Search Replace Transfer

The custom fields

This plug-in adds 16 custom fields and a new section for Lightroom's Metadata panel (see right).

The extra fields are shown in the Library Filter panel, and can be targeted by Smart Collections. They are also accessible by Search Replace Transfer's main functions, so you can use Transfer to populate one of the fields by copying across from the copyright field - meaning you can then search for entries in that field.

A note of caution about custom fields in general

Custom fields are stored in the Lightroom catalogue and are never written to images themselves or to exported files. That is good in some ways and bad in others. It's handy as it means that they can be used to store information which you do not want others to see, but it also means the information is locked inside Lightroom and only a plugin can access the fields. So if you ever leave Lightroom, it's not easy to get to the data without a plugin. I’ve deliberately not encrypted the plug-in file where this metadata is defined.

Library Filter columns

 

Smart Collection criteria

 

Changing the field names - for "experts"

If you don’t like the custom fields to be named Custom 01 etc, the Plugin Manager provides a way to choose your own field names. Note that this applies to all catalogues - you can't vary custom field names for each catalogue.

Here I have changed the name of Custom 01 to “My Custom Name” and will then press the Save button. For the changes to take effect, press the Reload button in the Plug-in Author Tools section.