Keywording Images

Choosing the right keywords is a significant factor in enhancing your image library. Even with relevant imagery in your server, unless you and your colleagues can find the appropriate shots instantly, the best photos will stay unused and old pictures will appear all too often.

Keywording images allows them to be retrieved by searching, instead of browsing. As soon as a collection of images becomes sufficiently large that not every image is familiar, finding your pictures is a process of search and categorisation.

A skilled approach to keywording images is often a matter of experience: knowing the intent behind a search. Foresight in keywording and structuring a library is an investment in time saved in the future.

Download our white paper on keywording

Third Light IMS includes a powerful search engine, with a standard and advanced mode to suit all users. It is based around industry standards like XMP, and ensures future-proof keywording as well as efficient and intuitive searching. IMS also gives you feedback on searches that have been run, so that you can refine your keywords based on real-world use.

What is Metadata and XMP?

Metadata helps to describe the contents of a file. Basic metadata is often seen in the File Info or Document Properties box found in many software applications, eg. PhotoShop. Many asset management systems captures some metadata and display this to you. In modern operating systems, meta data is used to allow desktop searches.

XMP-enabled applications allow information to be embedded within the file. Meaningful descriptions and keywords, origination and copyright information can be captured in a standard format that is understood by you and other compatible software.

XMP is an open-source technology, available to all developers, which means that XMP is widely-adopted. It is also extensible, and can accommodate existing metadata schemas as well as new and emerging standards.