Working with Keywords and Metadata


As you'll see later in this chapter, Aperture provides a powerful organizational feature in the form of albums. With albums, you can easily group the images from a shoot into different categories. For example, you might create separate albums for the indoor and outdoor images from a location. Albums are great for grouping images by broad categories. But suppose that, in addition to grouping indoor and outdoor shots, you want to be able to select images that have only male or female models. Do you create separate albums for these, and then separate albums for "female models indoors" and "female models outdoors" and so on?

Keywords and metadata are descriptive words and phrases that can be applied to any image. Because you can apply many different keywords and metadata tags to an image, you can perform very complex searches. In the previous example, you could tag your images with indoor and outdoor keywords as well as male and female keywords. Or you could use albums to divide your images by model gender and then use keywords to search for indoor or outdoor images within each album.

Keywords and metadata have an additional organizational advantage over albums in that they allow for the possibility of future searches that you haven't thought of yet.

Note

Technically, keywords are metadata. The keywords you enter in Aperture are stored in the version file that you're working on, along with all of the other non-EXIF metadata (EXIF metadata is stored in the header of the original image file). When we refer to metadata, we're referring to all of these different categories of metadata.


Defining Keywords

Aperture provides several ways to apply keywords to an image. To add keywords to the current primary select, you can enter the keywords in the Keywords field of the Metadata inspector (Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3. To add a keyword to the current primary select, enter it in the Keywords field of the Metadata inspector. You can enter keywords for the current selection using the Keyword fields on the control bar and in the Metadata inspector.


If you want to add a keyword to all of the currently selected files, you can enter it in the Add Keyword field on the control bar (Figure 4.4).

Figure 4.4. If you enter a keyword in the Add Keyword field on the control bar, it will be added to all of the currently selected images.


However, keywording goes much faster if you perform your keywording chores using the keyword buttons on the toolbar and the Keywords HUD. With a little thought, you'll probably find that you can define most or all of your keywords at once.

The Keywords HUD provides a simple interface for defining keywords (Figure 4.5). You open it by pressing Shift-H or by choosing Window > Show Keywords HUD.

Figure 4.5. The Keywords HUD provides a simple interface for defining keywords, as well as for applying them to batches of images.


When you first open the Keywords HUD, you'll find it prestocked with a number of keywords: Weddings, Stock Categories, Photojournalism, and so on. If you click the reveal arrow next to any of these keywords, you'll find additional keywords related to each subject. Some of those keywords may have subkeywords of their own.

To help you keep your keywords organized, the Keywords HUD lets you create hierarchical keywords. If you group your keywords into hierarchical families, you'll have a much easier time finding a particular keyword in the Keywords HUD, particularly as your list of keywords grows.

Tip

Aperture includes lots of predefined keywords that you may never use. You can easily delete these keywords by selecting them in the Keywords HUD and then pressing the Delete key on your keyboard. When you delete a keyword, any child keywords are also deleted.


Creating Keywords

The Keywords HUD provides two simple buttons for creating keywords (Figure 4.6).

Figure 4.6. You can create and delete keywords using the buttons at the bottom of the Keywords HUD.


Add Keyword creates a keyword at the same level as the currently selected keyword. If no keywords are selected, it creates a keyword at the root level.

Add Subordinate Keyword adds a child keyword beneath the currently selected keyword. (This button is available only when a keyword is selected.) Subordinate keywords provide a way for you to keep the Keywords HUD organized. If you group your keywords hierarchically, you'll have a much easier time finding and navigating the Keywords HUD.

Remove Keyword deletes the currently selected keyword.

Adding Keywords to an Image

Aperture provides several ways to apply keywords to an image, and you can freely switch from one to another. Depending on how you have your interface configured, you may find some methods easier than others.

You can assign keywords at any time during your workflow, and you may find that you tweak and change keyword assignments throughout your post-production process. However, you should at least make an initial keyword pass early in your workflow as this will make some later editing operations easier.

Adding Keywords Using the Keywords HUD

In addition to letting you define keywords, the Keywords HUD lets you add keywords to any image using simple dragging and dropping.

1.

Select one or more keywords (you can select multiple keywords by Shift- or Command-clicking keywords in the Keywords HUD, just as you can use Shift-and Command-clicking to select multiple images).

2.

Drag the selected keywords from the Keywords HUD onto the image that you want to add them to. You can drop keywords onto thumbnails or images displayed in the Viewer pane.

Note

You can add keywords to images that are not selected. Later in this section, you'll learn more about the use of selections when keywording.


You can quickly find a particular keyword in the Keywords HUD by typing its name in the Search box at the top of the Keywords HUD. As you type, Aperture will display all images that have keywords that match your search.

If your current view options include the display of badges, after you add a keyword (using any technique) Aperture will superimpose a small badge over the image in both the Browser and Viewer panes (Figure 4.7), so you can quickly see which images have been keyworded. Later in this chapter, you'll see how to turn off this display.

Figure 4.7. Images that have keywords applied to them will display a small badge.


Adding Keywords Using the Metadata Inspector

In any layout, you can press I to open the Inspector pane. The Metadata panel in the lower part of the Inspector pane allows you to view all of the metadata of the current primary select. To view the keywords attached to the current image, open the pop-up menu at the top of the Metadata inspector and select General or Caption and Keywords (Figure 4.8). Other sets also allow you to see the keywords metadata; it doesn't matter which you use to view your keywords.

Figure 4.8. From the top of the Metadata inspector, you can select the meta-data set that you want to view.


Using the Metadata inspector, you can also add keywords to the current primary select by typing keywords directly in the Keywords field in the Inspector pane. You can even type keywords that are not currently defined in the Keywords HUD. Note, however, that if you enter an undefined keyword in the Metadata inspector, that keyword will not be added to the Keywords HUD. Editing keywords in the Inspector pane is really useful only for making simple changes to keywords or for applying keywords that are specific to that individual image.

Adding Keywords Using Control Bar Buttons

The Aperture control bar (the bar full of controls at the bottom of the Aperture window) provides simple buttons for assigning keywords (Figure 4.9). Though there will be times when you'll use each of Aperture's keyword controls, you'll probably find the control bar buttons to be the speediest mechanism for assigning keywords.

Figure 4.9. The Aperture control bar includes, among other things, buttons that let you easily assign keywords.


By default, the control bar is not visible in all layouts. You can toggle it on and off by pressing Shift-D.

The number of keyword buttons displayed on the control bar depends on the size of your monitor. However, the control bar will expand to fill as much horizontal space as you can provide, so you can see more buttons if you close the Inspector pane and choose a layout that doesn't have a Projects view, such as the Ratings and Keywords layout.

To add a keyword to the currently selected image using the control bar, click the appropriate button. Note that the first eight buttons are numbered with keyboard shortcuts, which allow you to apply those buttons' keywords with a single keystroke.

By default, Aperture shows a predefined set of keyword buttons. You can change from one button set to another using the pop-up menu on the right side of the control bar.

Creating a Keyword Button Set

If you have created custom keywords and want to be able to assign them using control bar buttons, then you need to define a new button set.

Follow these steps to create a custom button set:

1.

Open the control bar pop-up menu and select Edit Buttons to open the button set editor (Figure 4.10).

Figure 4.10. The button set editor lets you define new keyword buttons for the control bar.


The button set editor is divided into several panels: one that contains a list of the current button sets, a second that displays the contents of the currently selected button set, and a third that displays all currently defined keywords.

When you select a button set in the Button Sets panel, the Contents panel will display all of the buttons that have been defined for that set. As with keywords, Aperture comes with several button sets predefined. Feel free to delete or deactivate the categories that you don't expect to use.

2.

To delete a button set, select it and then click the - button below the Button Sets panel.

3.

To deactivate a button set so that it won't appear in the Button Sets pop-up menu, uncheck the box to the left of the button set's name.

4.

To create a new, empty button set, click the + button below the Button Sets panel and enter a new name. The Contents panel will appear empty because you have not yet added any buttons to your new set.

The Keywords Library panel includes the exact same display and controls as the Keywords HUD. With it, you can add and delete keywords and use the Search box to find a particular keyword.

5.

To add keywords to the currently selected button set, drag the keywords from the Keywords Library panel into the Contents panel.

Note that if you drag a subordinate keyword, its parent will be listed in parentheses (Figure 4.11). However, these parenthetical additions will not be displayed on the buttons themselves, so if you have two subordinate keywords with the same name, you may want to edit the names to make them more easily identifiable when they're displayed alone on the buttons in the control bar.

Figure 4.11. Subordinate keywords are displayed with their parent keyword in parentheses.


6.

When you're done creating your button set, click OK to save the set and dismiss the Edit Button Sets dialog box.

Note that Aperture does not automatically display any of the new button sets. To see your new buttons, you must select them from the Button Set pop-up menu on the control bar.

You can add as many buttons as you want to a button set. However, as you add buttons, Aperture will need to display them at smaller and smaller sizes to fit them on the control bar. In addition, only the first eight buttons receive keyboards shortcuts (the keys 1 through 8). If you want to be able to drive your keywording efforts entirely from the keyboard, then you should confine your button sets to eight buttons.

As you'll see in a moment, Aperture provides keyboard shortcuts for changing from one button set to another. To facilitate completely keyboard-driven keywording, you should create several button sets of eight buttons each rather than one giant button set with lots of buttons. If you confine your keywords to the first eight buttons in a set, then you can add them to an image by selecting the image and pressing 1 through 8.

Switching Between Button Sets

You can switch to the next or previous button set using the . (period) and , (comma) keys. If you keep related button sets next to each other in the button set list, then you can easily switch between sets and apply the bulk of your keywords without ever touching the mouse.

Note

If you have unchecked any button sets in the Edit Button Sets dialog box, then the Button Set pop-up menu on the control bar may become confused if you change button sets using the . and , keys. If you find yourself facing this issue, try deleting the unwanted button sets rather than unchecking them.


With a little thought, you can strategically place your buttons so that commonly used keywords have a keyboard equivalent, and keywords that you use only rarely are applied using the mouse. In our example, we relegated the broad categories of Performance and Rehearsal to mouse-driven buttons because we can very quickly select the relevant images and apply these two keywords; then we can step through our images individually to apply other relevant keywords using the keyboard.

Adding Keywords to Multiple Images

By default, when you have multiple images selected, if you click a keyword button on the button bar, all of the selected images will receive the keyword. Similarly, if you drag a keyword from the Keywords HUD to any of the selected images, all of them will receive the keyword.

However, there may be times when you have multiple images selected so that you can view them side by side, but you want to assign a keyword only to the primary select. Aperture facilitates this operation through the Toggle Primary Only button on the toolbar (Figure 4.12).

Figure 4.12. The Toggle Primary Select button lets you control whether keywords are applied to every image in a selection or just to the primary select.


When Toggle Primary Only is activated, keyword buttons apply only to the primary select. You can tell when Toggle Primary Only is active because the thin white selection lines disappear from the secondary selects in the Viewer pane (Figure 4.13). Note that the Browser display does not change.

Figure 4.13. When Toggle Primary Select is on, only the primary select shows a selection border.


With Toggle Primary Only activated, dragging and dropping from the Keywords HUD will affect only the image that you drop onto, whether it's the primary select or one of the secondary selections. As before, you can also drop onto any thumbnail.

Editing metadata in the Metadata inspector always affects only the primary select.

Tip

You can control Toggle Primary Only by pressing the S key.


Editing Other Metadata

Just as you can edit keywords using the Metadata pane, you can edit many other metadata items.

From the pop-up menu at the top of the Metadata inspector, select the IPTC Expanded metadata set. This selection displays all of the standard IPTC metadata fields (Figure 4.14). You can freely edit any of these tags by entering data directly in the fields of the Metadata inspector.

Figure 4.14. The IPTC - Expanded metadata set in the Metadata inspector lets you view all of the standard IPTC fields.


Note

You cannot edit EXIF metadata using Aperture (or most other programs). There's really no need to edit EXIF metadata except the time stamp, and as you saw in Chapter 3, Aperture lets you store an adjusted time stamp with each version that you create.


Lifting and Stamping Metadata

Often, the easiest way to apply a complex set of keywords and metadata to an image is to copy the data from an image that you've already edited. Aperture's Lift and Stamp tools let you copy certain types of metadata from one image and paste it onto another image.

1.

Select the Lift tool by clicking its icon in the toolbar or by pressing O.

2.

Click an image that has the metadata and keywords that you want to copy.

After you click, Aperture will display the Lift and Stamp HUD, which lets you select the metadata tags that you want to copy (Figure 4.15). For example, if you want to copy only the IPTC metadata and keywords but not the keywords, you can uncheck Keywords and any other items that may be listed.



Figure 4.15. The Lift & Stamp HUD lets you select exactly which metadata you want to copy from one image to another. In this case, we're taking the IPTC tags and some custom metadata, but not the keywords.


After lifting, the Lift tool will automatically turn into the Stamp tool.

3.

With the Stamp tool, click another image to apply the lifted metadata to that image.

At the bottom of the Lift and Stamp HUD is a pop-up menu that, by default, says Add. In Add mode, Aperture will stamp only the metadata tags that don't already exist in the target image. If you change the menu to Replace, then the Stamp tool will replace all of the metadata in the target image.

If you performed any time or date adjustments when you imported the images, these adjustments will be listed as custom metadata tags.

Stamping Multiple Images

There are two ways to lift from one image and stamp onto a range of other images:

  • After lifting, click the Stamp tool on the first image in the range of images that you want to stamp. That image will be stamped. Then Shift-click the last image in the range of images that you want to stamp. The last image and all of the images between it and the first image you clicked will be stamped.

  • First select all of the target images that you want to stamp onto. Then use the Lift tool to click the thumbnail of the image that you want to copy from. When the Lift and Stamp HUD appears, click the Stamp Selected Images button to apply the lifted data to all of the selected images.

Tip

You can switch to the Select tool (the arrow cursor) at any time by pressing A. This shortcut is handy when you want to drop the current lift without stamping something.


Copying and Pasting Metadata

You can also copy and paste metadata from one image to another.

1.

Select the image that you want to copy from.

2.

Press Command-Shift-C to copy the metadata, or choose Metadata > Lift.

Unlike with the Lift and Stamp tools, Aperture won't show you the Lift and Stamp HUD. In fact, you'll get no feedback that any data was actually copied.

3.

Select the images that you want to apply the copied metadata to. You can select as many images as you want, and Aperture will apply the metadata to all of them.

4.

Press Command-Shift-V or choose Metadata > Paste to apply the copied metadata to the selected images.

When you copy and paste metadata in this way, only the fields that have data are copied. For example, if you copy metadata from an image that has only a version name and then paste that metadata onto an image that already has a version name and a caption, only the version name will be pasted. The original caption will remain the same.

As you may already have noticed, the keyboard shortcuts for copying and pasting metadata are simple variations on the standard Command-C, Command-V shortcuts for copying and pasting.

Building Metadata Template Images

You'll probably find that you routinely want to apply the same metadata to new batches of images. Although Aperture lacks a built-in metadata template facility, if you tag some documents using metadata that you routinely use, then you can easily lift and stamp these tags onto new images that you import into Aperture.

With just a little bit of effort, you can create a library of useful metadata sources.

1.

In your image editor of choice, create a 200 x 200-pixel RGB document.

2.

Using a large, easy-to-read typeface, fill the document with text that describes a group of metadata (Figure 4.16).



Figure 4.16. Using an image editor, you can create custom images that serve as metadata templates.


3.

Save the document using a descriptive name. To conserve space, save the file as a JPEG image.

4.

In Aperture, create a new project called "Metadata Library." Note the space at the beginning of the name. This will ensure that the Metadata Library project always sits at the top of your project list (Figure 4.17).

Figure 4.17. You can keep your metadata templates in a special metadata project so that they're always readily available for lifting and stamping.


5.

Import the document you just created into your Metadata Library project.

6.

Select the imported image and configure the metadata as needed.

You can now use the Lift and Stamp tools to copy this set of metadata to any other images.

Repeat the procedure to create additional metadata template documents. Because the image contains the name of the metadata template, you'll be able to select the appropriate template simply by looking at the thumbnails in the Metadata Library project (Figure 4.18).

Figure 4.18. You can easily spot the correct metadata template in your metadata library by looking at its thumbnail.


Tip

To further organize your metadata library, color-code the backgrounds of the metadata template documents you create.


Changing Metadata with Batch Change

You can also change metadata using the Batch Change command. Select the images you want to change and then choose Metadata > Batch Change or press Command-Shift-B. In the Batch Change dialog box, you can adjust the time zone of the selected images, as well as the version name or any other metadata field (Figure 4.19). (This is the same interface that you saw earlier in the Import dialog box; you can learn more about how it works in Chapter 3.)

Figure 4.19. The Batch Change dialog box lets you change the metadata tags, as well as the time offset and version name, of all currently selected images.


Be aware, though, that metadata tags that you define in the Batch Change dialog box are not added to your existing metadata fields; metadata tags that you define here replace any existing metadata tags on the selected images.

Controlling the Metadata Display

One of the most useful things you can do with metadata is simply view it. Aperture provides many ways to see the metadata attached to your images.

Viewing Image Tooltips

When you hover the mouse over an image thumbnail or an image in the Viewer pane and press T, Aperture displays a tooltip panel containing a selection of metadata for that image (Figure 4.20). You can also choose View > Image Tooltips to see this same display.

Figure 4.20. If you hover the mouse over any image or image thumbnail and press T, Aperture will display a floating HUD of metadata. Press T again to dismiss this display.


Once you've activated Image Tooltips, you can move the mouse over any other image or thumbnail to see its metadata tooltip.

Image Tooltips is a toggle; press T again to deactivate its display.

Viewing Metadata Overlays

In both the Browser and Viewer panes, Aperture can overlay metadata, allowing you to see the original file name, version name, rating, exposure setting, keywords, and any other metadata that you care to display.

1.

Choose View > Metadata Overlays > Grid View, or press U.

Aperture toggles the metadata overlays superimposed on the image thumbnails in the Browser pane (Figure 4.21).

Figure 4.21. When you activate metadata overlays for the Browser pane, Aperture will superimpose metadata information such as the filename and badges.


2.

Switch to a layout that provides a Viewer pane, such as Standard Layout (Command-Option-S).

3.

Select an image to view in the Viewer pane and give that image a three-star rating by pressing Command-Option 3.

You'll learn more about ratings in the next section.

4.

Choose View > Metadata Overlays > Viewer, or press Y, to toggle the display of metadata information in the Viewer pane (Figure 4.22).

Figure 4.22. Aperture can also display metadata overlays in the Viewer pane. Here, the current rating is superimposed over the image.


A three-star rating will appear in the lower-left corner of the image. This is the only metadata that is currently configured to appear in the Viewer metadata overlay.

Tip

Using these two keyboard shortcutsU for the Browser overlays and Y for the Viewer overlaysyou can easily turn metadata overlays on and off as you need them.


Changing the Metadata Overlay Display

Being able to see metadata superimposed on your image or thumbnail can be a great time-saver, particularly when you're sorting and comparing your images. However, these displays are useful only if they show the information that you need. You can select the metadata you want shown in the metadata overlays by using the View Options dialog box.

1.

Choose View > View Options or press Command-J.

The View Options dialog box (Figure 4.23) presents three panels for configuring your metadata overlay display. The first lets you configure the Viewer overlays, the second lets you specify the overlays for grid view and list view, and the third lets you control what is displayed in the Image Tooltips overlays.



Figure 4.23. Using the View Options dialog box, you can specify what metadata gets displayed when you activate metadata overlays in the Browser or Viewer pane. View Options also lets you configure the data that is displayed in the Image Tooltips pane.


For both the Viewer and Browser overlays, you can use the Placement pop-up menu to specify whether you want metadata superimposed on your images or listed below.

If you select the Show Labels option, then each metadata field will be labeled.

By default, the Viewer Set 1 overlay is configured to show the Viewer Basic meta-data set. The Viewer Set 2 overlay defaults to showing the Viewer Expanded metadata set, but with the metadata displayed below the image and the metadata labels turned on.

2.

Click Done to dismiss the dialog box; then make sure that the Viewer metadata overlay is active by choosing View > Metadata Overlays and making sure that Viewer is checked.

With an image selected, you should see a very basic metadata overlayprobably just a rating.

3.

Press Shift-Y to change from metadata overlay Set 1 to Set 2.

The image should shrink a little bit, and beneath it you should see, in addition to the rating, a detailed display of exposure information (Figure 4.24).

Figure 4.24. You can switch between two metadata sets by pressing Shift-Y, giving you easy access to a tremendous amount of metadata.


4.

Press Shift-Y again, and Aperture will switch back to Set 1.

With a little planning, you can define two sets of metadata that include all of the information that you'll ever want to view. At any time, you can switch between the two sets by pressing Shift-Y, or you can completely turn off the viewer metadata overlay by pressing Y.

You can perform the same type of configuration for the Browser pane by selecting different view sets in the Grid View pane of the View Options dialog box. You can toggle between these two sets by pressing Shift-U.

You can also customize the Image Tooltips view by selecting a different metadata set in the Image Tooltips pop-up menu of the View Options dialog box.

Defining a Metadata Set

Aperture takes a nice approach to metadata management. In the Metadata inspector, you can define sets of metadata tags and then select these sets from any of Aperture's metadata viewing facilities. With this global approach, you don't have to reconfigure the same meta-data selections in different parts of the program.

We're going to create a simple metadata set right now to fix one small shortcoming in Aperture's stock Browser view. By default, the metadata overlays for Aperture's Browser pane display the version name of each image. Sometimes, though, you may want to see the original filename instead of the version name, especially once you start saving the same image in multiple formats.

None of Aperture's standard metadata sets include a "filename with extension" option, so we'll create a new set that provides this feature.

1.

Open the Metadata inspector.

2.

Open the action menu in the upper-right corner of the Metadata inspector and choose New Set.

3.

Name the new set Filename with Extension.

The new name will appear at the top of the Metadata inspector to indicate that this set is currently active. The inspector itself will be empty, since the set currently contains no tags.

4.

Click the Other button.

The Other metadata category is displayed (Figure 4.25).

Figure 4.25. At the bottom of the Metadata inspector pane, you can select various categories of metadata tags to add to the current set.


5.

Select the check box next to File Name.

The File Name tag is added to the current set.

6.

If you don't have an image selected, select one now. Its name should appear in the File Name field in the Metadata inspector.

Note that the Browser view is still not showing filenames. This is because the Browser View preference is not configured to display this set. We'll get to that in a moment.

7.

You can select any other information that you want to display. If the tag you want does not appear in the Other category, then click one of the other buttons Keywords, EXIF, and so onto display those tags. When you're finished, click the selected category button again to close the keyword display.

8.

Open the View Options dialog box by pressing Command-J.

9.

In the Grid View Set 1 pop-up menu, select Filename with Extension. Configure the rest of the options as you like and then click Done.

10.

If necessary, activate the Grid View metadata overlay by pressing U.

You should see the full filename with the extension displayed for each image (Figure 4.26).

Figure 4.26. After you define the new set and select it in the View Options dialog box, the Browser pane displays filenames beneath each thumbnail.


If you like, you can also use this set for the Viewer display. Note that you can edit existing sets by selecting the set you want to edit and then choosing Edit Current Set from the action menu in the upper-right corner of the Metadata inspector. You may want to edit the set that you're using for your tooltip display to also include the full filename.

Badges

You've already seen that Aperture displays a small icon over your image after you add a keyword. Aperture has many of these "badges," which are intended to provide a simple way for you to determine specific properties of your image (Figure 4.27).

Figure 4.27. Aperture displays several different types of badges, which help you monitor the status of your images.


Badges are just like any other form of metadata. You can add them to any metadata set by opening the Other tab and selecting the Badges check box. The General, Ratings, Grid View - Basic, and Grid View - Expanded metadata sets all include badges in their overlays.

Badges are extremely handy. They provide you with a quick way to determine whether an image has been keyworded and rated (just look for the metadata badge) and to see which version of an image has been edited.

Because badges are part of the metadata set definition, you can't turn them off with a simple menu choice. If you want to see badgesor if you want to disable themyou'll need to edit the particular metadata set that you're viewing.


Using Sort Groups

If you select the Add Gaps Between Sort Groups preference in the Aperture Preferences dialog box, gaps will be placed between collections of thumbnails with similar metadata.

When this option is turned on, Aperture adds space between groups based on the type of sorting you have selected.

For example, in Figure 4.28, the Browser pane is being sorted by keyword (as indicated by the pop-up menu at the top of the Browser pane), so Aperture automatically added space between groups of images that have the same keywords.

Figure 4.28. When Add Gaps Between Sort Groups is selected, Aperture automatically separates images into groups based on the current search criteria.





Real World(c) Aperture
Real World Aperture
ISBN: 0321441931
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 106
Authors: Ben Long

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