ANATOLY IVANOV / METHODS / CAPTIONS

ABOUT IPTC / XMP METADATA

IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) and Adobe implemented an XML standard for storing text captions in digital photographs. They called the text data about the image “IPTC / XMP metadata”.

Every image file present on my web site or delivered to the client contains IPTC / XMP metadata.

PRESERVE IPTC / XMP METADATA

Please do not delete IPTC / XMP metadata in my images.

In today’s digital world, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify and classify billions of digital images. IPTC / XMP metadata helps with the process.

Be aware that you can unintentionally delete IPTC / XMP metadata. Programs that can’t read IPTC / XMP metadata discard it upon saving. Most programs used for image optimization for the web, such as Adobe Photoshop “Save for Web” plug-in, Adobe ImageReady and Adobe Fireworks, delete IPTC / XMP metadata to reduce file size. Please always make sure that the new image file still contains original IPTC / XMP metadata.

Please remember that preservation of original IPTC / XMP metadata in my photographs is one of the legal conditions of my Comping Use License Agreement. The Comping Use License Agreement lets you view and download images from my web site for consideration and layout testing use.

READ IPTC / XMP METADATA

You can open any of my images, either low resolution files on my web site or high resolution files delivered for final use, in an application capable of reading IPTC / XMP metadata and consult detailed information about it:

// Contact information

// Content information

// Image information

// Image status

Some of the programs that read IPTC / XMP metadata are: Adobe Photoshop (Mac OS, Windows), Media Pro (Mac OS, Windows), ACDSee (Windows), Photo Mechanic (Mac OS, Windows), GraphicConverter (Mac OS), jBrout (Linux, Windows).

INACCURACIES IN CAPTIONS

I do my best to supply precise and complete captions with each photograph. However, inaccuracies do occur.

Unfortunately, I was unaware of the value of captions in my early years of photography. 27 years later, I can no longer remember the exact date of a shoot, sometimes even the exact location. In such cases, I estimate at least the month and city.

My paintings date even farther back into the past. Some paintings that survived in my archives were created at the age of 14. Moreover, I adhered to the tradition of painters to loosely date their creations. For the IPTC / XMP metadata of photographic reproductions of my paintings, I use the date found on the painting. Unfortunately, I also forgot who and when did some of the paintings and drawings that served for my replicas while studying painting. I admire the masters and apologize for the missing credit for their work.

Fortunately, my digital cameras have been adding accurate dates to the RAW files of my photographs since June 2003. I have also made a habit to fill the metadata soon after the shoot.

If you find inaccuracies in the captions of my photographs and photographic reproductions of my paintings and know how to correct them, please contact me.

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