Table of Contents
Enabling multi-language metadata support
Learn how to enable multi-language metadata support and important considerations to make in that regard.
17. August 2026
Table of Contents
How multilanguage XMP works
The XMP specification enables the creation of language-specific metadata fields, allowing users to input metadata in multiple languages. Technically, a separate field is created for each language added to allow metadata input in that field, and users can then search fields specifically in a given language.
A word of caution
The decision to enable multilingual metadata support should be made before you start creating custom metadata fields. Once a field has been created and is being used, switching multi-language support on or off for that field will make metadata "disappear" from a user's point of view. The reason for this is that when a field that has multilanguage support enabled, the XMP node that the text is stored in is slightly different from that of a field with no multilanguage support.
To avoid this confusion, we advise against enabling multilanguage support for fields you are already actively using, and similarly, you should not disable multilanguage support for a field where this has been enabled if users have already started inputting metadata in that field.
If you're a long-time Fotoware user and you need to create a language-specific field to complement one of your existing fields, you can do this easily by creating a separate field and setting its label so users understand its purpose.
How to enable multilanguage support
Open the metadata configuration and click on the Languages node. As you can see, the default language is English, and generally, if your main metadata is in English, there's no need to change this. Simply tick the additional languages you would like to enable.
Assuming you have already created a namespace and custom fields, double-click the field you'd like to enable multilanguage support for to open its properties, then go to the Language tab. As you can see, No language alternatives is the default chosen setting. Switch this to either XMP Standard language alternatives or Language alternative Extension (Fotoware), depending on which is available. Then choose the language alternatives you'd like to enable for this field. You can also assign a Field ID number to easily locate the field when building a metadata editor later.
Select OK to save the changes.
Tip
Even if you do not intend to create language-specific fields, you can enable other languages here and create localized field labels. That way, if a FotoWeb user has a different browser language set, or if a Fotostation user uses another program language other than English, the field label will appear in the local language:
What's next?
Next, you probably want to start building metadata sets (editors) in FotoWeb and Fotostation so you can start using these fields.