XMP and post processing

[Laura Fitch]

Hello.

I know XMP files are for storing metadata but I thought that that metadata would include my development adjustments; is my thinking incorrect?

I upload a shoot to Lightroom 4, add text metadata and do some basic development adjustments when needed. Next I export as CR2 or DNG files for sharing on a network via a DAM (Cumulus). However, neither Cumulus, Bridge or Camera RAW are showing my development changes when viewing my exported photos. If I crop a photo, that cropping is reflected in the above software but nothing of my exposure or white balance changes are shown at all.

I can export TIFF files and all works fine but RAW files are preferred for our workflow and archiving. (I do my initial work on these files in Lightroom because I like that software but they do not stay there long term. They move to my employer's server and are archived into Cumulus for sharing. I would like my basic processing to stay with my CR2 or DNG files.)

Do the XMP files exported from Lightroom 4 with my CR2 files not contain development adjustments? I have not found a Lightroom preference that seems to address this but am I missing something? I thought exporting as DNG would solve the problem but it has not; why?

Thank you for any help you can offer.

Laura

 

[Murray Foote]

Hi Laura

Unless under Catalog Settings/ Metadata you have [Automatically write changes to XMP] checked, there will be no XMP containing your Develop changes, it will just be in your catalog.

Clearly you don't have that checked (and some advocate not having it checked for improved performance) so what you need to do before exporting the relevant files is to select them and then click Metadata/ Save Metadata to Files ([Ctrl]). That saves your changes from the catalog to the XMP.

 

[Laura Fitch]

Thank you. I actually do have my Lightroom set to automatically updated metadata changes to XMP, so that wasn't the problem. However, I am still using the CS4 suite on my Mac Pro which is not handling the XMP files after my Lightroom upgrade. I found that everything works fine if I use CS6 on my company provided laptop. So, I'm guessing Cumulus 8.6 is not, yet, up to date with Lightroom 4, either.