"Title and Caption"

[Stephen Harris]

I curious about the distinction between "Caption" and "Title" in IPTC metadata. More specifically, do you use those fields and how do you use them? I would rather not duplicate any keywording I have done. (I am the designated family event photographer - not a professional.)

If I've missed a thread on this topic, please forgive and point me in that direction.

 

[James_N]

Great question. I'm not a pro but I do take a fair amount of photos and since I plan on tagging my photos only once, doing it correctly, and I'm a stickler for detail, so I've relied on the IPTC specifications.

This might be overkill for most non-pros but the IPTC white papers contain a lot of useful information. The most recent Photo Metadata White Paper defines "Description/Caption" as:

"Prose to comprehensively describe the who, what, when, why and where of the photograph.
Note: People in the photo must be placed into the person field.
Organisations or companies shown in some way on the photo must be placed into the organisation field."
​

Title is defined as:

"A shorthand reference for the image or photo – primarily for an identification less formal than the unique id.
Note: The title of an image may take several forms; for photographers, this might be the filename of their original scan or digital camera file."
​

You can find the IPTC Photo Metadata White Paper at http://www.iptc.org/std/photometadata/'.'/documentation/IPTC-PhotoMetadataWhitePaper2''7_11.pdf
Section 3 is particularly informative for anyone interested in keyword tagging correctly.

I curious about the distinction between "Caption" and "Title" in IPTC metadata. More specifically, do you use those fields and how do you use them? I would rather not duplicate any keywording I have done. (I am the designated family event photographer - not a professional.)

If I've missed a thread on this topic, please forgive and point me in that direction.

 

[Mark Sirota]

And along with Caption and Title, don't forget Headline. It's a short form of the Caption. (Most people misuse Title; use Headline instead.)

You might also be interested in reading the IPTC Specifications.

 

[Stephen Harris]

Thanks for the links! Those are very helpful.

 

[Sverre]

And along with Caption and Title, don't forget Headline. It's a short form of the Caption. (Most people misuse Title; use Headline instead.)

You might also be interested in reading the IPTC Specifications.

Why do LR show Title and Captions together in the default view? This contribue to the misuse in my opinion...

 

[Mark Sirota]

I agree, Sverre, and I've requested that the standard metadata views more accurately reflect the intended usage by IPTC (and I'm not alone in doing so). This also applies to the word "Title" in the Web module.

Add your voice through the Lightroom Feature Request Form.

 

[BobH]

Why do LR show Title and Captions together in the default view? This contribue to the misuse in my opinion...

It seems logical enough to me, since they are related.

I had only guessed at the intent, but it turns out my guess was correct. The IPTC descripition for caption is:

Prose to comprehensively describe the who, what, when, why and where of the photograph. ​

I simply thought of it like the caption in a newspaper. The title of the photo might be "Bill Smith at Safeco Field" while the caption might be "Bill Smith throws out the opening pitch at the Mariners vs Yankees game in honor of... (etc, etc)"

Bear in mind that the goal here is provide somebody who has never seen the photo, and has no knowledge of the event, all of the pertinent information related to the photo. It may or may not be overkill, depending on your goals.