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Library module Searchable Metadata

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Andrew1

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2015
Messages
30
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version Number
Lightroom version: 6.13 [ 1141928 ]
Operating System
  1. Windows 7
Before I waste too much time working it out for myself <G> ...
Is anyone aware of a definitive list of which IPTC and EXIF metatdata fields are treated as "searchable" by the Library Filter "text" search?
Ta.
 
Thanks for the link.
That was actually the page I had reached last night when I threw in the towel and posted here.
After an evening of tutorials and blog posts telling me how I could "search for fields LIKE ..." and "search for fields SUCH AS ...", I finally find the right page on the Adobe site and find the word "INCLUDES" - I was just about ready to scream.
Why can't anyone, especially Adobe, just tell me what the list "IS"?
[Rant Over]
Taking the Adobe list as my starting point, I've done some further testing of my own and Adobe appear to have missed out a couple of fields (for LR6 at any rate):
"Any Searchable Field" appears to search the IPTC Copyright field, even though "Searchable IPTC" does not!
"Searchable EXIF" appears to also search "User Comment"
-
 
That seems to be about as good as I can find also. The Filter Bar text search is, in my opinion, a bit of a kluge to try to handle "other" search criteria that they didn't deem important enough to include as a seperate item. It works pretty well for some things like filename but you can get tangled trying to do anything complex.

There are other search tools out there that give you explicit control as to the data field and matching type. AnyFilter by John R. Ellis is the one I go to when the default tools can't to the job.

Is there something specific that you are trying to accomplish? Asking more specific how to types of questions are often more productive trying to get Adobe to reveal it's internal workings. None of us here work for Adobe. We're just all just trying to figure out how to use it too.

-louie
 
The original issue went roughly as follows:
I have several thousand images, spread across several hundred collections, which all have to be processed through Photoshop (to do lens corrections that are known to the PT-Lens plugin but not to Lightroom itself) the results of which then need to be assembled into a collection hierarchy matching that from which I started.
So the plan was to add IPTC Metadata (which appears to survive the Photoshop operation) based on the existing collection identity which could then be re-used to create the final collections. Whilst LR will happily create the Photoshopped files in the same folder as the originals, and import them into the catalogue in stacks, there doesn't seem to be any way of getting them included directly in the collection from which they were exported.
Life would be so much simpler if Adobe could just have included lens corrections for the Minolta Dimage series cameras, but these appear to be almost wholly unloved.
 
Hi @Andrew1, I have two part response.

1) Do you really need to apply lens correction across the board? I can understand you frustration of not having those available in Lightroom but your strategy has now removed your ability to use all the great nondestructive tools in Lightroom.

I rarely use lens correction unless there is something specific in the image where the lens distortion or vignette is distracting. Often I can correct the problem satisfactorily using other Lightroom tools.

2) If your source is a collection when you initiate the Edit in Photoshop the edited image file will be returned as part of that collection as well as the folder of the source image. Unfortunately it will not carry forward any other collection information.

I opened a request to improve this some time ago. Lightroom: Ability to selectively add multiple collections from source image when creating derivatives. You can add your support for this change.

-louie
 
Louie,
As regards (1), I do have to do it pretty much across the board. The Minolta Dimage was a lovely camera (of its time) but lens distortion is quite noticible and the vast majority of the images are architectural/industrial in nature which makes it even more obvious. The end results are destined for a national archive, so I'd like them to be as technically accurate as possible. I'm only planning on doing this exercise after I've done all the "great nondestructive stuff", and immediately before a final review of vertical and horizontals - which is one of the two reasons why I need them back into Lightroom collections after photoshopping. The other being Mr. Friedl's Collection Publisher to generate the final output.
As for (2), it is true that "Edit in Photoshop" returns to the original collection, but Adobe didn't see fit to extend that facility to the "Export" command - even though they do provide an option to import the exported result to the current catalogue!

-Andrew
 
Then consider using Open as Smart Object. That will imbed the raw file with any adjustments made in Lightroom. You should be able to add another layer to make the lens correction. That will give you the best of both albeit with a large file.

For sending out to archives you could export as flattened TIFF or JPG
 
Time to go and read a book I think, I've never played with a smart object in my life.
-Andrew
 
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