jpeg, etc. files, not to the VCs. So.... when? Or am I completely off the mark & doing so will modify the original photo file (which would require a new back up of those file), or does it add it to the newly exported the developed file, or some other variation?
I expect that I am making this more complicated than it needs to be, but I'd like to start this process as cleanly as possible. Any assistance to clarify as always is much appreciated.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Write Metadata writes to a "sidecar" file of the same name, but with file type .XMP if the file involved is not suitable for having the metadata saved into the file. For a file where the original is raw (say a Nikon NEF) you then end up with a file like DSC_1234.NEF and a DSC_1234.XMP.

Virtual copies are different though. If you have a virtual copy there's no option to write metadata to "the" file since there is no file.

If you export photos, say to TIF, then most metadata is written inside the TIF. Not everything, and you have some level of control over it. Notably there's no path back using that metadata to recreate the virtual copy. I'm not aware of any way to recreate the virtual copy other than via the lightroom catalog.

An argument could be made, if you are doing this to pass photos down, that you should export the TIF and forget all the LR catalog artifacts such as virtual copies and non-destructive edits. You just are leaving the "final" result, not intermediate work.

Or... take the other approach, and assume they can use LR and don't export anything, maybe leave some notes that helps anyone who needs it figure out where things are. Collections, for example, can be a great way to organize things. Keywords are saved inside of exported TIF's (or more precisely can be) but collection contents are not. Stacking is another that is not exportable.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

I want to amend my last comment. If you export as "original" a virtual copy, it exports the appropriate develop settings as an XMP file with the raw file you started with. I'm not sure that gets you where you want to be, but it would let you then import that pair of file and recreate the development of the virtual copy (except then it is no longer virtual).

Maybe someone else has other ways to deal with virtual copies and VC's.

 

[mgolin]

No need to go any further with this. You gave me what I need. Thanks for the assist.