# Metadata Configuration

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Only users with User Level "VXP Owner", "VXP Administrator" and "VXP Manager" can manage the metadata structure.
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### Configuration tab

This tab contains general settings for metadata variants and upload constraints.<br>

<figure><img src="/files/tzwFZsbNnRgkaEh0YOIz" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Asset upload

Enabling this option will prevent users from uploading assets without specifying the required metadata.

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The asset upload option does not apply to API uploads.
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#### Variants

Variants enable alternative displays for the same asset attributes, e.g. language, currency, location, etc.\
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System variants (language, regional groups...) are required for the system to run.

Custom variants can be created by users by clicking on the **Add variant** button:

<table><thead><tr><th width="294">Field</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>Name</code></td><td>The name of the variant. The Language variants are mandatory and they can not be removed.</td></tr><tr><td><code>API Key</code></td><td>The key used to store the variant's information in the databse / to retrieve the variant from the back-end</td></tr><tr><td><code>Label</code></td><td>the "user-friendly" name for the particular variant</td></tr></tbody></table>

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A variant can contain multiple options: each option is composed of an API key and a label.
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Please note the special case for Language system variants

1. The top option will be the default language for metadata and tags
2. All language options are to be selected from a drop-down list of supported languages (Languages that are supported by AI are indicated with an AI tag)
3. The language API key is the ISO code of the language and it can't be modified

#### Field Mappings

This section allows the user to specify which metadata fields should be used for special system attributes and functionalities, such as *licence expiration period*.\
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To add a mapping, click on the **Add mapping** button:

<figure><img src="/files/PHSTWAtA58HHryB6NZAX" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Choose the system attribute to which you want to map a metadata field, select a compliant metadata field from the drop-down menu, and press **Save**.

| System attribute | Metadata field requirements                                                                                     |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| license expiry   | <ul><li>The mapped field should be of type <em>Date</em></li><li>No regional <em>Variant</em> enabled</li></ul> |

If there are no suitable metadata fields, you can click on the **Create new metadata field** button, which will trigger the **Add metadata field** modal (restricting the options of what metadata Type to create to the applicable ones).

<figure><img src="/files/vq2HvnUX4YcS8thXOgrY" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Thereafter, all assets with that field filled will be searchable and, most importantly, can be alerted on that (expiry) date. See [Notifications](/digital-asset-management-dam/settings/notifications.md) for how to configure them.

#### Embedded Metadata

Embedded metadata may contain, for example, the GPS coordinates of where the picture was taken, the author, the camera, and the lens. DAM can extract these metadata values, including ones from custom namespaces (for example, model name and product category), and map them to custom metadata.\
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To extract embedded metadata, navigate to *Settings > DAM> Automations* and enable the *Extract embedded metadata* post process.\
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Once enabled, DAM will extract embedded metadata from the assets upon upload and display them in the *Metadata > Embeded* tab of the asset management modal:

<figure><img src="/files/CuBCYohiEptK5VUDMugl" alt=""><figcaption><p><br>Embedded metadata are displayed in the Details tab of an asset</p></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
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To leverage search and collections grouping based on embedded metadata, [contact our support team](https://scaleflex.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new) to enable the mapping between embedded metadata and custom metadata.
{% endhint %}

#### Custom-defined metadata

Users can define metadata structures, create new fields, and group them into categories. This metadata is defined per DAM project (token) and applies to all assets. If you have multiple DAM tokens, you can have various metadata taxonomies.

<figure><img src="/files/VJm2NCEzSd5PyPq8Fzlj" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Define custom embedded metadata field

In this section, you can define non-standard XMP metadata fields in custom namespaces. This data is then extracted upon upload and can be mapped to DAM custom metadata

#### Mapping between embedded metadata and DAM metadata fields

This functionality allows you to map common XMP metadata fields from your files (their embedded metadata) to a custom metadata field in the DAM structure. The mapped field value (if existing) is being copied to the respective DAM custom metadata field upon file upload.

If you check option "Write on download", this will copy the field value from the DAM custom metadata to the respective XMP field upon file download.

<figure><img src="/files/qjXzMzQp79wMnyNN8WJN" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>


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