Importing image metadata

How to import the information attached to image files and where metadata appears on your site.

Last updated January 10, 2024

Image metadata is information attached to image files. Adding metadata to images is like writing information on the back of a physical photo. Metadata usually includes titles, descriptions, tags, and location information. You can add metadata to images from a camera that took the image or with image editing software.

If you import metadata, you won't need to add the information twice when adding images to your site. This is especially helpful for professional photographers.

You can import metadata to images in:

This guide reviews how to enable metadata importing and where metadata appears on your site.

Tip

Use photo editing software like Lightroom or Aperture (among others) to meet the necessary formatting standards.

Enable metadata importing

To automatically transfer image metadata to images you upload to Squarespace, enable the metadata importing setting:

  1. Open the Developer tools panel.
  2. Click Metadata Importing.
  3. Check Enable Image Metadata Importing.

Review image metadata before uploading images

Before uploading any images, ensure the image files include the metadata you need. You can only import metadata for .jpeg and .jpg files with metadata stored according to the EXIF (ISO) and IPTC standards. Depending on your camera or image editing software, the information fields may look different. For example:

  • In Adobe Photoshop: In the File menu, click File Info, then complete the Document Title and Description fields. Add tags in the Keywords field.
  • In Adobe Lightroom: In the Library module, click the Metadata drop-down and complete the Title and Caption fields. Add tags in the Keywording drop-down.

For all images, keep in mind:

  • To ensure tags display properly, separate keywords with semicolons or commas.
  • Image titles have a limit of 64 characters.
  • Squarespace imports image titles, descriptions, tags, and GPS longitude and latitude.

After your metadata looks correct, and your images are correctly formatted, upload them to your site.

WebStatement and Licensor metadata

All images you upload to Squarespace automatically include WebStatement and Licensor metadata, even when the Image Metadata Importing setting is disabled. This metadata can keep your images eligible for features like the Licensable badge in Google Images (currently in beta) but doesn't display on your site.

Where metadata displays

After uploading, metadata displays in different areas depending.

Image location Metadata display
Gallery sections

Description appears in the image editor

Gallery blocks Title and description appear in the image editor
Gallery pages (version 7.0 only)

Title, description, and tags appear in the Content tab of the image editor. Location data appears in the Location tab.

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