Section 14. Adding Metadata to Documents

#14. Adding Metadata to Documents

Metadata is information stored with a file that helps you track who created it, what it's for, and what's in it. Metadata is particularly useful as search criteria when using Adobe Bridge to manage filesfor example, you can save keywords with documents and then search for documents containing those keywords. While metadata can be extremely detailed and powerful, you can customize it to your workflow so you're only storing the metadata you actually need. For example, you can limit your use of metadata to simply saving the name of a file's creator with it. Or, you can extend the use of metadata to include copyright information, keywords, details about the source of imported text and graphic files, and much more.

To store metadata with the active document, choose File > File Info. Use the File Info dialog box (Figure 14) to save categories of information with the document. In the Description panel, you can fill in any of the fields that might be helpful to you in locating the document or tracking its information.

• Document Title, Author, Author Title: In these fields, you might type information such as the name of the file, the name of the person who created it, and the person's job title. Or, you might type an article headline, the writer's name, and the writer's affiliation.

• Description and Description Writer: Type a description of what the file contains and the name of the person who wrote the description.

• Keywords: Type keywords to associate with the document when searching for it. Separate multiple keywords with commas.

• Copyright Status, Copyright Notice, Copyright Info URL: If you want to store copyright information with a document, you can choose Copyrighted from the Copyright Status menu. If available, type or paste the Copyright Notice in the field or click Go to URL to link to the notice. If you know the information is not copyrighted, you can choose Public Domain from the menu.

Figure 14. The Description panel in the File Info dialog box lets you save metadata with a document, including keywords and copyright information.

Metadata Format

InDesign stores metadata in Extensible Metadata Platform format, or XMP. The XMP format is based on XML and is compatible with Adobe Bridge and all the Adobe Creative Suite applications. This allows you to use the same metadata strategy throughout your creative workflow.

Tip

For consistency, if you have saved information with files before, you can choose that information from menus to the right of the fields. For example, you can choose keywords from a list to make sure you're using the same words each time.

To display other panels of information in the File Info dialog box, click options in the list at left. The remaining panels let you track the source of imported images and text files, including content from news sources. The Advanced panel lets you import, export, and append metadata.