The Problem

Manual keywording
is killing your workflow.

A serious stock photographer can spend 30 seconds to 2 minutes per photo writing keywords. On a 500-photo shoot, that's 4 to 16 hours of repetitive work before you can even submit to agencies. Most photographers either rush it and lose sales — or skip it entirely.

AI-powered keywording solves this. MetaMagic reads each image with state-of-the-art vision AI and writes professional IPTC keywords in seconds. Not generic tags. Specific, accurate, sale-driving keywords.

Lightroom Classic — IPTC Metadata

Selected Photo

Pantheon in Rome at golden hour preview inside MetaMagic

Pantheon at golden hour

Selected photo preview shown before MetaMagic writes IPTC metadata. Compact by design, so the page stays elegant and not too long.

AI Preview

Title

Pantheon Facade at Golden Hour, Rome Italy

Keywords (50)

pantheonromeitalyarchitecturehistoricgolden hourcolumnsancienttravellandmarkstoneclassicalempireroman

Caption

The ancient Pantheon facade bathed in warm afternoon light, Rome, Italy.

✦ Generating 47/200

How it works

From install to first keywords
in four simple steps.

01

📦

Install once

Download MetaMagic, add the MetaMagic.lrplugin folder in Lightroom Classic, and enter your Customer Code.

02

🎛️

Set your rules

Open the Control Center to choose keyword count, title and caption length, GPS, overwrite behavior, Special AI Instructions and review mode.

03

✦

Generate the batch

Select one photo or an entire shoot and run MetaMagic. Your saved Control Center settings are synchronized automatically before processing.

04

✓

Review when needed

Keep the fast automatic workflow, review only conflicts, or approve every result before the selected metadata is written to Lightroom.

The new Lightroom workflow

Configure precisely.
Review only when it matters.

The new Control Center keeps all generation rules in one place, while Metadata Review gives you a visual safety layer before existing Lightroom metadata is replaced. You decide how much control you want for each workflow.

01 · Configure

MetaMagic Control Center

A clearer place to configure the plugin without overcrowding Lightroom. Save your choices once and MetaMagic synchronizes them automatically before the next generation.

Output control: new keyword count, title length, caption length and use of existing metadata as context.
Special AI Instructions: add optional guidance for a shoot, client or subject — e.g. “Generate all keywords in Italian” or “include the scientific species name”.
Keyword behavior: preserve current Lightroom keywords + add AI, or replace them completely.
Workflow rules: GPS, editorial captions, dates, author notes, color labels and review mode.

Settings · top1 / 4

Settings · lower2 / 4

02 · Review

Metadata Review

When review is enabled, MetaMagic opens a visual comparison before writing selected metadata. The photo preview stays visible while you decide what Lightroom should keep.

Three modes: Fast, conflicts only, or review every generated photo.
Visual comparison: current Lightroom metadata in red, new MetaMagic result in green, with editable generated values.
Field-by-field decisions: keep current title/caption, use MetaMagic, keep keywords, merge them, or replace them.
No extra review credit: reviewing and manual edits are free; only a new AI regeneration uses another credit.

Review · overview3 / 4

Review · keywords4 / 4

⚡

Review is optional — the fast workflow stays fast.

Choose Fast and MetaMagic writes the generated result immediately. Choose Conflicts only and Review opens only when existing Lightroom metadata would be replaced. Choose Review everything when you want approval on every photo.

Built for Lightroom

Made for serious
photo catalogs.

Every detail designed around the way real photographers work in Lightroom Classic.

✎

Special AI Instructions

Add extra guidance without replacing MetaMagic's built-in prompt. Control language, subject focus, terminology or client-specific requirements per workflow.

Your prompt · MetaMagic rules stay intact

◫

Metadata Review

Review conflicts or every result before Lightroom changes. Compare current vs generated fields, edit AI text, and choose exactly what to apply.

Fast · conflicts · everything

📍

GPS-aware metadata

When GPS data is present, MetaMagic enriches keywords and captions with location context such as city, region and country.

EXIF + reverse geocoding

⚡

Batch processing

Process one photo or an entire shoot. MetaMagic handles the batch and writes approved IPTC metadata directly into your Lightroom catalog.

Built for real photo batches

🗞️

Editorial workflow

Enable factual editorial captions, capture-date formatting and author notes when you need a news, event or documentary workflow.

Editorial + microstock

#

Keyword control

Choose how many new AI keywords to create, preserve existing Lightroom terms or replace them, and optionally group AI keywords under a parent.

Preserve · add · replace

🔄

Automatic updates

MetaMagic checks for plugin updates automatically, so workflow improvements and AI changes arrive without a manual reinstall.

Always up to date

🔒

Your originals stay local

MetaMagic sends a reduced preview for AI analysis. Your original RAW files remain on your computer and are not stored by MetaMagic.

Privacy first

Manual vs AI

How much time
are you really losing?

Task

Manual keywording

MetaMagic

Time per photo

30 seconds – 2 min

~3 seconds

Time for 200-photo shoot

1.5 – 6 hours

~10 minutes

Keyword quality

Depends on energy

Consistent, AI-driven

Species & landmark recognition

Requires expert eye

Automatic

Location context

Manual lookup

From GPS, automatic

Title & caption

Extra time required

Generated with keywords

Frequently asked

Common questions about
AI keywording in Lightroom.

Yes. MetaMagic is fully compatible with Adobe Lightroom Classic on both macOS and Windows. It uses the standard Lightroom Plugin SDK and writes IPTC metadata directly into your catalog like any native Lightroom feature.

Yes. MetaMagic supports all RAW formats that Lightroom Classic supports — DNG, CR2, CR3, NEF, NRW, ARW, SR2, RAF, ORF, RW2, PEF, MOS, ERF, 3FR, IIQ — plus JPEG, TIFF, PSD and PNG. A 1000px preview is generated locally for AI analysis; your original RAW never leaves your computer.

MetaMagic uses state-of-the-art vision AI. It recognizes specific species (e.g. "Great Blue Heron" instead of "bird"), landmarks (e.g. "Pantheon, Rome" from a single photo), and fine details that generic AI taggers miss. For stock and editorial photography, this means keywords that buyers actually search for.

Only if you choose to. In the plugin settings you can toggle "Overwrite existing keywords" on or off. By default, MetaMagic preserves your existing keywords and adds new ones alongside. You can also group AI keywords under a parent keyword (e.g. "MetaMagic") to keep them separate from your manual tags.

Pay-as-you-go credits, no subscription. 20 free generations on signup. Larger packs start at $10. Credits never expire and work for both the Lightroom plugin and the web app — one account, shared balance.

Yes. The Lightroom plugin writes IPTC keywords directly into your catalog — Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Alamy, Getty and other agencies read them automatically from the embedded metadata when you upload. The web app also exports ready-to-upload CSV files for 12 stock agencies.

Explore more

Try AI keywording
on your own catalog.

20 free generations on signup. No credit card, no subscription. Plugin + Web App included.

Register & Get 20 Free Photos Download Plugin

AI metadata for Lightroom,
with you in control.

Manual keywording
is killing your workflow.

From install to first keywords
in four simple steps.