Windows 10 Metadata for PNG

[camdee]

Hello,

I have used exiftool for a while for reading, but not writing metadata.

I am now faced with a challenge.

I have some png files, that I create and i need to add some metadata to them, such as the url of the screenshot particularly.

I am able to add a URL field to my png file, when on windows explorer I do not see them.

First can this be done ? read png metadata in Windows10 explorer ?

If yes, am i on the right path saying I need to use XMP format and the "PNGEarlyXMP" option ?

But I am lost regarding that last option "PNGEarlyXMP" and the way to use it.

Can I ask for an example of usage ?

Thanks

[Phil Harvey]

Yes, use the PNGEarlyXMP option.  But that won't guarantee that Windows explorer will read the metadata.

To use this option, just add -api pngearlyxmp to your exiftool command:

exiftool -api pngearlyxmp ...

- Phil

[StarGeek]

Windows support of PNG metadata is almost non-existent.  The last time I checked, the only thing that it read was PNG:CreationTime. 

Double checking my PNG test image that is full of metadata, under Windows 10 that is still the only tag that Windows will read. 

If you need to deal with PNG XMP data on a regular basis, you might look into something like Adobe Bridge, which if free to use.

[camdee]

Thank you for your replies. URL field does not seem to work on Windows10 even with NewXMPxmptag option. At least I tried.

AS for using the CreationTime field, for putting a URL (as a workaround), exiftool will warn me that the format is not valid for date/time...

any suggestions ?

[StarGeek]

You might try another non-lossy format.  For example, TIFF pretty much has full Windows metadata support.

PNG has web browser support and (I think) smaller file size, but TIFF has better software support for all types of metadata.