Uploading images, how to include meta keywords

  • Hi there,
    I’m working on a photo library that will be searchable. I’m trying to figure out though, where WordPress pulls the meta data from in an uploaded image file.

    In other words, if I edit my file info in Photoshop, I’ve tried putting keywords under description, and under keywords, but neither area seems to be read by WordPress upon upload. I have had images in the past that seemed to include this data, but I hadn’t added it myself.

    Is there a way to add all that to images prior to upload so they auto-populate the alt tags field when I upload to the media library? I guess it’s EXIF data or something? Not sure.

    Thanks in advance.

    ~Laura

    • This topic was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by thePixelPixie.
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  • Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    What meta data are you after? Outside of physical properties like pixel and file size, WP does not import any image meta data. Any additional data like description, caption, alternate attribute, are input through the WP UI and do not come from the image file.

    There are plugins capable of extracting EXIF data and saving it with attachment postmeta. The EXIF data of the original file should be preserved, but any resized images will not have the data any longer. This is a shortcoming of the image processors installed on your server and are beyond WP’s ability to change. IIRC, Photoshop data entered through the PS UI is separate from EXIF data, stored in a way that often only PS can read. At least this was so sometime ago, things may have changed. I’ve not used any recent PS versions.

    WordPress does actually use a piece of the EXIF data if it is there, but only one, I think, and it’s not keywords.
    As stated, there are plugins to transfer EXIF for you, but all the generated image sizes won’t have those fields. This is a good thing, by the way, because an image can be a hack into your site.
    If you want your images searchable, find a plugin to add taxonomies to attachments, or one like Search Everything.

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