Process

Metadata Review

Read-only viewer for inspecting file metadata

Overview

Metadata Review opens a read-only window for inspecting file metadata. It never modifies your files. The window shows a thumbnail preview beside a table of metadata organized into tabs, and navigates large collections without perceptible lag.

Images (JPEG, TIFF, PNG, CR3, HEIC, BMP) read their metadata through Core Graphics; videos (MP4, MOV, M4V) read theirs through ExifTool for QuickTime and video-specific fields.

Images show the Quick View, TIFF, IPTC, EXIF, and FileInfo tabs; videos show Quick View, IPTC, EXIF, FileInfo, QuickTime, Video, and XMP. Alongside these built-in tabs, the window also shows the metadata-category tabs (General, Creator Contact, Location, and others). Choose which tabs appear, and their order, in Settings > Metadata Review.

The Quick View tab gathers the values you check most often — combined fields such as Photographer, Capture Date, Keywords, Camera, Lens, GPS Coordinates, and Location — by reading each from the best available metadata source. Choose which fields appear in Settings > Metadata Review.

The four date fields — Date Created, Date/Time Original, Modify Date, and Metadata Date — are read the same way everywhere in Archyv, so what you see here matches the Metadata Editor and the Find Existing / Find Missing filters. Date Created shows a photo's own Date Created when it has one, and otherwise the camera's capture time, so a camera-original RAW file — which usually carries only that capture time — still shows a Date Created here.

When to Use

Use Metadata Review when you want to examine file metadata without changing it. It suits checking that the required fields exist before Metadata Renaming (such as artist and date); inspecting camera settings (ISO, aperture, shutter speed, lens); confirming photographer and copyright details before client delivery; reviewing keywords across a collection; and seeing which metadata sources files from different cameras carry. The Quick View tab puts the fields you check most often in one place, and navigation stays quick enough to work through hundreds or thousands of files in a session. Reviewing your metadata first leads to better results when you run Metadata Renaming, Photographer Attribution, or Metadata Editor.

Requirements

  • RAW files (CR3, CR2, ARW, and others) are supported, with metadata varying by camera
  • Image files: JPEG, TIFF, PNG, CR3, HEIC, BMP (metadata read through Core Graphics)
  • Video files: MP4, MOV, M4V (metadata read through the bundled ExifTool)
  • Files must be readable and not locked or in use by another application
  • No write permission is needed — this process never modifies your files
  • Cloud files must be downloaded locally so their metadata can be read

How to Use

  1. Select your files in the left Folder Navigator panel
  2. Select 'Metadata Review' from the process bar — the review window opens automatically once files are loaded
  3. Read the layout: the tab selector (a 'Metadata Types' list) on the left, the thumbnail preview above the metadata table on the right, and the filename centered at the top
  4. Use the tab selector to switch between metadata groups
  5. For images, the built-in tabs are Quick View, TIFF, IPTC, EXIF, and FileInfo
  6. For videos, the built-in tabs are Quick View, IPTC, EXIF, FileInfo, QuickTime, Video, and XMP
  7. Alongside these, the metadata-category tabs (General, Creator Contact, Location, and others) appear when enabled in Settings
  8. Open the Quick View tab to see the consolidated fields you set in Settings > Metadata Review
  9. Move between files with the 'Previous' and 'Next' buttons or the Left and Right arrow keys
  10. Note that your tab selection carries over between files of the same type
  11. Press Escape to leave the window
  12. Adjust which Quick View fields and tabs appear, and their order, in Settings > Metadata Review

Tips & Important Notes

  • Use the Left and Right arrow keys to move between files, and Escape to close
  • Set your most-used fields in Settings > Metadata Review so the Quick View tab shows what you check most often
  • Quick View consolidates fields: 'Photographer' combines Artist, Creator, and By-line; 'Camera' combines Make and Model; 'Capture Date' picks the best date from several sources
  • The EXIF tab holds camera settings (ISO, aperture, shutter); the IPTC tab holds descriptive metadata (keywords, caption, copyright); the TIFF tab holds image properties
  • Videos show QuickTime, Video, and XMP tabs with format-specific metadata; keywords are read from every source they may appear in (XMP, QuickTime)
  • This process never modifies your files — use Metadata Editor when you need to make changes
  • Before renaming, check that files carry the fields your Filename Template needs (for example, confirm the artist field exists before using {artist})
  • Create your own tabs in Settings > Metadata Review for focused checks (for example, a 'Copyright Check' tab holding Copyright, Creator, and Rights)
  • Download cloud files fully before reviewing — placeholder files may carry little or no metadata