Using Metadata
The prefix meta comes from the ancient Greek preposition mean-
ing (among other things) after. Nowadays, based in part on English
critic Samuel Johnson’s derisive characterization of fanciful 17th-
century poets as “metaphysical” (by which he meant contrived), it
has come to mean beyond. And so it is, metadata is data beyond
the realm of the image.
In sum, metadata is extra information heaped on top of the core
image that most applications don’t pay any attention to. True to
Johnson’s vision, metadata is whatever the poet decides to make of it.
Fortunately, despite its otherworldly timbre, metadata has practical ap-
plications. Digital cameras use metadata to record the focal length, ex-
posure time, f-stop, and other illuminating information. Search engines
use it to retrieve topics and keywords. And designers and photogra-
phers can use it to store copyright statements and contact information.
If that doesn’t stoke the fires of your pecuniary self-interest, perhaps
the following steps will:
Figure 1-22.- Open the Bridge. If you’re still in the
Bridge, stay there. If you’ve wandered
into Photoshop, mosey back out by press-
ing Ctrl+Alt+O (�-Option-O) or clicking
the icon in the options bar. - Navigate to the Provence
folder. This folder is located
inside the Lesson 01 folder in-
side Lesson Files-PsCS5 1on1. Therein,
you’ll find eight photos from a trip I took
to the South of France, where I spent a
glorious week overindulging on cheese
and gorgeous photo opportunities. - Shift your focus to the Metadata
panel. You’ll be working inside the
Metadata panel in the bottom-left
portion of the Bridge, so start by clicking
the Metadata tab on the left side of the
screen to bring it to the front, as I did
in Figure 1-22. If you’re in a different
workspace from where we left off in the
last exercise, and the Metadata panel isn’t
available, choose Window→Metadata
Panel.
Using Metadata 25