This article tells you how to use the metadata import tool to pre-populate a custom field. For example, if you wanted to create a field called "Photographer" and pre-populate that field with all the photographers that you want to associate with your images, so that when you and your users are tagging assets, you can pick from an approved list.

By using the metadata import, you can pre-populate a field in one go without having to type all the entries in manually.

Here's how to do it:

1. First create a Controlled Tag field from Admin > Fields > Add New and give it a name like Photographer.

💡 By using a Controlled Tag field you can control spelling in the future so users can only pick from the list and can't enter new names that aren't approved.

2. Now upload a dummy asset into Dash and remember the file name.

3. Create a new spreadsheet with two columns called "Filename to match on" and "Photographer" (the second column header matching the name of the new field you created. For full instructions on how to import metadata, refer to our dedicated article).

4. In the second row, put the filename in cell A2 and in cell B2 list out all the names, separated by semicolons (;). Your sheet will look something like this:

Save the spreadsheet as a CSV file (typically using a "Save As" feature in your spreadsheet application)

An example CSV file would look as follows for one filename and the four photographers Angus, Tom, Dan and Jon:

5. Upload the CSV file into Dash by going to Admin > Import > Metadata and selecting the file.

And you're done 👏

To test it worked, simply go to Admin > Fields, click on the controlled tag and you should see the new entries populated.

You can now select from these entries when tagging your images.