Metadata in Creative Force

Setting up Metadata rules in Creative Force is a flexible and easy process. Below, we’ll cover how to set up Metadata Rules using standard Schema, how to create your own custom metadata XMP namespace, as well as some other helpful tips and tricks for configuring your metadata rules to your studio’s specific needs.

In Creative Force, Metadata is set up on a Preset level. If a position on the Style Guide is associated with a particular Preset, all assets pushed through the system and mapped to that position will receive the same Metadata configuration. To read more on Presets in general, check out this article.

When creating a new Preset, you’ll need to decide if you would like to use a 'Standard Schema' (We support the most common types: Dublin Core, IPTC, XMP, EXIF), or if you would like to create a 'Custom Namespace' for which we support XMP only.

We will cover the setup for both options below.

To create a Standard Schema, head to Studio Settings > Presets > Edit Preset:

Next, click Image Metadata in the upper right corner:

Then, select “Add”

Here, you can begin creating your metadata rules. First, you’ll select the Schema from the dropdown options:

You’ll then select the Property, the Property will populate within the metadata as the name of the value you are writing, and the value will be the value itself.
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For example, the Product’s Category can be written under the Category Property, the color under the Color Property, and the Product Code under the Product Code Property.

If you are writing the creation date of an asset, the Property you would select is CreateDate, while the value would be the date value itself, 5/23/2023.

There is a wide array of values that can be selected. To view the available tokens, select the “T” icon on the far right side of the Metadata Rule row.

With a Custom Namespace, all data written to that namespace will group together under the defined name when viewing the metadata.

Additionally, a Custom Namespace allows you to select from the custom Properties you have created within Creative Force that can then directly correspond to the property value you are writing.

To create a custom namespace, first, head to Studio Settings > Workspaces > Select Workspace > Edit > Metadata Namespace:

You can select “Add” to create new custom namespace, or edit an existing one:

Fill in the fields with the name of the Schema, and then add the properties you would like to write Metadata for:

Click Save. Next, you’ll head back to the Presets Tab. Within the Preset, select Edit > Image Metadata:

Note:

The custom Schema you created, along with the properties you added, will now be available from the Schema and Properties fields:

Creative Force now supports array data types for specific Metadata fields. When setting up Metadata Rules, you'll notice a new array icon for fields that support this feature. This is particularly useful for metadata schemas that expect multiple values.

To enable the array data type for a supported field:

Note:

To the right of each Metadata Rule field, you have the option to select the exclamation point icon, toggling this on will ensure that the system does not write the property if the property value is empty within the system.

For example, if no Model was added to the Team on Set, the system would not write the Model Height to the Metadata for the asset.

There may be circumstances where you only want certain values written to the metadata if the product meets certain criteria. Clicking the cubes icon to the right of the metadata rule will allow you to set conditional rules that allow you to fully customize when and how a value is written. To read more on conditional rules click here.

Metadata conditional rules can be created based on Production (whether producing an Outfit or not producing an Outfit), Property rules, and/or source rules (whether the Production was from vendor-provided imagery or photo production).

In the Property rule example above, the property value for “Size” will only be written if the Category of the Product is 'Jackets.'

In the lower-left corner of the Metadata Rules screen, there is a toggle for “Variant Specific”. Toggling the switch on adds a dropdown so you can select and write specific Metadata Rules for each variant you’ve created for the Preset separately:

In the upper right corner, you’ll notice a small toolbox icon. The Metadata Toolbox gives you two options to assist you as you set up your rules:

When you are done setting up your Metadata Rules, you can download an example here to verify that things are correct. The download will contain an example for each variant in your Preset.

Knowing which namespace and field to use is not always that easy with metadata, as various applications label fields differently. This tool lets you upload an image file containing Metadata the way you want it– and easily translate that into Metadata Rules here in Creative Force.

If you’ve already begun or completed production for a set of images and realize you need to update or change a Metadata Rule, simply head to Presets > Metadata Rules and make the update.
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Once complete, you can simply reset the Product to Asset Delivery, and the system will redeliver the assets with the changes applied as long as the value for the rules you created or changed is available in Creative Force.

The system will write Metadata in two steps during the production process. The first is during delivery to the External Post step, where all Metadata values applicable so far are written.
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Creative Force then again writes additional available Metadata at Asset Delivery; at this point, all Metadata will be available and written to the assets.

If you are looking to double-check the Metadata of an asset downloaded from Creative Force, we recommend using a tool called Exiftool. This free tool can be downloaded here. Once installed, open a terminal on your machine, type in exiftool, then add a space and drag and drop your image. Click “Enter” and the Metadata will populate on the screen.