How to add Metadata to photos for Microstock

Before sending your pictures to any Microstock, like Shutterstock, you must learn how to add Metadata to photos.

The Metadata shows the information about the picture. 

Therefore, Metadata is a kind of data about data. It is the information that references the data. Describing Metadata is used for the discovery and identification of the primary data. That’s precisely why including good Metadata is so crucial for Microstock.

When people search for an image, they use some words to find the perfect photo for their purpose. And if your picture doesn’t have this information on its Metadata, Microstock will not list your photos.

First, you must find a good Title and Description. The words you choose for the Title and in the Description must be a little different because, in some Microstock, they require it.

As I already told in another post, the Title and Description of Editorial Photos have some requirements. To learn the difference between Editorial and Commercial photos and how to make a proper description for them, go to the Post Difference between Editorial and Commercial Photo.

The following picture is an Editorial Picture:

 

 

That’s how you can describe that picture:

New York City, NY, USA – December 2018 – Tiffany, the Iconic Luxury American retailer known for fine jewelry on Fifth Avenue. Famous for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

That’s its Title:

New York City, NY, USA – December 2018 – Tiffany, the Iconic Luxury American retailer known for fine jewelry on Fifth Avenue.

Furthermore, you must add some keywords to the picture. We have a limit of 50 keywords. And if you want your image to be competitive in Microstock, you must use all those 50 keywords.

In this link, you can find this picture in my stock of photos on Shutterstock.

 

How to use the Open-Source Software Xpiks to add Metadata to your Photos

 

To add the Metadata and all this information to your pictures, I suggest you use open-source software called Xpiks.

It works in Windows, Linux, and macOS. It has a free version; you can find it by clicking here.

Install and open the Xpiks. Then select “Add files.”

I will open that picture above so you can see the information on the software screen.

Choose the picture on your computer and open it. I already put the Metadata of that photo. And that’s how it is:

 

 

The yellow arrows show where you put the Description, the Title, and the keywords.

You must write the Title and the Description, but to add Keywords, you can use the help of the software Xpiks do it. I will erase the keywords so that you can see all the steps.

 

1) Select the button “Suggest keywords”:

 

 

2) Write a word related to the picture and choose where you want to find it, then click search:

 

 

3) Then, choose and click on a similar photo on the software screen.

 

The Xpics search for pictures in the library of the selected Microstock and show similar results. Click the button “Add suggested,” then click “Back.”

By doing that, the software will add all the keywords of that photo to your picture. Of course, sometimes, it’s not perfect, so I suggest you erase some of them and write specific keywords.

 

 

Don’t forget to add your photo with all the fifty keywords. Then, select the box of the image and click Save. Your picture will be with all metadata you inserted with the Xpiks. From there, you can send them to Microstock.

Notice that if you open a lot of similar pictures, you can use the same Title, Description, and keywords for all of them. You can copy and paste the same information for all that set of photos.

For example, if you want to add Metadata to many pictures you shot in Central Park in New York, you can use the exact data for all of them.

On the other hand, suppose an image of that set has something different like a famous Sculpture. In that case, you should add some keywords about it, or change the Title a little, so the photo gets more informative and specific for those searching.

The more specific you are by adding Metadata to your photos, the more likely your photos will be successful on Microstock. Good luck!

Related Post: Post Difference between Editorial and Commercial Photo.