IPTC glossary: the fields explained

IPTC fields are the ones agencies and image databases read. Here is what each one is for and how to fill it in. PHOTAUMATE offers them all.

The content of the image

Caption (Description)

The sentence that says what you see: who, what, where, when. It is the most read field. Example: “Gaetan Poussin (no. 16) scores with a header in the 45th minute, during Montpellier v Redstar.”

Headline

A short title that sums the image up, often “Team A v Team B” for a match.

Keywords

The words that let people find the photo: sport, competition, teams, players, moment of the match. One per line.

Persons shown

The people identified in the photo, one per line. Agencies and image databases use it to search by name.

Alt text

A short description for people who cannot see the image, read by screen readers.

Rights

Creator (Byline)

The author of the image.

Credit line

What must be printed with the photo: “First Last / Agency”.

Source

Where the image comes from: your agency, your studio, the supplier.

Copyright notice

The rights statement, for example “© 2026 First Last”.

Rights usage terms

What may be done with the photo: editorial use only, duration, territory.

Event and location

Event

The name of the event: “Cup, round of 16”.

City, State, Country

Where the photo was taken. The country code follows the ISO standard (FR, GB…).

Sublocation

The stadium, the hall, the church.

Status and tracking

Job ID (Transmission reference)

A file identifier: for example the date followed by the two teams. It groups the photos of one order.

Title (Object name)

A short name for the photo or the series.

Special instructions

A note for the desk: embargo, restricted use.

Urgency, category, genre

Sorting fields used by newsrooms and filing systems.

To fill all this in at once on a shoot, see how to caption sports photos with shortcuts and the page on IPTC and XMP in PHOTAUMATE.