XMP Schema for Gig Photos - v1.0

Introduction

This page describes a custom XMP metadata schema I have developed and use for cataloguing my gig photos, and contains the technical information you will require in order to view or use this metadata and integrate it into desktop searching tools. XMP is Adobe's eXtensible Metadata Platform which provides a framework for embedded document metadata and is used by Photoshop and other Adobe applications for management of metadata embedded into image files such as JPEGs and TIFFs. XMP is an XML format based on the public Resource Description Framework (RDF) standard.

I now use this technology for incorporating metadata into my photographs - all gig photos added to this site since 13/8/06 include XMP metadata using this schema in addition to the standard ones.

This page contains the following information:

the schema's URI, preferred XML namespace prefix and GUID;
the specification of the schema's properties;
some further explanatory notes; and
additional resources and references, including a Photoshop custom metadata panel for this schema and some configuration files to help incorporate it into standard desktop searching tools on Windows using IFilterShop's XMP IFilter desktop file search plugin v2.0.

Schema namespace URI

http://www.roscalen.com/GigPhotos/1.0/

Preferred schema namespace prefix

GigPhoto

GUID

I have allocated this schema a GUID of {07C5D1BA-029E-4836-BDEC-73E98635B0E8} for use with IFilterShop's XMP IFilter desktop file search plugin v2.0.

Properties

Property	Value Type	Category	Description
artist	Text	External	The name of the artist performing.
artistURL	Text	External	The website URL of the artist performing.
members	bag Text	External	An unordered array listing the band members performing.
instruments	bag Text	External	An unordered array listing the instruments being played. May include vocals, etc.
event	Text	External	The name of the event, where applicable, eg for a festival.
eventURL	Text	External	The website URL of the event, where applicable.
sponsor	Text	External	The name of the sponsoring organisation, where applicable, eg the Classic Rock Society.
sponsorURL	Text	External	The website URL of the sponsoring organisation, where applicable.
promoter	Text	External	The name of the promoter, where applicable.
promoterURL	Text	External	The website URL of the promoter, where applicable.
venue	Text	External	The name of the venue.
venueURL	Text	External	The website URL of the venue.

Notes

This schema is designed to be used in conjunction with the standard Photoshop, Dublin Core, and IPTC Core schemas (it is also complementary to EXIF). The custom panel also includes fields linked to the following standard properties from those schemas:
- dc:title
- Iptc4xmpCore:Location
- photoshop:City (labelled as Town: on the panel to reflect UK practice)
- photoshop:State (labelled as County: on the panel to reflect UK practice)
- photoshop:Country (populated as England, Wales or Scotland in my British photos)
- Iptc4xmpCore:CountryCode (ISO country code, eg GBR)
- photoshop:DateCreated (should contain the date of the gig or event).
The artist and artistURL properties are defined as single text items, rather than arrays. This reflects the fact that normally artists at gigs perform one after another. The artist property can still be filled with a list of multiple artists if appropriate.

Resources

Custom metadata panel for Adobe Photoshop CS2. Saving this file in an appropriate directory will allow you to view metadata from this schema using the Photoshop File Info dialogue or the metadata pane in Bridge. The appropriate directories for Windows users are normally C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\XMP\Custom File Info Panels or C:\Documents and Settings\{user}\Application Data\Adobe\XMP\Custom File Info Panels; for Macintosh users, {root volume}/Library/Application Support/Adobe/XMP/Custom File Info Panels or {home directory}/Library/Application/Adobe/XMP/Custom File Info Panels. Subsitute the appropriate actual strings for the italicised portions in braces. In either case, saving in the first directory makes the panel available to all users of the machine, while the second directory is local to the current user.
a schema configuration file for use with IFilterShop's XMP IFilter plugin v2.0, which now supports custom XMP schemas thus allowing metadata values to be used in Windows file searches. This only includes some of the custom properties, so you can customise it if you wish to include others or remove some of the ones I use - see the Readme file provided with the XMP IFilter for further information and instructions.
a Windows regedit script to create the registry keys required to register this schema with the XMP IFilter. This file assumes you have installed the above schema configuration file in the directory C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\GigPhotos - if not, you will need to edit the last line of this script accordingly before executing it.
the XMP SDK on Adobe's site contains important reference information including the XMP Specification;
Adobe's site also contains further information on developing custom panels for Photoshop and other Adobe applications; and
for information about RDF, visit www.w3.org/RDF/.