- What is IPTC metadata and why does it matter?
- IPTC metadata is a standard set of fields embedded inside image files (JPG, TIFF) that carries information about the photo's creator, copyright, description, and keywords. It was developed by the International Press Telecommunications Council and adopted industry-wide for editorial and stock photography. Without correct IPTC data, images can be orphaned — stripped of copyright context — making rights management and discovery nearly impossible. Stock libraries like Getty, Shutterstock, and Alamy check IPTC fields during ingestion and may reject or flag images with missing fields.
- Which fields are actually required by stock agencies and editorial workflows?
- Requirements vary, but the six fields checked here — Creator, Copyright, Caption/Abstract, Keywords, Credit, and Source — cover the IPTC Core fields that major agencies and the PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System) standard mandate. Creator and Copyright are the most critical: they establish authorship and licensing rights. Keywords directly affect search ranking on stock platforms. Caption is required by wire services such as AP, Reuters, and AFP. If you are preparing photos for editorial submission, check all six; for basic licensing compliance, prioritize Creator and Copyright.
- Does this tool read XMP or Exif fields, or only IPTC?
- This checker reads the IPTC-IIM block (the traditional binary IIM — Information Interchange Model — embedded in JPEG APP13 markers and TIFF tags) using the exifr library, which also reconciles XMP sidecar data embedded in the same file. In modern workflows, IPTC fields are often written into both the legacy binary block and an embedded XMP packet; exifr reads both and returns the merged values. If a field appears in XMP but not in the raw IIM block, it will still show as PASS because the data is functionally present in the file and readable by DAM systems. Pure Exif-only fields (camera model, GPS, shutter speed) are outside the scope of this checker.