Attaching metadata to RAW files

[pmhonan]

Can anyone tell me how to attach new metadata (ie entered by me) to a RAW file and keep the metadata attached when the RAW file is moved around? At the moment it's attaching as a separate unattached file (sidecar). I've used Canon photo software for many years but am new to Lightroom.

[dj_paige · Accepted solution]

With RAW files, Lightroom uses .xmp sidecar files (and there is no way to change this if you are using Lightroom), but if your perform the move of the RAW file using Lightroom, the .xmp is moved with the RAW.

You could convert your RAW to DNG, and then the metadata is stored inside the DNG files, no xmp sidecar file is used in that case.

As a side comment, the workflow involving moving RAW files from here to there is not one that I recommend, better to put the RAW file in its final resting place straight out of the camera, and not move it again. This workflow eliminates the problem of keeping xmp files with the RAW files.

[dj_paige]

Adding: if you move the photos outside of LR and you accidentally neglect to move the .xmp file, Lightroom simply doesn't care, because LR doesn't use the .xmp file, and everything works fine in Lightroom once you reconnect the photos inside of Lightroom. Furthermore, if you turn on the option to automatically write the metadata to xmp, Lightroom will re-create the .xmp file once you have reconnected, so this whole issue of not moving the xmp file seems to be of no importance to Lightroom.