The Metadata How to Guide!

What is metadata? According to Websters Dictionary metadata is: data that provides information about other data

When talking about digital photographs I like to think of it as the modern day equivalent of writing on the back of the photo. It is how you can write out information that will later help you identify a photograph. It’ll help you in locating pictures later too.

Any metadata you add to your photograph can then be searched. If you were at Jason’s 50th birthday you could add that information and then every time you search “Jason” or “birthday” where they are stored those photographs will come up. You can also get more specific by adding all sorts of details about a photograph. Anything you add will then be searchable, like “Jason Johnson’s 50th birthday, Olive Garden, purple cake, Brunch party, Joyce, Paul, Rhonda….. ” You get the picture.

This is especially helpful if you have a lot of pictures. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t?!

So now you might be asking “how do I add metadata to my own pictures?”

It’s actually a lot more simple than you might think! The steps vary a little bit depending on where those photographs are. I’ll walk you through each location and how you can easily add that important information right away!

How to add metadata to a photo on a PC:

1. Right click on the photograph
2. Click on properties
3. There you can edit the Name, Tags or Description – information you add is then metadata and will stay with the photo

How to add metadata to a photo on a Mac:

1. open the photos app or the finder to view the photograph
2. right click on the picture and click “get info”
3. There you can add tags or comments – information you add is then metadata and will stay with the photo

How to add metadata to an iPhone picture:

1. View the photo you want to add metadata to in the Photos App
2. Slide up on the photo
3. Just under the photo there is a box that says “add caption” – information you add is then metadata and will stay with the photo

It’s that easy! And now as you continue to take photographs and continue to add more and more pictures to the mix you’ll be able to easily find and identify any photograph from anytime.

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