Cannot delete keyword in .NEF file (master)

[frankdarwin]

I have master files (.nef) which have a keyword. The corresponding version (.JPG) has no keywords.
Now I deleted the keyword in the master and then wrote back the metadata for the master.
After reading the metadata again, the keyword was present in the master again.
How can I solve this problem?

[Mario]

Answer at least these questions:
Which kind of keyword?
How did you delete it?
Does the NEF have embedded XMP? Legacy IPTC data perhaps?
Do the two files exist in the same folder?
In that case the XMP is used for both the NEF and the JPG. The JPG may also contain embedded XMP on top.
What metadata do you propagate? XMP only? Or also legacy IPTC?

Maybe you have made the JPG the master?

Attach the files you have used, screen shots of all your propagation rules and a detailed description of your workflow.
This gives us a minimum of information to work with. All else would be time-wasting guesswork.

A screen shot of a file window and a progress dialog does not convey any useful information.

I notice that you have not modified normal XMP keywords (hierarchical keywords) but you have modified legacy IPTC keywords?
Which are stored in the NEF itself and are usually in sync with the XMP keywords. But then the XMP keywords would need to be written too, right? So why not? What did you do?

Run the Metadata Analyst (MDA) on the NEF and the JPEG.
Use the GREEN BUTTON at the top of the MDA to copy & paste the results in your reply.
This will show us what's wrong with the metadata in your files.

[frankdarwin]

Here are the answers to your questions:

"Which kind of keyword?"
What do you mean by "kind of keyword?"

"How did you delete it?"
I selected the keyword "Places|Germany|Sababurg" in the "Keywords" panel with the right mouse button and deleted it via the context menu.

"Does the NEF have embedded XMP? Legacy IPTC data perhaps?"
How can I determine this?

"Do the two files exist in the same folder?"
Yes

"What metadata do you propagate? XMP only? Or also legacy IPTC?"
Annotaions, XMP Location Data, EXIF GPS Data

"Maybe you have made the JPG the master?"
No.

The desired files can be downloaded from the following link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12UUYCaMqEdIenp_4oG94_xUggvuk9033?usp=sharing

[jch2103]

Try running the Metadata Analyst app on the file(s) in question. That should give you the information Mario asked about.

[frankdarwin]

See link in my last post.

[Mario]

[XMP] Embedded XMP record (Image::ExifTool 9.44) and XMP sidecar file (http://www.idimager.com) found.

This means that the NEF file has both an embedded XMP record and a sidecar file produced by idimager.
This is again the reason for your problem.

This is not good. NEF files should only use XMP in sidecar files.
IMatch considers embedded XMP records and merges them with the XMP from the sidecar.
But IMatch only writes XMP to the sidecar by default (and for good reasons).

The NEF file has an embedded XMP record as the MDA reports.
This embedded record contains a flat/hierarchical keyword: Places|Deutschland|Sababurg
The XMP sidecar file has no keywords.
Metadata was written with idimager.
idimager did not sync several EXIF/XMP fields, which it should have. This is true for both the NEF and the JPG.
The NEF has embedded legacy IPTC metadata with an out-of-date digest (checksum). idimager problem again.

1. Fix your problems by deleting superfluous embedded XMP record in the NEF file using the ExifTool Command Processor.
2. Let IMatch write-back metadata one or two times. This should fix out-of-sync metadata and the invalid IPTC digest left by idimager.

As so often, your problem is covered and described in the IMatch help system.
Metadata for Beginners, with the sub-topic Metadata Pitfalls and there under Multiple XMP Records

Such metadata problems may show up in IMatch, but are usually created by other software or a mix of other software which does a crap job at working with metadata.
It saddens me that it is always I who has to waste time analyzing and explaining these things.

[frankdarwin]

The problem is eliminated.
I looked at the messages from the MDA and deleted the embedded XMP record from the NEF file using the ExifTool command processor.
Now everything is O.K.

Thanks!