To XMP Or Not

Status
Not open for further replies.
Victoria Bampton

Victoria Bampton

Lightroom Queen
Staff member
Administrator
Premium Classic Member
Premium Cloud Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
25,372
Location
Isle of Wight, UK
Lightroom Experience
Power User
Lightroom Version
Cloud Service
There's much discussion about the pros and cons of using the 'Automatically Write Changes to XMP' command found in the Metadata section of the Catalog Settings dialog... so should you, or shouldn't you?

What is XMP?
XMP is either a sidecar file for a raw file, or a section in the header of jpeg, tiff, and psd files. It holds data such as Develop Settings, Star Ratings and Color Labels, and Keywords.

Why would I want these settings written to XMP?
Any changes you make in Lightroom are stored within Lightroom's own database. This means that the changes are not available to other programs such as Bridge. In order to make the changes available to other programs, you write to XMP. This XMP data can also be used as an additional backup in case the LR catalog becomes corrupted, and can also be used to transfer settings between catalogs. Please note that history, collections, and virtual copies are not stored within XMP though.

So should I turn on Automatically Write Changes to XMP then?
There is an argument for leaving this turned on, however there is a performance hit due to the constant disc writes every time you as much as move a slider. This will no doubt improve in future releases, but for the moment, you may wish to leave it turned off. If you do decide to turn it on, don't then repeatedly turn it off and on again, as this can create far more confusion!

*ETA 12/3/'8 - As of recent releases, the speed hit is now minimal on most systems.

Ok, so I'm going to leave it turned off for now, but I still want XMP files. Is there a workaround?
Yes! The alternative is simply to wait until you've finished making changes for that editing session, select all in Grid mode, and the use Metadata menu > Write Metadata to Files command, or the shortcut Ctrl-S / Cmd-S. This writes all of the data to XMP in one go.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Thanks for posting this information. I am currently using the CMD-S option in my workflow to save my work back to DNG. It works for me, doesn't really cause any headache, and therefore don't miss (or really desire) to use the XMP-Autowrite option.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The most obvious way to see the performance hit is to turn it on for the first time with a large catalog! It's not as bad when you've had it on all along, and only really becomes noticeable when Syncing to a large number of images. Personally I keep it off for now and write it manually as required. I'm not so worried about interactivity with Camera RAW, but I do like it for failsafe purposes, or for new catalog import.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Agreed. I am using the manual update method and really just do it to "backup" data to my DNGs.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I use autowrite as I use several catalogues and some have cross over files. It does slow things a bit at the moment but is more reliable than me saving!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Great to see you posting Geoff!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Working on my laptop I am suffering from lack of storage on my internal harddrive, so I often dump my originals (raw files) onto external drives when I'm done with the major edits and have exported the files to jpegs (that I later work on in photoshop - as Bridge CS3 allows me to play with nicer websites than the web gallery in Photoshop). The last thing I do, before I copy everything over to one of the external drives (which I don't have on all the time, as I hate all buzzing noises around me when I work), is to create the xmp files, so if I need to redo anything in the raw files, I have the edits already saved.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A question about Save Metadata

If I turn off auto-update XMP feature and use the Save Metadata command, how do I know when it's finished? How long should I wait before I can exit LR at the end of a session?

At the moment, LR seems to be always working in the background - but I am only going by memory and CPU activity as LR doesn't tell me what it's doing at any one time.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
When I use CMD-S, I get a progress bar that tells me what's going on. When the bar goes away, I scroll through the images to make sure the unsaved metadata icon isn't present on my thumbnails (you might have to turn this option on if you haven't already). Then I know everything is done. It doesn't take long at all to save metadata back to the files.

If Lightroom is still churning away, then it might be working on something else.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I want the files on my disc to represent the latest edits in LR. However, it doesn't have to be in realtime. Cmd-S is fine, but I will (and have) forget to do it.

Maybe an option to update any changes when LR is exited?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks, Ian. When I first posted I had just used the command. LR didn't start the scroll bar straight away, must have been thinking about it - lol. I've just looked and the scroll bar is telling me how much it's progressed. So I'm going to use this method now in preference to the auto method.

BTW - that was a quick reply - thanks :mrgreen:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I don't have a life... so I sit here and refresh my browser over and over until someone types something... :( ;)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yep. It's almost like a chat room. I've become very efficient with the CMD-R keystroke. :cry:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
How about a shout box on the front page? Only accessible when you're signed in, of course.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Stop typing... Can't help but respond... Must not sit in front of computer... Must get up from chair...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I am hoping I have this correct..but it's a struggle...

I have been suffering very slow performance so writing to xmp on the fly is a killer for me; right now I have it off.

What am I vulnerable to?

I use only Elements for editting not handled in LR. I need the extra performance boost. Can elements read the changes I made in LR without having xmp files?

I also would like to keep my folder clean and hate all the clutter of the xmp files...

If I don't use ctrl-s after an edit session, what is the implication? Aren't all the edit changes, keywords, ratings etc stored in the LR catalog file? I back up the LR database, and then back that file up to an external drive... Is this sufficient?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I have it turned off...too slow on.

After processing a batch of images in a folder i just ensure that i select Ctrl A, and then save the changes. then move onto the next folder.

not doing this just means that an arrow will appear on evry image that has had any changes made. not so bad if you are working from a few folders only but hard to keep track of if you have had several large shoots.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MMarz;29'9 said:
What am I vulnerable to?

I use only Elements for editting not handled in LR. I need the extra performance boost. Can elements read the changes I made in LR without having xmp files?
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I don't use XMP files at all, ever.

What you're vulnerable to is loss of your catalog -- if you lose your catalog, you've lost all your edits. So you need a strong backup strategy
for the catalog.

Elements cannot directly read the LR database. You have two options:

(1) Use the "Edit in ..." function in Lightroom. This will render a TIFF or PSD or whatever you configure, which you can then edit in Elements. That version will be stacked with the original in Lightroom.

(2) Write XMP files for those files you want to edit in Elements. When you're done in Elements, you can remove the XMP if you don't want the clutter.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Mark Sirota said:
For what it's worth, I don't use XMP files at all, ever.

What you're vulnerable to is loss of your catalog -- if you lose your catalog, you've lost all your edits. So you need a strong backup strategy
for the catalog.
Click to expand...

Understood...I think I have a good backup strategy. LR backs up automatically at launch and after just about every shooting session, after the final edits are done, I sync the catalog file, AND the backup file to a second external hard drive. I have three copies of the catalog and two copies of the images. Only then do I format the card.


Elements cannot directly read the LR database. You have two options:

(1) Use the "Edit in ..." function in Lightroom. This will render a TIFF or PSD or whatever you configure, which you can then edit in Elements. That version will be stacked with the original in Lightroom.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I do... I will always start in LR, Use "Edit in.." and then return to LR for final stacking and keywording..

Sounds like I am OK skipping the xmp files. Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I also have had this turned off for some time as it is faster. I do a number of backups of the database for protection.

But, I see in 1.3 this is supposed to have been improved so that it is much faster. Has anyone tried this? Just wondering if it is that much faster?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It is a lot faster Terry, but still not quite as fast as having it turned off. It's not such an awful performance hit now though.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It works pretty well for me know and I see an appreciable speed difference.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top