ISO 12234-3:2016

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 12234-3
First edition
2016-07-01
Electronic still picture imaging —
Removable memory —
Part 3:
XMP for digital photography
Image électronique de photographie — Mémoire amovible —
Partie 3: Utilisation du XMP
Reference number
ISO 12234-3:2016(E)
©
ISO 2016

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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

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© ISO 2016, Published in Switzerland
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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Reference model and usage . 2
4.1 General considerations . 2
4.2 Native metadata properties and their usage . 2
5 XMP namespace . 3
5.1 General . 3
5.2 Extensions . 3
6 Metadata definitions . 3
6.1 Metadata lists . 3
6.2 Metadata definitions . 7
6.2.1 Value type . 7
6.2.2 ApertureValue . 7
6.2.3 Artist . 7
6.2.4 BodySerialNumber . 7
6.2.5 CameraOwnerName . 8
6.2.6 CaptureSet . 8
6.2.7 CFAPattern . 8
6.2.8 ColourEncoding . 8
6.2.9 Copyright . 9
6.2.10 DateTimeDigitized . 9
6.2.11 DateTimeOriginal . 9
6.2.12 DateTime . 9
6.2.13 DigitalZoomRatio . . . 9
6.2.14 Editor . 9
6.2.15 ExposureBiasValue. 9
6.2.16 ExposureIndex .10
6.2.17 ExposureProgram .10
6.2.18 Faces .10
6.2.19 Favorites .11
6.2.20 Flash .11
6.2.21 FocalLength .12
6.2.22 FocalLengthIn35mmFilm .12
6.2.23 GPS .12
6.2.24 ImageAspectRatio .13
6.2.25 ImageDescription .14
6.2.26 ImageLength .14
6.2.27 ImageTileSet .14
6.2.28 ImageWidth .14
6.2.29 LensMake.14
6.2.30 LensModel .14
6.2.31 LensSerialNumber .14
6.2.32 LensSpecification . .15
6.2.33 LightSource .15
6.2.34 Make .16
6.2.35 MaxApertureValue . .16
6.2.36 MeteringMode .16
6.2.37 Model .16
6.2.38 MultiSpectralCaptureSet .16
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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

6.2.39 OECF .17
6.2.40 Orientation .17
6.2.41 SceneLuminance .17
6.2.42 Self-TimerMode .17
6.2.43 ShutterSpeedValue .17
6.2.44 Software.18
6.2.45 SubjectArea .18
6.2.46 SubjectDistance .19
6.2.47 UserComments .19
Annex A (normative) XMP metadata use with Exif image format .20
Annex B (normative) XMP metadata use with TIFF/EP image format .22
Annex C (normative) XMP metadata use with JPEG 2000 image format .23
Annex D (normative) Value forms and value types .24
Bibliography .29
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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment,
as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 42, Photography.
ISO 12234 consists of the following parts, under the general title Electronic still-picture imaging —
Removable memory:
— Part 1: Basic removable-memory model
— Part 2: TIFF/EP image data format
— Part 3: XMP for digital photography
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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

Introduction
Metadata enables digital images to be more easily searched and located (e.g. by knowing more about
the image), more appropriately processed and printed (e.g. by knowing the picture-taking conditions),
and more appropriately stored and shared (e.g. by knowing the GPS location of the image and the
copyright owner).
Several different TIFF-based metadata formats are commonly used in digital cameras, while XML-
encoded metadata is commonly used in on-line image databases.
The purposes of this part of ISO 12234 are, first, to define unambiguously a mapping for metadata
properties that are most relevant to digital photography into XMP and, second, to document the
meaning of each metadata item.
This part of ISO 12234 is independent of the format of the image file, could be used inside any image file,
and could be used in databases of image-related metadata.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 12234-3:2016(E)
Electronic still picture imaging — Removable memory —
Part 3:
XMP for digital photography
1 Scope
This part of ISO 12234 defines an XMP namespace for the metadata used in digital photography
applications that is formatted for exchange using the syntax of the XML and provides standard
definitions of this metadata.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 8601, Data elements and interchange formats — Information interchange — Representation of dates
and times
ISO 12232, Photography — Digital still cameras — Determination of exposure index, ISO speed ratings,
standard output sensitivity, and recommended exposure index
ISO 12234-2, Electronic still-picture imaging — Removable memory — Part 2: TIFF/EP image data format
ISO 14524, Photography — Electronic still-picture cameras — Methods for measuring opto-electronic
conversion functions (OECFs)
ISO 16684-1:2012, Graphic technology — Extensible metadata platform (XMP) specification — Part 1:
Data model, serialization and core properties
ISO/IEC 15444-1, Information Technology — JPEG 2000 image coding system: Core coding system
ISO/IEC 15444-2, Information Technology — JPEG 2000 image coding system — Extensions
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
Exif
image file format which specifies the formats to be used for images, sound, and tags in digital still
cameras standardized by CIPA (Camera and Imaging Products Association) and JEITA (Japan Electronics
and Information Technology Industries Association)
Note 1 to entry: Exif is abbreviation of “Exchangeable image file format for digital still cameras”.
3.2
namespace
set of unique names that are used to unambiguously label the elements in related data sets
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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

3.3
property
named container for a metadata value at the top level of an XMP packet
[SOURCE: ISO 16684-1:2012, 3.5]
3.4
Uniform Resource Identifier
URI
compact sequence of characters that identifies an abstract or physical resource
[SOURCE: ISO 16684-1:2012, 3.8 modified.]
4 Reference model and usage
4.1 General considerations
Figure 1 summarizes the reference model for this part of ISO 12234.
This part of ISO 12234 defines metadata for digital photography and identifies the XMP namespaces
used to encode this metadata.
The metadata shall be encoded using the XMP data model and serialization defined in ISO 16684-1.
The metadata includes a number of items that are defined in ISO 16684-1, in Reference [11] or in
Reference [6] as indicated in the descriptions of the metadata items included in Clause 6.
Figure 1 — Reference model
4.2 Native metadata properties and their usage
For Exif, TIFF, and JPEG 2000 file formats supported technical metadata items, only TIFF tags, Exif
tags and/or JPEG 2000 boxes should be stored respectively when any one of these file formats is used
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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

with the Photo XMP packet. These are Photo XMP properties in the dc:, tiff:, exif:, exifEX: and xmp:
namespaces which are defined in Clause 5.
Refer to sections 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.3.1 of Reference [11] for details.
5 XMP namespace
5.1 General
The XMP namespaces are described in this Clause. Since definitions from current XMP namespaces are
used when these definitions are appropriate, metadata properties in this part of ISO 12234 are subset
of the properties in these namespaces. Users shall note interpretation from Photo XMP namespaces to
these XMP namespaces is not always possible. A new namespace is used only when this is required in
order to address newly defined metadata items.
The namespaces in Table 1 shall be used, and the preferred namespace prefixes should be used.
Table 1 — Namespaces used in Photo XMP metadata
Name URI Recommended prefix
Dublin Core http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/ dc
Exif 2.21 and Exif 2.3 http://cipa.jp/exif/1.0/ exifEX
Exif 2.2 or earlier http://ns.adobe.com/exif/1.0/ exif
TIFF Rev. 6.0 http://ns.adobe.com/tiff/1.0/ tiff
XMP http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/ xmp
PhotoXMP http://imaging.org/pxmp/1.0/ pxmp
NOTE For convenience in this part of ISO 12234, XMP names are commonly written in a prefix:local style;
for example, dc:title. The relevant URI for the prefix used in this part of ISO 12234 is either explicit or clear
from local context. Each URI in Table 1 is the XML namespace, not a URL pointing to a document available on the
Internet.
5.2 Extensions
Properties and definitions for new metadata may be added to existing component and XMP namespaces
if they do not cause problems for existing processors and applications of the metadata.
The names and definitions of properties in existing namespaces shall remain unchanged.
If it is necessary to change the definition of a property, a new property shall be created, and the old one
may be deprecated.
A new version of a namespace and definitions with a new URI may be created so that there is no logical
connection between the two versions and the same local name in two different namespaces refers to
distinct properties and definitions.
6 Metadata definitions
6.1 Metadata lists
Photo XMP metadata items are defined in this Clause. A list of these items, along with a brief description
and the XMP name, is given in Table 2.
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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

Table 2 — Photo XMP metadata list
Metadata name Description XMP name Type
ApertureValue Aperture value exif:ApertureValue Rational
Person who captured Ordered array of
Artist dc:creator
the image ProperName
Serial number of the
BodySerialNumber digital camera used to exifEX:BodySerialNumber Text
capture the image
Owner of the camera
CameraOwnerName exifEX:CameraOwnerName ProperName
used to capture the image
Image position within a
CaptureSet pxmp:CaptureSet Structure
set of captured images
Colour filter array
CFAPattern geometric pattern of the exif:CFAPattern CFA-Pattern
image sensor
Colour encoding Closed choice of
ColourEncoding pxmp:ColourEncoding
information Integer
Image copyright holder
Copyright and optional copyright dc:rights LanguageAlternative
statement
Date and time when the
DateTimeDigitized image was stored as xmp:CreateDate Date
digital data
Date and time when the
DateTimeOriginal exif:DateTimeOriginal Date
image was captured
Date and time that the
DateTime xmp:ModifyDate Date
image was last modified
Digital zoom ratio used
DigitalZoomRatio exif:DigitalZoomRatio Rational
to capture the image
Person(s) who edited the Ordered array of
Editor pxmp:Editor
image file ProperName
Exposure bias in
ExposureBiasValue exif:ExposureBiasValue Rational
exposure value
Exposure index used by
ExposureIndex the camera to capture exif:ExposureIndex Rational
the image
Class of camera exposure
Closed choice of
ExposureProgram program used to capture exif:ExposureProgram
Integer
the image
Locations of faces in
the image, optionally
Faces pxmp:Faces Structure
includes the names of
the faces
Identifier of a Closed choice of
Favorites pxmp:Favorites
“favourite” image Integer
State of camera
Flash illumination source used exif:Flash Structure
to capture the image
Actual focal length of
FocalLength the lens used to capture exif:FocalLength Rational
the image
Indicates the equivalent
FocalLengthIn35mm exif:
focal length assuming a Integer
Film FocalLengthIn35mmFilm
35 mm film camera
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ISO 12234-3:2016(E)

Table 2 (continued)
Metadata name Description XMP name Type
Location of the camera
GPS used to captutre the exif:GPS Structure
image
Ratio of image width to
ImageAspectRatio pxmp:ImageAspect Rational
image height
ImageDescription Title of the image dc:description LangeageAlternative
Number of rows of pixels
ImageLength tiff:ImageLength Integer
in the image
Image position of a series
ImageTileSet of captured images of 1-D pxmp:ImageTileSet ImageTile
or 2-D panoramic series
Number of columns of
ImageWidth tiff:ImageWidth Integer
pixels in the image
LensMake Lens manufacturer exifEX:LensMake ProperName
Lens’s model name and
LensModel exifEX:LensModel Text
model number
Serial number of the
LensSerialNumber interchangeable lens exifEX:LensSerialNumber Text
used to capture the image
Minimum focal length,
maximum focal length,
minimum f/number
in the minimum focal
Ordered array of
LensSpecification length, and minimum f/ exifEX:LensSpecification
Rational
number in the maximum
focal length, which are
specification informa-
tion for the lens
Light source which
illuminated the scene Closed choice of
LightSource exif:LightSource
that is depicted in the Integer
image file
Manufacturer of the
Make digital camera used to tiff:Make ProperName
capture the image
Smallest f/number of
MaxApertureValue exif:MaxApertureValue Rational
lens in aperture value
Mode used for exposure
Closed choice of
MeteringMode metering used to capture exif:MeteringMode
Integer
the image
Model name of the digital
Model camera used to capture tiff:Model ProperName
the image
The spectral capture
MultiSpectralCaptureSet conditions of a pxmp:MultiSpectralCaptureSet MultiSpectral
multispectral image set
Opto-Electronic
OECF Conversion Function as exif:OECF OECF/ SFR
specified in ISO 14524
Orientation of the Closed choice of
Orientation tiff:Orientation
captured image Integer
Measured average
SceneLuminance pxmp:SceneLuma Rational
luminance of the scene
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Table 2 (continued)
Metadata name Description XMP name Type
Self-TimerMode Self-timer delay pxmp:Timer Integer
ShutterSpeedValue Time value exif:ShutterSpeedValue Rational
Name of the first known
tool used to create the
Software xmp:CreatorTool AgentName
resource (the writer
software/firmware)
Coordinates of the area
Ordered array of
SubjectArea of the main subject in exif:SubjectArea
Integer
the image
Distance between the
camera and the subject
SubjectDistance exif:SubjectDistance Rational
in the scene on which the
camera is focused
Comments concerning
UserComments exif:UserComment LanguageAlternative
the image
Table 3 groups the metadata items listed in Table 2 based on their attribution (such as xmp, tiff, dc, exif)
rather than in alphabetical order.
Table 3 — Category list
Category Metadata name XMP name
TIFF/image data structure ImageWidth tiff:ImageWidth
TIFF/image data structure ImageLength tiff:ImageLength
TIFF/other DateTime xmp:ModifyDate
TIFF/other ImageDescription dc:description
TIFF/other Make tiff:Make
TIFF/other Model tiff:Model
TIFF/other Orientation tiff:Orientation
TIFF/other Software xmp:CreatorTool
TIFF/other Artist dc:creator
TIFF/other Copyright dc:rights
Exif/user information UserComments exif:UserComment
Exif/date and time DateTimeOriginal exif:DateTimeOriginal
Exif/date and time DateTimeDigitized xmp:CreateDate
Exif/picture-taking conditions ExposureProgram exif:ExposureProgram
Exif/picture-taking conditions OECF exif:OECF
Exif/picture-taking conditions ShutterSpeedValue exif:ShutterSpeedValue
Exif/picture-taking conditions ApertureValue exif:ApertureValue
Exif/picture-taking conditions ExposureBiasValue exif:ExposureBiasValue
Exif/picture-taking conditions MaxApertureValue exif:MaxApertureValue
Exif/picture-taking conditions SubjecDistance exif:SubjectDistance
Exif/picture-taking conditions MeteringMode exif:MeteringMode
Exif/picture-taking conditions LightSource exif:LightSource
Exif/picture-taking conditions Flash exif:Flash
Exif/picture-taking conditions FocalLength exif:FocalLength
Exif/picture-taking conditions FocalLengthIn35mmFilm exif:FocalLengthIn35mmFilm
Exif/picture-taking conditions SubjectArea exif:SubjectArea
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Table 3 (continued)
Category Metadata name XMP name
Exif/picture-taking conditions ExposureIndex exif:ExposureIndex
Exif/picture-taking conditions CFAPattern exif:CFAPattern
Exif/picture-taking conditions DigitalZoomRatio exif:DigitalZoomRatio
Exif/other CameraOwnerName exifEX:CameraOwnerName
Exif/other BodySerialNumber exifEX:BodySerialNumber
Exif/other LensModel exifEX:LensModel
...