What is metadata and how does it relate to digital assets?
Broadly speaking, metadata is data that provides information about other data. In the context of digital assets, metadata is any information stored about that digital asset. Taking images as an example, here are some metadata fields you might find embedded within an image:
Image dimensions e.g. image width or height
GPS longitude and latitude
Shutter speed
File size
ISO (exposure)
Model (e.g. iPhone, Samsung etc)
Does Dash convert embedded metadata fields to Dash fields?
By default, Dash currently maps certain metadata fields to existing fields in Dash, when uploading or importing assets. These are:
Metadata field | Field populated in Dash |
Caption | Title |
ISO, file size, shutter speed and others | Not set by default - see below for process |
Other types of metadata, for example those relating to file size or shutter speed, are not mapped by default in Dash. You can create this automatic mapping yourself in Dash by creating a custom field that'll be automatically populated with that specific metadata type of your choosing. Read on to find out how.
What metadata fields do we support?
We can map any type of metadata field, as long as the name created for it in the custom field matches its metadata field name. To find out the name of the embedded field within the file, see How to view embedded metadata.
Creating the automatic mapping
Now you've decided the metadata field you want to map and have found its exact name, you can move on to creating the mapping in Dash:
Go to Admin > Fields
Click "New field"
Click "Create a custom field"
Choose your required field type, e.g. "Text" or "Controlled Tag"
Enter the name "ISO" and click Continue
In the next panel, expand the section called "Populate with data embedded in the file".
ℹ️ You'll notice there are some pre-set fields to select from. These are commonly used fields that have been added for speed of use. If your field name isn't in these, you can easily add your own oneIn the text area shown, enter the metadata field (i.e. that you want to populate this custom field with. In this case, the metadata field for ISO is called "ISO", so type that here and press enter:
For assets uploaded from this point on, the ISO information will be populated into the ISO field.
❗Note: This change will only affect assets uploaded after completing the process above and won't apply to existing assets. If you'd like to populate existing assets, please get in touch via the in-app chat and we'll be able to help.
Example: mapping Date Created
Let's say you want to be able to sort your assets on the "All assets" screen by when they were created. Note this is different from the date they were uploaded (we already have a filter for that). Date created could be when the asset itself was actually created, for example added into the image by a camera or Photoshop.
By mapping the date created metadata field, you could then:
Sort by date created on the "All assets" screen, to see the oldest or newest assets first
Filter by date created to only show assets created within/before/after certain dates
View the creation date of any asset in the asset details screen
To set up a Date Created mapping
Create a "Date Created" field with field type "Date and time"
On the next screen, expand the section called "Populate with data embedded in the file" and type "Date created" and select it from the drop-down list shown. "Date created" is a special field - when mapped, Dash will look in all the common embedded fields used to store the creation date, such as DateTimeOriginal and CreateDate.
Click "Create field"
Your field is now ready to use! You can also customise its position in the filters pane and on the asset details page.
Now, when you upload an asset, this field will automatically be populated with the embedded fields related to when the file was created.
The Date Created field will be included as a filter, allowing you to narrow down your search using this information:
