You’ll have puzzled what’s an XMP file and – extra importantly – the way it works. Generally this may be exhausting to grasp, so we’re right here to clear the fog.
An XMP file is a compressed container for metadata supported by apps akin to Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and others. However that’s a bit obscure, so let’s get extra particular!
What’s an XMP File?
XMP stands for Extensible Metadata Platform. An XMP file (additionally known as a sidecar file) preserves any extra metadata utilized to that file. This enables the data to be saved individually and keep intact between gadgets.
To exemplify: in a picture modifying app, the edits you make are utilized to a RAW file (the picture that comes straight out of your digital camera). These edits are saved in a separate sidecar file or inside a catalog (e.g., Lightroom catalog).
Lightroom can solely retailer modifying data in a catalog or XML file as a result of it doesn’t have entry to proprietary RAW recordsdata.
In a nutshell:
An XMP file is a metadata file that shops the settings you utilized to a photograph in apps like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. This data inside an XMP file consists of:
- EXIF data – digital camera settings (publicity data like aperture, iso, and shutter pace), time, date, and key phrases that describe the file.
- Edit data – changes made to publicity, white steadiness, and shade saturation, in addition to every other adjustments you made to the photograph’s look
XMP recordsdata might be edited extra simply – that’s, with out altering the unique file. They’re best once you need to protect your edits, like once you collaborate with different photographers and need to ship a sidecar file, so that they see the adjustments you made to a picture.
This information is often embedded in sure recordsdata, akin to open format pictures like JPEG, PNG, GIF, and TIFF.
I Do Not See XMP Information in My Library
By default, Lightroom embeds XMP data inside Lightroom Catalog with out producing XMP sidecar recordsdata. If that’s the case, you have to allow this perform in Catalog Settings.
Methods to allow XMP sidecar recordsdata in Lightroom:
- Within the high toolbar, you may see the tab Edit (“Lightroom Traditional” on Mac) – click on on it
- From the dropdown menu, choose the “Catalog Settings” possibility
- Click on on the “Metadata” tab
- Verify the “Mechanically write adjustments into XMP” field
If you wish to disable this function, return to “Catalog Settings” and uncheck “Mechanically write adjustments into XMP.”
Should you’re working with RAW recordsdata and have this perform turned on, Lightroom will mechanically write modifying directions to the .xmp file every time you edit the chosen picture – which means it’s going to do this at each slider you progress in Lightroom.
Utilizing XMP sidecar recordsdata is sweet if you wish to protect your modifying data in case your catalog will get corrupted. Additionally, XMP recordsdata take up little or no house in your exhausting drive. Nevertheless, it slows down Lightroom!
In the end, it’s as much as you to decide on which possibility works greatest for you.
XMP Information and Lightroom Develop Presets
Earlier than, Lightroom had restricted modifying capability and solely allowed for RAW file managing. The Lightroom Develop Preset aimed to make modifying as accessible as doable, enabling non-destructive modifying.
What’s Non-destructive Modifying?
You’ll see a bunch of RAW and XMP recordsdata with the identical identify piled collectively in your exhausting drive. RAW recordsdata are taken out of your digital camera – they haven’t any information connected to them. XMP recordsdata are metadata recordsdata: the data saved in them consists of EXIF information and any modifying you might need executed in apps like Lightroom.
When modifying RAW recordsdata In Lightroom, all of the adjustments are saved within the XMP file. For instance, when you transfer a slider in Lightroom, you may see the edits you made with that slider within the sidecar file (the XMP file). So when you learn it in a textual content editor, you’ll see these edits you made offered as modifying directions.
As you see, you may edit any picture by altering the values contained in the XMP sidecar and with out touching Lightroom sliders. After all, it will not be sensible.
All these edits you make are reworked right into a JPEG preview with all of the adjustments within the app. The RAW file stays unaltered this complete time.
Sidecar vs Preset
Once you need to save edits utilized to the chosen picture as a preset, Lightroom takes all modifying directions from sidecar and saves them as Develop Preset utilizing the XMP file format.
In a nutshell, the Lightroom develop preset is identical XMP sidecar file with a unique perform.
Once you apply the develop preset to the picture, the modifying directions might be copied from the preset in XMP format to the sidecar XMP file; Lightroom then reads this file and generates a preview with all these values.
Having a sidecar file permits edits to be shared between apps. For instance, you can begin modifying a picture in Lightroom, proceed in Photoshop, and ship it over the cloud in Lightroom Cell – with out dropping any modifying information.
Methods to Open XMP Information in Lightroom?
There isn’t a approach to open the XMP file in Lightroom. This system manages all XMP recordsdata mechanically with out you having to do something.
However you may open the XMP file outdoors Lightroom.
If you wish to see or change the data inside an XMP file, you may open it utilizing a textual content editor:
- Go to a textual content editor, like Notepad++
- View or edit the XMP file as a textual content file
*You should utilize textual content editors if you wish to duplicate presets, as Lightroom doesn’t have this function. Simply duplicate the preset within the file browser and alter the identify contained in the XMP file so Lightroom can see it.
Producing XMP Information on Demand
If you wish to share a RAW file with all of the edits, you may embody a sidecar file subsequent to it. You additionally may not need Lightroom slowing issues down by writing .xmp recordsdata each time – possibly you need to depart this option to you.
Methods to create one XMP file:
Edit your photograph and hit the “Ctrl-S” (Command-S on Mac) keyboard shortcut. Lightroom will create a separate .xmp sidecar file with all of your adjustments.
Different to XMP recordsdata:
There’s additionally a method round this. You possibly can create a DNG file, so that you don’t should ship each an XMP and a RAW file – all the data might be embedded on this one DNG file.
Methods to convert a photograph do DNG file format:
- Go to the Library module.
- Under the Library menu within the higher toolbar, choose ‘Convert Photograph to DNG.’
In the end, you may export a photograph as a DNG picture, and all XMP data might be embedded contained in the DNG picture.
What’s an XMP File? | Ultimate Ideas
At its most simple degree, an XMP file is a sidecar file containing extra details about a picture. However as we’ve seen, there’s rather more to XMP recordsdata than meets the attention.
Now that you understand all the pieces about XMP recordsdata, it’s as much as you to resolve if you wish to use them repeatedly in your modifying workflow or simply each now and again.