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Export Zombie default camera caption keeps returning

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BruceCk

New Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2020
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15
Lightroom Version Number
10.3
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
My Olympus Raw and JPG files contain the default caption OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA on import into LrC (all three OM-D E-M1 versions). I usually select all, and edit the caption field to be empty. When I then export to JPG from the Raw file, the default caption returns, back from the dead somehow. This is very annoying. I've looked at all the metadata fields on the Raw file, and there's no sign of the default caption, but it is finding it from somewhere. I tried adding a blank space to replace the default, but LrC ignores that, and uses the default again. I have export presets that retain all metadata. At the moment, I'm having to remember to remove the default caption manually from the JPGs after export, and often don't notice till I've published to Flickr. Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. Is it possible to stop this?
 
Looking at the full EXIF data in ExifToolGUI, there are two fields that contain OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA, ImageDescription and CameraID. Neither of these is visible anywhere in the LrC metadata, but I guess changing the caption field to empty pulls it back from one of these fields.
 
You're whacked by two very old bugs: The Olympus marketers insist on adding their brand to the caption, and LR can't export a blank caption from these photos. See this bug report:
https://feedback.photoshop.com/conv...orted-with-a-caption/6081b0693b0a051eac336d5e

Adobe has marked this as "In progress", meaning that they are actively working on it. That doesn't necessarily mean it will get fixed soon, though.
Please add your constructive opinion to the bug report and be sure to click Like and Follow at the bottom of the first post. That will make it a little more likely Adobe will prioritize the fix, and you'll be notified when the bug's status changes. Product developers rarely participate in this forum and won't see your feedback.

As inconvenient workarounds, you can set the caption in LR to be a non-blank field, e.g. "-". Or you can use Exiftool before you import the photos to clear the captions.
 
Many thanks John, I will add to the report, but won't hold my breath. As you say there, Olympus have stopped adding OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA to the ImageDescription on the E-M1 Mk III, but it's still there on the Mk I and Mk II, which I still use. I'd rather not mess with the EXIF data before import into LrC, so will probably have to resort to putting something in the caption fields. Thanks for your help.
 
I had an import preset in LR 6.14 which successfully cleared out the captions, but after recently succumbing and transitioning to modern LR Classic, this no longer works!
 
I had an import preset in LR 6.14 which successfully cleared out the captions, but after recently succumbing and transitioning to modern LR Classic, this no longer works!
Did you manage to replace them with empty captions, or a space or single symbol? Neat idea. Doesn't it work if you replace with proper text in LrC CC?
 
In LR 6.14 an import preset could clear the fields. In LrC this has no effect. I'd like to avoid putting a visible symbol in the caption field, since I usually use the Title field. I have not yet tested re-exporting older projects to see if this is an import problem or export problem. I suspect it might be an export problem, since Lightroom UI does not show the OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA caption in Caption field, like LR 6.14 used to before I started using the import preset.

So far I have tested the following with newly imported files:
- Use Caption instead of Title. Leave title empty. Overwrites the caption in the exported JPEGs, but Flickr then puts the file name in the Title, and always shows both.
- Use Caption instead of Title. Put a single space character in Title. Overwrites the caption in the exported JPEGs, and Flickr takes the invisible space character as the title. This is the best solution so far.
- Use Title for title. Put a space character in the Caption. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA still shows up in the output.
 
One more attempt, and I think I have arrived at my solution:
- Use Title for title. Put the character from Invisible Text - Invisible Text in Caption. Overwrites OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA in exports.
Well done, it seems to work. I pasted the invisible character into the caption field on the Raw replacing OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA on an E-M1 Mk II shot. Exporting to JPG retained this, and uploading to Flickr, it ignored the invisible character, and had no caption. I could set up an import preset, but it's not needed on E-M1 Mk III shots, so will do it manually on other Raws.
 
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