Comment 7 for bug 579804

The single most important function of a photo management app (for me, personally) is the ability to organize and search for photos by keyword. If Shotwell does not allow at least the *option* of saving tags/keywords to the masters, the program will be of no use to me, and I'll have to stick with F-Spot.

I completely understand that some users don't want their applications messing, in any way, with their original files. I, however, feel that the editing and application of metadata for photos should be non-destructive and completely transparent. I don't want to *have* to have JPEG versions of undeveloped RAW files lying around, just to store tags; I don't want .xmp files clogging up my filesystem; and I don't want to be locked into some application's proprietary database. The capability to store metadata inside the files themselves exists, as it has for mp3 files for decades, and I should be able to rely on that, as I do for mp3s.

As an example--if we have to create a JPEG version of a RAW file to store tags, how, when we go back to that RAW file to properly process it, do we re-associate the tags from the Shotwell created JPEG with the (raw editor of choice)? Manually? Likewise if the keywords & other Shotwell managed metadata is stored in the database.

If the metadata is IN the RAW file, our (raw editor of choice) should be able to export our newly processed JPEG with all metadata intact, with no extra effort on the part of the user.

I was content to watch Shotwell develop (and you guys are making crazy, awesome progress), but if Shotwell is to replace F-Spot as the default photo management app on Ubuntu desktop, then you guys really have to get the basic functionality in place before that happens. And if you can't properly manage metadata, you're not a management app, you're just a browser.

Apologies for going on a bit of a rant there.