XMP files, also sometimes referred to as sidecar files, are an industry-standard format for holding information about your photos. They can record any edit or metadata changes you make to your photo in Lightroom Classic.
For example, an adjustment to contrast on a photo in Lightroom will not alter the original image on your hard drive. Instead, the edited contrast setting is written to your Lightroom catalog, and if enabled, to the XMP sidecar file.
XMP files can contain:
- Camera and lens info
- Title and caption
- Edits
- Keywords
- Labels and ratings
- Face-recognition tags
- Geolocation tags
- And much more
Why you should enable XMP files in Lightroom Classic
Writing changes to XMPs in Lightroom Classic is off by default, but there are several good reasons to enable them:
1. Create a backup of your edits
XMP files creates a backup of your metadata and edit information outside of your Lightroom Catalog. If your Lightroom catalog gets corrupted, you can easily restore your edit and metadata changes in a new catalog from the XMP’s.
2. XMP files are an industry standard format
Your Lightroom Classic catalog contains a lot of information about your photo, but the catalog is in a proprietary format that can only be read by Lightroom. XMP sidecar files can be read by a variety of photo organization and editing tools including Mylio Photos.
3. Sync edits with multiple Lightroom Catalogs
XMP files enable you to use Lightroom Classic on multiple computers without having to go through the hassle of merging catalogs. All you have to do is import those images with their associated XMP sidecars into your master Lightroom catalog.
How to enable XMP files in Lightroom Classic
From the top menu bar, open the Catalog Settings.
- On macOS, go to Lightroom Classic > Catalog Settings.
- On Windows, go to Edit > Catalog Settings.
Choose the Metadata tab, and check the box next to Automatically Write Changes to XMP.
I prefer the DNG format. It has all these advantages minus the additional files (xmp). Is there a reason you prefer xmp oflver DNG?
I’ll give you one reason,
if you use online sync for backup and let’s say you apply a global sync to your files, small photoshoot we’ll say 30 photos. Now you have to upload and sync 30 25MB files (750MB)
Where as if you use XMP it would be 30 uploads of 5kb files (15MB) that’s less than ONE DNG file.