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Metadata & IPTC

FLOGVIT.culling gives you full control over image metadata — from reading EXIF to writing IPTC fields, hierarchical keywords, GPS data, and more.

EXIF Sidebar

Press I to open the info sidebar. It displays:

  • Camera & lens — Body, lens model, serial number
  • Exposure — Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation
  • Focal length — Actual and 35mm equivalent
  • Date & time — Capture time with timezone
  • GPS — Coordinates with link to open in Maps
  • File info — Format, dimensions, file size
  • Histogram — RGB and luminance channels
  • Sharpness score — Laplacian variance analysis

IPTC Editor

Open the IPTC editor from the context menu or press the IPTC button in the sidebar. Fields include:

  • Headline — Short title for the image
  • Caption — Longer description of what's shown
  • Keywords — Tags for searchability
  • Credit — Photo agency or credit line
  • Byline — Photographer name
  • City, State, Country — Location fields
  • Special Instructions — Usage notes for editors

All fields support auto-complete from your previously used values. When you start typing, matching suggestions appear instantly.

Hierarchical Keywords

Keywords can be organized in a tree structure:

Nature
  ├── Birds
  │   ├── Eagle
  │   └── Owl
  └── Mammals
      └── Fox

When you apply a child keyword like "Eagle", the parent keywords "Birds" and "Nature" are automatically included. This is compatible with Lightroom's keyword hierarchy.

IPTC Templates

Save frequently used metadata as templates:

  1. Fill in the IPTC fields you want to reuse
  2. Click Save as Template
  3. Name it (e.g., "Concert - Rockefeller", "Wedding - Standard")

Apply a template to selected images during import or at any time during culling.

Code Replacements

Define short codes that expand to full values:

  • #vg → "VG / Vegard Hanssen"
  • #oslo → Sets city to "Oslo", country to "Norway"
  • #concert → Adds keywords "concert", "music", "live", "performance"

Codes are typed directly in any IPTC field and expand on Tab.

IPTC Snapshot

Copy all IPTC metadata from one image and paste it to others:

  1. Select the source image
  2. Copy IPTC from the context menu
  3. Select one or more target images
  4. Paste IPTC — all fields are applied

Useful when a batch of images from the same event needs identical caption/keywords.

Find & Replace

Search and replace across metadata fields in your entire folder:

  • Works on caption, headline, keywords, and other text fields
  • Supports regular expressions for advanced patterns
  • Preview matches before applying
  • Apply to all images or only selected ones

GPS & Geo-Tagging

Viewing GPS Data

Images with embedded GPS coordinates show a location pin in the sidebar with:

  • Latitude and longitude
  • Clickable link to open in Google Maps or Apple Maps

GPS Tracklog

Load a GPX or KML tracklog file to geo-tag images that don't have GPS:

  1. Go to Tools → Load GPS Tracklog
  2. Select your GPX/KML file
  3. Set the time offset if your camera clock was off
  4. FLOGVIT.culling matches each image's capture time to the nearest track point
  5. GPS coordinates are written to XMP sidecars

This is especially useful for cameras without built-in GPS when combined with a phone or dedicated GPS logger.

Timezone Adjustment

If your camera was set to the wrong timezone:

  1. Select the affected images
  2. Go to Tools → Adjust Timezone
  3. Set the offset (e.g., +2 hours)
  4. Timestamps are corrected in the XMP sidecar — original files are never modified

Audio Notes & Transcription

Some cameras record audio notes alongside images (as companion .wav or .mp3 files). FLOGVIT.culling detects these automatically and shows an audio icon on the image.

Playback

Press A to play or stop the audio note for the current image. Playback stops automatically when you navigate away.

AI Transcription

FLOGVIT.culling can transcribe audio notes to text using OpenAI Whisper, turning spoken descriptions into searchable metadata.

How It Works

  1. Navigate to an image with an audio note
  2. The transcription appears in the Audio Note section of the metadata sidebar
  3. Click Copy to paste the text into IPTC fields, or save it directly to XMP

If auto-transcription is enabled, transcription runs automatically when you navigate to an image with an untranscribed audio note.

Setting Up

Go to Settings → AI Services to configure:

  • API Key — Your OpenAI API key, stored securely in the OS keychain (Keychain)
  • Auto-transcribe — Automatically transcribe when navigating to images with audio notes
  • XMP Storage — Choose where to save transcriptions: dc:description (Caption) or exif:UserComment

On first use, a setup wizard guides you through entering your API key.

Caching

Transcriptions are cached locally using a hash of the audio file. If you re-open a folder, previous transcriptions load instantly without calling the API again. The cache is stored in ~/.cache/flogvit/transcriptions/.

Press Workflow

Audio transcription is especially useful for press photographers who dictate captions in the field:

  1. Record audio notes on your camera while shooting
  2. Import into FLOGVIT.culling — audio notes are detected automatically
  3. Transcriptions appear as you browse through your selects
  4. Copy the transcription into the IPTC caption field, edit as needed
  5. Upload with complete captions — no manual typing required

Batch Operations

All metadata operations work on multiple selected images:

  • Cmd+A to select all, then apply IPTC template
  • Multi-select with Cmd+Click, then paste IPTC
  • Find & Replace across the entire folder

XMP Sidecars

All metadata changes are written to XMP sidecar files (.xmp). Original RAW files are never modified. XMP sidecars are compatible with:

  • Adobe Lightroom
  • Capture One
  • darktable
  • Photo Mechanic
  • Any software that reads XMP

For JPEG and DNG files, metadata can optionally be written directly into the file.