can iMatch 'purge' unneeded xmp files

[rgdudley]

I am not sure I remember this correctly, but in the past I had decided that I would have my metadata imbedded in the image file rather than put into an xmp file.    For most of my folders containing images there are no xmp files, but for some of them there are xmp files.   

In most cases where I have experimentally deleted those xmp files, the image metadata remains intact.   

So my question is: is there a way to have iMatch remove unneeded xmp files?  Not critical ,but curious.

[Mario]

There are no unneeded XMP files.

IMatch embeds XMP metadata into file formats which support embedded XMP metadata (JPG, DNG, TIF, PSD, PSB, PNG, GIF, ...) and stores XMP metadata in external XMP files for all other formats.

A couple of years ago (2021?) ExifTool and IMatch moved from using XMP sidecar files for certain video formats to embedding the XMP data, after industry standards changed. At that time, IMatch imported XMP for these files and removed the XMP file, because it was no longer needed.

[rgdudley]

Hmmm.  I will have to think that over... and look again at those folders.

Thanks.  Richard

[Mario]

Tip: You can tell if an image contains embedded XMP with the ExifTool Command Processor
Run the "List Metadata" preset and search for XMP via the search box at the bottom after the data has been loaded.

[rgdudley]

Let me clarify my question.

When I look at my picture folders I note that most folders that have images from a digital camera also have xmp files starting in 2004 when I started using a Nikon D70 (a few years prior I had some images with a Kodak digital camera in addition to scanning many images from my film cameras and photos... but most, not all, Kodak images had no xmp files).

After starting with the D70 (2004) all jpeg files have an xmp file with them in my folders.  I think I was already using iMatch at that time.   I assume that those xmp files were created by iMatch.   (??)   (Pictures taken with other digital cameras, my wife's, also have associated xmp files that are still in the folders.  There are a few folders where xmps are absent... I have no idea why. I may have deleted them.   After 2006 most images do not have an xmp associated file.   I am assuming that earlier versions of iMatch created xmp files and when the standards change iMatch was updated to these nw standards where data is stored in the image file.

I have confirmed that altering metadata in jpeg files does not update the associated xmp file, but rather updates the image file... as expected if the metadata is stored in the the image file.   One exception is RAW (NEF) files where the metadata altered within imatch is updated to the xmp files. 

So I am assuming that, in my older folders, the xmp files can be deleted.... except for nef files and some others?

That is why I was wondering if there was a way in which iMatch could "automatically" remove those unneeded xmp files.

just for clarification,  Richard

[JohnZeman]

The way I'd go about this would be to use IMatch to temporarily move my images from the folder they're currently in to a different folder.

After doing that any XMP files still in the original folder could be considered orphans so using the Windows file explorer I'd move those orphan XMP files out of the database altogether.

Finally, once I knew everything was still working the way it should I'd use IMatch to move the images back to where they had originally been.

[Mario]

After starting with the D70 (2004) all jpeg files have an xmp file with them in my folders.  I think I was already using iMatch at that time.   I assume that those xmp files were created by iMatch.   (??) 

IMatch does never create XMP files for JPG files.
Two things to check:

1.  If there was a RAW file with the same file name as the JPG file in that folder, and you deleted or moved the RAW manually (not inside IMatch), the orphaned XMP file will stick around. IMatch can only maintain XMP files when you delete, rename or move the linked files from inside IMatch.

2.  You may have, at some point in time, forced IMatch to write XMP sidecar files for JPG.
Check Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2: File Formats.

Johns approach sounds good.