Metadata group intros first digital photo standard

The Metadata Working Group on Wednesday announced the introduction of its first standard for the preservation of metadata, or ‘data about data’ in digital photographs at the Photokina 2008 show. The specification is meant to make organizing, sharing and searching for digital photos quicker and easier, as well as make working with digital photos compatible across all applications, devices and services. Current metadata standards typically overlap and do not provide interoperability options.

While details on the new specifications are thin, it is known that the initial guidelines focus on still photos and the most common consumer uses that will have the biggest effect for the average photographer in addition to addressing overlapping content in existing standards. Later on, the Group will work on more focused issues.

Adobe’s Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) metadata format is part of the new standards, allowing users to save information about the file in the file itself. Geotagging photos is another common example of metadata, allowing users to add information of when and where a photo was taken.

The group, made up of Adobe, Apple, Canon, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony, was formed in 2007.

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