Title: Mapping PDF fields
Last modified: February 23, 2022

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# Mapping PDF fields

 *  Resolved [markolympic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markolympic/)
 * (@markolympic)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/)
 * I’m having trouble understanding the process of what needs to be done to successfully
   import two pieces of metadata from the PDFs I’m uploading to the Media Library.
   Each PDF includes (an example of a PDF metadata entry is shown below):
 * pdf:Title => The Role of Politics in the Appointment of Board Members at Sydney
   Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG)
 * pdf:Author => Stylianos Daskalakis, Dimitrios Gargalianos & Evangelos Albanidis
 * When I upload a PDF, the TITLE field, by default, contains the file name, which
   is useless to users when they execute a search. I want this TITLE field to be
   replaced by the pdf:Title.
 * I would also like the new “AUTHOR” field (created using the Custom Fields plugin)
   to contain the data from the pdf:Author metadata.
 * I’m assuming that I somehow have to map the IPTC fields so MLA knows what metadata
   to harvest from the PDFs I upload to my Media Library, but I’m at a loss to know
   how/where to introduce that mapping and what the code should look like.
 * Thanks for helping.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)

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 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15397814)
 * Thanks for your question, and thanks as well for including the “metadata entry”
   for the fields you’re interested in; very helpful. It looks like you found the“
   Attachment File Metadata” box MLA adds to the Media/Edit Media admin page. Note
   that the two fields you give as examples are not IPTC fields; they are PDF “Document
   Information Dictionary” properties.
 * You can use mapping rules to accomplish your goal. For the Title field:
    1.  Go to the Settings/Media Library Assistant IPTC/EXIF tab.
    2.  If you want to apply the rule to new items as they are uploaded, check the “
        Enable IPTC/EXIF Mapping when adding new media” and “Enable IPTC/EXIF Mapping
        when updating media metadata” boxes.
    3.  Locate the “Title” rule entry in the table and click the “Edit” rollover action.
    4.  In the “IPTC Value” dropdown control leave the default, “- None (select a value)-”
        value in place.
    5.  In the “EXIF/Template Value” text box, enter `template:([+pdf:Title+])`.
    6.  In the “Priority” dropdown, select “EXIF”.
    7.  In the “Existing Text” dropdown, select “Replace” to replace the WordPress 
        default (file name) value.
    8.  In the “Status” text box, select “Active”.
    9.  Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click “Update”.
 * Once you define the rule you can apply it to a single item, multiple items or
   all items:
    - To map a single item, go to the Media/Assistant submenu and click the thumbnail
      of the item you want (or click the “Edit” rollover action) to get the Media/
      Edit Media screen. You can click the “Map IPTC/EXIF metadata” link to run 
      your rules on this item, then look at the “Title” text box to inspect the 
      results.
    - To map two or more items, go to the Media/Assistant submenu and click the 
      checkbox next to the items you want. Then, select “Edit” from the “Bulk Actions”
      dropdown above the checkboxes and click “Apply” to open the Bulk Edit area.
      Click the “Map IPTC/EXIF metadata” button to run your rule on the selected
      items.
    - To map all of your items, stay on the Settings/Media Library Assistant IPTC/
      EXIF tab and click the “Execute” rollover action for the Title rule. This 
      may take a while.
 * These methods will apply all IPTC/EXIF rules to the selected item(s). This won’t
   be a problem if you have only the one rule. The third method might be the best
   for your application. Because your template includes parentheses around the `([
   +pdf:Title+])` value the rule will only affect PDF items that have a value file.
 * For your “AUTHOR” custom field (created by Advanced Custom Fields?):
    1.  Navigate to the Settings/Media Library Assistant “Custom Fields” tab.
    2.  Scroll down to the “Add New Custom Field Rule” area below the “Enable” checkboxes.
    3.  From the “Name” dropdown control, select the name of your custom field, something
        like “author”. For ACF fields this will be the “Field Name”, not the “Field
        Label”.
    4.  If you don’t see your field. click “Enter new field” to enter the custom field
        name manually. In the “Name” text box, enter your field name, e.g., “author”.
    5.  From the Data Source dropdown list, select “– Template (see below) –”.
    6.  In the Meta/Template text box, enter `([+pdf:Author+])`.
    7.  Click the “MLA Column” check box if you want to make the field available in
        the Media/Assistant submenu table. You can also click the “Quick Edit” and “
        Bulk Edit” check boxes to make the field available in the Media/Assistant submenu
        table Quick Edit and Bulk Edit areas if that’s useful for you.
    8.  In the “Existing Text” dropdown, select “Replace” to replace existing values
        or “Keep” to retain any existing values.
    9.  In the “Format” dropdown list, select “Native”.
    10. In the “Option:” dropdown list, select “Text”.
    11. Click the “Delete NULL Values” checkbox.
    12. Leave the “Status” set to “Active”.
    13. Click the “Add Rule” button to save your work.
 * You can apply the rule with any of the three methods outlined above; use the “
   Map Custom Field metadata” links for this rule.
 * I hope that gives you the details you need to complete your application. I will
   leave this topic unresolved and hope to hear back from you soon.
 *  Thread Starter [markolympic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markolympic/)
 * (@markolympic)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15400604)
 * Hi David. Your directions were perfect and easy to follow. Exactly what I was
   looking for. Only one problem: when I click the “Map IPTC/EXIF metadata” link
   on a PDF in my Library, the Title field still shows the permafile name, and the
   Author field remains unpopulated. I double checked the “Attachment File Metadata”
   field at the bottom of the record to make sure there were entries for both Title
   and Author … there were. Can’t figure out where I went wrong.
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15401748)
 * Thanks for following the steps I outlined and for your positive feedback.
 * For the Title issue, carefully review your rule, especially the “EXIF/Template
   Value” value `template:([+pdf:Title+])` the “Existing Text” `Replace` setting
   and the “Status” `Active` setting. This rule is working on my system. You can
   also try sourcing the title from another field, such as `template:([+xmp:title
   +])`. Note that the field names are case sensitive, i.e., “Title” and “title”
   are different.
 * For the author issue, remember you must click the “Map Custom Field metadata”
   link to update this field. The IPTC/EXIF and Custom Field rules are separate (
   for mostly historical reasons).
 * Let me know if the above suggestions are helpful. Thanks.
 *  Thread Starter [markolympic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markolympic/)
 * (@markolympic)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15402051)
 * Saw my error with respect to the Title … I forgot to include “template:” before([
   +pdf:Title+]). This one works fine. Do I also need to include “template:” before
   the Author code?
 * Still having problems with the Author field. It does seem to be recording the
   Author field in the Media/Assistant table. But the Author field on the media 
   page is not being completed. Is it possible that I didn’t set up this field properly?
   Perhaps I should delete that field and set it up again using MLA, if that’s possible?
 * Thanks again for your patience!
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15402202)
 * Thanks for your update with the good news on your progress.
 * No, you do not need `template:` in the custom field rule, which knows it’s a 
   template because of the value in the Data Source dropdown list.
 * You asked “**_It does seem to be recording the Author field in the Media/Assistant
   table. But the Author field on the media page is not being completed. Is it possible
   that I didn’t set up this field properly?_**” Yes, it’s possible that you now
   have two separate “author” fields. When you set up the rule, did you find the
   field name in the dropdown list or did you have to enter it as a new field? If
   you go to the Media/Edit Media screen, do you see more than one “author” field?
   When you write “**_the media page_**” do you mean the front end page for the 
   item or something else? How does the author value end up on the media page; is
   it a function of your theme?
 * These are some of the clues you can look for. Any additional details you can 
   provide will help me be more specific. Thanks.
 *  Thread Starter [markolympic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markolympic/)
 * (@markolympic)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15404806)
 * I think there’s a conflict as there was already an “author” field which records
   the name of the person who posted a page, post, or some other WP element. So 
   I deleted the second author field completely to start fresh.
 * What I would like to do is create 2 new metadata fields for this grouping of 
   about 1500 PDFs. Each PDF is a magazine article. The metadata that I’m trying
   to capture from the PDFs is each article’s “Title” (which we’ve already been 
   successful in doing), and each article’s “Author”. Perhaps rather than naming
   this field “Author” it might be better to name it “Article Author” to differentiate
   it from the existing WP author field.
 * Can MLA set up this new field for me, or do I still need to create the new field
   using the Custom Fields plugin?
 * Again thanks for sticking with me on this. I think we’re nearly there!
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15407463)
 * Thanks for your update on your progress. Yes, WordPress does define an “author”
   of its own and the confusion is understandable. Creating a new field with a different
   name, e.g., Article Author, is an excellent idea.
 * There are at least two ways you can define a new custom field with a simple text
   value that do not require the Advanced Custom Fields or another similar plugin:
    1. You can use WordPress itself. Navigate to the Media/Edit Media screen for one
       of your Media Library items. Make sure the Screen Options box for “Custom Fields”
       is checked. Scroll to the bottom of the Custom Fields box and find “Add New 
       Custom Field:”. Click the “Enter new” link below the Name dropdown control. 
       Enter your field name, e.g., “Article Author”, in the text box that shows up.
       Give your field a value, and click “Add Custom Field.
    2. You can use MLA’s Custom Fields tab to define a new mapping rule, following 
       the steps I gave in my first response. Step 4. tells you how to define a new
       field using this method. The field will be created when you execute the new 
       rule for one or more items.
 * If you create the field with WordPress it will show up in the “Name” dropdown
   list, but it must have a value defined in one or more items to do so. If you 
   select “Replace” for the “Existing Text” setting of your rule it won’t matter
   what you enter in the WordPress text box.
 * I hope that gets you the results you are seeking. I am marking this topic resolved,
   but please update it if you have any problems or further questions regarding 
   MLA’s custom field support. Thanks for working with me on this topic.
 *  Thread Starter [markolympic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markolympic/)
 * (@markolympic)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15428183)
 * Finally got it all working! Very much appreciate your help.
 * One further question: is it possible to add another column to the Media Library
   Assistant page to display my “categories” so that I can do a Bulk edit on them
   at the same time I’m double checking my entries? “Categories” is not an option
   in the “Screen Options” pull down at the top of the page.
 * Thanks!
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15429926)
 * Thanks for your update with the good news regarding your progress.
 * Displaying your “Categories” depends on where they are stored. If you mean the
   WordPress Categories taxonomy the answer is simple. Navigate to the Settings/
   Media Library Assistant General tab and scroll down to the Taxonomy Support section.
   There you can check the appropriate boxes to add any of your taxonomies to the
   Media/Assistant submenu table.
 * If your “categories” are stored somewhere else, give me more details so I can
   be specifically helpful. Thanks.
 *  Thread Starter [markolympic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markolympic/)
 * (@markolympic)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15438900)
 * David, everything was going fine for awhile. Now, not all the metadata is being
   read by MLA. I know the Adobe Acrobat Properties metadata is being stored because
   I can view it. But for some reason many property fields in quite a few files 
   are being ignored by MLA. For example, below is metadata for two sequentially
   numbered PDF files. You can see that a lot of metadata fields are not being read
   for the first file. The second file shows all the fields being read by MLA including
   the crucial “pdf:Author” and “pdf:Title” fields. Is there anyway to force MLA
   to read all the metadata fields? Thanks!
 * FIRST FILE
 * post_id => 5356
    pdf:PDF_Version => PDF-1.6 pdf:PDF_VersionNumber => 1.6 pdf:
   First => 121 pdf:N => 17 pdf:Type => XObject pdf:BitsPerComponent => 8 pdf:ColorSpace
   => DeviceGray pdf:Height => 1656 pdf:Interpolate => true pdf:Mask => 23 0 R pdf:
   Subtype => Image pdf:Width => 2339 pdf:ImageMask => true
 * *************
    SECOND File
 * post_id => 5357
    pdf:PDF_Version => PDF-1.6 pdf:PDF_VersionNumber => 1.6 pdf:
   Author => Philip Barker pdf:CreationDate => 2014-10-28 22:08:37 pdf:Creator =
   > Canon iR-ADV C5250 pdf:Keywords => 2010 July Vol. 18 No.2 p. 32-37 pdf:ModDate
   => 2017-01-18 15:23:56 pdf:Producer => ABBYY FineReader 11 pdf:Subject => Journal
   of Olympic History pdf:Title => The Hidden Legacies of Moscow ’80: Changes in
   Ceremonial and Attitudes pdf:BitsPerComponent => 8 pdf:ColorSpace => DeviceGray
   pdf:Height => 2341 pdf:Interpolate => true pdf:Mask => 43 0 R pdf:Subtype => 
   Image pdf:Type => XObject pdf:Width => 1630`
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15439408)
 * Thanks for your report; I regret the trouble you are having.
 * If you can post a link to one or more of the files that are not being processed
   correctly I can investigate further. You can also [contact me at my web site](http://davidlingren.com/#two)
   if sending the file(s) by email would be easier. Thanks for any examples you 
   can provide.
 *  Thread Starter [markolympic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markolympic/)
 * (@markolympic)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15439520)
 * Thanks David. Here are links to two PDFs which are not being processed correctly:
 * [https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/JOH-Archives/JOHv18n3g.pdf](https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/JOH-Archives/JOHv18n3g.pdf)
   
   [https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/JOH-Archives/JOHv18n2j.pdf](https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/JOH-Archives/JOHv18n2j.pdf)
 * For comparison, here are links to two PDFs which were correctly processed:
 * [https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/JOH-Archives/JOHv18n1k.pdf](https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/JOH-Archives/JOHv18n1k.pdf)
   
   [https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/JOH-Archives/JOHv18n1i.pdf](https://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/JOH-Archives/JOHv18n1i.pdf)
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15443587)
 * Thanks for the links to good and bad documents. I have downloaded them and run
   some quick tests.
 * The bad documents have values for Author, etc. embedded in XMP metadata blocks,
   but these blocks are not referenced in the “Root Dictionary” of the document.
   I will have to investigate further to see how MLA can access and extract this
   data. I will post an update here when I have progress to report. Thanks for your
   help and your patience.
 *  Thread Starter [markolympic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/markolympic/)
 * (@markolympic)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15443901)
 * Hi David. For some unknown reason, MLA seems to be reading the PDF metadata with
   no problem now! If you made any changes, I guess they worked! Thanks for all 
   your help on this. MLA saved me so much time.
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/#post-15447126)
 * You wrote “**_For some unknown reason,_**“. Indeed; I have not changed anything
   and I don’t believe in spontaneous fixes.
 * If you go to the Media/Edit Media screen for one of the two “bad” files you posted
   a link to does it now show more metadata than it did a few days ago?
 * I have reproduced the problem in my copies of your two files and I am working
   on a more deliberate fix. What an interesting issue…

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## Tags

 * [categories](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/categories/)
 * [mapping](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/mapping/)

 * 17 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * Last activity: [4 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/mapping-pdf-fields/page/2/#post-15453534)
 * Status: resolved