XMP
Definition
Extensible Metadata Platform: Adobe's XML-based metadata container embedded as a text packet in image files. Can carry all standard EXIF and IPTC vocabularies plus custom namespaces. Editable by any text editor, making it the most easily altered metadata layer.
- Full name
- Extensible Metadata Platform
- Developer
- Adobe
- Format
- XML-based text packet embedded in the file
- Editability
- Editable with any plain text editor
- Vocabularies carried
- Standard EXIF, IPTC, plus custom namespaces
Common questions
Why is XMP considered the least reliable metadata layer for authentication?+
Because it is stored as a plain XML text packet rather than a binary structure, it can be opened and edited with an ordinary text editor without specialised software, making it the easiest metadata layer to alter convincingly compared with binary structures like EXIF.
How is XMP metadata typically used together with EXIF in image analysis?+
Examiners compare the two layers for consistency, since a genuine unedited image usually has matching creation and camera data in both; a discrepancy such as different timestamps or software tags between the EXIF binary tags and the XMP packet often indicates the file passed through an editor.
Related terms
- EXIF
- Exchangeable Image File Format: a binary metadata standard defined in the IFF/TIFF structure embedded in JPEG APP1 segment and TIFF file headers....
- IPTC IIM
- International Press Telecommunications Council Information Interchange Model: a legacy binary metadata standard embedded in JPEG APP13. Carries caption, credit, copyright, and editorial...
- Makernote
- A proprietary EXIF sub-block written by the camera manufacturer to record device-specific data not covered by the EXIF standard. Canon, Nikon, Sony,...
- Moov Atom
- The master index atom in an MP4 or MOV file. Contains all track sample tables, timing information, creation and modification timestamps, and...
- RIFF Chunk
- Resource Interchange File Format: the container structure used by WAV and AVI files. A hierarchy of typed chunks, each with a four-character...