All Collections
Uploading, Importing and Exporting
Uploading
How to use the embedded metadata (EXIF, IPTC, etc) already in your digital assets to populate fields in Dash
How to use the embedded metadata (EXIF, IPTC, etc) already in your digital assets to populate fields in Dash

Learn how to map the existing metadata in your assets to custom fields in Dash

Charlie Pinker avatar
Written by Charlie Pinker
Updated over a week ago

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

Description

Description

Keywords

Tags

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. You can find more information on finding the name here.


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:

  1. Go to Admin > Fields

  2. Click "New field"

  3. Click "Create a custom field"

  4. Choose your required field type, e.g. "Text" or "Controlled Tag"

  5. Enter the name "ISO" and click Continue

  6. 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 one

  7. In 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 Browse screen by when they were created. Note this is different to 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 saved from a camera or photoshop.

By mapping the date created metadata field, you could then:

  • Sort by date created on the browse 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

  1. Create a "Date Created" field with field type "Date"

  2. 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.

  3. 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 Date Created field within each uploaded asset.

The Date Created field will be included as a filter, allowing you to narrow down your search using this information:

Did this answer your question?