Imatch 5 not importing ratings from xmp

[TKO]

My workflow with Imatch 3 is to use Fastphotoviewer to rate my photos before having Imatch 3 scan the directory. Before, Imatch always imported the ratings and colors perfectly..

However, Imatch 5 imports the "colors" but not the ratings.

The rating information is contained in the xmp file created by Fastphotoview, and I can see the ratings in other programs, but the rating are blank in Imatch.

NOTE: I am not trying to import the Imatch 3 database yet. Just scanning a typical directory that Imatch 3 has scanned and imported the ratings correctly.

What am I doing wrong?

[Mario]

The information you provide is not sufficient.

Which file format are you using?
Do you work with embedded XMP data or external sidecar files?
Which metadata settings are you using in IMatch?

Check out this FAQ if you use CR2 files.

[TKO]

Why does it matter?

I am using Canon CR2 raw files.

Fastpictureviewer creates XMP sidecar files which has my ratings. The type of the photo file doesn't seem relevant.

The old imatch would read the XMP files and import the rating automatically. Imatch 5 doesn't.

Please consider that I've only had the demo version for an hour and used it once on a test directory with new photos. By default, it read the "color" XMP data, but not the "rating" XMP. By "rating" I mean the 1-5 stars.

I understand most of what is being said in the link you provided, but it doesn't seem relevant. In a virgin data base, being created for the 1st time from photos I took last week, under the default demo settings, the XMP color is read in while the rating isn't.

I do not know if it is relevant, but under "Metadata" settings, under XMP labels, the "colors" show up "red, yellow . . . " but there are no ratings listed.

[Mario]

The problem with Canon CR2 files is that some Canon cameras write a Rating = none into the XMP embedded in the CR2 file. Even if you don't use the in-camera rating function.

IMatch 5 is able to read the embedded XMP data in CR2 files (many applications out there are not, e.g. the ones you mention). Since by default IMatch considers XMP data embedded in the RAW file more important than XMP data in sidecar files, the 'none' rating your camera has written overrides the rating in the XMP sidecar file.

The FAQ link I have included in my reply to you explains this and also shows options to deal with these 'competing' XMP records you have for your files.

https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=2624.0

[TKO]

So, in summary and to make sure I understand, Canon writes a "no rating" into the CR2 file, and Imatch5 honors this instead of the XMP sidecar rating, but Canon doesn't write a "no color" into the CR2 file , so Imatch is free to import the color sidecar data.

I did not know that a  "no rating" could be written to a file and considered a valid input Would it be reasonable for Imatch to make the assumption that a valid rating 1-5 would always take preference over a "no rating" setting in the CR2 field?

Now that I have set up the metadata preferences per your description, is there a way to force Imatch to (re)input the rating from the sidecars, taking the new settings into account? Or do I need to delete the database and start over?

[Lord_Helmchen]

You can initiate a metadata rescan by typing Ctrl-Shift-F5 and then select "Reload Metadata".

[ovrevid]

So, in summary and to make sure I understand, Canon writes a "no rating" into the CR2 file, and Imatch5 honors this instead of the XMP sidecar rating, but Canon doesn't write a "no color" into the CR2 file , so Imatch is free to import the color sidecar data.

Exactly.

I did not know that a  "no rating" could be written to a file and considered a valid input Would it be reasonable for Imatch to make the assumption that a valid rating 1-5 would always take preference over a "no rating" setting in the CR2 field?

Metadata moves in mysterious ways and can be a real mess sometimes. As we have seen in this case, the camera vendors isn't always helping... 
I'll leave it for Mario to comment on why the XMP-data embedded in the CR2 is considered more important than what is found in the sidecar, but I guess there's a good reason for that (it usually is  ). Most likely this is defined by the Metadata Working Group. If you follow Marios advice in deleting the embedded XMP-data from the CR2 (the post he's referring to), it's a no-issue anyway. See IMatch Help on how to use the ExifTool Command Processor (ECP).

Now that I have set up the metadata preferences per your description, is there a way to force Imatch to (re)input the rating from the sidecars, taking the new settings into account? Or do I need to delete the database and start over?

After using ECP to modify metadata, IMatch usually re-reads the metadata from the modified files automatically.

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