Open AAE File

XMP File

XMP is a metadata file format which can encode metadata for digital documents. It was introduced by Adobe to use in Adobe Acrobat documents for metadata storage. Later it was expanded and introduced to other Adobe products including Adobe Photoshop.

We won’t go into specific details on how XMP is used in various Adobe products. Instead, because this website is about AAE file we will review XMP file related to it.

XMP just like AAE could be used to encode parameters of the image file – more specifically raw photo files like RAW and CR2.

Similar to AAE every XMP file has a corresponding RAW or CR2 file related to it. It is impossible to view the image just based on XMP file. You need to have a corresponding image file to be able to view the image.

The flexibility that XMP file provides is also similar to AAE. Instead of saving massive RAW image files for every edit version of the file it is possible to just modify parameters in corresponding XMP file or save a new XMP file thus saving significant amount of disk space. When RAW image is being read the corresponding XMP file is loaded and parameters are adjusted according to what is stored inside.

XMP files are textual and are based on XML (Extensible Markup Language). Besides opening XMP files in graphics editors like Adobe Photoshop it is also possible to open it in any text editor and even change some of the parameters there.

XMP is not the only sidecar file format to store RAW image metadata and parameters. Multiple other formats are available which include Exif, IPTC, GEOFIF, JFIF, ID3, FlashPix as well as custom data formats from specific camera vendors.

Some image metadata could also be edited directly on iOS. You can use Metapho app for it. This app allows viewing and changing various parameters of the iOS photos on the device.