Today’s Question: At times I want to send an image to a publisher without including the metadata. Is there a way to delete all metadata from an image being sent from Lightroom Classic?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can exclude most metadata by exporting photos from Lightroom Classic and choosing either “Copyright Only” or “Copyright & Contact Info Only” from the Include popup in the Metadata section of the Export dialog. Similar options are available when exporting via Adobe Bridge.
More Detail: In some cases, you may want to exclude metadata when sharing photos, such as to prevent others from learning what camera equipment or settings were used, where the photo was captured, what keywords were assigned, or other details.
In the context of Lightroom Classic, you would typically create copies of images to share with others by exporting copies of the source photos. In the Export dialog you can configure the various settings, such as to make JPEG copies based on original raw captures. To limit the metadata that is included in the derivative images, choose an option from the Include popup in the Metadata section of the Export dialog. When you want to limit the metadata being included, you’ll likely want to choose either “Copyright Only” or “Copyright & Contact Info Only”.
For those not using Lightroom Classic there is a similar option to export from Adobe Bridge. First enable the Export panel if it isn’t already by going to the menu and choosing Window > Export. Drag selected images to the Custom Export option in the Export panel. In the Export dialog you can configure the settings for the copies of the photos you’ll be creating. In the Metadata section you can keep the “Include Original Metadata” checkbox turned on, but then choose either ” Copyright Only” or “Copyright & Contact Info Only” from the popup below the checkbox. Click the Start Export button when you’re ready to export the images.
Sharing images without the original metadata does involve creating copies of the source photos. But in most cases, that’s exactly what you would want to do anyway, such as to send a JPEG copy rather than an original raw capture. The key is to configure the appropriate option for excluding most metadata from the image, so the recipient will only be able to see the details you want them to be able to see.
