Photo metadata guide · Updated 21 June 2026

EXIF, IPTC and XMP explained

Photo metadata can be technical, editorial or descriptive; it is not all stored or read in the same way.

EXIF

EXIF records camera, lens, date, exposure, ISO and sometimes GPS. It is useful for an archive but should be reviewed before you distribute an original.

IPTC and XMP

IPTC is commonly used for captions, creator, copyright and keywords. XMP is an extensible XML model used by creative tools for descriptions, rights and workflow data.

Programs may read and write different tags differently. Always inspect the exported file.

Open the EXIF editor →