3 Ways to Add Data to a Collection

Owned by Luna
May 13, 2020
4 min read

Not everyone has the same way of doing things, we know this and that's why LUNA is a flexible tool for managing your content. Maybe you've got a spreadsheet with a ton of data, maybe you don't have any data yet. Here are three helpful ways to add data to a collection:

Watch the video tutorial.

Upload a .csv spreadsheet via the LUNA Uploader

If you've been cataloging your media items directly into a spreadsheet this is the way to go. Or, if you're able to export your data out of another system and into a spreadsheet, this method is also for you!

Basically by uploading a .csv file LUNA will create a record for each row in the spreadsheet.

Some tips:

  • Make sure your spreadsheet matches your data schema. What does this mean? Well, in the LUNA Collection Manager when you established your collection properties you selected a data schema. This data schema gives structure to the data records in your collection. So when you import a .csv spreadsheet with your data, the fields in the data schema must match the fields in the spreadsheet. This means the spelling and order need to be an exact match. If they don't match you'll get an error upon upload. You can download the log to see where in the spreadsheet the discrepancy lies.
  • Before you can upload a .csv file you need to have a collection created, this means establishing the collection properties in the LUNA Collection Manager.
  • Check your LUNA Uploader settings! By default the Uploader settings will mark your records for display in the LUNA Viewer. 

Use embedded metadata

In LUNA each media item can have a corresponding data record. Typically the data record will describe the item by using fields like Title, Creator, Date, etc. But LUNA also supports the searching and display of embedded metadata. Embedded metadata allows you to encode data about the image into the file itself. Usually this kind of information could relate to what kind of equipment was used to create the digital file, but more and more organizations are using embedded metadata to describe the item, like adding Title, Creator, and Copyright. For some a data record is enough, but for others the embedded metadata can cut out the step of having to create separate data records. Some tips: 

  • LUNA supports IPTC, EXIF, and XMP embedded metadata
  • There can be a lot of technical information with embedded metadata so in the LUNA Collection Manager make sure you choose the settings carefully for how they will display and serarch. You can choose whether or not you want the IPTC, EXIF, and XMP fields to display in the LUNA Viewer and whether or not you want them to be searchable. 
  • To view the embedded metadata in the LUNA Library, select a media item, view it in the edit mode and then click in the "i" in the thumbnail. 

Manually enter data via the LUNA Library

Data records are linked to a media item. Using data records to describe a media item is the most common way of adding data to a collection. When you upload a .csv spreadsheet you automatically create and populate these records. But you can also manually add data to these records. Some tips on manually adding data to records in the LUNA Library:

  • If a record already exists but you need to add more data to it, simply select it and chose "edit by item" in the menu or click on the icon in the left corner of the thumbnail to go into the Record Editor.
  • If you need to create a new record, simply click on "New Record".
  • To do a group edit, select all the items you wish to edit and select "Edit by Group" in the edit menu. Once in the group edit mode, be sure you check the box for the fields you are editing, otherwise the edits will not save. You basically need to tell LUNA exactly which of the fields you want to add or edit data to.

In addition to adding data to records, you can add data to the custom data fields. The difference between these 2 methods is that a data record can be unlinked, or separated from the media item while the custom data fields cannot. So for example, if you were to copy a media item to another collection only the media item would be copied and you'd have to create a new record for that collection but the custom data fields for that media item would be copied into that collection. It's like the data fields "live" with the media item and the only way to disassociate them is to manually delete the data field.

Some tips on working with custom data fields: