You found .xmp files next to your RAW photos, or keywords you added in one app do not show up in another, and you want to understand where your metadata actually lives. You want one place to keep it, and to stop edits getting lost between apps.
Do it in Parergon
- 01
Find out where your metadata lives
Open the folder in Parergon. Sidecars show up next to the files they belong to (View ▸ Filter ▸ Hide Sidecars hides them), and the Info panel shows what is embedded in the file itself. Parergon reads the file, not the sidecar.
- 02
Choose one home per file type
JPEG, HEIC, TIFF, PNG and DNG are made to carry their metadata inside. For RAW files, decide which app is in charge: if Lightroom Classic or Capture One manages them through sidecars, edit their metadata there; if not, keep it embedded. Parergon writes into the file itself, including the RAW formats ExifTool can write, and never creates sidecars.
- 03
Keep the pairs together
When you rename or move files in Parergon, their sidecars (.xmp, .aae, .dop and others) move with them, so no pair is broken. Copies made in the Finder do not do this, so move whole pairs there.
Parergon’s Export Metadata can save a file’s metadata in an XMP format for records and reports. It uses Parergon’s own layout and naming, so other apps do not read it as a sidecar.
Why this happens
XMP was designed to be embedded in the file, and most formats can carry it. Camera RAW formats are the exception in practice: they are proprietary, and Adobe’s apps never write into them. Lightroom Classic and Bridge write a sidecar named like the photo (IMG_0001.xmp) instead; other tools write into the RAW or let you choose.
Trouble starts when both exist. One app updates the sidecar, another reads the embedded copy, and the two drift apart, so a keyword seems to vanish or comes back after you removed it. Choosing one home for each kind of file, and one app to edit it, prevents that.
Other ways to do it on a Mac
- Lightroom Classic
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Metadata ▸ Save Metadata to Files writes a sidecar for proprietary RAW files and embeds the metadata in JPEG, TIFF and DNG files. Catalog Settings can do this automatically.
- ExifTool (free, Terminal)
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The first command creates a sidecar beside each CR3 file in a folder from its embedded metadata (use your camera’s extension); if a JPEG shares the base name, give the JPEGs no sidecar. The second does the reverse for JPEG files: it copies each sidecar into the photo with the same name.
exiftool -o %d%f.xmp -ext cr3 folder/ exiftool -tagsFromFile %d%f.xmp -all:all -ext jpg folder/
Questions
Is it safe to write metadata into RAW files?
For the RAW formats ExifTool can write, yes: ExifTool, which Parergon uses, writes their metadata without touching the image data, and many photographers rely on it. A few formats are read-only, and Parergon shows ExifTool’s error rather than writing them. Adobe’s apps choose sidecars for RAW instead, so if Lightroom manages your RAW files, keep their metadata in Lightroom.
Can Parergon read my Lightroom sidecars?
No. Parergon shows the metadata embedded in the file. For a RAW file whose latest changes Lightroom wrote to a sidecar, Lightroom’s copy is the newer one.
Should the sidecar be named IMG_0001.xmp or IMG_0001.CR3.xmp?
Adobe’s apps use IMG_0001.xmp; digiKam uses IMG_0001.CR3.xmp by default and can switch. If two photos share a base name, such as IMG_0001.CR3 and IMG_0001.JPG, the first form cannot tell them apart. Parergon keeps either form with its photo when renaming.
Can I delete .xmp files?
Only when you know the metadata is also in the photo, or you no longer need it. For a RAW file managed by Lightroom, the sidecar may hold the only copy of your keywords and edits.
Go deeper: Every metadata field, and where it lives.