How widely is IFD0:ImageDescription used to save a Caption instead using IPTC/XMP for that?
I noticed that iOS 15 now allows the user to write a Caption to a photo. AirDrop does copy that to a Mac and I guess also iCloud does the same (on the other hand, ImageCapture does not copy Caption to the Mac).
exiftool -a -G1 -s .
[IFD0] ImageDescription : Caption iOS åäöÅÄÖ.
[IPTC] Caption-Abstract : Caption iOS åäöÅÄÖ.
But when GraphicConverter 11.5.2 edits that IPTC Caption, it leaves the IFD0:ImageDescription intact and syncs only the added XMP-dc:
[IFD0] ImageDescription : Caption iOS åäöÅÄÖ.
[IPTC] Caption-Abstract : Caption GC.
[XMP-dc] Description : Caption GC.
I never use that IFD0:ImageDescription anyway and I'd be tempted to ask GC author to add an option to delete it when updating IPTC/XMP.
- Matti
It does get used by a fair amount of higher end programs, including Windows and Lightroom. It is one of the tags that is part of the MWG specs (https://exiftool.org/TagNames/MWG.html). But it is often ignored by a fair amount of programs as well.
This is just my opinion, but I don't feel it's a very useful tag. The IPTC and XMP description tags are much more flexible. There are very few programs that allow direct editing of just that tag. If a program can change it, it's always included with the IPTC and XMP description tags.
When it comes to EXIF tags, the only tags I ever edit are the three timestamps covered by AllDates and their corresponding time zone tags, Artist, Copyright, and the GPS tags. And though I don't use them, Rating and RatingPercent would also be on that list. I clear both ImageDescription and UserComment. I leave all the rest of the EXIF tags untouched as those are all set by the camera and should rarely need to be altered.
Thanks for the reply and opinion.
GraphicConverter author informed me that GC already does have an option to clear that IFD0:ImageDescription (Exif Specifics > Delete Exif Image Description Tags) or sync it together with IPTC/XMP (Edit IPTC/XMP > Set Exif tags in addition (legacy)).