Before you start

What you need.

Windows

The current Capture One plugin is Windows-only. macOS is coming soon.

Capture One

Capture One installed and able to load third-party plugins.

MetaMagic account

Your MetaMagic Customer Code and available generation credits.

Step 1

Download and
extract the ZIP.

Download MetaMagic-for-Capture-One.coplugin.zip. Extract the ZIP before trying to install the plugin.

Downloaded MetaMagic Capture One ZIP and extracted folder in Windows — The downloaded ZIP and extracted folder in Windows Downloads.

MetaMagic Capture One coplugin file inside extracted folder — Inside the extracted folder you will find the `.coplugin` package.

Step 2

Install the
.coplugin package.

Double-click MetaMagic-for-Capture-One.coplugin. Capture One should open the plugin installer and register MetaMagic automatically.

If you are updating: close Capture One before installing the new version. Your MetaMagic account and Control Center settings are not part of the plugin package.

Step 3

Open Capture One
Plugin Preferences.

In Capture One, open Preferences → Plugins. Select MetaMagic for Capture One. Enter your Customer Code, choose the core write options you want, then open the MetaMagic Control Center for advanced settings.

Capture One Preferences Plugins panel showing MetaMagic for Capture One 0.3.1 — MetaMagic for Capture One 0.3.1 in the Capture One Plugins preferences panel.

Step 4

Configure Capture One
XMP metadata loading.

Open Preferences → Image → Metadata. Set Auto Sync sidecar XMP to Load. Enable Prefer Sidecar XMP over embedded Metadata. If you use MetaMagic Color Tags, keep Synchronize IPTC Urgency with Color Tag enabled.

Capture One metadata preferences showing Auto Sync sidecar XMP Load and sidecar XMP preference — Recommended Capture One metadata settings for the MetaMagic XMP workflow.

Step 5

Configure the
Control Center.

Open the MetaMagic Control Center from the plugin preferences. The Capture One profile is stored separately from Lightroom and includes AI generation, GPS/location, IPTC Contact/Status, keyword structure, Color Tag, Rating, AI classification and reload controls.

MetaMagic Capture One Control Center — The Capture One-specific Control Center with shared credits and independent Capture One settings.

Editorial and IPTC settings in MetaMagic Capture One Control Center — Editorial and IPTC settings.

IPTC Contact and keyword structure settings in MetaMagic Capture One Control Center — IPTC Contact and keyword structure.

Color Tag Rating AI classification and workflow settings in MetaMagic Capture One Control Center — Color Tag, Rating, AI classification and Capture One workflow settings.

Step 6

Generate metadata
from a photo.

Right-click the selected photo, choose Open With, then Generate Metadata with MetaMagic.

Capture One right-click Open With menu showing Generate Metadata with MetaMagic — The MetaMagic generation action inside Capture One's Open With menu.

A small Capture One activity window appears while generation runs. You can close that activity window; Capture One indicates that active background tasks continue.

Capture One activity window while MetaMagic generates metadata — MetaMagic generation shown as a Capture One background activity.

Step 7

Verify the
generated metadata.

After the write/reload cycle completes, check Keywords and Metadata. Depending on your Control Center settings you should see AI keywords, Title/Headline, Description, GPS-derived location, Color Tag, IPTC Contact/Status and the MetaMagic AI summary.