When Jared Platt reached out about featuring MetaMagic in his metadata class at this year's Lightroom Summit, it was one of those "we built this for exactly this moment" emails. Jared has been teaching Lightroom workflows to professional photographers for years — his classes are practical, no-nonsense, and built around the way real working photographers actually shoot and edit.
The Lightroom Summit 2026 runs from June 1 to June 5 and gathers thousands of photographers around five days of focused classes — Metadata, Importing, Travel Workflows, and more. Jared's metadata class airs Thursday June 4 at 10 AM EST, and MetaMagic is part of the live walkthrough.
— Jared Platt, after testing MetaMagic before the Summit
Why metadata keeps being the missing piece
Every photographer who sells stock, licenses editorial, or just wants their archive to be searchable runs into the same wall eventually: metadata. You shoot 500 photos in a weekend, you edit the best 50, and then you face the part nobody enjoys — typing keywords, writing titles, finding the right caption for every single one.
Manually keywording a 200-photo shoot can take 4 to 6 hours of repetitive work. Most photographers either rush it (and watch sales suffer) or skip it entirely. Jared's class makes the case that metadata isn't optional — and that AI tools like MetaMagic finally make it fast enough that the excuse "I don't have time" stops working.
What's in Jared's class
The class is titled "Get Organized with Metadata — Stop searching. Start finding." Jared's full description sums it up perfectly:
"You remember taking that shot. You know it exists. But now you're digging through folders, scrolling through tens of thousands of thumbnails, or hunting across multiple drives trying to locate it. That's not a storage problem — it's a metadata problem, and it's completely fixable."
The class covers the full metadata workflow for working photographers:
- How keywords, star ratings, color labels, IPTC fields, Smart Collections and GPS data work together in Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Desktop
- How to add metadata fast enough that you'll actually use it consistently
- How to automate the process so your organizational system builds itself in the background
- Where AI fits into the workflow — this is where MetaMagic comes in
- How to set up your catalog so any photo is one search away
It's designed for photographers already using Lightroom (any version) who feel their catalog is getting out of control. No prior metadata experience required — but by the end, you'll be using it like a pro.
Jared's other two Summit classes
If you're a VIP pass holder, Jared is also teaching two other classes worth highlighting:
Next Level Importing
The most overlooked step in your workflow is the first one. Most photographers treat importing as a chore, but the import process is where your entire workflow either succeeds or quietly sabotages itself. Jared walks through a complete professional-grade import workflow — presets, automatic develop settings, file renaming, folder structures, backups, and triggered processes that get your shoot half-finished before you've touched a slider.
Traveling with Lightroom
A complete travel photography workflow built around the Lightroom ecosystem (Classic + Desktop + Mobile + Web). How to ingest, cull, edit, back up and share images every night on the road without burning your whole evening. Jared's argument: daily reviews on the road actually make you a better photographer, because processing today sharpens how you shoot tomorrow.
You can browse the full Summit schedule to see all the other instructors and classes.
Exclusive promo codes for Summit attendees
Jared and I prepared two exclusive promo codes for the Summit audience — one for free viewers, one for VIP pass holders. The codes will be revealed during Jared's metadata class on Thursday June 4 at 10 AM EST and included in the official Summit swag bag PDF.
If you're already on the MetaMagic newsletter, the codes will be sent to you the same day the class airs. Not subscribed yet? Sign up here to get notified.
How to attend
The Summit has a simple pricing structure:
- Early Bird ($99) — available until the Summit starts on June 1
- Standard ($159) — from June 1 onwards
- Free Viewers — can watch live as classes air, no purchase needed
After the Summit closes on Friday June 5, no more passes are sold — only VIP holders retain access to the recordings. If you want to watch the metadata class (or any of the others) on your own time, you need a VIP pass before then.
You can also browse the full class schedule if you want to see what else is on. Jared teaches three classes himself — Metadata, Importing, and a session on using Lightroom on the go as a traveling photographer.
What happens after Thursday
For us at MetaMagic, this is the kind of partnership that matters. Jared isn't endorsing the plugin because of a paid deal — he tested it on his own catalog, bought a pack of credits, and decided it was good enough to feature in his class. That feels like the right way for this kind of collaboration to start.
If you watch the class live on Thursday and have questions afterward, the contact form is the fastest way to reach me. I read every message and reply personally — especially during Summit week.
See you on June 4.
— David Mallic, MetaMagic