edit IPTC... edit XMP... greyed out for some folders

[Pepelu]

HI, I have been looking around and have found some similar issues, but no solution or the cases are, actually, different.

I use XnView MP to sort and maintain my photos. For sometime now. It is a very convenient tool as I use indistinctly windows or linux based computers, so I can move from one to the other without problems. My pictures are in an external drive.

I have spent some time trying to understand and use metadata and, specifically, keywords. Now I have found that for some pictures I can edit the metadata (IPTC and XMP) and for others I can't. The options are greyed out. They only apparent difference between the pictures is the folder that they are in. I attach a couple of screenshots.

Screenshot 2024-03-12 134205.png

Screenshot 2024-03-12 133910.png

Does anybody know why this happens? Is there a way to solve the situation?
Thanks.

EDIT: I have found that if I "Update files from catalog" this problem goes away, and I can have in the same folders images with the situation and other images without it. So, it is not folder related, which I am sure that you already knew because it didn't make sense.

[Pepelu]

I have been looking around, and, I have seen that all pictures from September 2017 onwards have this issue, pictures before that are OK, it may have had to do with a version update or similar.

Another effect this has is that these pictures, when opened (double click) they open in a externa photo viewer instead of opening in the XnView Browser. The ones that the metadata can be edited, they open normally in the in app viewer.

When you right click, the open and the full screen options are disabled.

[michel038]

In your first screenshot, all jpg photos have the right "format color " for jpg's , Light yellow. (see Settings > File list > Format Color)
but in the 2nd screenshot , only a few of them have this correct color, corresponding to jpg
... it means that probably the other photos, without color format are not really jpg photos ?

[xnview]

do you have tried to use 'View>Update catalog from files' on these files?

[Pepelu]

In your first screenshot, all jpg photos have the right "format color " for jpg's , Light yellow. (see Settings > File list > Format Color)
but in the 2nd screenshot , only a few of them have this correct color, corresponding to jpg
... it means that probably the other photos, without color format are not really jpg photos ?

I hadn't noticed this, but you are right. All the photos are jpg, for sure. It happens in photos taken with the exact same camera. Somehow, sometimes, the program is not identifying the pictures as jpg. This is another of the symptoms then.

[Pepelu]

do you have tried to use 'View>Update catalog from files' on these files?

What I have tried is to "Update files from catalog". This solves the issue but I was trying to get a little deeper. Why is this happening? Is there a setup option that may be wrong somewhere?

What I did was delete all the listing in the directory in catalogue in the settings. For some reason the folders were duplicated and the duplicated one had kind of a warning sign. Then I let it rebuild by itself by displaying all of the pictures (I am guessing that this is equivalent as "Update catalog from files"). This didn't bring back the correct catalog (categories tree), so, in my work to reconstruct it, reassinging some categories and moving others, I came across this problem.

@michel038 has pointed out, correctly, that the program is not identifying these files as jpg, eve though they are. Is there a way to select all files that are not identified as jpg? That would help me.

[michel038]

Were these photos ever accompanied by raw photos? XnViewMp could have considered them as sidecars...

This didn't bring back the correct catalog (categories tree), so, in my work to reconstruct it, reassinging some categories and moving others, I came across this problem.

To rebuild catalog, you must be sure that iptc or xmp keywords corresponding to categories were written in the photos with export options. (and star ratings and color labels so on)
Then you can delete entries in settings > catalog ( or the whole catalog)
Then, set import options (settings > metadata) and use settings >catalog > "import folder" button ...

[Pepelu]

Thanks a lot for your help.

For some reason, the systems was not identifying the pictures as jpg although in the properties tab it did say JPG file. For this reason I was able to sort the pictures by type, and those that were not identified as jpg were grouped together so I could easily identify them. Then, trusting my catalog, I updated those files from the catalog and all of them are now correctly identified as jpg, I can edit IPTC or XMP info and they open normally in the XnView browser. So all is good.

Thanks a lot for your help.

One additional question/clarification. Now the keywords/subjects should be written in the files, is this correct? This is also written in the XnView.db file, correct? If these two are correct, in case of my catalog getting damaged, or maybe, using a different computer for XnView, can I rebuild the existing catalog (categories/keywords/subject) from the files and get the same categories tree that I have now ?

Again, thanks a lot.

[michel038]

Now the keywords/subjects should be written in the files, is this correct?

Yes, if export options were set when the files were categorized
( Settings>Metadata>Export categories ... and Create XMP and/or Create IPTC )
You can check some of your photos by looking at the IPTC or XMP tabs in the Information area.
(If keywords were not written, you can unmark/mark a category to update metadata)

If it's OK , then I answer "Yes" to all the other questions

Hierarchy is only carried by XMP:LR:HierarchicalSubject in XnViewMP
(possible in iptc keywords fields with special characters used to link keywords such as: animal, animal|cat but this is not well standardised)

You can also use other softwares which are able to read xmp or iptc metadata with their "import" options

[Pepelu]

Thanks again for everything.

I opened a clean version of XnView in another PC, opened the pictures in the hard disk, and, mostly, I get the categories right. But in many cases the tree is not properly recreated. Sometimes the categories are just written in the root.

I haven't had time to figure it out yet or do any more investigation. When I do, I will come back with any information that I think may be useful.

Again, thanks.