For what purpose should we use Titles, Keywords, Captions in Photos for Mac?

by: léonie

Last modified: Mar 13, 2023 1:50 AM

53 3093 Last modified Mar 13, 2023 1:50 AM

Photos has several ways for the users to tag photos with metadata. The differ in the way, they can be used in searches, smart albums, and filters, but also in the way they can be exported, when we archive or share photos, and in the way they are synced between devices withiCloud Photos.

This has been discussed in this discussion: Whats difference between, title, caption, keywords - Apple Community

A Summary of my reply:

Titles are having the advantage, that you can see them below the thumbnails, when browsing your photos on a Mac, see for example: How to view the titles or filenames below the thumbnails in Photos 5.0 - Apple Community
Titles can be used as the filename, when exporting photos from Photos on a Mac.
Titles are shown above the photo, when viewing photos enlarged on a Mac.
Titles are syncing with iCloud Photos between your devices, but you cannot see or modify them on an iPhone or iPad. They will however been shown as a search result on your iOS devices.
Captions are shown on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and will be synced with iCloud Photos to your Mac.
Keywords are only shown in Photos on the Macs, and can only be modified on the Macs, but are also synced to the iOS devices and are shown in the search results.
Keywords are a powerful organisation tool, as we can use them in smart albums and in the filters and are quick and easy to apply with keyboard shortcuts. One drawback is, that keywords are omitted, when we import photos from one photos library into another library. I am using Power Photos to move photos between libraries, to save the keywords. Importing photos directly from another Photos Library into the currently open Library

If you want to sync annotations between devices and see them on all devices, add them to the captions. As I want to see short annotations on my Macs below the thumbnails, I am using the titles on the Mac, but the detailed information is going to the captions. The titles and keywords are useful on the iPhone and iPad as well, as I can use them in searches.

When I am exporting my Photos from Photos to archive them, the keywords. titles, captions will be embedded in the exported versions in the IPTC tags. When I am exporting the unmodified originals, I am exporting with the "Export IPTC as XPM" checkmark enabled. Then Photos will create a sidecar file for each exported photo to save the metadata. And the titles etc. can be restored from the sidecar file when Importing into another library.